I first started listening to Rammstein quite a while ago. 1999 in fact, ten years which look at it now I can't believe it's been that long. It was Du Hast on The Matrix soundtrack, which was one of the first soundtracks I bought, actually. If I might get all nostalgiac for a moment, I also can't believe that's pretty much where it started. If you could see my iPod now. I wasn't really a music person you see, so I didn't really tend to buy much aside from the odd soundtrack here and there. And I was only ten so cut me some slack, I've matured since then. Not so much that I don't still like Rammstein though. For a decade now I've been what one might consider a "fan" of theirs.
My first album was Mutter, which I quite liked. Why did I buy it you ask? Well, I liked Du hast, so I went to Futureshop and bought the only Rammstein album they had, that being Mutter. I also picked up The Scorpion King soundtrack but we shant go there today or any other. I listened to it on my walkman (those were the days) until the damn thing practically melted, and living in the rather small rural area I was at the time it wasn't simply a matter of going to the store to find their others. Finding Mutter was a stroke of luck in of itself, so I ordered their others: Herzeleid and Sehnsucht, and Lichtspielhaus while I was at it. All or nothing right? In the interim I picked up the Live Aus Berlin DVD, and later the album, and started to subconciously pick which songs I'd be listening to once the order arrived. When they did (a ridiculous amount of time later, I don't know how I ever lived without Amazon and overnight shipping) those two joined the rotation and, while I did like them quite a bit, there was something about the sound of Mutter that I liked over them. Not to say they wouldn't have ranked in the top 100 tracks had I been keeping track back then, but there was just something about Mutter. Reise, Reise and Rosenrot followed years later, and by now I was fully into the band such that I was aware of new releases. You know that point you hit, where you know you've become a fan. You don't even think about it, you just know. Reise, Reise hit me and I was blown away. The sound of Mutter perfected further into a new beast altogether.
Then they announced Rosenrot, which immediately concerned me. Rarely can a band pull off a good B-sides album. All too often the excuse "they didn't fit with the theme of the album proper" really means "we thought they were shit but your money give it now." Luckily it proved to be my favorite album to date. Rosenrot, Wo bist Du, Spring, all incredible songs that were the soundtrack to my college years (long story). The double shot of Reise/Rosenrot was just about the best thing I'd heard out of that genre, and it still remains one of my favorites if for no other reason than the personal connection it has to my life at the time, emo though that may sound. Combining the hard sound they've had since the beginning and adding a subtle layer of synths and orchestra as the situation requires, the garnish on the side of the dish if you will, they took the production values of Mutter and finessed them, refined them, into a near flawless creature that would have been the magnum opus for a lesser band. But Rammstein isn't a lesser band are they?
Along the way there was Volkerball, which I bought twice, once the two disc and again on the uber-set with the art book and all that, which now sits atop the "if the building burns grab these things" shelf alongside my Beatles Box of Vision and some Giger books. Not to mention the countless single remixes, the b-sides not given a full album, Lindemann and Kruspe's cover of Schtiel, and Kruspe's side project Emigrate which isn't actually too shabby. All in all Rammstein and its members have been quite busy over the past decade and a half, and they've returned to the fray with their sixth studio album Liebe ist fur alle da. But the question that must be asked, as it is asked of every single band ever in history when they release a new album ever and as they always shall be asked for all eternity, is "are they still good?"
I've rambled on enough I suppose, on to the album itself!
Release Date:
October 20, 2009 (NA)
October 16, 2009 (EU)
Standard Retail Edition
1. Rammlied (Ramm-Song) - 5:19
2. Ich tu dir Weh (I Hurt You) - 5:02
3. Waidmanns Heil (Hunter's Hail/Greeting) - 3:33
4. Haifisch (Shark) - 3:45
5. B******** (Buckstabu) - 4:15
6. Fruhling in Paris (Springtime in Paris) - 4:45
7. Wiener Blut (Viennese Blood) - 3:53
8. Pussy - 3:57
9. Liebe ist fur alle da (Love Is There for Everyone) - 3:26
10. Mehr (More) - 4:09
11. Roter Sand (Red Sand) - 3:59
Deluxe Edition Features Five Bonus Songs: (Comments coming soon)
1. Fuhre mich (Lead Me) - 4:34
2. Donaukinder (Children of the Danube) - 5:18
3. Halt (Stop) - 4:20
4. Roter Sand (Orchestral version) (Red Sand) - 4:06
5. Liese (Elisabeth) - 3:56
1. Rammlied (Ramm-Song)
This one's pretty much what you'd expect for an opening song on a Rammstein album. Starts off slow, builds up, then it's full speed ahead for the duration.
