THE BAND: Ville Valo (vocals), Mikko Lindstrom (guitars), Mikko "Mige" Paananen (bass), Janne "Burton" Puurtinen (keyboards), Antto Melasniemi (keyboards), Jussi-Mikko "Juska" Salminen (keyboards), Mika "Gas" Karppinen (drums), Juhana Tuomas "Pätkä" Rantala (drums). H.I.M. - His Infernal Majesty. Origin: Finland.

THE DISC: (2004) 16 songs clocking in at approximately 67 minutes. Included with the disc is a 9-page foldout containing one band photo, song credits, and a poster of Valo on the reverse side. All songs written by Valo, except for "Wicked Game" (Chris Isaak) and Solitary Man (Neil Diamond). As the title of the disc states, this compilation follows the band from 1997-2004 (only). Also - there is special edition version of this album available - with a 2nd disc (DVD) featuring 6 live songs from Helsinki's Semifinal Club. Label - Universal Republic / BMG Finland.

ALBUM REPRESENTATION: Greatest Love Songs - Vol. 666 (1 song), Razorblade Romance (6), Deep Shadows And Brilliant Highlights (4), Love Metal (3), Unreleased (2). Two songs ("Your Sweet Six Six Six" and "Wicked Game") originally appeared on "Greatest Love Songs - Vol. 666" but were rerecorded and presented on "Razorblade Romance". The versions from "Razorblade Romance" are featured here.

COMMENTS: Unfamiliar with H.I.M.? Try this one. There are a few other H.I.M. compilations out there, but I feel this one is the broadest and best. In addition, "And Love Said No - The Greatest Hits" gives you all studio cuts, verses others mixing live and/or alternate takes of the same songs. THE GOOD: A great selection of songs. I couldn't have picked the tracks any better. The standards are all here - "Join Me In Death", "Buried Alive By Love", "In Joy And Sorrow", "Your Sweet 666", "The Sacrament", "Poison Girl", "Heartache Every Moment", stc. Since "Dark Light" and "Venus Doom" weren't released at the time of this compilation, I won't get into how it's missing tracks from these two outstanding albums. The two new songs are solid. "And Love Said No" is a mid-tempo rocker that will soon become one of your all-time favorite H.I.M. tunes. The 2nd is a cover of Neil Diamond's "Solitary Man". Since I was never a big fan of Neil's, H.I.M.'s faster, harder take on the song is creative and instantly likeable for me. Sound production is crisp (no muddiness at all when cranked up). THE NOT SO GOOD: The vast majority of music compilations are hit and miss. Not here - not much to complain about at all. I do feel that "Love Metal" is a strong album and perhaps underrepresented. Two "Love Metal" favorites of mine, though not hits, would fit right into the feel of this mix - "Beyond Redemption"" and the fast-paced "Soul On Fire". The liner notes are sparse - no song lyrics, and no listing of what songs came from which albums and/or year released. OVERALL: Even if you own all of H.I.M.'s studio albums, this "And Love Said No - Greatest Hits" is essential. A couple of reasons: 1st - fans must have the two stellar unreleased songs in their collection, and 2nd - so many great tracks all in one place. Solid (5 stars).

For people unfamiliar with HIM, this is a great place to start as it has a lot of their best hits. In addition, it has 2 exclusive tracks: And Love Said No and a cover of Solitary Man. However, if you own all the albums that came out before this, then it is really up to you. The 2 exclusives are worth the price to me as I bought it despite having every single version of every single album they ever released.

And Love Said No - I like this song. It's very well done.

Solitary Man - Great cover from Neil Diamond.

AND LOVE SAID NO: THE GREATEST HITS 1997-2004 is obviously H.I.M.'s first-ever greatest hits compilation, featuring only the best of H.I.M.'s music, featuring that of two brand new songs entitled, "And Love Said No", which turned out to be the album's title track and first single release, and "Solitary Man", a cover of Neil Diamond's original, the album's second single release. The rest of the album is jam packed with H.I.M.'s greatest hits from 1997 (GREATEST LOVESONGS VOL. 666) to 2004 (LOVE METAL).

