HIM (band)
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This band is not to be mistaken with His Infernal Majesty
HIM is an alternative rock band, formed by vocalist Ville Valo. They are often mistaken as Metal, due to their album titled Love Metal. The band combines lyrical themes of love and romance. The band was formed in 1994 by vocalist Ville Valo, along with Linde Lindström and Mige Amour. The logo of the band is the Heartgram 
The band released their EP in 1996, titled "666 Ways To Love: Prologue", which features the only publicly known picture of Valo's mother, Anita. They became reasonably well-known throughout Finland because of their cover of Chris Isaak's hit "Wicked Game". In 1997, they received a large amount of exposure in Scandinavia, when their first full length album was released, titled "Greatest Love Songs Volume 666".
In 1999, the band released their second full-length album titled "Razorblade Romance"". The album received a large amount of exposure in Europe, when a track titled "Join Me In Death" was featured in the European version of "The 13th Floor"; which reached the top of the German charts in 2000. After the European success they went on to release three more singles from the same album entitled: "Right Here In My Arms", "Poison Girl", and "Gone With The Sin".
In 2001, the band released their third full-length album titled "Deep Shadows And Brillant Highlights". They released four singles off that album: "Pretending", "In Joy And Sorrow", "Heartache Every Moment" and "Close To The Flame". After recording Deep Shadows And Brilliant Highlights, three members of the group formed a rock and roll group called "Daniel Lioneye". The members of that band include Lilly Lazer, Ville Valo and Mige Amour.
In 2003, the band released their fourth full-length album title "Love Metal", which was well received by the United States media, in particular the Kerrang magazine and also the Rolling Stone magazine. The band did not develop a wide following in the United States until the release of the album Love Metal. After the release of the album, the band did a United States tour in February of 2003.
As of 2005, HIM is currently recording another album.
Some controversy exists as to the meaning of the initials "HIM." Some mistakenly believe that it stands for "His Infernal Majesty", but there are rumours circulating that the letters stand for another phrase. According to Ville Valo however, it does not stand for anything as he assures on their website;
Well, sometimes I wish that we’d picked other name for the band than HIM. The name constantly pisses me off. It’s utterly terrible! HIM! The upside is that it doesn’t actually mean anything, there are just three letters which are pronounced similarily in basically every language. It’s practical.
In almost every interview someone asks what does HIM stand for. I can’t even remember our latest lie about that. When Hanson was hot, we said it means Hanson Is Murder. The name doesn’t have a particular history. His Infernal Majesty was a totally different band. I think HIM derives from some death metal joke. And it was our protest to Haile Selassie’s rastafarian religion, he used to be called His Imperial Majesty. But nowadays because of Linde’s hair, we actually might be supporting him.
For more information on the band as well as a community visit www.Heartagram.org (http://heartagram.org)
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Discography
Studio Releases
- Greatest Love Songs Vol. 666 - (1997)
- Razorblade Romance - (2000)
- Deep Shadows And Brilliant Highlights - (2001)
- Love Metal - (2003)
EPs
- 666 Ways To Love: Prologue [EP] - (1996)
Live And Other Releases
Singles
- Wicked Game (1996)
- When Love And Death Embrace (1997)
- Your Sweet 666 (1998)
- Join Me (1999)
- Right Here In My Arms (2000)
- Poison Girl (2000)
- Gone With The Sin (2000)
- Pretending (2001)
- In Joy And Sorrow (2001)
- Heartache Every Moment (2002)
- The Funeral Of Hearts (2003)
- Buried Alive By Love (2003)
- The Sacrament (2003)
- Solitary Man (2004)
- And Love Said No (2004)
Current Members
- Ville Valo, vocals, 1994-present
- Lily Lazer, guitar, 1994-present
- Mige Amour, bass, 1994-present
- Gas Lipstick, drums, 1999-present
- Emerson Burton, keyboard, 2000-present
Former Members
- Antto Melasniemi, keyboard, 1994 - 1998
- Zoltan Pluto, keyboard, 1998 - 2000
- Juhana Rantala, drums, 1994 - 1999
Similar Bands
- Negative
- The Sisters of Mercy
- Icon
- Daniel Lioneye
- Entwine
- Charon
- Technicolour
- The 69 Eyes
- Bloody Mary
External links
- Official Site (http://www.heartagram.com)
- Fan Site (http://www.heartagram.org)de:HIM (Band)
es:HIM it:HIM pl:HIM ro:HIM fi:HIM sl:His Infernal Majesty sv:HIM