Author Topic: Rank the albums  (Read 15600 times)

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Offline DarkSecret666

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Re: Rank the albums
« Reply #50 on: August 05, 2014, 04:13:12 PM »
1.Love Metal
2.GLS Vol.666
3.Razorblade Romance
4.Venus Doom
5.Tears On Tape
6.Dark Light
7.DS&BH
8. Screamworks
I cannot decide which one is better, DL or ToT. Both are good so...

1.Love Metal
2.GLS Vol.666
3.Razorblade Romance
4.Venus Doom
5.Dark Light & Tears On Tape
6.DS&BH
7.Screamworks

Deep Shadows and Screamworks are very good albums too. For me it's hard to do a ranking of those albums so there you go xD


Offline KissTheVoid

Re: Rank the albums
« Reply #51 on: October 13, 2014, 11:35:09 PM »
(*) Uneasy Listening Vol. 1, And Love Said No, Again
1. Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights
2. Screamworks
3. Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666
4. Dark Light
5. Love Metal
6. Razorblade Romance
7. Venus Doom
8. Tears On Tape

Deciding 4-7 almost made my brain explode. Anyways I think Again is great and always overlooked. And The Heartless being my favorite HIM song (for now at least) bears a lot of weight, almost enough to tip spots 2 and 3 but not quite.

Offline Inferno

Re: Rank the albums
« Reply #52 on: October 14, 2014, 12:07:39 AM »
(*) Uneasy Listening Vol. 1, And Love Said No, Again
1. Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights
2. Screamworks
3. Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666
4. Dark Light
5. Love Metal
6. Razorblade Romance
7. Venus Doom
8. Tears On Tape

Deciding 4-7 almost made my brain explode. Anyways I think Again is great and always overlooked. And The Heartless being my favorite HIM song (for now at least) bears a lot of weight, almost enough to tip spots 2 and 3 but not quite.
Which version of the heartless?
~*' Love Is Only The Anticipation Of The Emotions You're Addicted To '*~
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Offline KissTheVoid

Re: Rank the albums
« Reply #53 on: October 14, 2014, 12:34:20 AM »
Just the one from Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666. Although I love this video/listen to this one a lot.

Offline Inferno

Re: Rank the albums
« Reply #54 on: October 14, 2014, 12:48:24 AM »
Just the one from Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666. Although I love this video/listen to this one a lot.
My favorite is the one from the 666 Ways To Love (EP) ... It's commonly referred as the 'Deleted Finnish Version' for some reason.
~*' Love Is Only The Anticipation Of The Emotions You're Addicted To '*~
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Offline KissTheVoid

Re: Rank the albums
« Reply #55 on: October 14, 2014, 01:06:17 AM »
Just the one from Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666. Although I love this video/listen to this one a lot.
My favorite is the one from the 666 Ways To Love (EP) ... It's commonly referred as the 'Deleted Finnish Version' for some reason. http://youtu.be/96dpkoWynVs?t=54s


I had never heard this version before. At first it didn't catch me much but I started liking it more at around 3:45 (and the picture at 4:40  ;) ) I like it. Kiitos.

Offline SilverLiningBE

Re: Rank the albums
« Reply #56 on: December 23, 2014, 07:36:50 AM »
Interesting topic!

Here is mine:

1. Razorblade Romance (what to say? the album that made me felt in love with the band)
2. Venus Doom (mainly for the musical side and the general mood, this album helps me to feel better when I feel down - And I love the guitar riffs)
3. Love Metal (to my opinion, their best work so far, the most complete one)
4. Screamworks (this album perfectly fits the way I drive, it's the one I listen to in my car)
5. Dark Light (weirdly, I never skip any song of this album)
6. GLS Vol.666 (took a lot of time to me to really appreciate it, I am "young" fan)
7. DS&BH (too much repetitive lyrics, a bit boring to me)
9. Tears on Tape (will always remains the last one to me, I got no feeling, no emotion by listening to that album. The lyrics are way to far from the previous ones. And I hate the new keyboard sounds, the acoustic guitar in every chorus...)
"Hurting Linde is like hurting Bambi, you just can't do it..." - Ville Valo

Offline dr3amsofglass

Re: Rank the albums
« Reply #57 on: January 19, 2015, 09:58:02 PM »
Holy crap, this is difficult. But I'll give it a go!