2. Ich tu dir Weh (I Hurt You)
This one falls squarely into the "dramatic" category of their music, where Lindemann's vocals occasionally go beyond the usual rolling rs at times and becomes almost operatic. They maintain just the right balance between the pounding drums and guitar right next to Flake's ridiculous keyboard skills, and manage to get sounds out of things you wouldn't think you'd be able to get out of them, with the right application of some synth strings throughout.
3. Waidmanns Heil (Hunter's Hail/Greeting)
Play this song during a Viking raid and it would fit. It opens with horns, it's literally calling you to it before it hits you with all guns firing. This would be the "fight song" of the album.
4. Haifisch (Shark)
One of the slowest on the album, this one's currently sitting as my favorite. Nothing overly spectacular for a minute or so, everyone just sort of working towards it. Then you get everything and it's just freaking epic. That's the only way to describe it. Epic.
5. B******** (Buckstabu)
Strip away some of the production value and Herzeleid has been reborn in this song. Loud, rough, it's unpleasant to listen to Lindemann screaming in your ear with his sore throat sounding rolling rs, and damn it, that's the only way to listen to this song. Any other way and it wouldn't work.
6. Fruhling in Paris (Springtime in Paris)
Another slower song (perhaps until the crescendo when things start to pick up somewhat) it's one that is going to either be loved or hated, no in between. It almost, almost reaches the point where you could see it playing during the climax of a romantic drama, which I'm sure was probably the intend considering how Rammstein goes about their music. And who says metal always has to sound angry? Still, it's... well it will probably take a listen or two to decide whether you like it or not.
7. Wiener Blut (Viennese Blood)
Another song that starts slow then kicks it into gear about a minute in, this is a hard one to explain. It really didn't stand out for me, perhaps because there has already been hard, there's already been soft, and there's already been a mix of the two, and they've all done it better than this one. It just seems to be lacking the hook it needs to bring it up to the rest of the album. If one song in particular was going to receive skips on the iPod, it would probably be this one.
8. Pussy
Pussy is something of a sad song. Everyone is going to watch the video, and get hung up on the whole porn thing. And the fact that Flake is a he-she. Which, okay, that's fair enough I mean the man's been through a lot over the years (they blew him up for Christ sake) but this one's probably the weirdest. See, there I go talking about things not this song. This isn't a good song, but it's not bad either. It's a single, let's put it that way. It's catchy, and it's firmly tongue in cheek as you'd expect from them, but aside from its novelty there's not anything here in particular that warrants any real thought.
9. Liebe ist fur alle da (Love Is There for Everyone)
The title track, but does it hold up good enough to be the title track? Perhaps. This is another one that could have been fairly meh, but for whatever reason it managed to hook me in just enough that I gave it a couple gos, and while it's not the best song ever, it's got plenty here to make it worth while.
10. Mehr (More)
Loud, hard, fast, what you'd expect when you're drawing to a close. Not much else to say about this other than don't have your headphones up all the way. If you're a Track 8. Loud is the way to go with this one.
11. Roter Sand (Red Sand)
What would a Rammstein album be without a somewhat oddly out of place slow song with minimal rockage? Klavier, Seemann, Roter Sand. Either you like these songs, which luckily I do, or you don't and you'll probably be skipping it a lot. Because even compared to the aforementioned slow songs, this one... well, it was probably written during a particular depressed or happy moment, depending on how you want to interpret it.
Right now you're probably asking yourself, that's all well and good, but where would it stand in the Rammstein discography? Well, I have to say first off that the Reise, Reise/Rosenrot duo was pretty much the soundtrack to my life when I was in college for a few reasons and as such they're probably going to be favorites until the day I die simply because of the connections they have. And as much as this may raise the ire of some, their older work I've always liked, but it's never been my favorite. Right around the time Mutter hit, when they grew from a band making metal into a group of guys who have gone through lives with some rather shitty periods and started making metal based on that, was when I really started to dig their stuff. So if I had to place them, I'd rank them thusly, left to right.
Take that as you will. Some fans will probably look at this album as the further degeneration by Rammstein into crappiness, as it continues some of the trends from the more recent albums. Though it does bring some of their harder edge back as well, which may please some and alienate others. This is probably going to stand as the most rift-creating album they release.
Either way, put me in the "likes" category.
- Freak
Note: Special characters were removed from song titles, as the board didn't seem to like them.
