rammstein

Rammstein is a German band that was formed in 1994. Their musical style incorporates elements of metal/hard rock, industrial, and electronic music. Their songs are performed almost exclusively in German. They have sold over 10 million records worldwide^[1].

Rammstein's entire catalogue is published by BMG Music Publishing.

The band

Rammstein takes its name indirectly from the western German town of Ramstein, site of an airshow disaster in 1988. The band's signature song, the eponymous "Rammstein", is a commemoration of the tragedy that took place at the Ramstein Air Base. The extra "m" in the band's name allows the word to translate literally as "ramming stone" or "battering ram", reinforcing the image of the band's music as fierce and relentless. Despite lyrics that are in German, the band has enjoyed success outside of Germany, both in Europe, North America as well as Japan, Australia and New Zealand. With the album Reise, Reise (2004), they became the most successful German-language band of all time internationally. Rammstein has had several top ten singles in Europe.

The band's members all come from the former East Germany, specifically East Berlin and Schwerin. They are:

• Till Lindemann – lead vocals
• Richard Zven "Scholle" Kruspe – lead-guitar
• Paul H. Landers – rhythm-guitar
• Oliver "Ollie" Riedel – electric bass
• Christoph "Doom" Schneider – drums
• Christian "Flake" Lorenz – keyboards

Riedel, Schneider and Kruspe were the original founders of Rammstein, following an attempt by the latter to compose American-influenced music with a West Berlin band called Orgasm Death Gimmicks. As Kruspe put it, "I realized it's really important to make music and make it fit with your language, which I didn't do in the past. I came back [to Germany] and said, 'It's time to make music that's really authentic.' I was starting a project called Rammstein to really try to make German music." He invited Till Lindemann, a basket weaver and drummer for the band First Arsch, to join the project as a vocalist. The four entered a contest for new bands and won, attracting the interest of Paul H. Landers, who knew them all and decided to join the band. Christian "Flake" Lorenz was the last member to join; he had played with Landers before in the band Feeling B and was initially reluctant to come on board, but was eventually persuaded to join. Their first album was released a year later. They have been nominated for two Best Metal Performance Grammy Awards: in 1999 with the song "Du hast" and in 2005 with the song "Mein Teil".

Style

Although Rammstein is often generalized as industrial metal, its music spans a variety of related styles, including German hard rock and heavy metal. The band was strongly influenced by Laibach, a Slovenian neo-classical and industrial group. Other influences include DAF (Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft), Oomph! and Ministry, but the contrast between individual songs such as "Bestrafe mich", "Ohne dich" and "Te quiero puta!" makes the band difficult to classify.

Rammstein's style has tended to divide critics, some of whom have responded with memorably dismissive comments. Jam Showbiz (April 2001) described Mutter as "music to invade Poland to." New Zealand's Southland Times (Dec. 17, 1999) suggested that Till Lindemann's "booming, sub-sonic voice" would send "the peasants fleeing into their barns and bolting their doors." The New York Times (Jan. 9, 2005) commented that on the stage, "Mr. Lindemann gave off an air of such brute masculinity and barely contained violence that it seemed that he could have reached into the crowd, snatched up a fan, and bitten off his head." Other critics have been more positive. Stephen Thomas Erlewine of All Music Guide commented that "their blend of industrial noise, grinding metal guitars, and operatic vocals is staggeringly powerful"^[2]. "We just push boundaries," said Till Lindemann in an interview with rock magazine Kerrang!. "We can't help it if people don't like those boundaries being pushed."

Despite Rammstein's brutalist image, many of its songs lyrics demonstrate a certain sense of humour. "Zwitter", for example, is a bizarre take on narcissism (and bisexuality) through the persona of a hermaphrodite:

Wenn die anderen Mädchen suchten (When the others searched for girls)

Konnt ich mich schon selbst befruchten (I could already fertilize myself)

Similarly, the song "Amerika" features a tongue-in-cheek adaptation of the normal chorus:

We're all living in Amerika

Coca-Cola, Wonderbra! Usually Amerika ist wunderbar (wonderful), in one chorus is sung as "Coca-Cola, sometimes war"

We're all living in Amerika

Amerika, Amerika!

Some of their songs show unexpected influences. "Dalai Lama" is an adaptation of the famous poem Der Erlkönig by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. "Hilf mir" was inspired by the short story "Die gar traurige Geschichte mit dem Feuerzeug" (from "Der Struwwelpeter") by Heinrich Hoffmann. "Rosenrot" is inspired by the poem "Heideröslein" by Goethe and the story "Schneeweißchen und Rosenrot".

