Rammstein

Rammstein (German pronunciation: /'ʁamʃta͡ɪn/) is a German industrial metal band formed in 1994 by musicians Till Lindemann, Richard Z. Kruspe, Oliver Riedel, Paul Landers, Christian Lorenz and Christoph Schneider. Their music is based on a current that emerged in their country in the 1990s called Neue Deutsche Härte of which they are its most popular exponent and to which they also belong, among others, Oomph! and Die Krupps. They themselves have sometimes called this mix with the name Tanzmetall ("dance metal").

Her songs are written almost exclusively in German although some contain English, French, Russian or even Spanish; and have sold more than 35 million copies worldwide. Among other recognitions, they have been nominated in two editions of the Grammy Awards in the category of best metal performance: in 1999 with the song "Du hast" (from the album Sehnsucht) and in 2006 with "Mein Teil" (from the album Reise, Reise). They have released a total of eight studio albums and four live albums, as well as like five DVDs; His entire discography is available in the catalog of the multinational record label Universal Music.

Name

The name of the group is inspired by the German city of Ramstein, at whose air base an accident occurred in 1988 during a show, in which three aircraft from the Italian aerobatic squadron Frecce Tricolori were involved. Two of them collided in the air and another fell on the public, causing more than seventy victims. In the name the "m" is repeated, so that it includes the root of the verb rammen ('to crash, sink') together with the noun Stein ('stone'); a rough translation of "Rammstein" would therefore be "shockstone." Although the band has tried throughout their career to deny any link between their name and the catastrophe, right after they were founded they performed several times under the name Rammstein-Flugschau ('Air Show of Rammstein').

Paul Landers describes the name choice thus:

On one of our tours with Feeling B, Schneider, Flake and I already had a name for the new band. We had it written on the wall of our LO:Rammstein Flugschau». We were so dumb that we wrote "Rammstein" with two emes, because we didn't know the name of the place was only one. At first we call ourselves that to do the foolishness, but the name was stuck like those motes that one doesn't like. We can't get him off us anymore. We didn't really want to call ourselves Rammstein, it was imposed on us. We sought another name: "Milch" ('Leche'), "Erde" ('Tierra') or "Mutter" ('Madre'), but the name was already there.

The song "Rammstein", one of the first they composed and which deals precisely with the event, achieved great popularity during the first years of the group. This contributed to their decision to keep their name as "Rammstein".

There is an asteroid named Rammstein after him.

History

Background (until 1994)

The origins of Rammstein go back to the time of German reunification. All the members of the band were born in the former German Democratic Republic.Richard Kruspe fled from his hometown of Schwerin through Hungary and Austria to the Federal Republic of Germany. There he founded and played guitar for his first group, Orgasm Death Gimmick.After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 he returned to Schwerin and played for a time with Das Auge Gottes. During this time he met Till Lindemann, a former swimmer who worked as a member and played drums in a punk band called First Arsch. Together with Kruspe's flatmates Oliver Riedel, bassist of The Inchtabokatables and Christoph Schneider, drummer of Die Firma, they started Rammstein. With Till Lindemann as singer and lyricist, they started playing together. In order to be able to rehearse better, he moved from Chemnitz to Berlin. During this stage they played rock music influenced by American groups. Their first performance took place on April 14, 1994 at the alternative cultural center in Leipzig naTo. Throughout that year they played in small clubs in the state of Thuringia.

Formation and Herzeleid (1994-1996)

Paul Landers (in the foreground) and Christian Lorenz, guitarist and technician respectively, were the last members to join the group.

In 1994 they recorded a demo for a contest in Berlin for new bands, the Berlin Senate Metro. The tape contained four songs, "Das alte Leid", "Seemann", "Weißes Fleisch" and "Rammstein", which in they had some English lyrics back then. Rammstein won the contest, the prize of which was a week-long session in a professional recording studio. The victory caught the attention of Paul Landers of the band Feeling B, who was brought on as second guitarist for the award recording. The group also wanted to bring in Flake Lorenz, who played keyboards in Landers' group. At first, Lorenz refused to join the band because he found the style of music dull and deadpan. He finally accepted on the condition that it be sung in German.

