Rammstein Ranker - Reise, Reise

 Well, we've reached the impossible. Reise, Reise is easily one of my all-time favorite records, with absolute bangers from top to bottom. When examining the tracklist before writing this, I found myself at odds within on how to properly rank these songs. It's not that each of these songs are my favorite, but as a whole the album is just titanic. 

Reise, Reise was released in 2004, and just like the three albums prior, it exploded onto charts all over Europe and in the United States. The band actually had produced so many songs for this record that they were able to pick and choose what fit the "theme" of the record (specifically, the plane crash whose flight recorder is featured on the album cover) and push the rest to their next album, Rosenrot. To me, it gave the band the unique opportunity to be even more particular in what they wanted, and make the best possible record they could have.

 Mission accomplished.

Rammstein - Reise, Reise

 

 

11. Moskau

Moskau is a decent song musically, but it kind of plods on and lyrically does nothing for me. I do enjoy the dual vocals and the Russian singing, and among the 11th ranked songs this is easily the best one.  But, something had to be ranked at each position, 1 to 11.

 

10. Keine Lust

Keine Lust (No Desire/Don't feel like it) is one of the heaviest songs in the history of the band, especially up to this point. The music video is one of the most popular ones that the band has ever released, and Flake Lorenz' keyboard solo is perfectly placed and one of my favorites from him. The song has just never ever latched onto my eardrums as something to enjoy. I dunno. I hate to beat a dead horse, but something had to come at 10. It's not a bad song by any means.

 

9. Amerika

Younger me really thought Amerika was the jam. Coca-Cola, Wonderbra! English lyrics! Ripping bridge! Hilarious video! Anti-American capitalism sentiment! I dunno, musically is still resonates with the me who first found the band, but in hindsight it feels exceptionally gimmicky. I still bang my head pretty hard when singer Till Lindemann says "This is not a love song, I don't sing my mothers tongue", followed by another sparkling keyboard solo. It just doesn't hold up to the rest of the record.

 

8. Los

If there's one song that inevitably gets stuck in my head every time I listen to it, Los (-less) is that song. Great guitars, brilliant lyrics, catchy drums. It's one of those songs where each preceding line hits harder than the one before. Just brilliance from a song that, from the outside, is just an acoustic guitar and a basic drum. Surprise!

 

7. Ohne dich

Here comes Rammstein with their beautiful, string-driven songs again. It worked for Mein Herz brennt on Mutter, so the band decided to expand upon that with the ballad-esque Ohne dich (Without you). The chorus line of "Ohne dich kann ich nicht sein" hammers my heart into a thousand pieces any time I hear it. We've all been through loss and heartache, and this song brilliantly captures the pain and longing of lost love.

 

 6. Amour

The comparison of Amour (Love) being a wild animal that cannot be tamed hearkens back to several R+ songs from their band, but is most beautifully captured on this record. For a song that starts slow and solemn, the 2nd chorus build-up absolutely blasts this one into space. Haunting keys, a crushing outro, and Till's signature bellow bringing everything together on what is still just the 6th best song on this record. What? Madness.

 

5. Reise, Reise

The title track, which translates specifically in this song to Arise, Arise, is a call upon seaman to wake. More specifically on this track, it is time to rise and overthrow the captain! Ahoi! I love that so many German musical artists and bands use sea metaphors and topics to make their music. This song has pulsing keys that perfectly complement Richard Kruspe and Paul Landers' guitars throughout. On any other record this could easily be the best or second best song.

 

4. Stein um Stein

Even though most of the songs on this record are about some form of death and dying, none of them seem to be quite as dark as Stein um Stein (Stone by Stone). The early buildup, the anguished "STEIN" scream, and the vocal delivery throughout this one is some of Till's finest. My friend Frankie, who sings for local R+ tribute act FleischgewehR, once told me that this was one of his absolute favorites to sing, and I can see why. Pure brutality - singing about capturing and keeping a love interest trapped with you, even burying her alive so she cannot escape. Pure Rammstein, absolute brilliance.