Lyrics

Nearly all of Rammstein's lyrics are in German. However, the band did record English versions of "Engel" , "Du hast" and "Amerika", as well as covers of the songs "Stripped" and "Pet Sematary". In addition, the songs "Amerika" (German version), "Stirb nicht vor mir//Don't die before I do" and "Moskau" contain not only German verses, but also English and Russian choruses, respectively; "Te quiero puta!" is entirely in Spanish. The song "Mein Teil" features one line in English: "Yes It's Mein Teil"^[3]. "Ollie" Riedel commented that "German language suits heavy metal music. French might be the language of love, but German is the language of anger." (Sunday Herald Sun, Melbourne, Australia, October 24, 2004).

Wordplay is a fundamental component of Rammstein's lyrics. In many instances, the lyrics are phrased such that they can be interpreted in several ways. The song "Du hast", for example, is a play on German marriage vows ("Willst du, bis der Tod euch scheidet, treu ihr sein für alle Tage?"). In the song, the traditional affirmative response "ja" is replaced by its negation "nein". The song starts, in fact, with a play on words: "Du... Du hast... Du hast mich..." meaning, "You have me" or "You hate me". (The second person singular ("du") forms of the words "hassen" (to hate) and "haben" (to have) are homophones). The ambiguity is later resolved as the line is completed: "Du hast mich gefragt" ("You [have] asked me").

Rammstein often uses rhyming to create similar effects. For example, from the song "Los":

Es ist hoffnungslos (It is hopeless)

Sinnlos (Senseless)

Hilflos (Helpless)

Sie sind Gott [break]

Los

The last two lines above can be interpreted in three ways. "Sie sind Gott. / Los!" can mean "They are God. / Go!"; "Sie sind Gott los" can be translated as "They got rid of God;" while "Sie sind gottlos" means "they are godless". "Sie sind" could also be understood as the formal "you are" yielding three additional interpretations.

Movie and video appearances

Within only a few years of starting their career, Rammstein soon caught the attention of Hollywood for their explosive stage performances and energetic music. Directors David Lynch and Rob Cohen appear to be particularly strong fans; explaining why he set the first four minutes of his thriller xXx in a Rammstein concert in Prague, Cohen said:

Rammstein's movie appearances to date are as follows:

Rammstein's song videos also tie in quite closely with films as they frequently "quote" from movies, including Quentin J. Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs in "Du hast" and From Dusk Till Dawn in "Engel". "Du hast" is also a hint to Lost Highway from David Lynch. The video for Feuer Frei also contains many shots taken from the action scenes of xXx.

Shows

Rammstein has achieved particular fame (not to mention notoriety) for its hugely over-the-top stage show, using so many pyrotechnics that fans eventually coined the motto "Other bands play, Rammstein burns!" (a quip at Manowar's song "Kings of Metal", which states, "other bands play, Manowar kill").

The heat is so intense that on occasion, people have been carried out of Rammstein concerts suffering from heat exhaustion, and lighting gantries have been seen glowing red-hot from repeated fireball hits. The variety of the pyrotechnics can be seen in a recent concert playlist, which includes such items as "Lycopodium Masks", "Glitterburst Truss", "Pyrostrobes", "Comets", "Flash Trays" and "Mortar Hits". The band's on-stage antics have included:

• Band members using head-mounted flamethrowers ("Lycopodium Masks", also called "Dragon Masks") while singing/playing (example: "Feuer frei!" video);
• Till Lindemann singing an entire song while on fire (example: "Rammstein" video); he now uses twin flamethrowers strapped to his arms;
• Simulated sodomy with Till using a dildo on Flake, that squirts liquid (during the song Bück dich);
• "Flake" Lorenz being led by Till Lindemann in full bondage gear during stage performances of Bück dich.
• Exploding drumsticks, drums, microphones and boots;
• "Flake" Lorenz being roasted in a giant cauldron by a flamethrower-wielding Lindemann; (During the song Mein Teil)
• Rockets fired along cables strung above the audience;
• Spark-shooting longbows, drumsticks, boots and guns;
• "Flake" Lorenz destroying a keyboard in the style of Nine Inch Nails and The Who;
• Microphones, guitars and keyboards on fire;
• Band members surfing the crowd in a rubber boat^[5]
• "Flake" Lorenz driving around on a Segway HT during "Amerika".^[1]

Rammstein's shows have become increasingly elaborate since the first ones over ten years ago, when their effects were confined to pouring kerosene around the stage and setting it alight. After some unfortunate early accidents the band took to employing professionals to handle the pyrotechnics; Lindemann himself is now a licensed pyrotechnician.

