| Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice, Chapters 1–13 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Studio album by HIM | ||||
| Released | February 8, 2010 | |||
| Recorded | August–October, 2009 at the Lair Studio and at NRG Studios in Los Angeles, California | |||
| Genre | (see HIM (Finnish band)#Genre) | |||
| Length | 47:03 | |||
| Label | Sire | |||
| Producer | Matt Squire | |||
| HIM chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice, Chapters 1–13 | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | [1] |
| Alternative Press | [2] |
| BLARE Magazine | [3] |
| Rock Sound | [4] |
Screamworks: Love in Theory and Practice, Chapters 1–13 is the seventh studio album by Finnish rock band HIM, released on February 8, 2010 in the United Kingdom and France.[5] It was later released in the United States on February 9, Japan on February 10, and Germany on February 12.[5][6] The first single "Heartkiller" was released on December 8, 2009. The song was posted on the band's MySpace and made available for streaming on December 4. On December 22, the official website announced a "Heartagram Edition" containing the album, a bonus disc titled "Baudelaire in Braille" containing all the albums 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, which, as previously mentioned, contains all of the tracks from the first disc, but recorded acoustically. The acoustic CD is black, with the imprint "SW AC" on the left side and "By Valo" on the right. 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.[7][8]
The second single, "Scared to Death", was released on March 29, 2010.[9][10] The music video for the song was posted on MySpace by the band on March 18.[11]
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."[12]
In a string of interviews found on YouTube, Valo tells that the song "In Venere Veritas" features an iPhone after the real instrument didn't sound as good 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.
Recently, through their Facebook, the band announced a remix version of Screamworks, titled SWRMXS to be released digitally soon and later psychically. It will feature remixes by Huoratron, Mercyfvcks, and Salem, and pre-orders will begin on the 11th of November through Heartagram.com.[13]
Contents |
All songs are composed by Ville Valo.
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. There are a few minor lyric changes through 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."
One of the most notable lyric changes from Baudelaire in Braille is the swapping of the term 'giving head' to 'fellating' in the track "Katherine Wheel". "Katherine Wheel"'s entire tone and tempo has also been altered along with the song's structure to fit more comfortably into its new acoustic form. A track that keeps a strong simililarity with its original counterpart is "The Foreboding Sense of Impending Happiness," which maintains all its original theme and tempo.
| Chart (2010) | Peak position[14][15] |
Certification | Sales/shipments[I] |
|---|---|---|---|
| Australia | 36 | ||
| Austria | 7 | ||
| Brazil | 1 | ||
| Czech Republic[16] | 13 | ||
| Finland | 2[17] | Gold[18] | 15,000 |
| Germany | 4 | ||
| Greece[19] | 2 | ||
| Hungary[20] | 21 | ||
| Italy[21] | 68 | ||
| Japan | 99 | ||
| Netherlands | 44 | ||
| New Zealand | 37 | ||
| Mexico[22] | 64 | ||
| Russia[23] | 24 | ||
| Spain | 27 | ||
| Sweden | 21 | ||
| Switzerland | 7 | ||
| United Kingdom | 50 | ||
| United States | 25 |
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