If anything I’d say that lead guitarist Pauli Rantasalmi has improved as a musician and put a lot more soul into this album instead of just writing catchy riffs. It is clear that “The Rasmus” incorporates a lot of elements from his solo project as well, especially on tracks like the albums lead single “I’m a Mess” and the disco-driven “It’s Your Night” which sounds dangerously like his hit-single “In the City” and has big radio potential of becoming their next single.Įven though the electronic elements are more present on this album compared to any of their past work, it would be a bald statement saying that the guitars have been replaced by the synthesizers. In March 2011 lead vocalist/composer Lauri Ylönen released his debut album “New World” which featured electronic music in contrast to his previous work with The Rasmus.
As for the albums slowest and (in my opinion) the weakest track “Save Me Once Again” The Rasmus tries to make a slow and emotion ballad, sadly the song can’t keep up with some of their earlier work like “Justify” or “Don’t Let Go”. Slower, or rather milder tracks like “Somewhere” and the albums closer “Sky” have a familiar “happy” sound to “Sail Away” from “Hide from the Sun”. “Someone’s Gonna Lift You Up” on the other hand is a much heavier and darker track which immediately feels like it could belong on “Dead Letters” while “You Don’t See Me” or “At the End of the Story” are lighter and more pop influenced songs that recaptures their earlier experimentation of pop rock found on the “Into” album. Although it is nothing ground breaking in any way, it’s fresh breath of air for a band that seemed to have lost their spark quite a while ago.Įven though the album’s highly influenced by mainstream music “The Rasmus” incorporates most of what they’ve done in the past with tracks like “Friends Don’t Do Like That”, were you have symphonic elements which The Rasmus experimented with on “Black Roses”. If you have anything against radio friendly rock, then this will not be your cup of tea and you should turn away seeing how this is their most mainstream influenced effort. Hansen works well with the band, and it shows, with “The Rasmus” the band has recaptured their original trademark sound with a more overall commercial feel to it. With their new self-titled album The Rasmus have again teamed up with producer Martin Hansen, the same person behind “Into”, “Dead Letters” and “Hide from the Sun”. But for me, it felt like The Rasmus had lost their original European trademark sound for a more casual American average. Now I am in no way accusing Desmond Child for being a poor songwriter or producer, he has proven himself otherwise with several well-known acts such as Kiss and Bon Jovi and is after all a part of the Songwriters Hall of Fame. I personally think it’s mainly because of Desmond Child producing and co-writing every song. I myself did not enjoy it as much as I’d hoped to. Their previous album “Black Roses” was met with mixed opinions, some loved it, others didn’t. Since “Dead Letters”, The Rasmus have released two more albums, “Hide from the Sun” and “Black Roses” and their lead singer/songwriter Lauri Ylönen has released his solo album “New World”. You literally must have lived under a rock if you’ve never heard the song. They achieved critical acclaim with their fifth record “Dead Letters” and its lead single “In the Shadows” which broke into top spots on musical charts all over the globe. The Rasmus is a four-piece rock group from Helsinki, Finland. Review Summary: Although it is nothing ground breaking, it is a fresh breath of air for a band that seemed to have lost their spark.