The Angry Scotsman I am living in Amerika and Dieses Album ist wunderbar!

A guilty pleasure, perhaps...if it sounds really good then it doesn't always have to be technical, complex and cerebral! Good thing since Rammstein isn't any of those things. However, they do make some awesome sounding music, but unfortunately suffered from inconsistency. With "Reise, Reise" Rammstein finally make a solid album, from start to finish.

As with all their work this album is difficult to classify, falling best under Industrial Metal often featuring heavy, repetitive, (and usually simple) songs making heavy use of keyboard. There is also a strong alt/groove metal influence on the album, utilizing angular crushing riffs and a hefty dose of syncopation, all pushed along by straightforward drumming. While songs may be repetitive in nature (though not as badly as one may think) there is good variation from song to song.

To top it off, Till Lindemann's vocals are absolutely perfect. Fit the music, each song and section perfectly. Also, his voice is just awesome. Till's voice is deep and powerful. Even when he is singing clean! If you are someone who NEEDS lyrics...well his are almost entirely in German so that may be a problem for you. I personally like to "feel" vocals, make sure they fit and flow with the music, which they do here. 3 semesters of German at Uni also helped enough that I can get the basic ideas and know enough to lines as to not feel utterly clueless, which is nice since Rammstein can tell some intriguing stories...

The album kicks off with the title track which truly fits the word "epic". Right off the bat you also know what you are getting: Simple, heavy, and damn powerful. Still some touches of musicianship though.

Mein Teil is one of my all time favorite Rammstein songs, opening with a creepy bass and militaristic drum rhythm, and a cold keyboard melody. Alternates between this and some awesome riffing, all the time telling a real life story of a butcher who wanted a "well built" man to come to his house. The epic chorus translating to "Then you are, what you eat, and you know, what this is. It is my part" should be a big enough clue as to why he was there.

"Dalai Lama" is a powerful building song, while "Keine Lust" has a very alt metal feel to it. "Los" is pretty different, very cool and a bit trippy!

"Amerika" is one of the bands better known songs and a highlight of the album. Typical heavy/light keyboard tinged Rammstein song, with some nice subtle touches and even a keyboard solo! The song is a scathing criticism of globalization, as the chorus points out "We're all living in Amerika. Amerika, ist wunderbar" and going on to equate American culture with coca cola, wonder bra, and sometimes war. The band can be trolls but if anyone had any doubt, the lines "This is not a love song, I don't sing my mother tongue, no this is not a love song" should spell it out pretty clearly. All very true points and some interesting stuff to munch on, or if you'd like you can just mosh out to the awesome riffing, breakdowns and let yourself be swept up by a very catchy song.

"Moskau" is my least favorite and a kind of weak song. Even for laughs the dance pop feel is a bit much for me haha! Things pick up with the frenetic "Morgenstern" and the mildly post-metal sounding "Stein Um Stein". The album ends on a fantastic note. Pushing along at Rammstein's moderate pace "Ohne Dich" is a powerful and beautiful song of longing. Till's voice really is beautiful. This is followed by the much darker "Amour" where, yet again, Till's vocals are superb and fit the music perfectly. A very moving song, sit back and let it happen. Also you can hear Rammstein's softer moments musically, and it's really nice. Please look up and memorize the lyrics if needed, they really add another touch to the whole song.

Very good album, one weak song, a few moments that don't really work but overall, few complaints can be had. Straightforward but surprising album, a must for fans of Rammstein but also highly recommended for newcomers as this may be their best album. Please give this a listen.

Four Stars

AtomicCrimsonRush Rammstein’s Rosenrot has very good packaging particularly the striking image of the Icelandic North and a shipwrecked Rosenrot ocean liner trapped in the ice. The Cd box opens out to 4 sections and the artwork is consistent in the booklet complete with ghostly images of the band members in weird makeup looking like ghosts of the liner performing hideous experiments. One might think looking at this exquisite packaging that the music might match. Unfortunately this is a huge disappointment. I had loved the early albums of the band with the dynamic German vocals mixed with razor sharp energetic killer metal riffs. However the band have lapsed into a very droll style with forgettable droning riffs and atmospherics. The effects are Ok on their own but they are not backed by anything innovative in the form of riffs that lock in to the senses.

The album is simply dull due to the lack of innovation, and for the most part it is in fact crawling along with only the occasional burst of metal. The sound has become industrial and not to the standard of the earlier Rammstein compositions such as Du Hast, Engel, Tier or Sehnsucht, all from that album admittedly. The thing that drew me to the band was that precision riffing that just cracks your back every time and it is an awesome sound the band generate. But now the band have shunned that style and even opt to use romantic female vocals such as on Stirb Nicht Vor Mir (Don’t die before I do). The English lyrics by Sharleen Spiteri are quite tranquil, in fact, and it is a highlight. They return to breakneck power metal on Zerstoren, with a great melody and way too many vocals sounding like a rap at times. The lead break on this is excellent however and ponce again a highlight after a mediocre start. The ending of this sounds like an old German radio broadcast. There are some ambient effects in Hilf Mir, melancholy but dark, it crawls along patiently with bursts of loud metal chords. I didn’t mind this track either due to the atmosphere it generates; moody and ethereal, even majestic in its structure.