In 1995 they put themselves in the hands of manager Emanuel «Emu» Fialik and signed with the Motor Music label. In March of that year they released their debut album, Herzeleid, produced by Jacob Hellner and recorded at the Polar studios in Stockholm. One of the tracks on the LP, "Rammstein", would reach the ears of filmmaker David Lynch, who two years later would include it on the soundtrack of his film Lost road.

After recording Herzeleid, they toured opening for the Cottbus band Sandow and later with Project Pitchfork. November respectively. Following these performances, Rammstein went on their first headlining tour to present their debut album. On that tour—seventeen concerts between December 2 and December 22—they played with The Ramones and again with Clawfinger.

During 1996 they played at some festivals like the Bizarre-Festival and appeared on the MTV show Hanging Out with their song «Wollt ihr das Bett in Flammen sehen? » and "Du riechst so gut". On September 27 of that year they offered the show 100 Years of Rammstein, to commemorate their hundredth concert. Hof began taking over the lighting for Rammstein's sets. In a hectic end to the year they performed 17 times in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and began recording their new work in Malta.

Sehnsucht (1997-1998)

With the second album, Sehnsucht, released in 1997, he began to take off commercially, both in Germany and abroad. Sehnsucht includes two of their most famous singles: "Du hast" and "Engel", thanks to whose video clip they won their first ECHO award. This outburst was overshadowed by a plagiarism lawsuit filed by the group NDH Die Krupps (vid. infra "Relations with other groups").

The Sehnsucht tour took them all over Europe in 1997. They also played for the first time in the United States of America, where they played two concerts in New York clubs and they performed alongside Hanzel und Gretyl and KMFDM. At that time they had already taken part in famous festivals, such as Rock am Ring. In June of the same year they shared the stage with Soulfly and Mindless Self Indulgence in a total of 16 dates in the United States, in the month of October but in 1998 they set foot on American soil again as part of the Family Values Tour with Korn., Limp Bizkit, Ice Cube and Orgy. They performed "Du hast" at the MTV Europe Music Awards gala in Milan, where they were nominated in the category of "best rock live act".

Live in Berlin (1999-2000)

In 1999 Rammstein earned their first Grammy Award nomination for "Du hast" and their second ECHO Award, this time for being the most famous German group abroad. In August they released a double album called Live aus Berlin, recorded live on August 22 and 23, 1998 at the Volkspark Wuhlheide in Berlin. The concerts drew 17,000 spectators each, the largest attendance for a Rammstein performance to date. Opening acts on both nights included Danzig, Nina Hagen, Joachim Witt and Alaska. The release was accompanied by video of the concerts on DVD and VHS.

In November 1999, a 160-page photo book by Gert Hof was published illustrating the history of the ensemble. In 2000 Rammstein only performed in Berlin and at one festival in Japan. During that year they began working in France on their next job.

Mutter (2001-2003)

In 2001, four years after their last studio album, they signed a record contract with Universal Music, when Motor Music separated from said consortium. With the multinational they released Mutter, an album that made Rammstein reach the best sales figures of his entire career by achieving double platinum status. Up to five songs from Mutter were released. marketed as single. Some of them, both from this and other albums, were included in Hollywood movie soundtracks, such as "Feuer frei!" in xXx, “Halleluja” in Resident Evil or “Du hast” in the cult film by the Wachowski brothers The Matrix, “Mein Herz brennt» in the movie Hellboy 2. The popularity of the sextet grew to such an extent that in 2002 a tribute album was even released in their honor entitled Battery: A tribute to Rammstein.