 

3. Morgenstern

When I first listened to this record, it was Morgenstern (Morning star) that immediately jumped out to me as a favorite. Perhaps it was my own struggles with self confidence, perhaps it was Christoph Schneider's snare, who knows. This is another that just burrows into my brain and stays for days after I hear it. It's another one that is hard to describe, but I certainly love it dearly. It always leaves me wanting more, from the opening choral parts to the last words delivered.

 

2. Dalai Lama

I'm not even going to tell you how many times I've quoted the chorus line of "Weiter, weiter ins Verderben - Wir müssen leben bis wir sterben". I just remember being at work and having the guitar riff stuck in my head for days at a time, singing the chorus over and over again. It may not be one of their most popular tracks, but on any given day Dalai Lama might be my favorite song on the record. It is dark, dramatic, and also cinematic; you can almost see the story in your mind as they sing. While the song is specifically about the plane accident that the album is based on, the title reflects the current Tibetan Buddhist leader and his fear of flying.

 

1. Mein Teil 

Hey, look, you had to know this was gonna be the top song, right? Arguably the most messed up of all Rammstein stories, if you haven't read up on Armin Meiwes (and you have a strong stomach), by all means hit up the googles on that one. Like Mein Herz brennt before it, this song perfectly weaves synthesizers and keyboards with a rumbling bassline and crunching guitars. Till often dresses up in a bloody butchers uniform and "cooks" Flake during live performances of Mein Teil (My Part). It's gruesome and grotesque, and the type of song that only Rammstein could pull off. So of course it's my favorite on this record and perhaps of their entire catalogue, given the day and mood. I don't think I scream louder than on this song when FleischgewehR performs it here live.

 

 

I genuinely cannot believe I was able to break this one down. It took several days of listening and debating the merits of each song before I could give a concrete ranking for it. I do believe Rosenrot will be much easier. At least I hope so... haha. Hope you enjoyed it. Weiter, weiter!

 

Rammstein Ranker - Mutter

 I knew that once we got to Mutter and Reise, Reise, it would be a struggle. The band truly defined their sound on this record, with a much more modern feel and an emphasis on emotional lyrics. Most of these songs would fit in anywhere on future recordings, and I found it difficult to place such excellent songs so far down the power ranking. 

 Mutter was released in 2001, and while it did not sell as well as its predecessor, it expanded the global reach of the group and immediately shot up many of the European charts.

 

 

 

Rammstein - Mutter

 

11. Adios

 Is Adios (Goodbye) the worst Rammstein song? There are only a few others that I would put at the bottom of the pyramid below it, if any. I don't know what it is, but I dislike everything about this song. That's a rarity for R+ songs, but I suppose everyone drops a clunker then and again.

 

10. Rein raus

Sex, sex, sex. I wonder if the guys from Rammstein love to screw as much as they sing about it, of if it is simply a point of being grotesque to fit the image. It's kind of a dumb song outside of that, although I feel like Ollie Riedel's bass is clear and resonant throughout. Also, imagine any American band releasing a song, where the chorus is simply them chanting "In" and "Out" over and over again. Why does it work for Rammstein? I think because of the way Till rolls his R's... heh.

 

9. Nebel

Nebel (Fog) is another song that is beautifully done from a lyrical standpoint, and would probably be super emotional if they played it live. It's 100% a heart-breaker, which it seems like R+ love to do at the end of their albums. Other than it being as slow as it is, I really don't have any knocks on the song. Someone had to be #9 I guess.

 

8. Mutter

I guess we're getting the beautiful, sorrowful songs out of the way early on Mutter (Mother). The title track is one of the stranger offerings on the record, seemingly about a test-tube baby who never knew his mother. The protagonist simultaneously years for her love while wanting to kill her. The giant chorus and agonizing screams of "MUTTER!" are enough to help the listener both feel the pain and the anger. Again, great track, there are just better here.

 

7. Links 2 3 4

In my head, I always think of Links 2 3 4 (Left 2, 3, 4; a military marching cadence) as a better song than it is, just because it's fun to chant out and stomp along to. I guess drummer Christoph Schneider really hammers the point home on this one, which is absolutely necessary. I probably listen to it more than others on this record simply because of that, but I never really think of it as a fantastic song after listening to it. It's still a bop, just the 7th best bop out of 11. Lol.

