Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice

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Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice, Chapters 1–13
File:Screamworks.jpg
Studio album by HIM
Released 8 February 2010 (2010-02-08)
Recorded August–October 2009 at the Lair Studio and at NRG Studios in Los Angeles, California
Genre
Length 47:03
Label
Producer Matt Squire
HIM chronology
Digital Versatile Doom
(2008)Digital Versatile Doom2008		 Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice, Chapters 1–13
(2010)		 SWRMXS
(2010)SWRMXS2010
Singles from Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice, Chapters 1–13
  1. "Heartkiller"
    Released: 8 December 2009
  2. "Scared to Death"
    Released: 29 March 2011
  3. "The Foreboding Sense Of Impending Happiness"
    Released: 13 January 2012
Deluxe Edition
Professional ratings
Review scores
Source Rating
Allmusic 3/5 stars[1]
Alternative Press 3.5/5 stars[2]
BLARE Magazine 3/5 stars[3]
Rock Eyez 4.5/5 stars[4]
Rock Sound 7/10 stars[5]
underthegunreveiw 9/10 stars[6]
antiMusic 4/5 stars[7]
theywillrockyou 4/5 stars[8]
The Gauntlet 4/5 stars[9]

Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice, Chapters 1–13 is the seventh studio album by Finnish band HIM, released on 8 February 2010 in the United Kingdom and France.[10] It was later released in the United States on February 9, Japan on 10 February and Germany on 12 February.[10][11] The album's title is an allusion to Magick in Theory and Practice, a book by British occultist Aleister Crowley.[12][13][14]

Overview

The first single "Heartkiller" was released on 8 December 2009. The song was posted on the band's MySpace and made available for streaming on 4 December. On 22 December the official website announced a "Heartagram Edition" containing the album, a bonus disc titled "Baudelaire in Braille" containing all the album's songs in acoustic format, and a limited run of screen prints titled "Saint Scream". The second disc "Baudelaire in Braille" is also available in the 2-disc deluxe edition. Live versions of "Heartkiller", "Scared to Death", and "Love, the Hardest Way" played live at the Helldone festival were recorded and released as bonus tracks on the iTunes version of the album.[15][16]

The second single, "Scared to Death", was released on 29 March 2010.[17][18] The music video for the song was posted on MySpace by the band on 18 March.[19]

The album peaked at number 2 on both the Top Rock Albums and Top Modern Rock/Alternative Albums charts, and went on to reach number 1 on the Top Hard Rock Albums chart, making the album HIM’s highest chart success in the US. The album spent four weeks at number 25 on the Billboard 200.[20][21][22]

Sounds and themes

The album title was inspired by frontman Ville Valo's relationships that have since ended. He told Kerrang!: "It's a sonic diary of that [affair]. The album's also about both the theoretical and practical aspects of relationships which are an impossible problem to resolve. 'Screamworks' represents a cathartic, primal scream; it's a big middle finger; it's a fuck off, I want to do what I want to do."[23]

Valo has stated that the song "In Venere Veritas" features an iPhone because a real instrument did not meet their expectations, and "Disarm Me (With Your Loneliness)" was originally written for Dark Light but the rest of the band felt it didn't suit the album.

A remix version of Screamworks, titled SWRMXS and featuring remixes by Huoratron, Mercyfvcks, and Salem, was released on 7 December 2010.[24]

The album has been described as “…melodramatic late-'80s/early-'90s melodic alt-rock in the vein of New Model Army, Dream Theater, and Mission UK [and] serves as an efficient yet predictable vehicle to deliver the primal scream that is heartbreak”[25]

Spin magazine said of the album: “They sound] like a pro forma emo-fed hard-rock band with some likably silly Euro-doom flourishes."

Alternative Press said of the album: "When the band are a little more concrete and less spooky, the results are especially compelling.... Ultimately successful in its blending of melody and muscle."

Tracklist

All songs are composed by Ville Valo.