In addition to publishing Mutter, that year they participated in the Big Day Out Festival in Australia and New Zealand, sharing the stage, among others, with then-newcomers Coldplay. They also performed in small clubs in the Japanese cities of Osaka and Tokyo, after which they embarked on a new European tour. The group participated in the Pledge of Allegiance Tour together with Slipknot, System of a Down, Mudvayne and American Head Charge, during the tour Daron Malakian, guitarist of System of a Down, collaborated with Rammstein in two concerts of said tour, because guitarist Paul Landers was forced to return to Germany due to the illness of a relative. After those concerts, Rammstein canceled the tour permanently. In November they played again - this time "Ich will" - on the occasion of the MTV European Music Awards gala.

Just before the end of 2003, they released the DVD Lichtspielhaus, a compilation of video clips and live performances.

Reise, Reise and Rosenrot (2004-2005)

Till Lindemann using gloves flamethrows at a concert in 2005 in Belgium.

In 2004, the recording of the fourth studio album began in Malaga, entitled Reise, Reise. The first single, "Mein Teil", received another Grammy Award nomination. The release of Reise, Reise is followed by a long tour entitled Ahoi Tour, across the European continent, during which Rammstein records several concerts to prepare their second live album and DVD. They visit twenty-one countries—some for the first time, such as Slovenia and Slovakia—and are watched by more than a million viewers. Between concert and concert, the members of the group take the opportunity to attend the 2005 ECHO award ceremony in Berlin and play "Keine Lust", one of the four singles from the album. Also in 2004, the Dresden Symphony Orchestra, under the Torsten Rasch's baton is awarded an ECHO Classical Music Award for her song cycle "Mein Herz brennt", in which she uses lyrics by Rammstein. The project is produced by Sven Helbig, who will assist in the production of subsequent Rammstein albums.

With the material left over from the recording of Reise, Reise published in 2005 Rosenrot. It includes a duet with Scottish singer Sharleen Spiteri. They also sell a special edition that includes a DVD with three songs played live, a preview of the future live album...

Völkerball (2006-2007)

With the recordings of the Reise, Reise tour, Rammstein releases Völkerball (2006). The live CD is sold inseparably together with a DVD containing a complete concert at the Arena de Nimes and excerpts from three others, in London, Tokyo and Moscow. Three different editions are put on the market: the standard one, another special one that includes a DVD with interviews, and a limited one that adds to all of the above a 190-page book with images of the tour. After releasing Völkerball, the group went into a creative hiatus, waiting to be able to produce a new album. Richard Kruspe took advantage of this hiatus to start a parallel musical project called Emigrate, whose first disco sees the light of day in August 2007. During this time, the rumor of a hypothetical abandonment of the group by Till Lindemann spreads, which reaches such a magnitude that Rammstein is forced to deny it through a statement on its website on 19 July 2007. On one occasion, Flake Lorenz had assured that if one of the members left the group, the rest would not continue.

Liebe ist für alle da (2008-2010)

"Love is there for all"

On November 4, 2008, the official Rammstein website announced that the group had finished pre-production on the sixth album in Berlin and that the bulk of the recording would begin five days later in a studio near San Francisco. On the 21st of that same month, it was reported that the first single would be released during the summer of 2009 and the album, in the fall of that year. In addition, the band would start a great tour whose first concert would take place on November 8 in Lisbon and which would last until "well into 2010". Concert dates until July 2010 are announced on the group's website, between including performances at various European festivals

In August 2009, the viral marketing portal Liebe ist für alle da (Love is there for everyone) was launched, with links to social networks such as Facebook and Twitter, as part of the campaign Additionally, several authorized portals began to transmit their first impressions of the new material, after having heard it at an exclusive press conference held in Berlin. In September the title of the new album was announced on the official website (Liebe ist für alle da), on sale from October 16. The first single released was "Pussy", a song with lyrics of sexual content that has a video directed by Jonas Åkerlund with scenes explicit sex. The second single was "Ich tu dir weh", a song that has caused great controversy for being censored. The third was "Haifisch".

Rammstein released a new live album 'In Amerika', where they performed at Madison Square Garden, which is directed by Matthew Amos.

