Razorblade Romance

Razorblade Romance
Studio album by
Publication (s)	December 19, 1999
Label (s)	Great Sonic / Gun Records
Format (s)	CD, LP
Genre (s)	Dark rock
Title (number)	11
running time	54:33
occupation	Singing : Ville Valo Guitar : Mikko Viljami Lindström Bass : Mikko Heinrik Julius Paananen Drums : Juhana Rantala Keyboard : Jani Purttinen
production	John Fryer
Studio (s)	Rockfield, Strongroom, Finnvox
chronology Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666 (1997) Razorblade Romance Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights (2001)

Razorblade Romance ( English for razor blade romance ) is the second studio album by the Finnish rock band HIM . It was published in Finland on December 19, 1999 and in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and other European countries on January 24, 2000. The album was released in the UK on May 15, 2000.

This album meant the big breakthrough in Europe for the Finns, who had been an insider tip until then and were especially known in metal circles. Four singles were released from the album ( Join Me (in Death) , Right Here in My Arms , Poison Girl , Gone with the Sin ), which also received their own music videos. Three of them became number one hits (in Finland and Germany).

Album title

First there was the idea of the album A Razorblade Romance ( A razor Romance to name). After that, other ideas followed (e.g. Slippery when dead , Goth'n'Roll ), but then they came back to Razorblade Romance ( razor blade romance or razor blade romance ).

Album cover

The main color used for this album cover is pink. The design is based on that of the previous album Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666 . Singer Ville Valo is shown again. He is standing with pink eyeshadow and pink lipstick, but still with a cigarette in his mouth, in front of the pink background, on which there are ornaments, angels and snakes, also in pink. He also wears black leather pants and a black, open, leather coat with a fur collar . A white halo was placed around his head. The band logo Heartagram was used on the booklet for the first time . You can see it clearly on the back of the booklet and if you take a closer look you can also see it on the cover picture. The cover was again designed by Janne Uotila, but under the pseudonym Lucifer . If you take the CD out of the case, you can see a photo with the band members behind it. The photos are from Jouko Lehtola. When asked why the album turned pink, Valo replied that he wanted a " Barbie look" to annoy the Gothic fans who always take everything too seriously. In addition, most Gothic albums are kept in dark colors and it should stand out more.

History of origin

Originally, Razorblade Romance was supposed to be created in Finland , again with Hiili Hiilesmaa as producer. The band had even recorded some demos with him at the Finnvox Studios in early 1999 . At the end of 2014, these demo recordings most likely reappeared on the Internet (under the name HIM Demos 1998 or Slippery when Dead ). The song Too happy to be alive , which is also among the demos, has been circulating on the Internet since at least 2004. The other demos are: Poison Girl , Join Me (in Death) , Right Here In My Arms , Gone With The Sin , Razorblade Kiss , Bury Me Deep Inside Your Heart and Resurrection . So the following are missing: I love you , Heaven tonight , Death is in love with us and One last time . This suggests that they emerged later.

Due to disagreements with the producer about the musical direction of the pieces, and due to disagreements about the songs within the band, the collaboration with Hiili was canceled:

“ Interviewer: […] After all, you have cremated parts of the current album and re-recorded them in Wales. Ville: [...] That's right, although I have to say that some of the recordings were only intended as demo versions. But admittedly, the material didn't sound the way it should have sounded. Our drummer never had time to rehearse, and the recordings suffered as a result. [...] Many arrangements were too long and the overall sound too poppy, not rocky enough. [...] "

- Ville Valo; Magazine interview (unknown from which magazine), title: Suomi-Superstars , 2000

"[...] Ville had outbursts of anger in the studio and we just played so we could go home as soon as possible. I was tired of saying it pissed me off. It sounded like trash to me, but you couldn't say that out loud because we put so much energy into the process of making music. When we listened to the tapes, Ville asked if it sounded okay. I said yes. I just wanted to have the songs finished and then forget all the crap. "

- Migé Amour (bass); Book: Synnin Viemää (original in Finnish), chapter 14, 2002

In the spring of 1999, HIM took a trial basis three songs in the Rockfield Studios in Wales ( England on). The actual recordings took place in July (again at Rockfield Studios) and lasted 22 days. This time the producer was John Fryer . Ville Valo said the following about the recordings:

Chart positions Explanation of the data

Albums

Razorblade Romance   DE 1 01/24/2000 (58 weeks)   AT 1 01/24/2000 (16 weeks)   CH 8th 01/24/2000 (32 weeks)   FI 1 04/2000 (30 weeks)

Singles

Join Me (in Death)   DE 1 11/02/1999 (22 weeks)   AT 2 11/02/1999 (13 weeks)   CH 8th 11/02/1999 (26 weeks)   FI 1 48/1999 (37 weeks) Right Here in My Arms   DE 22nd 03/06/2000 (10 weeks)   CH 45 03/06/2000 (12 weeks)   FI 1 11/2000 (15 weeks) Poison girl   DE 34 07/03/2000 (6 weeks)   FI 3 29/2000 (5 weeks) Gone with the Sin   DE 19th 10/21/2000 (12 weeks)   CH 89 10/21/2000 (7 weeks)   FI 1 45/2000 (11 weeks)

"[...] We had a party, some of the boys danced naked through the studio and we got really drunk. I sang the lyrics of each song three times in a row, that's 45 takes in one night. In contrast to the debut, we took large blocks of this session and lined them up instead of doing a "vocal puzzle" [...] While its predecessor was about love in general, Razorblade Romance only refers to one specific person, my inspiration, my muse . "

- Ville Valo; Hammer Magazine, Title: Satan's Most Beautiful Son , February 2000

Publications and chart placements

Due to the previous single and the most famous hit Join Me (in Death) , which was number 1 in the German single charts for 4 weeks, the success of the album was also predictable. In total, Razorblade Romance sold over 750,000 copies, was also number 1 in the album charts for weeks and received three gold and one platinum records in Germany . Thus the international breakthrough was achieved, albeit initially only in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. The album was also released in a limited version with two bonus tracks, Sigillum Diaboli and The 9th Circle (OLT) , which in turn are alternative versions of the songs Stigmata Diaboli and One last time .

The album was only officially released in the USA in 2005. But Razorblade Romance was already sold there in 2003 under the band name HER (His Evil Royalty) in import music stores. Another local jazz band there already claimed the name HIM for themselves, which is why this emergency solution was necessary. Later the rights to the band name in the USA were sold to the Finns. Now the band could use their actual name on later pressings. The few Razorblade Romance copies that appeared as HER are now sought-after collectibles. Versions with different title lists appeared in the United Kingdom and the United States. For this the two songs Wicked Game ( cover version by Chris Isaak ) and Your Sweet 666 , which actually come from the band's first album , were re-recorded.

Due to the continued success of the album, another limited version was released in the course of the year, which includes the album (UK version) and a live CD with six songs from the Werchter Festival (July 2000). In addition to the CD version, a vinyl record with a modified track list has also been released. The version published in Eastern Europe differs from the standard version in the cover design. Instead of pink, the background is light blue.

Join Me (in Death) was chosen for the soundtrack of the film “ The 13th Floor - Are you what you think? “Used. In their home country Finland, the band reached # 1 twice with the single and stayed there for 13 weeks. Gone with the Sin is a reference to the novel and movie " Gone With the Wind " (original title: Gone with the Wind ).

In addition, the first edition of the CD, along with My Private War by Phillip Boa & The Voodoo Club, was one of the first to be equipped with a new type of copy protection in the form of a manipulated TOC . The second edition then appeared without this copy protection.

Music style and topic

Music genre

At that time the band turned away from the metal influences of the first album. With Razorblade Romance , HIM developed away from the darker sound and into a more rocky direction. The album contains a mix of fast and slow songs.

Romeo and Juliet

According to Ville Valo, Join Me (in Death) is about the love story of Romeo and Juliet .