 

6. Ich will

Talk about a great guitar riff and key combo. Musically, Ich will (I want) is a masterpiece, and the lyrics take it to another level. The band chose 5 massive singles on this album, and they nailed every single one of them. Gosh, I dunno, it's just a really great song. Words fail me other than that the song just keeps pounding on and driving the band's point home.

 

5. Spieluhr

Yes, I'll take "fucked up songs about children" for 200 please, Alex.  As someone who lived through a somewhat fucked up childhood, songs like Spieluhr (Music box) always resonate with me. Probably one of my favorite actual choruses on any R+ song - definitely from this album. The creepy vocoder voice singing "Hoppe hoppe Reiter, Mein Herz schlägt nicht mehr weiter" is enough to stir up the goosebumps all over my body, and the way the keys are synchronized with the guitars on the first two verses just make the song sound so much bigger than it actually is. The surreal ending where the child is saved also sparks chills throughout. Whew, what an exhaustingly amazing song.

 

4. Feuer frei!

I never though that a song as big, loud and explosive as Feuer frei! (Fire at will!) could be the 4th best song on a record. It'd probably be 2 or 3 on just about any other disc. The song is a live staple at FleischgewehR (our local Rammstein tribute act) shows, and their guitarist Steve once told me that while they like to mix things up from show to show, Feuer frei! is one that will be played at every show. The crowd always goes bananas, for good reason!

 

3. Zwitter

No song on the first 3 records gets me more amped up than Zwitter (Hermaphrodite). I used to walk around work just humming "Zwitter, zwitter" to myself, and the post chorus of "Eins für mich, eins für dich, Gibt es nicht für mich, Eins für mich, eins für dich, Eins und eins das bin ich" makes me laugh harder than anything else they've ever written. It's just a song on steroids, ripping through your veins and banging your head in every direction. It's messed up and majestic all at the same time. Someone once told me that if this was one of my favorite R+ songs, I was obviously not a fan... I'll wear that hat, thanks.

 

2. Sonne

 Big. This song is BIG. Big as the friggen Sun its title mentions. Sonne is just an explosion - a perfect meld of the dancier side of the band found on the first two records, and the polished, riff-banging side from the next two. Two thoughts on this one... firstly, who doesn't love counting in a foreign language? And secondly, lyrics about celestial beings and the battle between light and darkness are some of my favorites. A poll was taken from R+ fans on their Facebook page a few years ago (After LIFAD but before the untitled record) and Sonne was ranked number one.

 

1. Mein Herz brennt


Gun to my head, this might be the best of all Rammstein songs. Any time the sextet delves into old German culture (poetry, news headlines, and in this instance an old television show), they end up leaving tons of ambiguity for the listener to absorb. Mein Herz brennt (My Heart burns) features a string arrangement that has been played live by legendary cellists Apocalyptica, and they give the topic of nightmares an extra jolt. There is absolutely nothing in this song that I do not love. Lyrics, heaviness, keys, bass, guitars, you name it. It's one of those choruses you have to SCREAM along with to fully appreciate. Ah, so good.





 Whew, that was a tough one. Reise, Reise is my favorite R+ album, so tomorrow's assignment will surely suck the life out of me. Hope you enjoyed!

Rammstein Ranker - Sehnsucht

When I first got into Rammstein, I was told that Sehnsucht and Mutter were the two records I needed to listen to to understand Rammstein. At the time, I was quite surprised to find that I did not care for the album at all, and almost (almost, almost) abandoned checking out the rest of their discography due to it. I knew Du hast (who doesn't?), but other than a couple songs, I couldn't understand the hype.

Silly me. Perhaps I just wasn't ready at the time, but it clouded my vision for the record going forward. After listening to Mutter (and subsequently Herzeleid) I found that I loved the band, but always had it in the back of my head that Sehnsucht was not a great record. The more I've listened to it over the years, the more I have found myself to have initially been wrong.