Made in Germany 1995-2011 and Videos 1995-2012 (2011-2013)

Rammstein released a greatest hits album titled Made in Germany 1995-2011 on December 2, 2011. It contains a previously unreleased track, "Mein Land" which was released as a single on November 11, 2011. 2011 with another song, "Vergiss Uns Nicht", which was released at a later date. The compilation is available in three different editions: the standard edition, special edition, and the super deluxe edition. The video for the song "Mein Land" was filmed on May 23, 2011 at Sycamore Beach in Malibu, California. It was released on the band's official website on November 11, 2011. On March 4, 2012 Vitaly Milonov, in St. Petersburg, Russia created a propaganda to create laws against homosexuality and pedophilia of which Rammstein, in their presentation that had been made earlier, were punished for their performance of "Bück Dich" considering it as "insulting scenes of a sexual nature " and its presentation as "undisguised and rude pornography ”.

Rammstein won the Echo Awards for "Most Successful Artist, Alternative Rock and Overseas Performance" and nominees in the categories "Best Live Performance" and "Best National Video" (Mein Land) held in Berlin on 22 February. March 2012, as well as doing a special presentation with Marilyn Manson performing his hit "The Beautiful People" without the participation of Till Lindemann. On December 7 and 14 the singles of Mein Herz Brennt come out (first the piano version came out whose single features an unpublished song called "Gib mir deine Augen" (Give me your ojos) and later the original version) with their respective videos, while also on December 14 of the same year Vídeos 1995-2012 came out, a compilation DVD (the second in his discography) in which all the video clips of the band up to that date including the aforementioned videos.

On October 2, 2013, “In Stille Nächten” (In Silent Nights) is released on the 2nd. Till Lindemann's book of poetry (whose first book is called “Messer” (Knife) published in 2002), and as part of its promotion, Holger John opened a art exhibition in the German city of Dresden which was open to the public from December 12, 2013 to January 13, 2014 in which works of art and works with Rammstein were shown during the times of the MIG disc 1995-2011 and even original art by Till Lindemann himself was shown. This exhibition was not without controversy, especially due to two specific works, one called “Hans im Glück”, which shows naked children in the form of angels, some remind us of Cupid, and a painting called “Feuer Frei”, showing bleeding buttocks inserted by a shotgun.

Other projects and In Amerika (2014-2015)

Christoph Schneider in 2015.

2014 turned out to be a sabbatical year for the band since they had not had a break since they entered the studio in 2008 to record Liebe ist für alle da, and therefore some members took advantage of this year to perform or restart with some projects. Till Lindemann announced a compilation of poems from his two books ( Messer and In Stille Nächten ) called simply Die Gedichte ("The Poems", in Spanish). On March 15, 2015 through its editorial KiWi. Christian «Flake» Lorenz also announced the release of his autobiographical book "Der Tastenficker-An was ich erinner kann" ("The keyboard bastard-what I can remember about myself", in Spanish) for the March 16 of the same year.

On July 24, 2014, the DVD Wacken: Louder than Hell went on sale in 3D format, recorded during the Heavy Metal festival Wacken Open Air in August 2013 where Rammstein made an appearance in this documentary, in addition to the other bands that participated, directed by Norbert Heitker (who in 1997 worked with the band for the Engel video). For the promotion of the DVD on their official page they announced that they would give away 75X2 tickets for a preview at the Kino in der Kulturbrauerei (Cinema of Beer Culture, in Spanish) on July 23, 2014 in Berlin.

Richard Z. Kruspe resumed with his alternative band Emigrate, which on December 9 released "Silent So Long", their second studio album. Likewise, Till Lindemann announced via Facebook in January 2015 the founding of his band Lindemann together with Peter Tägtgren, releasing their debut album Skills in Pills in June. of the same year. On September 25, 2015, the third live DVD called In Amerika, recorded at Madison Square Garden, New York on December 11, 2010, was released along with a documentary that recounts some experiences of the band in the United States, which has participation of different artists where they also recount their experiences and relationship with the band, Chad Smith (Red Hot Chili Peppers), Brian Warner (Marilyn Manson), Kaizer Von Loppy and Vas Kallas (Hanzel Und Gretyl), John Dolmayan and Shavo Odadjian (System Of A Down), Jonathan Davis and James Shaffer (Korn), Wes Borland (Limp Bizkit), Steven Tyler (Aerosmith) and Shawn Crahan (Slipknot), were some of the artists who told his anecdotes with the band.