I first started listening to Rammstein quite a while ago. 1999 in fact, ten years which look at it now I can't believe it's been that long. It was Du Hast on The Matrix soundtrack, which was one of the first soundtracks I bought, actually. If I might get all nostalgiac for a moment, I also can't believe that's pretty much where it started. If you could see my iPod now. I wasn't really a music person you see, so I didn't really tend to buy much aside from the odd soundtrack here and there. And I was only ten so cut me some slack, I've matured since then. Not so much that I don't still like Rammstein though. For a decade now I've been what one might consider a "fan" of theirs.
My first album was Mutter, which I quite liked. Why did I buy it you ask? Well, I liked Du hast, so I went to Futureshop and bought the only Rammstein album they had, that being Mutter. I also picked up The Scorpion King soundtrack but we shant go there today or any other. I listened to it on my walkman (those were the days) until the damn thing practically melted, and living in the rather small rural area I was at the time it wasn't simply a matter of going to the store to find their others. Finding Mutter was a stroke of luck in of itself, so I ordered their others: Herzeleid and Sehnsucht, and Lichtspielhaus while I was at it. All or nothing right? In the interim I picked up the Live Aus Berlin DVD, and later the album, and started to subconciously pick which songs I'd be listening to once the order arrived. When they did (a ridiculous amount of time later, I don't know how I ever lived without Amazon and overnight shipping) those two joined the rotation and, while I did like them quite a bit, there was something about the sound of Mutter that I liked over them. Not to say they wouldn't have ranked in the top 100 tracks had I been keeping track back then, but there was just something about Mutter. Reise, Reise and Rosenrot followed years later, and by now I was fully into the band such that I was aware of new releases. You know that point you hit, where you know you've become a fan. You don't even think about it, you just know. Reise, Reise hit me and I was blown away. The sound of Mutter perfected further into a new beast altogether.
Then they announced Rosenrot, which immediately concerned me. Rarely can a band pull off a good B-sides album. All too often the excuse "they didn't fit with the theme of the album proper" really means "we thought they were shit but your money give it now." Luckily it proved to be my favorite album to date. Rosenrot, Wo bist Du, Spring, all incredible songs that were the soundtrack to my college years (long story). The double shot of Reise/Rosenrot was just about the best thing I'd heard out of that genre, and it still remains one of my favorites if for no other reason than the personal connection it has to my life at the time, emo though that may sound. Combining the hard sound they've had since the beginning and adding a subtle layer of synths and orchestra as the situation requires, the garnish on the side of the dish if you will, they took the production values of Mutter and finessed them, refined them, into a near flawless creature that would have been the magnum opus for a lesser band. But Rammstein isn't a lesser band are they?
Along the way there was Volkerball, which I bought twice, once the two disc and again on the uber-set with the art book and all that, which now sits atop the "if the building burns grab these things" shelf alongside my Beatles Box of Vision and some Giger books. Not to mention the countless single remixes, the b-sides not given a full album, Lindemann and Kruspe's cover of Schtiel, and Kruspe's side project Emigrate which isn't actually too shabby. All in all Rammstein and its members have been quite busy over the past decade and a half, and they've returned to the fray with their sixth studio album Liebe ist fur alle da. But the question that must be asked, as it is asked of every single band ever in history when they release a new album ever and as they always shall be asked for all eternity, is "are they still good?"
I've rambled on enough I suppose, on to the album itself!
October 20, 2009 (NA)
October 16, 2009 (EU)
Standard Retail Edition
1. Rammlied (Ramm-Song) - 5:19
2. Ich tu dir Weh (I Hurt You) - 5:02
3. Waidmanns Heil (Hunter's Hail/Greeting) - 3:33
4. Haifisch (Shark) - 3:45
5. B******** (Buckstabu) - 4:15
6. Fruhling in Paris (Springtime in Paris) - 4:45
7. Wiener Blut (Viennese Blood) - 3:53
8. Pussy - 3:57
9. Liebe ist fur alle da (Love Is There for Everyone) - 3:26
10. Mehr (More) - 4:09
11. Roter Sand (Red Sand) - 3:59
Deluxe Edition Features Five Bonus Songs: (Comments coming soon)
1. Fuhre mich (Lead Me) - 4:34
2. Donaukinder (Children of the Danube) - 5:18
3. Halt (Stop) - 4:20
4. Roter Sand (Orchestral version) (Red Sand) - 4:06
5. Liese (Elisabeth) - 3:56
1. Rammlied (Ramm-Song)
This one's pretty much what you'd expect for an opening song on a Rammstein album. Starts off slow, builds up, then it's full speed ahead for the duration.
