Aki Hakala, Pauli Rantasalmi, Lauri Ylönen & Eero Heinonen
So close, so far, I'm lost in time
Ready to follow a sign
If there was only a sign
— Justify
The Rasmus is a Finnish band formed by four students in 1994, at first simply titled Rasmus (the name actually comes from the phrase "thrash mosh"). Generally described as Rock or Alternative Rock, their music can also come under various sub-genres of metal, including Gothic, Symphonic and Funk. The group's work can be divided into two main time periods, one of which is generally Pop and Funk-oriented (1994-1998), while the other (2001-Present) leans towards Metal and Gothic music. Their name change came in accordance with their stylistic shift; their first release under their revised title The Rasmus was their 2001 album Into.While achieving moderate success with singles such as "F-F-F-Falling", the band is undoubtedly most recognizable for "In The Shadows", which brought them increased fame outside of Europe, and was their only song to ever receive much airplay on an international level. Other notable singles include "Liquid", "Chill", "Guilty", "No Fear", "Living In A World Without You", and most recently "I'm A Mess".Lauri is perhaps most famous for his appearance on two Apocalyptica tracks released in 2005, "Life Burns", and "Bittersweet", the latter being a vocal duet with HIM's (also Finnish) Ville Valo. For many, these collaborations are Crowning Musicof Awesome. In return, Apocalyptica provided instrumentation on the song "Dead Promises".The band continue to tour, and have committed fan bases in many regions. As of 2012 they have released eight studio albums. Lauri also diverged into the electropop genre with his 2011 solo album titled New World.The Rasmus are:
Lauri Ylönen: Lead Vocals, Occasional Guitar (1994-Present)
Eero Heinonen: Bass Guitar, Live Backing Vocals (1994-Present)
Pauli Rantasalmi: Guitar (1994-Present)
Aki Hakala: Drums, Percussion (1998-Present)
Former Members:
Jarno Lahti: Drums (1994-1995)
Janne Heiskanen: Drums (1995-1998)
Studio Discography:
Peep (1996)
Playboys (1997)
Hellofatester (1998)
Into (2001)
Dead Letters, alternatively titled Feeling Guilty in some areas (2003)
Animal Motifs: Lauri is known for wearing black feathers in his hair as part of his stage persona. He says that he likes his hairstyles to represent different things, whether it be the feathers symbolizing a raven, or his blonde and spiked hair embodying the sun.
Additionally, Lauri's nickname is 'Lintu', which means 'bird' in Finnish.
Also the 'ohh ohh's in live versions of "In The Shadows".
Bishōnen: Lauri and Aki. Especially Lauri, who looks like he could pass as a high school student. Not only that, in recent years, he seems like he has actually grown younger, no doubt partly thanks to heavy makeup. This is evident in the clip for "I'm A Mess"
Book Ends: On special editions of Black Roses, the album is opened with the vengeful, upbeat "Living In A World Without You", and ends with it's melancholy, piano-driven reprise.
Breakup Song: Probably over 75% of their songs are in this vein, though not always overtly.
Cloud Cuckoolander: The female in "Not Like The Other Girls", particularly blatant in the chorus:
She lives in the clouds, and talks to the birds.
Concept Album: Dead Letters, where, according to Word Of God, "Each song is a letter to somebody. It could be an apology, a confession or a cry for help."
Concept Video: Frequently employed, more often than not centering around a female character.
Cover Version: The opening track of their debut album is a cover of the Ghostbusters theme by Ray Parker Jr.
Their catalogue of non-album tracks includes covers of Björk's "Play Dead" and Abba's "SOS".
Darker and Edgier: Began to set in with Into. This becomes especially jarring when one compares Peep or Playboys, their lightest works, to Hide From The Sun - the differences in tone are polarizing.
Dream Team: "Bittersweet", a song performed by Apocalyptica, featured Lauri and Ville Valo, from HIM. Many a fan of these three bands felt overwhelmed by the sheer awesomeness of the song.
2009 saw the release of "October & April", featuring Anette Olzon of Nightwish.
Drugs Are Bad: Lauri says that "Smash" was partly inspired by his friend's Heroin-related death.
Dye Hard: Lauri when he dyes his hair black. Aki did the same until recently.
The Eighties: They draw a lot of musical inspiration from bands of the 80's, particularly Guns N' Roses.
At the same time, Black Roses was partly inspired by Depeche Mode, and it shows.
Everything Is an Instrument: In acoustic renditions of "Sail Away", Eero sings the string part in the instrumental break.
Flower Motif: "Black Roses", anyone? Also, the leaves in the band's logo.
Greatest Hits Album: Hellofacollection, and more recently Best of 2001-2008.
Hidden Track: Not a song, but after 3 minutes of silence in Peep's closing track "Small", random chatter can be heard, including a man speaking Finnish and a child saying 'hello'.
Mood Whiplash: In 'Dead Letters', the upbeat and rock n' rolly 'Back In The Picture' is followed by one of the greatest Tear Jerkers in music, 'Funeral Song'.
Dedicate everything I create to my friends I would die for
Precision F-Strike: Averted in "You Got It Wrong", the lyric being 'I don't give a - - I'm not your believer'. The reason for the offending word's omission is unclear, though a common theory is that it was because a 'parental advisory' label on the cover would ruin the artwork.
While very uncommon in recent years, Peep contains a surprising amount.
Pretty Boy: Every member could qualify, except maybe Pauli.
Rerelease the Song: "F-F-F-Falling" was re-recorded with an overall heavier sound and released as a bonus track on some versions of Dead Letters.
Rockumentary: A 'Making Of Black Roses' film was given a limited release, mostly due to the fact that it's entirely in Finnish.
Self-Backing Vocalist: Lauri on studio recordings. Eero fills the position of backing vocalist in live settings.
Truth in Television: In the opening lines of "F-F-F-Falling", the narrator declares that he '[doesn't] go to school every Monday'. This was somewhat true for the band, as they often reserved Mondays for rehearsals.
Unplugged Version: They often play special acoustic shows as promotional appearances, and there are alternate unplugged versions available of "First Day Of My Life", "Lucifer's Angel" and "Open My Eyes".
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