1. Deep Shadows & Brilliant Highlights -My first HIM experience, and I'm still in love with it.
2. Screamworks -This album, lyrics in particular, got me through a really tough time in my life. That's all there is to it.
3. Venus Doom -I think Ville does some of his best vocal work here. The arrangement of the vocal lines absolutely blows my mind.
4. Tears on Tape -I really do love this album. It has all the perfect elements of HIM for me, but it feels less cohesive than my top 3.
5. Love Metal -Classic. I feel bad putting this lower on the list, but it just hasn't affected me the way some of the other albums have.
6. Greatest Lovesongs vol. 666 -I hate ranking this one, but here it is.
7. Razorblade Romance -It's fun and I do appreciate it, but it's not a great example of why I love this band.
8. Dark Light -Meh. I have always liked a few songs, but in general I just don't ever find myself wanting to listen to the album as a whole.

Side note: I am forever angry that And Love Said No is not on a proper album, because it's easily in my top 5 songs list.
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Offline Thanatos

Re: Rank the albums
« Reply #58 on: January 20, 2015, 12:32:38 AM »
This my order i think. i listened first RR but first album is my fav. i this this is the nearest  sound to a "Love Metal" as Genre  :P

1.- GLS666+EP
2.- Razorblade Romance
3.- Love Metal
4.- Venus Doom
5.- DSBH
6.- Tears on Tape
7.- Dark Light
8.- Screamworks

Offline AndreRibeiroPT

Re: Rank the albums
« Reply #59 on: January 20, 2015, 06:01:31 AM »
This is hard to choose but, at the moment, this is my order:

1 - Love Metal (The most complete Album for me, awesome hard/soft songs with excelent lyrics, the order of the songs work good too and sound awesome live, Nr. 1)
2 - Greatest Love Songs vol. 666 (The Album that made me fall in love with their music, miss this "HIM sound" and this kind of vocals)
3 - Venus Doom - (what can I say? I can feel Ville´s pain and angry in the entire album, very personal songs but he gives it all out and that´s what I like)
4 - Razorblade Romance (I don´t know what to say, it has Heaven Tonight, not a favourite of me, but I love the Album)
5 - Deep Shadows & Brilliant Highlights (The album has the sound of not being very good prepared but it´s one of my favourites because I love the live versions of the songs, and that´s it)
6 - Dark Light (Good songs but I don´t identify all of them with HIM, but I like a lot of the vocals on this one)
7 - Tears on Tape (Has too much instrumental sound, that bores me)
8 -  Screamworks (It has good songs I admit, but all the album has a lot of screams, I do like when he pushes his range, but not like this) This Album works fine with me when I´m angry or when I need to say something to someone and I can´t, I scream my lungs out with it!

At the end of the day, I love all of them...
"...I am dead to you, a shadow doomed
My love, forever in the dark
And of all untruths the truest is you
Too close to my heart..."

Offline Amethyst

Re: Rank the albums
« Reply #60 on: January 20, 2015, 08:31:26 PM »
1. Love Metal - This one has sealed its place. It's my first memories and impressions of HIM, what got me into the band and rock music in general, and the sound I see as most representative of HIM. Plus, besides the emotional part, I consider it their peak: it's both powerful and sentimental, lots of different influences are integrated into something unique, and the lyrics are no less than excellent (Ville seems to start having a much deeper understanding of what the heavy stuff he likes to sing about really mean).

2. Venus Doom - This album sounds best when you wake up in the middle of the night and can't sleep again. Feeling depressed like hell also enhances the experience. I must have done this over 100 times.

