Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights

HIM began demoing songs for their third album in the northern fall of 2000 at Petrax Studios in Hollola, with producer T.T. Oksala.[4] The band were ecstatic with the initial recordings, deciding to use most of them on the finished album, with additional overdubs being done later.[4] The band's record label BMG disagreed however, with Valo believing they did not want Oksala producing the album, opting for a name producer.[4] BMG's Asko Kallonen refuted these claims, stating that he and the label were worried about the band's plans to release "essentially demos" as an album so soon after an exhausting touring cycle for Razorblade Romance.[5] Around this time, HIM also parted ways with keyboardist Jussi-Mikko "Juska" Salminen, who played his final show with the band on 31 December 2000.[6] Salminen was eventually replaced by Janne "Burton" Puurtinen, who had already played one show with HIM in the mid-nineties.[6]

With the addition of keyboardist Burton, the band's line-up would remain unchanged until 2015

Due to pressure coming in from BMG's international branches to repeat the success of Razorblade Romance, producer Kevin Shirley was brought on board to help helm the band's upcoming album, having previously worked with Bon Jovi, Aerosmith and The Black Crowes among others.[7] While Shirley was excited to be working with HIM, the band were not entirely on board with his style of producing, as well as the amount of money the label was spending on hiring him.[7][8] Despite this, Valo later admitted that some of Shirley's ideas did improve the material, including "Heartache Every Moment" and "Salt In Our Wounds".[8] The band were faced with multiple difficulties during the making-of the album, with Valo stating that "the industry wasn't expecting [Razorblade Romance] to be such a hit that it was, so it meant that now there was like seventeen thousand different A&R people from the record companies and whatnots in the studio, and everybody had an opinion."[9] The recording process for the album took approximately eleven months, which Valo felt was too long and affected the material too severely.[10] He explained, stating: "When we started recording the third album, we were into stoner rock and Black Sabbath [...] At the end we were into Neil Young and it shows on the record."[10]

After recording finished, the tapes were sent to Randy Staub and Chris Lord-Alge to mix, with additional mixing being provided by John Fryer, who had produced the band's previous album.[10] As with Razorblade Romance, Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights was once again mastered by George Marino at Sterling Sound in New York.[11] The album's title is a photography term that Valo chose because of its yin and yang symbolism that had been prominent in the band's previous album titles as well.[12] After shooting the initial album cover, Valo was flown out to London for a photoshoot with Rankin, after the UK division of BMG rejected the initial artwork.[12] The finished album cover for Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights took inspiration from Lou Reed, Patti Smith, and late 1970s New York City art circles.[13]

The overall sound of Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights has been described as more commercial and "poppy" than its predecessors.[15][16] "Salt in Our Wounds" was deliberately chosen as the first track on the album to mess with the listeners' expectations according to Valo, due to its use of looping and other effects.[14] Despite the song's experimental nature, Valo still referred to it as "the most Neil Young" of the album.[14] "Heartache Every Moment" was described by Valo as containing all the essential elements of HIM's sound, including "the Bon Jovi, and the tongue-in-cheek gothicness of the lyrics".[14] "Lose You Tonight" changed the most throughout the recording process, starting out in the style of Cathedral, before ending up like "Bon Jovi on mushrooms".[14] Valo compared "In Joy and Sorrow" to "Sweet Child o' Mine" by Guns N' Roses, and singled out the song's "no frills, self-ironic directness" as one of its best qualities.[14] The track also features guest appearances by Apocalyptica's Eino "Eicca" Toppinen and composer Tuomas Kantelinen.[11]

"Pretending" was chosen by BMG to be the first single from the album, and while Valo has admitted to being indifferent towards the song, he still singled out its relaxed nature and lyrics as particular highlights.[17] "Close to the Flame" was described by Valo as "sincere and direct" and very similar to "Gone with the Sin" off of the band's previous album.[17] "Please Don't Let It Go" began in the style of The Stooges, but after Valo recorded an acoustic version of the song, the band chose to combine the two.[18] "Beautiful" also began life as a more uptempo song, but the band felt the arrangement didn't fit, so it was reworked in the style of John Frusciante's first solo album.[18] "Don't Close Your Heart" was described by Valo as "Jefferson Airplane meets Bon Jovi", and lyrically deals with similar themes to "Join Me in Death", but from a different perspective.[18] According to Valo, the song talks about how "if things go to shit, you don't have to sink into the swamp. You can ask for help and not close your heart."[18] "Love You Like I Do" was described as "Elvis on acid" and makes use of church bells, which was done as tribute to Black Sabbath.[18]