1997's Sehnsucht was released with 6 different album covers - Spotify features drummer Christoph Schneider (bottom right on the composite collage seen below) and the one I've seen the most (including on Wikipedia) features singer Till Lindemann (top middle). When I first downloaded the album (shhh....), the cover featured was of keyboardist Flake Lorenz (bottom left).

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rammstein - Sehnsucht

11. Spiel mit mir

For a song whose title literally translates to "Play with me", Spiel mit mir is easily one of the most boring tracks in Rammstein's entire catalogue.  And, of course, it's about incest. Because why not? In any full Rammstein ranking, this song would be bottom 10 for me.

 

10. Bück dich

 One of the more infamous songs in R+'s arsenal, the band was arrested in Massachusetts for simulating a sexual act during this song, which led to them not playing in the United States for many years. Bück dich (Bend down) is another sexually charged song whose lyrics far outweight the music. I wouldn't say its a bad song, but it has never really stood out to be much more than that.

 

9. Sehnsucht

For all of the title tracks in Rammstein's history, Sehnsucht (Longing) is the only one for me that hits a sour note. It's definitely an interesting song, and like just about everything else they write, is rooted in sexual metaphors and colorful imagery. If Rammstein does do one thing great, it is chanting one or two word choruses over and over again to make them catchy.

8. Klavier

Klavier (Piano) is another one of those beautiful melodic songs that has a huge, explosive chorus and a great guitar/key solo that perfectly compliments it. There just isn't enough to fill in the rest of it other than the lyrical beauty. The dramatic ending is perfectly Rammstein, too, with the piano playing protagonist found dead at her post. This is another one of those songs that just sounds like 1997, which is still not the bands fault, but it just peels back the timelessness of their other songs.

 

7. Du hast

Go ahead and get all of your moaning out of the way now. Du hast has the most dull lyrics of anything Rammstein has ever written. The keyboards are immediately recognizable and make it for the perfect pulsing keyboard hit, and my buddy Frankie (singer for Rammstein tribute act FleischgewehR) says that is ranks as one of the greatest choruses ever. And, everyone knows Du hast. It was so popular that they released an English-lyric version, making the band even more accessible on the North American continent. I've just never thought of it as one of their best songs.

 

6. Tier

When I first listened to this album, I thought Tier (Animal) was absolutely the best song. Aaaand then I read the lyrics. Hahaha. Bestiality, incest, rape... hey, take your pick. These dudes are dark, but this song rips. One of the best riffs in their entire catalogue, in my opinion. You just have to not think about what its about, and move on to the next dark, dirty song. Haha.

5. Alter Mann

Conversely, when I first listened to Sehnsucht, I thought Alter Mann (Older Man) was a dull clunker. Half a lifetime later, I've come to respect the brilliance of Flake's keys, the driving guitars and Till's abrasive delivery. The lyrics are ambiguous enough that it can be interpreted into many different moods, which I think is a plus for any song. Rammstein's lyrical quality has such a wonderful duality between ambiguity and straight-forwardness.

 

 4. Bestrafe mich

 Bestrafe mich (Punish me) is such a tremendously heavy song, it's almost hard to believe it's on the same album as a song like Klavier. It's another one of those jams where everything is perfectly blended together, in the way that only the sado-masochistic NDH titans can. If the band had to have chosen another single for this record (they only chose Du hast and Engel), I think it definitely would've been Bestrafe.

 

3. Eifersucht

There aren't many songs with better keyboard openings than Eifersucht (Jealousy). As a whole, it's a fairly simple song with tanz-metal guitars and great keys... and of course, another singular word chorus chanted over and over again. Who doesn't love yelling Ei-Ei-Ei-Eifersucht!!  While most R+ records go out on a somber note, Sehnsucht punches to the very last with Alter Mann, Eifersucht, and Küss mich.