Te Quiero Puta! Is a great track with some Spanish flavour brass and female vocals. The melody is Spanish too and it has an awesome riff. This is the type of innovation that makes Rammstein one of the cutting edge industrial metal bands, it was just frustrating that the first few tracks of the album are so dreary.

It also ends with two interminably dull songs. It is little wonder 6 of these songs were originally omitted from Reise Reise. Rammstein would have done better rewriting new material. A huge disappointment from the innovative Kraut metal masters.

AtomicCrimsonRush A sensational album that stunned me from the opening industrial onslaught to the end. Tier, Engel and du Hast have some of the best riffs you will hear. The precision razor sharp riffing is hypnotic and then those German growling lyrics take it to a new level. had heard nothing like it. I have no idea what they are saying but it sounds dark and angry.

The machinated riffs really drive like nails into a coffin and the lid is hammered shut. This is new metal and I like it. After this the band became more commercial and had fans reaching for their German translation manuals. They had a grotesque but captivating image back then too. Make no mistake, these riffs will stay in your brain. It is simply brilliant guitar work.

Matt Rammstein the name is a town in West Germany that had one of the worst aviation show disasters recorded in 1988 and that is how the bands name was created. With the last track on this debut mention is given to the incident in the song titled accordingly Rammstein. Released in 1995 and produced by Jacob Hellner with a cover that only be described as something completely diiferent for a metal album. The band was founded by Richard Z Kruspe (lead guitarist) with Oliver Reidel ( Bass ),Christoph "Doom" Schneider ( Drums) and then Till Lindemann (Vocals) was quickly recruited and last to join was Christian "Flake" Lorenz ( Keyboards). They had won a Battle of the Bands, recorded a demo and then recorded their first album but what really brought the band to international attention was when the use of two tracks "Heirate mich" and "Rammstein" were chosen by Trent Reznor for the David Lynch film Lost Highway.

Richard Z Kruspe when he founded the band envisaged a sound with a mix of machines and hard guitar and that precisely is how this album commences with the first track "Wohlt Ihr Das Bett In Flammen Sehen" and although the bands name is sung in the chorus it is actually the last track Rammstein itself which is based on the disaster and why not start from there, with not actually a direct mention of the incident in the lyrics, we get a descrption of the horrific few seconds when translated to English. One great song with the usual Rammstein punch of pounding rythmn and guitar but it is a little slower in tempo and of course dramatic with the name Rammstein repeated constantly throughout and at times the tune is like some drone.Special mention for the tracks "Ashe Zu Asche" ( that will have you headbangin'), " Das Alta Leid" but "Seemann" for me does not quite work but in the albums to follow the band gets a much better grip on these type of numbers and yes, I still like the song though.

This is one original debut for the time and they had their own sound and presence with great songs as well. How could I say that this is not worth 4 stars. If 4 stars they are, then you do not mind hearing the album straight after you have just played it, as this one begins again.

Matt "We just push boundaries ( Quote: Till Lindemann to Kerang magazine) We can't help it if people don't like those boundaries being pushed". With reviews in the past saying "this is great music to invade Poland" or how about "sending the peasants fleeing into their barns and bolting the doors" you know this should be one good Metal album and expectations that you have,should be met with another classic Rammstein album.

Recorded in 2000 and released the following year in April with five singles pulled from the album and for a non english and Metal production it made number ten in the charts in Australia which is no mean feat as the world was Eminem crazy around that time and rap was providing fierce competition for any genre of music let alone Metal.

This was their third studio release and begins with Mein Herz Brennt with that pounding chorus but the second track with the sound of the Jackboots intro is one catchy tune and with the repetition of the title and a nice tasty lead break near the end of the tune you have something that is completely suitable if an invasion of a nearby country is your ambition..Driving stuff . Also was the first single from the album. Track five is the next stop and that being the song Fever FreI! which was another single taken from the album for a soundtrack as the proceeding track Ich Will was also issued as a single but it is Fever Frei! with it's quiet little keyboard intro which quickly dissolves to what musically is the complete opposite with driving guitars and rythmn and once again it is those chorus's that the band does so well with the repetition of Bang Bang Fever Frei. Only just over three minutes in length and three wonderful minutes it is. Along comes the title Mutter which follows and is slower in Tempo than the proceeding two but bold would be the most suitable description of this wonderful song. Every song contained within this album is worthy of mention as there is not a poor one. Why the female Bobo who is again providing assistance with Till's vocals is not a band member has me a bit puzzled as she is nearly always there with their albums. Track 11 Nebel is the finisher and one great finisher it is. Another of their ballads could be the best description with the spoken verse by Till and yes it is that use of chorus again that makes the song with Till Lindemann soaring vocals in that wonderful German dialect and language.

Mutter in German means Mother and for me that is the best description because this is a Mother of an Industrial Metal album.