3. Razorblade Romance - Their strongest album and, as said before me, it's fun. Real good let's-paint-our-nails-black-and-play-some-fucking-rock-music fun.

4. GLS666 (+ the EP's preceding it) - Ah, the raw energy and innocence I find captivating in many bands' first works, even if it's not their finest. There was serious potential behind those semi-confident vocals and fuzzy guitars (and HIM sure lived up to that).

5. Screamworks - Lots of little gems here. The "light" seems to have gained a bit of ground against the "dark", and this album leaves a hopeful aftertaste unlike their previous stuff. Just some songs feel like they should (and could) have been longer.

6. Tears on Tape - Quite mature - and maybe a bit safe. I do enjoy listening to it and see nothing wrong with it, it's just nothing too groundbreaking or exciting. Then again something tells me I'm going to appreciate it a lot more in the future.

7. Dark Light - The first times I listened to it it sounded to me like what a longtime HIM tribute band would play if they started writing their own songs. It has some pretty catchy tunes and great lyrics, it's probably just the whole "americanization" thing that weirds me out (also, that's just a pet peeve of mine, but I hate how that's when they started using song titles as album titles).

8. DSBH - I don't think I'll ever really get this album. It's nice to listen to, and I'll listen to the whole thing from the first song to the last (as I do with all HIM albums), but... yeah. Never did much for me.


Overall this was extremely hard to do as, the way I see it, no 2 HIM albums are alike (and that's one of the main reasons they're still my favourite band). Each has its own charm, and to be honest, except for numbers 1 and 8, any album can easily move higher or lower.
« Last Edit: January 20, 2015, 09:50:55 PM by Amethyst »

Offline KissTheVoid

Re: Rank the albums
« Reply #61 on: January 21, 2015, 03:04:03 AM »
(*) Uneasy Listening Vol. 1, And Love Said No
1. Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights
2. Screamworks
3. Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666
4. Dark Light
5. Venus Doom
6. Razorblade Romance
7. Love Metal
8. Tears On Tape

Deciding 4-7 almost made my brain explode.  And The Heartless being my favorite HIM song (for now at least) bears it a lot of weight therefore a higher spot, spots 1 and 2 are super close.

Just flip-flopped 5 and 7, and DSBH and Screamworks are getting very close to tied.

Offline Eric616

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Re: Rank the albums
« Reply #62 on: January 21, 2015, 03:06:13 PM »
1. Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666
2. Razorblade Romance
3. Love Metal
4. Venus Doom
5. Dark Light
6. Screamworks
7. Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights
Tears on Tape at 5, everything else the same.
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We are the ones with moonlit hearts - run to me
We are the ones with moonlit hearts - run to me
And we belong to another world
Run to me

Offline Jaded_Heart

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Re: Rank the albums
« Reply #63 on: January 21, 2015, 11:34:05 PM »
Dang!  This is what I posted back in 2013 as my order for albums.  I had no idea so much time had passed by.....

1. Dark Light
2. Venus Doom
3. DSBH
4. Razorblade Romance
5. Screamworks
6. Tears on Tape
7. Love Metal
8. GLS 666

And here is how I would order them today:

1. Dark Light
2. Screamworks
3. Tears on Tape
4. Venus Doom
5. DSBH
6. Razorblade Romance
7. GLS 666
8. Love Metal

I don't know why but Love Metal has never ranked that high with me.  I think it's the lyrics - for some reason I don't connect with them as well as other albums. I love Love's Requiem and Endless Dark but the other songs somehow just don't grab me as much as everyone else.

