Even though
H.I.M.
's main goal seems to be gaining attention from a female audience,
Greatest Lovesongs
sure was artistically a success. The contrast between
Razorblade Romance
and the debut, however, is quite large. Melancholy and angst seem a little artificial, while
had a truly pressuring atmosphere all the time.
forgets all about that, and the whole concept of
gothic rock
and so-called love
metal
repeats itself many times during the album. But the songs themselves are actually very good; when ignoring the implementation, hit songs like
"Join Me in Death"
and
"Right Here in My Arms"
work really nicely. And horrendous cliches in lyrics and playing don't really matter, because
recycles them well. The slightly over-produced sound may distract for a while, but after all, the song material is of a kind that is hard to fit into a demanding format. Anyhow, the songs as a whole are organized well, and it's easy to listen the album the whole way through. ~ Antti J. Ravelin