On December 4 of the same year, "XXI-The Vinyl Box Set" was released as part of its 21st anniversary, a second Box Set on 12-inch vinyl records which contains all the band's studio albums released to date (Herzeleid, Sehnsucht, Mutter, Reise, Reise, Rosenrot and Liebe ist für alle da) for the first time remastered plus a companion recording called "Raritäten », in it there are demos and other unpublished songs that were added to some of the band's singles plus an unpublished track, the complete version of the song «Los» (song from the album Reise, Reise). Days later, on December 18, the audiobook «XXI Klavier» («Piano» in Spanish) is released, a kind of compilation album in which songs from the band reversionadas only with piano, as its title says.

Rammstein: Paris and new studio album (2016-2017)

On May 11, 2016, director Jonas Åkerlund appeared at the Cannes Film Festival to premiere his new screening called "Rammstein: Paris", a live concert recording made in Bercy, a city located in France in March of 2012 during the Made in Germany 1995-2011 Tour, so that it was later officially released in theaters throughout the world on March 23, 24 and 29, 2017 and two months later, specifically on May 19, released as DVD/ Blu Ray. At its premiere, in Völksbuhne, Berlin, guitarists Richard Z. Kruspe and Paul Landers confirmed the recording process for a new studio album that would start recording in autumn 2017.

Rammstein (2018-2019)

In an interview with Kerrang! in January 2019, Richard Z. Kruspe noted that five music videos would be created for the new album. Teaser clips for the first music video were released at the end of March. These clips featured footage from the video along with Roman numerals defined for the date March 28, 2019. On that day the song "Deutschland" was released as the album's main single on digital platforms and its almost 10-minute long music video was released on YouTube, the single also included a remix of the song created by Kruspe himself, he also revealed the release date of the album. album set on May 19, 2019. The track list was revealed between April 16 and 19 with riff snippets for each song on YouTube including the album cover on the 18th. less than a week later he released promos for his next video "Radio" for April 26 and a month later with "Ausländer". On May 17, the new album would finally come out, which, curiously, does not have an official title, which is why it is simply called the homonymous album "Rammstein" whose cover is a match with a red head on a white background.

Postponed dates and his eighth studio album Zeit (2020-2022)

In 2020 the band was going to start the second part of the Europe Stadium Tour in Austria on May 25th, dates were even announced for the North American Stadium Tour but for the pandemic had to postpone both tours. Months later, on their social networks they posted a photograph where 4 of them and 2 producers can be seen in a rehearsal/recording room. The caption reads: “Sadly no tour this year, but it's great to be back in the studio!”. The photo was taken by Christoph Schneider. The recordings were made at Studios La Fabrique in Saint-Rémy-de-Provence, France. A video recorded by Paul Landers was also posted where you can see a bit of the place and Christoph Schneider rehearsing. On October 26 of last year there was a new post mentioning that the new single was released in space. Christoph Schneider said “Space is calling! I had the honor of speaking with ISS astronaut Thomas Pesquet on behalf of Rammstein. He is the current commander of the ISS and has lived in space for a year and a half. It felt like a child's dream coming true - talking to a person who lives in the sky, sharing a glimpse of his view, realizing how small we all are compared to the depth of the universe... He was the first to listen one of our new songs from the upcoming album. It premiered in heaven, which is an honor for us.”'

Rammstein began announcing the first single from their eighth studio album on March 8, 2022, posting clips to their social media accounts with the hashtag “#ZEITkommt”. On March 10, they formally announced the album, titled Zeit. That same day, the album's first single, also titled Zeit, after which the album is named, was released, as well as its music video. A second single, 'Zick Zack', was released on April 7, 2022, as well as its music video.

