HIM: And Love Said No…
A summary of the Finnish goth rockers’ back catalogue, And Love Said No… sounds, at first listen, to be a soundtrack for embittered romantics who like to take a walk on the dark side. While there is some heavy metal material (It’s All Tears and Buried Alive by Love for example) on the album, there are also some mellow and tender songs which have more in common with blues and easy-listening artists. This mixture of styles is largely to do with the wide range of influences among the band’s members: the drummer is a Slayer fan, the guitarist and bassist are into Jimi Hendrix, the keyboard player owns Tchaikovsky records and chain-smoking frontman Ville Valo is a self-confessed Johnny Cash and Roy Orbison fan. The result is a refreshing blend of delicate melodies, metal riffs and heartfelt lyrics that can appeal to fans of power ballads as well as metalheads.
If you’re already a fan of the band, is this album worth listening to? My opinion is yes, it is. Most of the tracks are either remixes of existing ones or taken directly from one of their four previous albums, but there are a couple of unreleased songs (namely the title track and a cover of Neil Diamond’s Solitary Man) and a bonus DVD. The DVD consists of live performances of the material of their LP Love Metal which is a very welcome extra.
In Summary
A brilliant summary of the band’s career for new listeners and fans alike. The DVD is a fantastic bonus as well.
Tracklisting
CD
- And Love Said No
- Join Me (Razorblade Mix)
- Buried Alive by Love
- Heartache Every Moment
- Solitary Man
- Right Here in my Arms
- The Funeral of Hearts
- In Joy and Sorrow
- Your Sweet 666
- Gone with the Sin
- Wicked Game
- The Sacrament
- Close to the Flame
- It’s all Tears (Drown in this Love)
- Poison Girl
- Pretending (Album Version)
- When Love and Death Embrace
Bonus DVD
- Soul on Fire
- The Funeral of Hearts
- Beyond Redemption
- Sweet Pandemonium
- Buried Alive by Love
- The Sacrament
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