No. Title Length
1. "In Venere Veritas"   3:36
2. "Scared to Death"   3:41
3. "Heartkiller"   3:29
4. "Dying Song"   3:32
5. "Disarm Me (With Your Loneliness)"   3:59
6. "Love, the Hardest Way"   3:19
7. "Katherine Wheel"   3:26
8. "In the Arms of Rain"   3:47
9. "Ode to Solitude"   3:58
10. "Shatter Me with Hope"   3:52
11. "Acoustic Funeral (For Love in Limbo)"   3:58
12. "Like St. Valentine"   3:15
13. "The Foreboding Sense of Impending Happiness"   3:03
Total length:
 43:15

Baudelaire in Braille

The deluxe edition of Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice contains a bonus disc that has all thirteen tracks from the album but in acoustic form, titled Baudelaire in Braille. The acoustic CD is black, with the imprint "SW AC" on the left side and "By Valo" on the right. There are a few minor lyrical changes on the tracks and the majority of them have a shorter running time than their original counterparts. The title Baudelaire in Braille is from the chorus of the track "Love, the Hardest Way."

Track list

All songs are composed by Ville Valo.

No. Title Length
1. "In Venere Veritas" (Acoustic) 2:30
2. "Scared to Death" (Acoustic) 2:59
3. "Heartkiller" (Acoustic) 3:10
4. "Dying Song" (Acoustic) 2:44
5. "Disarm Me (with Your Loneliness)" (Acoustic) 3:34
6. "Love, the Hardest Way" (Acoustic) 2:34
7. "Katherine Wheel" (Acoustic) 3:31
8. "In the Arms of Rain" (Acoustic) 3:02
9. "Ode to Solitude" (Acoustic) 3:08
10. "Shatter Me with Hope" (Acoustic) 2:42
11. "Acoustic Funeral (for Love in Limbo)" (Acoustic) 3:19
12. "Like St. Valentine" (Acoustic) 3:04
13. "The Foreboding Sense of Impending Happiness" (Acoustic) 2:11
Total length:
 38:28

Personnel

HIM

Technical

  • Craig Aaronson - A&R
  • Neal Avron - Mixing
  • Dave Colvin - Assistant
  • Nicholas Fournier - Assistant
  • Larry Goetz - Programming Roland D-70 Super LA Synthesizer
  • Tate Hall - Assistant
  • Travis Huff - Engineer
  • Ted Jensen - Mastering
  • Alexander Milas - Verbal first aid
  • David Roemer - Photography
  • Matt Squire - Producer
  • Steve Tippeconnic - Assistant

Peak positions and certifications

Chart (2010) Peak
position[26][27]		 Certification Sales/shipments[I]
Australia 36
Austria 7
Brazil 1
Czech Republic[28] 13
Finland 2[29] Gold[30] 15,000
Germany 4
Greece[31] 2
Hungary[32] 21
Italy[33] 68
Japan 99
Netherlands 44
New Zealand 37
Mexico[34] 64
Russia[35] 24
Spain 27
Sweden 21
Switzerland 7
United Kingdom 50
United States 25

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.[dead link]
  12. ↑ [1][dead link]
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  23. ↑ Heartkiller Songfacts
  24. ↑ [2][dead link]
  25. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  26. ↑ Him - Screamworks - Love In Theory & Practice - Music Charts
  27. ↑ Him - Screamworks: Love In Theory And Practice, Chapters 1-13 - Music Charts
  28. ↑ Him - Screamworks - Love In Theory & Practice - Music Charts
  29. ↑ Finnish top40
  30. ↑ HIM Finnish sales
  31. ↑ Him - Screamworks - Love In Theory & Practice - Music Charts
  32. ↑ Him - Screamworks - Love In Theory & Practice - Music Charts
  33. ↑ Him - Screamworks - Love In Theory & Practice - Music Charts
  34. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  35. ↑ [3][dead link]
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