Customer Reviews

Deep Shadows And Brilliant Highlights

5 star:		(22)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I remember my first HIM CD..."Razorblade Romance". Great, great CD that was, and still is. I just had to get the rest of their stuff. I ordered "Love Metal", which is now my favorite, then "Greatest Love Songs v. 666", which is my second favorite ("Razorblade Romance" is my third favorite). And I was ultimately with this album. I got into HIM about a year ago from watching the CKY videos, but not just because Bam likes them. I'm not a little skater punk Bam wannabe like so many 'fans' of HIM are. I think it was a very bad decision on HIM's part to let the skater a*shole known as Bam Margera to let him use their music so much, because now most of their fans are pathetic little wannabes who do everything Bam does and listen to everything Bam does. I myself like HIM and CKY (the band), but I would never wear are CKY hat and a HIM shirt together at the same time because it looks like I'm a wannabe. I don't wear anything with a heartagram on it, because Bam's overused it so much people actually think it is HIS symbol. BUT ANYWAY...

As I was saying...I was very disappointed with this album. The tracks are, for the most part, dull. A few standouts, like "Heartache Every Moment" and "Loose You Tonight", but those are really the only two memorable songs. The rest sound so much alike it's hard to tell when the track changes. The lyrics aren't as good as Ville's are on other albums, nor is the overall musicianship. If you want HIM's best musicianship, I suggest you check out "Love Metal".

So, if you want to get into HIM (because you actually like them, not just because Bam likes them), this should definetly be your last pick. Start with "Razorblade Romance" because they actually sell it here in the US and it's the second most basic and acessible (this is the first, but nowhere near as good), then get the fantastic "Love Metal". Peace.

And Bam wannabes, go ahead and mark this with a non-helpful vote. You'll realize how pathetic your obsession is in time.

Once again, Ville Valo and his fantastic band have amazed me with their musical craftsmanship. Their third album sounds great! Songs such as Heartache Every Moment, Pretending and Please Don't Let It Go really manage to touch me and leave a lasting impression.

Very clear on this album is Ville's voice, which really seems to evolve with every new album he produces. He manages to put into his songs a level of emotion that few can match. His own subgenre, love metal, is still very much alive and this album is a true must have for fans of this famous Finnish band. In my opinion, this album is yet another masterpiece and it makes me wonder if this band can actually produce something unworhty.

This may possibly HIM's most underated album to date. Why, I have no idea having listend to all of their albums. Yes, Deep Shadows And Brilliant Highlights does venture a little far from say Greatest Love Songs Vol.666, but so did Razorblade Romance. And Love Metal is just a different from there past works as DSBH. Lucky, the more respectable HIM fans do see this album's greatness. Each HIM album is unique. Thats what makes them so great. You never hear anything repeat.

Standout Tracks:
Salt In Our Wounds
Beautiful
Love You Like I Do

Reccomends:
Greatest Love Songs Vol.666
Razorblade Romance
Deep Shadows And Brilliant Highlights (Digipak)
Love Metal
And Love Said No...The Greatest Hits [1997-2004]
The Singles Collection

Deep Shadows and Brilliant highlights explores various different topics of life. Love, lust, pain and tragedy, but manages to maintain a constant mantra of artistic depth. Ville valos lyrics and poetic tones go straight to your heart and the guitar solos in many of the songs remind you of the skill this band represent. Just beautiful. Songs like "Love you like I do", "please don't let it go" and "In Joy in Sorrow" are just plain beautiful. I don't understand why rock magazine journalist put this album down and give it bad reviews...I happen to find Deep Shadows and Brilliant highlights better then "Razorblade Romance". I like Razorblade Romance, but I love Deep Shadows and Brilliant highlights a million times more.

This album just proves that the void Jim Morrison left when he died in 1971, has now filled up with Ville Valo. Ville is as poetic as you can get. A true poet.

HIM is my all time fav band, theres not a single song i dont like. this cd IS awesome, just like the rest, but not the best. for those of you who like the softer stuff from HIM, this cd is pretty much all the softer stuff(exception of lose you tonite, pretending & salt in our wounds) fav songs off this cd are pretending and beautiful. i agree that import prices are stupid. i buy all their stuff in germany, but would still gladly pay the price in the states!