Ville Valo performing with HIM at Ruisrock in July 2001

Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights was originally planned to be released in May 2001, but was pushed back to August, so the band could start a supporting tour around the same time.[19] "Pretending" was released as the first single from the album in July 2001, peaking at number one on the Finnish Singles Chart, as well as number ten in Germany.[20][21] The band had initially wanted Miikka Lommi to helm the music video, but BMG and the UK marketing department refused, ordering HIM to go with Kevin Godley instead.[22][23] Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights was released on 27 August 2001, and charted in six countries, peaking at number one in Finland and Austria,[20][24] and at number two in Germany and Switzerland.[25][26] The album would later be certified platinum in Finland and gold in Austria.[27][28] Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights also charted in the United States in 2004 at number 190, making it the band's first album to hit the Billboard 200.[29] Also in August 2001, HIM were invited to play their first show in the US, at a party organized by professional skateboarder Bam Margera, whom the band had met in London while on tour for Razorblade Romance.[30]

The official supporting tour for Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights began on 17 September 2001 in Hamburg, with Timo Rautiainen & Trio Niskalaukaus and The Mission serving as opening acts on the German leg.[31] In October 2001, "In Joy and Sorrow" was released as the second single from the album, hitting number two in Finland and receiving a music video.[20][32] The European tour for Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights lasted four months and 44 shows, which once again resulted in the band nearly breaking up.[31] Valo later explained: "The stress was at a level that I had dick on my forehead the entire run [...] I had done this for three years straight without a vacation. No wonder the dams broke at some point."[33] As a result, HIM took a two-month break in early 2002, during which time guitarist Mikko "Linde" Lindström and bassist Mikko "Mige" Paananen left for Nepal, drummer Mika "Gas Lipstick" Karppinen flew to New York, Burton took a week off in Turkey, before returning to Finland, while Ville Valo stayed in Helsinki.[34][35] In January 2002, "Heartache Every Moment" and "Close to the Flame" were released as a double single, the latter peaking at number two in Finland and both receiving a music video.[20][36] HIM regrouped at the turn of February and March 2002, when Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights was officially released in the UK, after BMG had initially refused to release the record.[19] This was followed by two promotional shows in Birmingham and London respectively, with the first being sold-out and the second supporting The Mission.[35] HIM were also awarded "Export of the Year" at the Emma Awards, as well as the "Viewers' Choice Award" at the VIVA Comet Awards.[37][38] In March 2002, the band began another Finnish tour, with Hiili Hiilesmaa's band The Skreppers serving as support, after which HIM returned to the UK for a more extensive tour.[39][40][41]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Blabbermouth.net	9/10[42]
Rock Hard	6.5/10[15]
Rumba	6/10[43]
Helsingin Sanomat	Mixed[2]
Allmusic	[44]
Soundi	[45]

Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights received mixed reviews from critics. Borivoj Krgin of Blabbermouth.net gave the album nine out of ten, and described it as "the group's most accessible offering so far", giving praise to the songwriting and Valo's vocal delivery, which he called the "most potently effective weapon in the group's musical arsenal".[42] Krgin did describe the band's intent on moving away from the direction of their debut as a "letdown", but concluded that "in purely artistic and commercial terms, however, HIM have made the logical follow-up album to one of last year's highlights, and they continue to cement their reputation as one of the most unique and consistent rock acts around."[42] Thomas Kupfer of Rock Hard, who gave the album 6.5 out of 10, criticized the production and the new softer approach, but did commend some of the songwriting.[15] He concluded by calling the album "no more than a good pop album".[15] Rumba's Janne Flinkkilä gave Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights a six out of ten, criticizing the softer approach, stating: "Every song has been squeezed into a tight hit format, where the song structures move as predictably as the seasons change."[43] He also commented on Shirley and Oksala's production as bringing "Valo's asthmatic breathing sounds to an almost comical scope".[43] Ultimately Flinkkilä stated that "HIM hasn't made a bad album", but in comparison to "the gothic gloominess of past albums, Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights sounds very light".[43]

Jani Mikkonen of Helsingin Sanomat was mixed in his review, criticizing the sleeker production and softer sound, but gave praise to the addition of Burton and described the album's best moments as "straight-up pop songs".[2] Antti J. Ravelin of Allmusic awarded the album two-and-a-half stars out of five, and described its sound as "utterly boring" and the songs as "lacking hooks".[44] As a whole, he described Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights as a "horrible failure" musically.[44] Tero Alanko of Soundi felt similarly, calling the album "ideal music for girls, who don't dig the music, but Ville Valo's looks and his lyrics' decadent imagery" and gave the album two stars out of five.[45] He also described the album as "anemic" and "devoid of moments, where the best parts of the band come together to form something more that the sum of their parts."[45]

In 2017, Valo revisited Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights and described it as a "fragmented, unnatural record", stating: "We were recovering from the cannon that was the last album and the way back to ground was through a lot of fumbling. There were too many chefs on the record than there should have been, so the end result was incoherent."[46] Loudwire later ranked Deep Shadows and Brilliant Highlights sixth in HIM's discography, and described it as not "the follow-up to Razorblade Romance that fans had hoped for", but still commending the "hooks" and Valo's vocal performance.[47] KaaosZine ranked it fifth, and commended it for featuring some of the band's best songs, yet stating that the album is not "as strong of an ensemble" as some of the band's other work.[48]

All tracks are written by Ville Valo.

• Official website