Offline Ziggy18

Re: Rank the albums
« Reply #64 on: January 25, 2015, 11:42:49 PM »
1. Love Metal
2. Tears On Tape
3. Razorblade Romance
4. Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666
5. Venus Doom
6. Dark Light
7. Deep Shadows & Brilliant Highlights
8. Screamworks: Love In Theory And Practice

I kinda want to update mine as well now before the next album.
1. Love Metal
2. Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666
3. Razorblade Romance
4. Tears On Tape
5. Venus Doom
6. Deep Shadows
7. Dark Light
8. Screamworks
« Last Edit: January 25, 2015, 11:47:29 PM by Ziggy18 »
Run Away From The Sun

Offline KissTheVoid

Re: Rank the albums
« Reply #65 on: April 17, 2015, 12:57:18 AM »
(*) Uneasy Listening Vol. 1
1. Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights
2. Screamworks
3. Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666
4. Dark Light
5. Venus Doom
6. Razorblade Romance
7. Love Metal
8. Tears On Tape

Deciding 4-7 almost made my brain explode.  And The Heartless being my favorite HIM song (for now at least) bears it a lot of weight therefore a higher spot, spots 1 and 2 are super close.

Just flip-flopped 5 and 7, and DSBH and Screamworks are getting very close to tied.
(*) Uneasy Listening Vol. 1
1. Screamworks- Think I have been lying to myself for a while now and this should have been my numero uno for quite a while. This is the album I sing along to most. Most challenging of their albums for me vocally. I also think lyrically this is Valo's best.

2. Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights- A nice mellow mood. I would listen to this one before sleeping, helped chase some of the nightmares.

3. Venus Doom- This one makes me think of Halloween and autumn. And when I watched Dante's Inferno: An Animated Epic, the layers of hell.

4. Dark Light- I love the gothic vibe from this one. Visually in my mind this album is the darkest coloring, like a cemetery on a rainy day.

5. Razorblade Romance
6. Love Metal
7. Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666

8. Tears On Tape- HIM songs are never short on gloomier types of emotions but for some reason this album comes across as the "bluest" to me which I guess means I think the title is a great fit lol.

Just moved everything around.

Offline 666Ways

Re: Rank the albums
« Reply #66 on: August 04, 2015, 09:04:02 PM »
My rankings (or rather more like groupings):

1. Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666 - Textbook example of the perfect album. Every track stands on its own, 11/10, but they all blend together so, so cohesively. It's devilishly decadent; this is what comes to mind when I think of "Heavy HIM". Ville is in his vocal prime, and the lyrics don't need to be overly poetic. I'm such a sucker for this doomy gloomy gothic crooning.
1.5. 666 Ways To Love: Prologue - Sticking Dark Sekret Love and Stigmata Diaboli onto the regular track listing of GLS Vol. 666 would have been too good for this world. Also love the demos.
2. Razorblade Romance - This album is simply a whole lotta fun, it can be tongue-in-cheek in almost a TON way but also has so many beautiful tracks like GWTS, OLT, and BMDIYH. Ville just oozes sex appeal with his little gasps and "my darling"s and Linde mirrors with his guitar. Near perfection in a different way than GLS, the only track I'm not head over heels with is Heaven Tonight.

Here the albums become much, much harder to rank...

3. Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights - The instrumentation is a little questionable at times on a few tracks (Salt in our Wounds and those drums on Please Don't Let It Go???), but it has a lot of my favourites as well. Gorgeous vocals. A few tracks toe the line into the filler territory for me, but maybe I need to listen to them more.
4. Love Metal - There are some undeniable classics on this one with amazing vocals, instrumentation, and production. Also a few that toe the filler line (admittedly less than DSBH, but it ranks lower because In Joy and Sorrow and Pretending are two of my faves)

...

5. Dark Light - Very catchy songs and a great introduction to the Americanized "New HIM", but the lyrics start to get pretty dang cheesy, and in a different way than on RR
6. Tears On Tape - This was very hard to rank. I love every single song when they stand alone, but as an album it sounds very safe and repetitive. The verse/chorus progression is basically the same on most of the tracks, and Ville's vocals lack power in some parts. I really love the nod to their RR sound, some songs could definitely fit in that era if you toned down the acoustic and if Ville got to work with his voice.
7. Venus Doom - Experimenting with a heavier, grittier sound paid off pretty well. Tons of instant classics, though the production sounds messy at times. I still wish that "heavier" meant going back to the GLS sound.