Information about the video clips

Of Join Me (In Death) , there are two videos:

• Join Me ( laser version ): This song was used for the credits of the film The 13th Floor . That is why a video clip was created in the VTTV studios (now renamed Havelstudios) in Berlin to match the film. The band plays in a pitch dark room and you can see green laser light, as in the film. A blonde woman was also filmed, but she has very few scenes in the video clip. The main focus is on Ville Valo, who wears glitter make-up in the David Bowie style. The laser version is available in at least three cut versions. Scenes from the film were integrated into two of the versions, one ending with scenes from the film, the other with a scene in which you can see Valo. The third version only contains scenes from filming with the band (no film clips). This video clip was made at the end of 1999 under the direction of Robert Wilde. Originally only this version of the video was shown in Germany.
• Join Me ( ice version / version for the southern European area): For the southern European area, another completely different video clip was made for Join Me in 2000. The location was London, although the video was not shown on English television at the time. It was the band's first collaboration with director Bill Yukich, who later made the videos for Wicked Game (2000 version) and Gone with the sin for the band. In the Join Me video, the band plays in front of an artificial styrofoam backdrop that depicts the inside of an ice castle. The video is very magical and you can also see a woman who is a kind of ice queen.

Right Here In My Arms was filmed in a glass factory. A kind of glass room was set up on the set in which the band played. The video clip also shows Ninja Sarasalo, a very successful model in Scandinavia at the time. Directed by Pasi Pauni.

Poison Girl contains recordings from a performance by the band on March 29, 2000 in the Arena Berlin.

Gone with the sin was filmed in the countryside and in a cemetery near London in 2000. The director was again Bill Yukich. The day before the band had shot the Wicked Game video clip with him for Southern Europe (it was not shown in Germany) (for information on the Wicked Game videos, see: Greatest Lovesongs Vol. 666 ). The original idea for Gone with the sin was to film in 1950s pastel colors and portray a gloomy person walking through a flowering meadow. The color concept wasn't quite met, at least Ville Valo said it didn't meet his expectations. The film material was colored. Valo in black and white to represent the gloomy person and the landscape in bright colors. HIM's record company in Germany was apparently not one hundred percent satisfied either, so there is a second version of the music video. Another director (Ercin Filizli) projected the original, uncolored footage onto the naked bodies of three women and two young men who were in a dark room. So the bodies only serve as a canvas and appear almost transparent. Originally only this version of the video was shown in Germany.

Information on individual songs

• I love you (Prelude to Tragedy) was never played live in the album version. However, HIM played the song live in a slightly different demo version for test purposes at concert appearances before the release of Razorblade Romance .
• In the text of Join Me (In Death) is about the love story of Romeo and Juliet
• Join Me and Poison Girl were originally a song that was later made two
• Gone with the Sin is about a girl Ville was cheated on when he was a teenager (1992). He said with the song and video clip he wanted to bury the relationship for good.
• Razorblade Kiss , was originally called Razorblade Romance , but this became the album title.
• Heaven Tonight was never played live by HIM
• Of Resurrection , there are two demo versions. One of them has to be the demo recording for Razorblade Romance , which was made with Hiili Hiilesmaa . The other is entitled I've crossed oceans of wine to find you and is much older. This demo differs significantly from the two other ressurection versions in terms of text and, above all, musically . The opening text is almost identical: "There was a time, when I could breath my life in you. And one by one, your pale fingers started to move. And I touched your face and all life ( Resurrection ) / and all death ( I've crossed oceans of wine to find you ) was erased and you smiled like an angel falling from grace ( Resurrection ) / falling from heaven ( I've crossed oceans of wine to find you ). "
• One last time the band almost never played live. There is an audio recording from 2000 and two recordings from Rock am Ring and Rock im Park 2001. After that, they never played the song again.

Backward message

If you play Gone with the sin backwards, with a little imagination you can hear a backward message that even makes some sense:

Section A: Hmm, hell I liked. I miss you (oh / a lot), Iris or I'm Lucifer, Iris. I'm in love, believe me. In the end I miss you a lot. or In the end I'm Lucifer. Like me! I'm lost. Believe me ... that I (am) mourn. or You must believe me… that I (am) mourn. I'm in love, believe me. In the end I mourn. Guitar solo (backwards) Section A (1x) Section B: (Where was I?) I love her (, Sven) - and her hips (/ lips) I'm right. Hope she is nice to you. Fear again. I was there. Her lips (once / were) pale - I'm sure. Where were you? Her hips (/ lips) belong to (? / Me / her) Section A (1x)

Section A (translation): Hmm, I liked hell. I miss you (oh / very) Iris. or I am Lucifer , Iris. I am in love, believe me. In the end I miss you very much. or ultimately I am Lucifer. Like me! or, maybe also: You should like me! I am lost. Believe me ... that I am grieving. or you have to believe me ... that I am grieving. I am in love, believe me. In the end I am sad. Guitar solo (backwards) Section A (1x) Section B: (Where was I?) I love her (, Sven) - and her hips (/ lips) I am right. Hope she is nice to you. Afraid again. I was there. Your lips (once / were) pale - I'm sure. Where have you been? Your hips (/ lips) belong to (? / Me / her). Section A (1x)

Then you hear words that no longer make sense.