 

2. Engel 

Just about any R+ fan I know has Engel (Angel) in or at the top of their list for the entire band catalogue. It's a beautiful, fantastic and BIG song with guest vocals from German singer Bobo. Till is known to wear massive pyrotechnic angel wings when performing this one live. It's one of those songs where you hear it, even without knowing the lyrics, and you say "this is it. This is a great song". It's honestly hard to describe.

1. Küss mich (Fellfrosch)

Surprised?! Of course you are! I looked on Spotify, and the only songs in Rammstein's discography with less streams than Küss mich (Kiss me) are Das Alte Leid, Roter Sand, Ein Leid, and Mehr. Take that for what it is, as on every album other than Herzeleid, the closing track is the least (or second least) streamed. But for my money, this one is the best. The guitars are an absolute assault, Ollie Riedel's bass pulses and bounces throughout, and for reasons that nobody seems to know, Flake has old Looney Tunes sound effects sprinkled in.  Musically it rips top to bottom - the perfect workout song. Lyrically (amusingly) it is a song about a girl who just wants some head but can't get it... maybe because she has bad hygeine habits. Fellfrosch is German slang for female genitalia - not to be said in polite company.

 

 

Honestly, this is one of those records that seems to get better every time I listen to it, which is a strange thing to say about a record I've spun a dozen times. The Rammstein we know today owes itself to the success of Engel and Du hast, and for that I am grateful.

Mutter is next! Feel free to comment your thoughts.

Rammstein Ranker - Herzeleid

As I seemingly am unable to wrap my head around creating new content for Music in Motion, someone suggested to do a mock review - write about something that I know and love already and just go from there. As I am going to see Rammstein in six days (!!!), I decided to take upon myself the unenviable task of power ranking each album, track by track.

 

Crazy, I know.

 

Obviously, I have to start at the beginning, with 1995's Herzeleid. I'm not going to do a ton of album commentary before hand, I just honestly wonder what the world was like before this band dropped onto the scene. I wasn't a fan of R+ back in 1995, and in fact I didn't start seriously listening to them until after Rosenrot was released. But, as a lover of a) industrial metal, b) foreign languages, c) dark imagery and lyrics, and d) bands who don't take themselves too seriously; I found R+ to be a refreshing musical outlet and immediately fell in love with the band.

In the years since, I have devoted myself to understanding them and their language, and they have made their way up into the top tier of my favorite bands of all time. This status was only cemented when I found FleischgewehR, a Rammstein tribute group based out of Columbus. I had the chance to interview them 5 years ago, and became fast friends with the group, especially their singer Frankie, who hails from Germany and spent the first half of his life there. 

But enough about me... let's talk about the MUSIC. These rankings are 1000% subjective, just like a ton of R+'s lyrics, but this is how I see them when I listen to the band.

 

 

 

Rammstein - Herzeleid

11. Heirate mich

 If the band is allowed to be controversial out the wazoo, why can't I? Heirate mich (Marry me) is a live staple for the band and a popular track among fans near and far. Yet, I can honestly say that I have never listened to it and really got it. Every album has to have a song ranked 11th (fun fact, every R+ record has 11 tracks), and this is the one for me.

10. Das alte Leid

The interesting thing about Das Alte Leid (The Old Sorrow) is that I can see exactly what the band was going for on the track, and I feel like if it were recorded during the Mutter sessions or somewhere later in the band's history, it might have been a great track. But the recording sessions for Herzeleid were fraught with tensions between the six band members and their producer, and I feel like this is one of the songs that ended up falling short in the end. But, let's be honest, who doesn't love screaming ICH WILL FICKEN!!!

 

9. Weisses Fleisch

There was a time when I first discoverd the band that I thought Weisses Fleisch (White Flesh) was the absolute jam. The guitars drive hard, establishing that Neue Deutsche Härte sound that Rammstein made so popular at the time. The line "Mein schwarzes Blut und dein weißes Fleisch" lets you know just how brutal singer Till Lindemann can be lyrically, but the song just seems to fall short in other areas. Maybe a little too brutal, I dunno. The sexuality of R+'s music is an interesting juxtaposition for me, but we'll get into that later.

