'Razorblade Romance'

(CREDIT: Truely not mine. Obviously.)

My Rank: 4.3 out of 5 <- THE PINK BURNS ME EYES!

The first time I saw this album, I was ready to puke my organs out. The first listen wasn't so bad... but the nausia remained.

Yes, Razorblade Romance is obnoxious in many ways. It's bright. It's PINK. The music remindes one of eating hard candy. The love songs are so corny you want to shoot Cupid with a bazooka. And Ville Valo... WHY look so ridiculous?! The worst part is... this album is lovable.

It's like that loud class clown who does the stupidest things to get people to pay attention to his joke. But at least, the joke makes the majority of the class genuinely laugh until they cry. And no, Razorblade Romance is not that fantastic, but it's kinda hard to think badly of it.

Let's re-examine the formula this album is based on: Cliche love songs to make the females' hearts flutter? CHECK. A singer whose charisma and voice make the estrogen rise at dangerous levels? CHECK. A product whose appearance screams "Look at me!" to passerby? CHECK. A rock band that plays their instruments well enough to bring wine to make the cheese taste better? Well, a friend of mine on Pandora once commented that one of the songs off this record had badass riffs and lyrics that made vomit slightly rise to his throat. So I guess that's another CHECK.

So yeah. This record is a cocktail of [a very small amount of] goth, hard rock, love, the 80's, and glam. And a song that sounds like a rip off of Bon Jovi. ...and high fructose corn syrup.

Because listening to this is like having a really fruity, tart, and strong non-alcoholic drink at a resteraunt, Razorblade Romance should not be a first purchase for anyone interested in HIM. At least, that's just me talking. Any HIM fan I have seen as said this is the band at their peak (which is true in terms of record sales and European popularity,) but this is a wilder side of HIM I was not ready for when I was a new fan. If my one Pandora friend only listened to HIM songs off this album, he might have ran away like the plague was coming. So if you are one who doesn't like to be surprised too much... avoid this for now. Razorblade Romance is best as a second or third HIM purchase.

Some highlights I'd like to name are "Razorblade Kiss," "Death Is in Love with Us," "Join Me in Death," and "Right Here in My Arms." The singles are definately worth checking out though... but prepared for the look of "Join Me in Death..." that one is... interesting.

If you ask me, this is the HIM album I listen to the LEAST. I love it, since I love each record almost equally, but this is not one I would talk too much about. It's like a place I'd only visit every once in a while, but my mind is too preoccupied by other things. When life gets too busy, sometimes I need that insane clown to scream, "LOOK AT ME, FANGIRL!!!" for me to laugh for a while...