Playlists

The pieces without further information were written by Ville Valo.

Razorblade Romance (German Standard Version)

1. I Love You (Prelude To Tragedy) - 3:09
2. Poison Girl - 3:51
3. Join Me (in Death) - 3:36
4. Right Here in My Arms - 4:03
5. Gone with the Sin - 4:22
6. Razorblade Kiss - 4:18
7. Bury Me Deep Inside Your Heart - 4:16
8. Heaven Tonight - 3:18
9. Death is in Love with Us - 2:58
10. Resurrection - 3:39
11. One Last Time - 5:10

Limited Edition Bonus Titles (Finland and Germany)

12. Sigillum diaboli
13. The 9th Circle

Razorblade Romance (UK Standard Version)

• One last time is not included!

1. Your sweet 666
2. Poison girl
3. Join Me in Death
4. Right Here in My Arms
5. Bury Me Deep Inside Your Heart
6. Wicked game
7. I Love You (Prelude To Tragedy)
8. Gone with the Sin
9. Razorblade Kiss
10. Resurrection
11. Death is in Love with Us
12. Heaven Tonight

Razorblade Romance (US Standard Version)

1. Your sweet 666
2. Poison girl
3. Join Me in Death
4. Right Here in My Arms
5. Bury Me Deep Inside Your Heart
6. Wicked Game ( Chris Isaak )
7. I Love You (Prelude To Tragedy)
8. Gone with the Sin
9. Razorblade Kiss
10. Resurrection
11. Death is in Love with Us
12. Heaven Tonight
13. Sigillum diaboli
14. One last time

Bonus title of the limited edition with 2CDs

• CD1: Same track list and order as in the UK Standard Version.
• CD2: Live tracks from the Werchter Festival (July 2000):

1. Right Here in My Arms - live
2. Your sweet 666 - live
3. Poison Girl - live
4. Death is in Love with Us - live
5. Wicked Game - live ( Chris Isaak )
6. Join Me in Death - live

