Greatest Lovesongs was the first full album released by the Finnish gothic metallers, HIM. It contains two covers; Chris Isaak's Wicked game and Blue Oyster Cult's (Don't Fear) The Reaper.
1. Your Sweet Six Six Six
This song jumps straight into the chorus before revealing Ville's volcals and a keyboard backing. The lyrics "And i'm ready to take your six six six into my heart" then become very catchy as the chorus repeats itself. In the place of a solo is a short interval which consists of a quiet drum beat and slow, distorted vocals before Ville screams "Oh my god you're so lonely!!" and it bursts back into the chorus again. 8.5/10
2. Wicked Game
The original version of this song was performed by Chris Isaak with acoustic guitar and soft, slow vocals so a cover by HIM would seem an interesting prospect. As it turns out they came out top, the song bursts right into the 3 chord guitar sequence and the vocals that lead up to the chorus: "The world was on fire and no-one could save me but you....". The chorus really showcases Ville's vocal ability with him hitting some extremely high notes. The drum and bass lines are simple and repeat all the way through the song but help to showcase the brilliant fill ins and brilliant solo. A brilliant song all round which helped HIM get off to a flying start as their first single. 10/10
3. The Heartless
This is a slower track than the previous two and takes you away from the raw guitar power. The drums are quite prominent here, maybe more so than the clean guitar in the background, but once again Ville's vocals come out loud and clear with the line "He's the heartless" reapeating many times throughout the song. It stays much the same until a small interval which makes way for a good distorted guitar solo but quickly fades back into the chorus that ends the song. Overall a good quieter song although the constant repeating of the chorus can become irritating after a few listens. 7/10
4. Our Diabolikal Rapture
The loudness returns once again with this song which manages to balance the softer and louder parts well with Ville singing between the guitar parts. Once again there is a quiet interval in the place of a solo with a clean guitar backing and Ville singing quietly. 8.5/10
5. It's All Tears (Drown In This Love)
Once again, this is another song that bursts straight into the chorus without an intro. The guitar parts are similar in style to 'Your Sweet Six Six Six' and 'Our Diabolikal Rapture'. The vocals are interesting in the chorus with 2 lines sung with a deep bellowy voice and then the third being cried out. The song ends quite abruptly by cutting out, then stopping alltogether. 8/10
6. When Love And Death Embrace
This is another slow and quite emotional song with a very repetative chorus accompanied by a palm muted guitar and simple drum beat. Just as you think the song will never end (It's over 6 minutes long) a good and very fitting guitar solo comes in and continues until the song fades out. 7/10
7. The Beginning Of The End
This is another loud song with an awesome and haunting bass line which emphasises the title of the track quite well. The only thing that the song really lacks is a good solo as there is only a small interval with bass and drums. 8/10
8.(Don't Fear) The Reaper
This song was originally performed by the band 'Blue Oyster Cult' which was very fast and more electronic than this version. I think the song sounds better being slower, the lyrics are supposed to sound haunting and this is done well as the lyrics are sung as a duet with Ville and another female singer. There is a long interval half way through with just keyboard and synthesizer which complements the song well. Overall I think this song is better than the original because it emphasises the title much better. 9/10
9. For You
This is one song on the album which starts slowly with a quiet guitar intro and manages to sum up all of the album in one song by repeating many of the subjects of the others. Once again a haunting atmosphere is created by a female voice in the background almost all of the way through the song. In place of a solo is a piece with Valo screaming the lyrics in a distorted voice until the song quickly fades out with the words "I'm for you". 8.5/10
Hidden track
The album is 66 minutes and 6 seconds long and there are 66 tracks to fit with the title, tracks 10 - 65 are blank but close to the end of track 66 there is a short instrumental piece thought to be a demo of an old song.
Overall this is a good first album and shows the band at their roughest and most haunting side which is quite different from their other 4 although some of the songs are sometimes too repetative, so this gets 4/5 overall.