And, finally...

8. Screamworks - Even though I have some gripes with all the middle-ranked albums above, I still love them dearly and they get very frequent play-throughs. I've tried hard to love Screamworks the same way, but it just doesn't jive with me at all. The lyrics are a little cringe-worthy to me, and I'm not a fan of the poppy instrumentation. None of the songs really stand out as classics to me.

Offline Jacob La Fey

Re: Rank the albums
« Reply #67 on: August 08, 2015, 12:16:33 PM »
1. Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights
2. Love Metal
3. Greatest Lovesongs
4. Razorblade Romance

Offline HeartagramHorror

Re: Rank the albums
« Reply #68 on: August 08, 2015, 10:27:00 PM »
I'm new and this is my first post. I'm not entirely sure how to use the site yet so go easy on me please :)

1. Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights - I honestly think this album is criminally underrated by most people. Yes, it's slightly poppy, but it still has a dark and atmospheric feel (if I wanted something to be really heavy I would listen to something more extreme. Heaviness does not equal better). Each song on this album touches my heart in a different way, it's very sentimental to me and I often listen to this album with my partner at night. P.S This doesn't affect the quality of the album but The End Records' double-LP coloured vinyl is easily the best looking him vinyl too.

2. Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666 - The sound is so raw and heavy, yet Ville sounds so calm and smooth throughout the majority of the record. It's an amazing effect, almost like The Doors on crack and modernized. This album is the first HIM album I bought aside from And Love Said No, and I remember planning to listen to this whilst playing a game... I was so in love with the music that I didn't end up doing anything other than sitting and taking in the music. Unlike other fans I really enjoy the addition of the female vocals that are featured in Don't Fear the Reaper. Such a great cover.

3. Dark Light - I really like this album despite people calling it HIM's sellout record. I might be shot for this but Rip Out the Wings of a Butterfly is actually one of the best tracks by HIM in my opinion and also happens to be the first song I heard; in the back of my friend's car with the volume cranked high, the second chorus gave me chills that I still get to this day. As a lot of you have stated, the bonus tracks on this album are really good, never thought I would hear a Ramones song sound like this. In the Nightside of Eden is also a very appropriate album closer too, if you're listening to the regular version of the album.        P.S It took me well over a year to get my hands on the vinyl edition of this album!

4. Love Metal - This album is a classic. I think it is probably the album you would lend someone to introduce them to the band. Sweet Pandemonium has one of the most beautiful hooks I've ever heard, the intro riff is amazing. I do prefer some of the live presentations of these songs (Soul on Fire mainly) that can be found on Digital Versatile Doom. I can really credit this album for variety as there is a lot of songs that represent both ends of the band's spectrum. P.S I am quite annoyed that the 'gold' vinyl edition by The End Records isn't really gold. I was so disappointed with that.

5. Tears on Tape - I'm a little shocked that some people rank this the lowest, I really like Tears on Tape and only wish it was longer. I think this is definitely one of the heavier albums by the band, it's so low and bassy which I think suits the songs well. I don't think it's fair that people mark the instrumentals as 'filler' as I believe that's missing the bigger picture; these help build tension, atmosphere and add to the flow of the record. They're not designed for you to listen to them alone but that doesn't mean they are worthless or detract from the record as a whole. This album was really a big comeback for the band in my eyes.

6. Razorblade Romance - I love this album but I do wonder why it's widely considered the definitive HIM album, I feel like it's not what the band stand for and doesn't represent what they are about too well... Although it's a great record still and it's very fun. A gripe I have with the songs is that the demo versions mostly sound better in terms of vocals, Ville sounds far better and I wish he had sung similarly on the final takes. It sounds like I'm bashing the album a bit but I do enjoy it a lot, I just know that if it weren't for the flaws mentioned it could've been one of the best works by the band.