Charts

In the Austrian charts , the album stayed at number one for two weeks and 16 weeks in the charts and was awarded gold . In Germany Razorblade Romance also reached one of the album charts and was awarded triple gold. The album received another gold record in Switzerland ( Top 10 ) and double platinum in Finland (number one in the album charts).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ [1] , source: himforfans.beepworld.de/magazines.htm (old fan page with interview transcripts ) to be found in the “Magazines2000” section under the title HIM - AUS DER PARADIESISCHEN HöLLE , magazine: Break Out , interview from 1998, quote : “The title of the next HIM work is supposedly already fixed.” Valo : “We thought of A Razorblade Romance , but that can still change. [...] "; Retrieved August 4, 2015.
2. ↑ [2] Video title: "HIM at Breakfast with Markus Kavka 1999" VIVA Zwei -Interview with Ville, Mige and Markus Kavka , broadcast: 2Rock , from minute 4:20; last accessed on August 4, 2015
3. ↑ [3] , source for the year: himforfans.beepworld.de/magazines.htm (old fan page with interview transcripts ) Title: Die für die Liebe from the Divine6 magazine from January 2000, quote: “[…] You already found yourself in spring 1999 with the producer Hiili [...] and was soon able to present new pieces. But the band seemed to lack that certain something in these pieces, so they decided without further ado not to use the existing material and to record the album from scratch. For this purpose, the help of John Fryer was used [...]. "
4. ↑ ^{a b c} Juho K. Juntunen: Synnin Viemää. WSOY, 2002, ISBN 951-0-27304-X , Chapter 14 = pp. 122–135 (Finnish)
5. ↑ [4] , source: himforfans.beepworld.de/magazines.htm (old fan page with interview transcripts )
6. ↑ [5] , video title: "HIM in studio - 'I Love You' Recording (1999)", test recordings for 3 songs in Wales
7. ↑ [6] Video title: "Ville Valo short Interview 1999", Interview with Valo and Robert Wilde on the set for Join me . At 3:47 minutes, Valo says the album was recorded in July.
8. ↑ Juho K. Juntunen: Synnin Viemää. WSOY, 2002, ISBN 951-0-27304-X , Chapter 14 = pp. 136-137 (Finnish)
9. ↑ [7] HIM page from the Rockfield Studios guest book
10. ↑ see: R azorblade Romance booklet
11. ↑ Charts DE Charts AT Charts CH Charts FI
12. ↑ [8] , source: himforfans.beepworld.de/magazines.htm (old fan page with interview transcripts ) to be found under the title Satan's most beautiful son
13. ↑ Starfacts: HIM (magazine)
14. ↑ http://www.charts-surfer.de/musiksuche.php
15. ↑ Gold / platinum database - Bundesverband Musikindustrie e. V.
16. ↑ HIM - Razorblade Romance  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
17. Jump up ↑ http://www.musicmight.com/ Nahrungsmittel/artist/ Genealogie  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
18. ↑ Archived copy ( memento of the original dated February 9, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
19. ↑ [9] Video title: "Ville & Mige Interview 2000", from minute: 4:13
20. ↑ [10] , source: himforfans.beepworld.de/magazines.htm (old fan page with interview transcripts ), magazine interview from the end of 1999, to be found in the "Magazines2000" section under the heading Die Lichtgestalt , quote from a journalist who wrote the band while shooting a video clip visited by Join Me : “In the Berlin VTTV studios you can't see your hand in front of your eyes [...]. It's so dark that I hit my right knee three times [...]. "
21. ↑ [11] Video title: "Ville Valo short Interview 1999", interview with Valo and Robert Wilde on the set of Join Me . At minute 3:10 the name of the director is displayed.
22. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Juho K. Juntunen: Synnin Viemää. WSOY, 2002, ISBN 951-0-27304-X , Chapter 24 = pp. 234–237 (Finnish)
23. ↑ [12] Video title: "Ville & Mige Interview in bed 1/4", at 2:10 minutes, Valo says that Yukich directed one version of each of Gone with the sin , Join Me and Wicked Game . Note: John Hillcoat was often mistakenly named as director for Join Me because he is listed as director on the DVD Love Metal Archives Vol 1 . This must be a mistake, as Synnin Viemää is mentioned in the HIM biography as well as in interviews by Bill Yükich.
24. ↑ [13] Video title: "HIM - I Love You (Live Frankfurt 1998)", last accessed on July 15, 2015
25. ↑ Article scan by Yam can be found under Pix - Magazine photos - Yam (it is the scan on which a photo with Ville can be seen, on which he has one hand in his pants); Yam !, Interview from November 29th, 2000 Table with the date of the interview , title: Totally crazy - Ville: My sins! or: "old HIM fan page with interviews" - magazine interview ( Yam! ) in German, article transcript (easier to read than the scan), title: "Meine Sünden", November 2000; Quote: "It's a sad love song about a broken relationship. She cheats on him and thus destroys her great love. The song has a real background: One of my first friends cheated on me. That was 8 years ago. Then I stood out of desperation Next to me for months. I had loved this girl like no other person before - and then this: She gets into bed with someone else! " Interviewer: "In the video you can be seen in a cemetery, among other places ..." Ville: "That was my idea. With the song and the clip, I wanted to finally bury the relationship." ; 8 years ago would have been 1992 at this point in time, Ville was 15 and 16 years old at the time. accessed July 15, 2015
26. ↑ [14] Video title: "HIM - One Last Time (Live at Ruisrock 2001)", note: exactly the same live version used to be found on the Internet under the name HIM-Kelo Club 2000 , so it is not entirely clear which year is correct, probably 2000, because the song was first to be found under this label
27. ↑ [15] , video title: "HIMGONE WITH THE SIN (REVERSE)", audio from Gone with the sin played backwards. Last accessed on July 30, 2015