8. Rammstein

My best friend Andrew and I are both huge Rammstein fans, and while I was making this list, I discussed with him the major differences between recorded albums and live performances of their music (e.g. Live aus Berlin, Volkerball, etc). You wanna talk about a song that absolutely rips live? I give you the song that coined the name of the band, titled after the Ramstein air show disaster. From a recorded standpoint, it kind of plods on, but anytime FleischgewehR has played it live, I have headbanged harder than can be imagined. It's surprisingly heavy for something recorded 30 years ago.

7. Laichzeit

Remember what I said about the sexual side of the German titans? I give you Laichzeit (Spawning time), a song that references heavily on incest. It also is one of the better synth-based songs in the band's catalogue, with keyboardist Flake Lorenz shining the brightest here. It's not a song I go out of my way to listen to, but it's a fun one when it comes up.

 

6. Herzeleid

I've never been able to understand what it was about Herzeleid (Heartache) that I loved so much. Perhaps the way the lyrics are delivered, perhaps the meaning behind them, and perhaps just the thought of chanting "Herrrrrz-e-leid!" Either way, the song is great even if it mirrors a couple others on the record. A worthy title track, for sure.

 

5. Asche zu Asche

 There are very few tracks that truly embody R+'s ability to blend the dancey synths with the slamming guitars (and Christoph Schneider's hammering drums) more than Asche zu Asche (Ashes to Ashes), nor do many of their songs embody the band's desire to stir up controversial topics in lyrical form. The song seems to depict a ghost returning to haunt those who have killed him, except that the band clearly states that its protagonist is murdered on a cross. Just the same, it's a perfect blend of all of the above, and a shame it's only #5 on this record for me.

4. Der Meister

On the other hand, there's no way I could bump back any of the next 3 songs, or Der Meister (The Master), in which the string section destroy 4 minutes and 10 seconds of music. Bassist Ollie Riedel bounces all over the place on this one, while guitarists Richard Z Kruspe and Paul Landers blast their way through. It's one of the few songs where the lyrics don't do much for me, but it's so good musically that it ultimately balances out. This is a workout song, a cycling song... a song if you need to get jacked up.

3. Du reichst so gut

Another work of wizardry from Flake on the keys, Du reichst so gut (You smell so good) displays its intentions on the chorus when Till belts out "du riechst so gut ich geh’ dir hinterher". The way the keys pulse in the background of the song, the way Till sings about tracking and conquering his prey... it's just a HUGE song with screeching guitars and slapping snares. A beaut, and their first big single.

 

2. Wollt ihr das Bett in Flammen sehen

Somehow not a single, but arguably one of the biggest and most important songs in their catalogue, Rammstein absolutely announce themselves at the top of the record with Wollt ihr das Bett in Flammen sehen. The title is a mouthful and translates, literally, to "do you want to see the bed in flames?" I don't need to tell you what it's about. I do need to tell you that there isn't a riff alive that rips harder than the opening guitar progression on this song. When F+ play this song, my shoulder aches from fist-pumping. It's as good as it gets for all parties involved, and just like their German predecessors KMFDM, R+ show how much their love saying their names in their songs here. Also, "Sex ist eine Schlacht, Liebe ist Krieg" is easily one of the best choruses of all time.

1. Seemann

But, there can only be one song at the top of this power ranking, and it happens to be one of the most beautiful songs that R+ has ever recorded. Incredibly, the song is between Asche zu Asche and Du riechst... on the tracklisting, despite being as dramatically different as any other song on the record. It is the only softer, more ballad-esque song on the record, and serves as a springboard for future solemn anthems such as Nebel, Ohne Dich, and most recently Adieu. Quite simply, the song is gorgeous, with Ollie's bass riff carrying it to each guitar part. The song touches on loneliness at sea (Seemann translates to Sailor), solitude and heartache. For all the clunk and splatter of this record, Seemann stands alone as a song perfectly executed.

 

Thoughts? Agree, disagree, indifferent? It felt good to get this out of my system, so I think I'll do the rest of the older albums (up to Liebe is fur alle da) until we head out to Chicago at the end of the week. Hope you enjoyed. :)