AND LOVE SAID NO

New song. First single from the album. One hell of a tune. The song is perfect to start off the album, as well as be the album's first single release.

JOIN ME IN DEATH (Razorblade Mix)

"Razorblade Mix" from the album RAZORBLADE ROMANCE. Awesome remix.

BURIED ALIVE BY LOVE

From the album LOVE METAL (2003). Great song.

HEARTACHE EVERY MOMENT

From the album DEEP SHADOWS AND BRILLIANT HIGHLIGHTS (2001). One of my favorites.

SOLITARY MAN

New song. Second single from the album. Great cover, but I never liked Neil Diamond.

RIGHT HERE IN MY ARMS

From the album RAZORBLADE ROMANCE (1999). Another great one.

THE FUNERAL OF HEARTS

From the album LOVE METAL (2003). Awesome tune.

IN JOY AND SORROW

From the album DEEP SHADOWS AND BRILLIANT HIGHLIGHTS (2001). Great song.

YOUR SWEET SIX SIX SIX (Re-Recorded Version)

Original version from the album GREATEST LOVE SONGS VOL. 666 (1997). Re-Recorded Version from the album RAZORBLADE ROMANCE (1999). Whether I'm hearing this version or the album version, I still bounce my head to this one. Awesome tune.

GONE WITH THE SIN

From the album RAZORBLADE ROMANCE (1999). Seems as though the RAZORBLADE ROMANCE album was H.I.M's most popular album. Great song.

WICKED GAME (Re-Recorded Version)

Original version from the album GREATEST LOVE SONGS VOL. 666 (1997). Re-recorded version from the album RAZORBLADE ROMANCE (1999). Awesome cover.

THE SACRAMENT

From the album LOVE METAL (2003). Great song.

CLOSE TO THE FLAME

From the album DEEP SHADOWS AND BRILLIANT HIGHLIGHTS (2001). Awesome tune.

POISON GIRL

From the album RAZORBLADE ROMANCE (1999). Awesome tune, describing how some girls can be deadly poison.

PRETENDING

From the album DEEP SHADOWS AND BRILLIANT HIGHLIGHTS (2001). Awesome tune.

WHEN LOVE AND DEATH EMBRACE

From the album GREATEST LOVE SONGS VOL. 666 (1997). Great song.

If you don't know what HIM is all about, check out this album. Its a 'greatest hits' so you get all the progression from then to now. Morbid and romantic, with a bit of an old school rock feel. If Sabbath or Motorhead wrote more love songs and weren't so angry. Or a more aggressive Bowie! My favorite band! Plus, you get an awesome Neil Diamond cover!

HIM is essentially a more pop-oriented, pinup-ready version of Type O Negative, minus that band's sarcasm and dark humor. Their accessible brand of gothic metal, trademark "heartagram" icon, and frontman Ville Valo's good looks and crooning vocals made them a huge hit with the Hot Topic set, and their music actually lives up to the hype. It's heavy, catchy and has a great spirit.

I totally enjoy the band's music, but it got to the point where I couldn't really tell which songs came from which albums. They're all good, but they all stick to a formula. That's usually a sign for me that it's time to trade in my studio albums for a good compilation, and that's where And Love Said No - Greatest Hits 1997-2004 came in.

And Love Said No collects 14 of the best tracks from HIM's first four albums, including the essential "Heartache Every Moment," "Right Here In My Arms," "Your Sweet 666" and of course the devastating cover of Chris Isaak's "Wicked Game," plus two new songs - the title track and another powerful cover, this time the Neil Diamond staple "Solitary Man."

There are other HIM collections out there, but And Loved Said No is the ideal HIM collection for newcomers as well as those of us who enjoy HIM's sound but don't feel like it's necessary to own all of the individual albums. Serious HIM fans will need to check it out as well, for the new songs.