2. Ich tu dir Weh (I Hurt You)
This one falls squarely into the "dramatic" category of their music, where Lindemann's vocals occasionally go beyond the usual rolling rs at times and becomes almost operatic. They maintain just the right balance between the pounding drums and guitar right next to Flake's ridiculous keyboard skills, and manage to get sounds out of things you wouldn't think you'd be able to get out of them, with the right application of some synth strings throughout.
3. Waidmanns Heil (Hunter's Hail/Greeting)
Play this song during a Viking raid and it would fit. It opens with horns, it's literally calling you to it before it hits you with all guns firing. This would be the "fight song" of the album.
4. Haifisch (Shark)
One of the slowest on the album, this one's currently sitting as my favorite. Nothing overly spectacular for a minute or so, everyone just sort of working towards it. Then you get everything and it's just freaking epic. That's the only way to describe it. Epic.
5. B******** (Buckstabu)
Strip away some of the production value and Herzeleid has been reborn in this song. Loud, rough, it's unpleasant to listen to Lindemann screaming in your ear with his sore throat sounding rolling rs, and damn it, that's the only way to listen to this song. Any other way and it wouldn't work.
6. Fruhling in Paris (Springtime in Paris)
Another slower song (perhaps until the crescendo when things start to pick up somewhat) it's one that is going to either be loved or hated, no in between. It almost, almost reaches the point where you could see it playing during the climax of a romantic drama, which I'm sure was probably the intend considering how Rammstein goes about their music. And who says metal always has to sound angry? Still, it's... well it will probably take a listen or two to decide whether you like it or not.
7. Wiener Blut (Viennese Blood)
Another song that starts slow then kicks it into gear about a minute in, this is a hard one to explain. It really didn't stand out for me, perhaps because there has already been hard, there's already been soft, and there's already been a mix of the two, and they've all done it better than this one. It just seems to be lacking the hook it needs to bring it up to the rest of the album. If one song in particular was going to receive skips on the iPod, it would probably be this one.
8. Pussy
Pussy is something of a sad song. Everyone is going to watch the video, and get hung up on the whole porn thing. And the fact that Flake is a he-she. Which, okay, that's fair enough I mean the man's been through a lot over the years (they blew him up for Christ sake) but this one's probably the weirdest. See, there I go talking about things not this song. This isn't a good song, but it's not bad either. It's a single, let's put it that way. It's catchy, and it's firmly tongue in cheek as you'd expect from them, but aside from its novelty there's not anything here in particular that warrants any real thought.
9. Liebe ist fur alle da (Love Is There for Everyone)
The title track, but does it hold up good enough to be the title track? Perhaps. This is another one that could have been fairly meh, but for whatever reason it managed to hook me in just enough that I gave it a couple gos, and while it's not the best song ever, it's got plenty here to make it worth while.
10. Mehr (More)
Loud, hard, fast, what you'd expect when you're drawing to a close. Not much else to say about this other than don't have your headphones up all the way. If you're a Track 8. Loud is the way to go with this one.
11. Roter Sand (Red Sand)
What would a Rammstein album be without a somewhat oddly out of place slow song with minimal rockage? Klavier, Seemann, Roter Sand. Either you like these songs, which luckily I do, or you don't and you'll probably be skipping it a lot. Because even compared to the aforementioned slow songs, this one... well, it was probably written during a particular depressed or happy moment, depending on how you want to interpret it.
Right now you're probably asking yourself, that's all well and good, but where would it stand in the Rammstein discography? Well, I have to say first off that the Reise, Reise/Rosenrot duo was pretty much the soundtrack to my life when I was in college for a few reasons and as such they're probably going to be favorites until the day I die simply because of the connections they have. And as much as this may raise the ire of some, their older work I've always liked, but it's never been my favorite. Right around the time Mutter hit, when they grew from a band making metal into a group of guys who have gone through lives with some rather shitty periods and started making metal based on that, was when I really started to dig their stuff. So if I had to place them, I'd rank them thusly, left to right.
Take that as you will. Some fans will probably look at this album as the further degeneration by Rammstein into crappiness, as it continues some of the trends from the more recent albums. Though it does bring some of their harder edge back as well, which may please some and alienate others. This is probably going to stand as the most rift-creating album they release.
Either way, put me in the "likes" category.
- Freak
Note: Special characters were removed from song titles, as the board didn't seem to like them.