The band's costumes are equally outlandish. During the Reise, Reise tour they were wearing Lederhosen, corsets and vague military uniforms with steel helmets, while during the Mutter tour the group kept to the themes of the album artwork and descended onto the stage from a giant uterus while wearing nappies.

According to Kruspe, the on-stage wackiness is entirely deliberate (Rammstein's motto according to Schneider is: "Do your own thing. And overdo it!"). The aim is to get people's attention and have fun at the same time: "You have to understand that 99 percent of the people don't understand the lyrics, so you have to come up with something to keep the drama in the show. We have to do something. We like to have a show; we like to play with fire. We do have a sense of humor. We do laugh about it; we have fun... but we're not Spinal Tap. We take the music and the lyrics seriously. It's a combination of humor, theater and our East German culture, you know?" (The Grand Rapids Press, Jul 22, 1999).

^[1] At the Metaltown Festival in Gothenburg, Sweden on July 30, 2005, Till suffered a knee injury when Flake accidentally ran into him with the Segway. This caused concerts scheduled in Asia and Latin America to be cancelled.

Discography

Main article: Rammstein discography

Albums

Rammstein has released five full-length studio albums: Herzeleid (1995), Sehnsucht (1997), Mutter (2001), Reise, Reise (2004), Rosenrot (2005) and two live albums Live aus Berlin (1999) and Völkerball (due to be released late 2006). While Herzeleid was well-received, Sehnsucht is widely regarded as Rammstein's breakthrough album. The production of the follow-up album Mutter was an experience fraught with difficulty for the band. However, the differences were resolved by the time Rammstein produced Reise, Reise.

The band's latest album, Rosenrot, was released on October 28, 2005. A number of songs that were left out of Reise, Reise for dramaturgical reasons make up the majority of the album, but a number of new songs have also been recorded. The band performed "Benzin", the first single from the album, at four shows in Wuhlheide Park on June 23-26, 2005, and four shows in the UK (Newcastle, Birmingham, Glasgow and Cardiff) in July 2005.

The band will take a timeout in 2006, and will record a new album in 2007. [1]

A new live Rammstein DVD, named Völkerball, is to be released in October of 2006, with concert footage from France, England, Japan, and Russia, and as a CD as well. A special edition will have another DVD, with 90 minutes of documentary footage. There will also be a special suprise that comes with the special edition digi-pack.

Covers and adaptations

Rammstein's songs have been covered by a number of other artists, including the group Gregorian who reworked "Engel" as a Gregorian chant for their album The Dark Side. The same song has been covered by Belgian girls choir Scala & Kolacny Brothers, resulting in a very quiet, brooding version, contrary to the original. Also, the German composer Torsten Rasch has produced a classical symphonic song-cycle entitled "Mein Herz brennt", based on the album Mutter. The song "Alter Mann" was also done for the CD.

The cover of "Seemann" by Nina Hagen and Apocalyptica impressed Rammstein so much, that they took Apocalyptica as co-headliner on tour with them in Spring 2005, and invited the band on stage to perform "Ohne dich" and "Mein Herz Brennt" together. The "Benzin" single also featured a remix of the song, called "Kerosiini" by Apocalyptica.

Rammstein has also done several covers themselves, including "Das Modell" by Kraftwerk, "Stripped" by Depeche Mode and "Pet Sematary" by The Ramones (sung by keyboardist Christian "Flake" Lorenz).

Controversies

Described by the New York Times as a "powerful strain of brutally intense rock" who "bring gale-force music and spectacular theatrics together," Rammstein has been a band with an highly controversy-prone nature [2]. Rammstein have not been shy about courting this controversy and have periodically attracted condemnation from morality campaigners. Their stage act earned them a night in jail in June 1999 after a giant dildo was used in a concert in Worcester, Massachusetts. Back home in Germany, the band has faced repeated accusations of fascist sympathies due to the dark and sometimes militaristic imagery of their videos and concerts, including the use of excerpts from the propaganda film Olympia by Leni Riefenstahl in the video for "Stripped". The debut album Herzeleid, released in Germany in 1995, originally had a cover featuring the bandmembers' upper bodies without clothing; critics accused the band of trying to sell themselves as "poster boys for the Master Race" [3]. Rammstein have vigorously denied this and said that they want nothing to do with politics or supremacy of any kind. Herzeleid has since been given an alternate cover in some countries, depicting the band members' faces.