Ville Valo rules! Bam margera sucks!! Bam margera really used HIM's music and especially the Heartagram logo as his own,considering he has his own fame(well for doing stupid things).So he's been making money from heartagram.I even think he might be making more money from HIM than HIM themselves are!

Bam fans, I encourage you to buy HIM CDs, basically their music is sooo worth of a recognition anyway.
But don't like them just because Bam!!

Me being a fan of all H.I.M.'s music (but not a Bam Margera fan/wannabe/whatever) once seeing this album: Deep Shadows & Brilliant Highlights at the Virgin Records Megastore in NYC I immediately had to buy it. Listening to this album, though, got me a little dissapointed. Ville Valo's voice seemed out of place and unusual, and the tracks seemed more keyboards than any of the instruments. Though saying this, the album is pretty good. The best songs of the album are 'In Joy and Sorrow,' 'Close To the Flame' and 'Beautiful.' In advice, the album is kind of worth the buy, not worth the import price though.

I WAS INTRODUCED TO HIM WHEN I BOUGHT "LOVE METAL" AT RANDOM AT AN HMV OUTLET IN HONG KONG.THEY BLEW ME AWAY.I WOUND UP BUYING ALL THERE RECORDS THROUGH CD NOW.THIS ONE WAS MY LEAST FAVORITE AND HAS NOW BECOME EPIC TO ME.SO EMOTIONAL,SO EXQUISITE!SONGS FOR ALL WHO LOVE,BEEN LOVED,OR WILL LOVE ONE DAY.I KNOW IT SOUNDS SISSY AND ALL,BUT I'M A MELANCHOLY PERSON AND HAVE FOUND HOPE IN MUSIC MADE BY ARTISTS LIKE HIM.DON'T HESITATE AND GIVE THIS RECORD A TRY.IF DOESN'T WORK FOR YOU,THAN PERHAPS YOU SHOULD FIND AN OUTLET ELSEWHERE.TAKE MY WORD,THIS BAND NOT ONLY ROCKS,BUT THEY CAN MAKE A HELL OF A BALLAD.I'M SPEECHLESS.

After becoming addicted to HIM's second CD, Razorblade Romance (which was WONDERFUL) i decided to buy another... and after that, the other two. Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights was next in line. I love it just as much as RR, it's mellower, sure, but equally as good. here's my review of each song:
1.Salt in our wounds- one of the best songs on the CD. 10/10, for sure. The lyrics are great, and the song itself is just awesome!
2.Heartache every moment- 8/10. not the best song on the CD, in my opinion, but still great. The chorus is strong, and the song itself is beautiful.
3.Lose you tonight- 10/10. Love it, Ville's voice is awesome in this song, and I love the chorus.
4.In joy and sorrow- 8/10. the Chorus is okay... not the best. The lyrics are okay as well, i like the melody of the song.
5.Pretending- 10/10. Probably the third best song on the album. I love the chorus, and, once again, Ville's voice is awesome.
6.Close to the Flame. 7/10. A beautiful song, but kinda boring. It doesnt have any umph.
7.Please dont let it go- 10/10 second best song on the album. The chorus is incredible, and Ville's voice is awesome... again. :)
8. Beautiful- 10/10. a truly beautiful song, the lyrics are exelent, and Ville really puts his all into it, especially towards the end of the song.
9.Don't close your heart- 7/10.it starts out kind of odd, but the rest of the song is good. Not my favorite.
10.Love you like i do- 20/10. hands down, the best song on the album. Ville's voice is AMAZING!!!! WHAT RANGE!!! the chorus is beautiful, and the whole song is Haunting and... just all together wonderful.

I like this album more than Razorblade Romance for a few reasons, but the main one being that it has a great 80's rock sound. There is way less of a goth feel to this, and it totally reminds me of great 80's bands like U2 or the Outfield. That's not to say there isn't a great deal of melancholy on this album. There's plenty to keep it from being upbeat or positive, which makes me like it even more. The song "Beautiful" is incredible, and Valo is the only one who could pull off singing a song like that without sounding like a total wuss. If you haven't heard To/Die/For's "Jaded", and you like this, check it out, it's worth a listen.