They're huge in Germany - but so's Hasslehoff

Overview and case:

The latest album by Rammstein, Rosenrot contains a mix of songs reworked after being left off of their last album, Reise Reise (in fact, Rosenrot was once mentioned as Reise Reise II early on) and new material. Coming a year after Reise Reise, this album was a pleasent suprise, given the three year gap between Mutter and Reise Reise (and four between Mutter and Sehnsucht).

The 'reused' tracks are various songs that were left off Reise Reise for one reason or another, reworked somewhat. There were compliants early on that this was a B-sides album and a money grabbing attempt - given Ohne Dich from Reise Reise was left off of Mutter, and is one of the best tracks, it was more just whingeing.

The cover art is a bit of a puzzler, a photoshopped icebreaker - not too odd, except that it's almost the exact same picture used for the Japanese release of Reise Reise. Many people had that imported due to various extras (a DVD I belive) and felt ripped off - also the Reise Reise 'black box' scheme was supposedly not the bands first choice, so they changed it for the later Japanese release (or had to change it to not offend Japanese sensibilities depending who you believe). I don't have the Japanese Reise Reise, so I don't care.

The case is a big gatefold, with an arctic panorama on each side (or one huge one that wraps around). Unfortunately they photoshopped a castle onto one of the distant mountains, and it looks a bit cheap and breaks the mood a bit. The booklet has typically weird art - seems like the band are the crew of a stranded ship gone mad or the like. Lots of weird make up and surgical gear about.

Benzin // Gasoline

The first track of the album, starts quietly, almost eeirely - then builds quickly to introduce the typical thunder of guitars and drums. In typical Rammstein fashion, the heavy sound drops out for the verses, Till singing with drum, synthesiser and light guitar backing. Of course, come the chorus, it's all on and the track cranks it up again.

One of the few quasi pollitical songs by the band, Benzin is about the singers desire for petrol above all. Less overt than Amerika, it falls about equal with Links 2,3,4 for politicalness - never really stating what it's about, but still pretty obvious.

The first single, it is a really good start to the album.

Mann gegen Mann // Man against Man

No, not fighting, but the joys of men against men. One of those tracks that is about something but lyrically doesn't go anywhere. It seems to relate a gay mans feelings about the world and himself, his desires and fears.

Musically it really cranks, a great track.

Rosenrot // Rose red

Inspired by "Heidenröslein" by Goethe and the story "Schneeweißchen und Rosenrot" from the Brothers Grimm, Rosenrot is the titular track of the album. In the lyrics booklet it is fourth, but that is more to accomodate the art than anything else. It tells the tale of a young man who has to get a rose atop a mountain for his love- a very demanding young lady who always gets what he wants. The boy plummets to his death at the end, but at least he got the rose down fast eh?

A slightly slower, more mellodic track, but still quite rocking, Rosenrot could almost be a hard ballard, but not quite. Still a very nice song and worth of the album title.

Spring // Jump

A story based song, it tells the tale of a man standing on the edge of a bridge, ready to jump. The singer plays the role of an observer, watching the man, and the crowd who gathers calling for him to 'Spring!' and 'redeem himself' in their eyes. He changes his mind and the crowd gets angry, feeling cheated. The narrator then pushes him to his death, saving him from the shame of dissapointing the crowd.

Flowing nicely from RosenRot, Spring is a slow, pounding track - the band chants 'spring!' in between Till calling for the man to not dissapoint. Mixed with choral voices, it is a very moody track.

Wo bist du? // Where are you?

Starting with pipes or a flute, it builds up, starting slow at first then gathering some pace. It stays as the vocals start, singing about lost love, and the cold world left behind without it.

Unfortunately this song's strength is also its weakness - it has no grand moments, so is largely lost amongst the other tracks. However it is musically one of the nicest tracks, the vocals matching perfectly, the whole track is very flowing and melodic. A great track when I remember it...

Stirb nicht vor mir // Don't die before I do

Definately a ballard - but I think one of their best. Soft drums and simple acoustic guitars back most of the track, lettign Till bring out his 'ballard voice', working with female vocals from Sharleen Spiteri of the band Texas. It has an almost country feel (much like Los from Reise Resie), and this track really shows how far musically the band has come.

My favourite from the album.

Zerstören // Destroy

And then back into the had stuff - opening with almost arabian wailing, Zerstören rocks along with solid guitars and a pounding beat. It harks back to Herzeleid the most with the backing vocal break between each growl of 'Zerstören!' and the harder, almost bounding rythym. Lyrically simple it is about breaking stuff - basically lots of ryhming, but it works. It's a simple song, but a great track.

And then you get to the end... it goes into a strange crackly vocals with music box backing, seemingly either establishing the 'main' part of the song as a result of this, or its lead up. Basically the end tells of a girl who is like minded to 'him', but opens her eyes from her blindness and leaves 'him'. My guess is it is about leaving a destructive relationship, but who knows? Still a great track overall.

Hilf mir // Help me

Another story inspired by a story this time "Die gar traurige Geschichte mit dem Feuerzeug", from "Der Struwwelpeter". It tells the tale of a girl, obsessed with fire, left at home. She plays with matches, just like she'd seen her mother before, drawn to the fire. Of course, this being a Rammstein album she promptly sets the house and herself on fire (thus 'Hilf mir'). The chorus is fantastic, Till crying 'Hilf mir!' followed by a soothing 'Das Feuer liebt mich nich' and then a washed out 'Das Feuer liebt mich' behind it - the fire loves me not, the fire loves me.

Musically it is a slower track, but teh vocals really work on this one, one of the best.

Te quiero puta! // I love you, whore!

This is a weeeeeeird track. First, it's entirely in Spanish - second it has mariachi trumpets as backing - and thirdly its' got those somewhat creepy female vocals. Yet, it is strangely addictive. It's not a bad track, far from it - it's just really, really weird. You really have to hear it to understand it. It's metal, but also not. I guess that's why Rammstein is so well known, because they don't do anything normal. Much like Los before it, this is the 'conceptual' song of the album, but it isn't totally out of place.

Ay que rico!

Feuer & Wasser // Fire & Water

Winding down on the album, comes the second to last track. Beginning with acoustic guitar and vocals, it starts telling the tale of a man who longs for a woman, but they can never be together. They are the titular fire and water, never able to come together. Rammstein has a good history with the second to last track (Laichzeit, Küss mich, Adios, Ohne dich) and this one lives up to that.

Ein Leid // A Song

The last track of the album, another quiet one, relying on vocals, synthesisers and guitars the whole way through (drummers on a smoko). It, like Vo bist du, is a nice step musically, but is even more forgettable, being more quiet, and fading out at the end. However it is the perfect end track, bringing the album to a close whilst singing:

We were born for music
We are the servants of your ears
Whenever you're sad
We play for you

Just like a boy band - an old, fire spewing boyband...