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Tuesday, 29 October 2013

Review: The 69 Eyes – 'Lost Without Love' (Single)



'Lost Without Love' 

After once more experimenting with their glam metal roots on recent albums, the Helsinki Vampires have slowly been finding their way back to their signature “goth 'n' roll” sound. What better way to celebrate this than with the second “best of” compilation in the band's 20+ year career.

The new single that accompanies 'The Best Of The Helsinki Vampires' is quite an apt one. 'Lost Without Love' is a nice blend of the bands metallic edge without compromising on their gothic pomp. The semi ballad fits in nicely with classic tracks such as 'Dance D'Amour', 'Stolen Season', and 'Betty Blue'.

The deep bassy tones to Jyrki 69's vocals are dropped in favour of a more dynamic approach, which works but does also bring the song a bit close to HIM territory. Though the band thankfully stop short of imitating their own imitators.

If you want a big single to close a live show with, then this is going to tick the boxes. It has the classic jangling guitars, haunting synths, grooving bass and a big sing-a-long chorus to really rouse the audience.


It doesn't quite live up to the legacy of singles like 'Brandon Lee', 'Gothic Girl' or 'The Chair'. But it does a good job of maintaining a link between the band's past and their most passable recent cuts like 'Borderline' from 'X' and 'Ghost' from 'Perfect Skin'.