The song "Links 2, 3, 4" was written as a riposte to these claims. According to Kruspe, it means, "'my heart beats on the left, two, three, four.' It's simple. If you want to put us in a political category, we're on the left side, and that's the reason we made the song." (The Grand Rapids Press, July 22, 2001) On the other hand, this is also an allusion to a military marching cadence since "links, 2, 3, 4" is typically heard during marching practice in the German army with "links" referring to the left foot. "Flake" recently stated on an on-line chat that the song was created in order to show that the band could write a harsh, "evil", military sounding song that was not about Nazi ideals. [4]

In April 1999, it emerged that Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, the two boys who perpetrated the Columbine High School massacre, were fans of Rammstein and had declared it to be one of their favorite bands. Rammstein came under heavy criticism from some conservative and Christian groups in the United States who claimed (among other things) that the band were "demonically influenced" ^[6] and by the German media that Till Lindemann's rolling Teutonic r's were an imitation of Adolf Hitler's diction.^[7] In response, the band issued a statement:

The members of Rammstein express their condolences and sympathy to all affected by the recent tragic events in Denver. They wish to make it clear that they have no lyrical content or political beliefs that could have possibly influenced such behavior. Additionally, members of Rammstein have children of their own, in whom they continually strive to instill healthy and non-violent values.

Enormously popular in Russia, according to authorities there, the organizers of the Beslan massacre were Rammstein fans as well.[5]

Following the tragic conclusion of the Beslan school hostage crisis in Russia in September 2004, the Russian authorities claimed that the hostage-takers had "listened to German hard rock group Rammstein on personal stereos during the siege to keep themselves edgy and fired up." [6] The claim has not been independently confirmed.

Band members said about this issue [7]:

There's been a lot of talk about that, but if there are radical feelings in people anything can wake them – a painting, a picture, whatever. Its just a coincidence that it happened to be our music. Its important to think about what caused them to make their decisions, how they became animals, not their taste in music. Whenever something like this happens its like ‘Okay, lets blame the artist. Such bullshit. (Till Lindemann)

Our music is made to release aggression, and people listening to it are also needed to do that, but its not our fault. Should we stop making hard music because bad people might like it? (Christoph Schneider)

In October 2004, the video for "Mein Teil" caused considerable controversy in Germany when it was released. It takes a darkly comic view of the Armin Meiwes cannibalism case, showing members of the band being held on a leash by a transvestite and rolling around in mud. The controversy did nothing to stop (and may even have helped) the single rising to No. 2 in the German charts. Meiwes (who was convicted of manslaughter in 2004, then retried in 2006 and found guilty of murder^[8]) brought suit in January 2006 against the band for infringement of rights to the story. The outcome of the civil case is not reported.

The band's own views of its image are sanguine: "We like being on the fringes of bad taste," according to Paul H. Landers, while "Flake" Lorenz comments, "The controversy is fun, like stealing forbidden fruit. But it serves a purpose. We like audiences to grapple with our music, and people have become more receptive." (The Times, Jan 29, 2005)

The video for "Mann gegen Mann" ("Man against man") from their latest album "Rosenrot" may have caused some controversy, as most of the bandmembers are naked in the video, apart from lead singer Till Lindemann, who is wearing what can best be described as a "latex nappy". In addition, there are multiple naked men in the video, with buttocks clearly visible, though no genitalia can be seen. The video has been played uncensored on MTV. Yet, the video has been rated FSK 16 in Germany and can therefore can be played on television after 10 PM.

References

1. ^ Rammstein timeline. Rammstein (2005-12-16).
2. ^ Stephen Thomas Erlewine. Sehnsucht review. All Music Guide. Retrieved on 2006-07-10.
3. ^ Jeremy Williams. Mein Teil translated lyrics. Herzleid.com. Retrieved on 2006-07-10.
4. ^ "xXx" Vin Diesel and Rob Cohen interview. mymovies.net. Retrieved on 2006-07-10.
5. ^ http://herzeleid.com/en/press/2005-11_flake_chat_english
6. ^ Johanna Michaelsen (1999-10-28). 700 club interview (Archived at The Internet Archive on 2000-01-22). Christian Broadcast Network. Retrieved on 2006-07-10.
7. ^ WHY DID THE COLUMBINE SHOOTING HAPPEN? COMMENTS FROM RELIGIOUS SOURCES. Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance. Retrieved on 2006-07-10.
8. ^ 'Rotenburg cannibal' sentenced to life. United Press International (2006-05-09). Retrieved on 2006-07-10.

External links

• Rammstein.com - Official site (English)
• Rammstein.de - Official site (German)
• Pilgrim Management - Management
• Herzeleid.com - News, song translations, media and forums
• Rammsteinlive.com - Live Tribute
• Rammstein-Europe.com - European fansite
• Rammsund.com - Norwegian tribute band, translates Rammstein's lyrics into New-Norwegian