7. Venus Doom - I think there's nothing wrong with this record at all, I just prefer the others for whatever reason I can't put my finger on. There's really cool sampling on this album, such as the children screaming on roller coasters being used within the title track. It sounds authentic. For better or for worse I think this album is probably the least diverse HIM album, which I don't mind too much. Of course, Sleepwalking Past Hope is one of the main attractions here and there's good reason for it. The song is so grand, I feel like the song naturally ended up as long as it is and the band didn't force its length for the sake of it. Something that could've been differently here was definitely Linde's solos, because aside from a couple of exceptions I feel like they're very rushed and 'standard'. P.S The fact that this album never made it to vinyl irritates me greatly.

8. Screamworks - I think that it's become very 'cool' to hate on this album, and quite frankly I don't think that's fair. It's my least favourite HIM album but it is still a great album because HIM have never made a truly bad song in my opinion. Arms of Rain and Like St. Valentine do happen to be a couple of my favourite HIM tracks, and I think they're the highlights of the album. Though I enjoy every moment of the album, I do question a couple of single choices; mostly Heartkiller, which is a killer song but I feel like another song instead could've made for a radio hit.

Not including them as they're not studio albums but I'd like to express the fact that Uneasy Listening 1 & 2 kind of annoy me. There is some great material here but the amount of tracks that are just B sides from the singles bugs me. I feel like if the important tracks from both albums were taken and placed onto just one release instead of two, this could've been far better. Opportunity missed in my view.

Apologies if anyone thinks my views are poor :)
All I ever wanted, was you my love.

Offline Segue Myles

Re: Rank the albums
« Reply #69 on: August 26, 2015, 07:06:05 PM »
New here!

Currently:

1. Love Metal
Favourite Song: Fortress Of Tears

2. Deep Shadows And Brilliant Highlights
Favourite Song: Please Don't Let It Go

3. Razorblade Romance
Favourite Song: One Last Time

4. Screamworks
Favourite Song: Katherine Wheel

5. Dark Light
Favourite Song: In The Nightside Of Eden

6. Venus Doom
Favourite Song: Sleepwalking Past Hope

7. Greatest Lovesongs
Favourite Song: When Love And Death Embrace

8. Tears On Tape
Favourite Song: Tears On Tape

Love Metal has been my favourite HIM album since 2005, when I first heard it. But I find greatness in every album, although in Tears On Tape that greatness is limited to two songs.

Venus Doom has an absolutely perfect opening run of songs, until Dead Lovers Lane. The album nosedives from there.

Screamworks is very underrated. Some days it is my favourite album purely because of the melodic goodness, but it lacks the haunting vibe of the classic early albums.

Aside from Tears On Tape, every HIM album is either a masterpiece or close to being one.

Offline Heisenberg

Re: Rank the albums
« Reply #70 on: March 03, 2017, 06:30:34 PM »
Its hard because i always listen to HIM songs in random order from every album, but i tried:

1. Razorblade romance
2. Love metal
3. GLS666
4. DSBH
5. Venus Doom
6. Tears on Tape
7. Dark Light
8. Screamworks (no i don't hate it! but it had More potention)

Hold me until we're one and sing me you're beautiful song

Offline venus_doom

Re: Rank the albums
« Reply #71 on: November 24, 2020, 11:08:46 AM »
1. Venus Doom (This album is a masterpiece.)
2. Razorblade Romance
3. Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666
4. Dark Light
5. Love Metal
6. Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice
7. Tears on Tape
8. Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights
« Last Edit: November 27, 2020, 01:20:52 PM by venus_doom »

Offline SIRJARVIS01

Re: Rank the albums
« Reply #72 on: November 24, 2020, 10:12:52 PM »
1. VD
2. Love Metal (vinnfox relics)
3. Dark Light
4. DSABH/GLSV666
5. RR
6. ToT
7. SW