The album Zeit was released on April 29, 2022. That same day, the video clip for the song 'Angst' was released.

On May 25, 2022, the video clip for the song "Dicke Titten" was published. Two days later, it was released as a single. Finally, on November 24, 2022, the fifth single and video clip of "Adieu" they were published.

Style

Musical

Rammstein's musical style is generally classified as industrial metal and neue deutsche härte, but also various metal genres such as heavy metal, progressive metal, industrial rock, alternative metal, groove metal and electronic music. Musically, Rammstein is heavily influenced by artists such as the Slovenian industrial band Laibach, DAF (Deutsch-Amerikanische Freundschaft), Oomph! and Ministry. In any case, the profound differences between songs like "Bestrafe mich", "Ohne dich" and "Te quiero puta!" make it extremely difficult to ascribe Rammstein to a particular movement, although, being mostly highly distorted music, it is associated with the Neue Deutsche Härte movement.

Unlike many groups in reunited Berlin, Rammstein say they did not want to imitate American and English groups. Flake Lorenz said about it in an interview:

«We found the style because we knew exactly what we didn't want. And what we didn't want was to do funk and American music, or punk, or something we didn't serve for. We realized that the only kind of music we can play is the one we play. And it's a simple, inexpressive, monotonous style».

Indeed, simple, repetitive drum rhythms are very characteristic of Rammstein. So are the powerful, heavily distorted guitar riffs, often played in unison by both guitars. Rammstein's style departs from pure heavy metal due to the absence of drum breaks, the lack of virtuosity in the guitar solos, and the constant inclusion of electronic sound effects. In a 1997 interview, Richard Kruspe claimed Rammstein's uniqueness on a musical level:

«[music] is different from other similar bands, such as Die Krupps or Front 242. There's no one that sounds exactly like Rammstein.».

From the second album (Sehnsucht) a certain refinement can be perceived in the way of singing of Till Lindemann —in the words of Christoph Schneider, Lindemann begins "to sing and not only speak". From the third (Mutter), in the opinion of some critics, the production is cleaner and the guitars sound less heavy. In the last albums the number of calm ballads increases, such as "Nebel" and "Ohne dich" and new instruments such as the accordion ("Reise, Reise"), the Peruvian flute ("Wo bist du?") or the mariachi-style trumpets of "Te quiero puta!" begin to be included.

Letters

The vocalist Till Lindemann writes most of Rammstein's letters.

Theme

Lyrics are an essential element of Rammstein's musical identity. They usually touch on taboos and controversial topics such as sadomasochism ("Bestrafe Mich", "Ich tu dir weh"), incest ("Spiel mit mir", "Wiener Blut", "Tier" or "Laichzeit"), voyeurism (" Feuer und Wasser», «Weit weg») sex («Pussy», «Buck Dich», «Frühling in Paris», «Rein raus», «Das Alte Leid», «Ausländer», «Sex»), criticisms of US government, ("Amerika", "Zerstoren"), rape ("Weißes Fleisch", "Liebe ist für alle da", "Hallomann"), sexual abuse by clergy ("Halleluja", "Zeig dich"), necrophilia ("Heirate mich"), cannibalism ("Mein Teil", "Eifersucht") and religious symbols ("Asche zu Asche"), etc. The songs on the early albums (Herzeleid, Sehnsucht and Mutter) focus mostly on sex and violence. Reise, Reise and Rosenrot also deal with other issues related to interpersonal relationships. On these two albums, Rammstein sings about friendship, loneliness, obsession, unrequited love and superficiality in relationships.

Many lyrics are influenced by various literary works, especially German. The song "Dalai Lama" is an adaptation of Der Erlkönig, by Goethe. "Hilf mir" is inspired by the poem "The sad story of matches", from the children's book by Heinrich Hoffmann Struwwelpeter ("Pedro Melenas"). The song "Rosenrot" is based on Goethe's poem Heideröslein; so gut" could be inspired by the book "Perfume" by Patrick Süskind and "Stein um Stein" by Edgar Allan Poe's story The Barrel of Amontillado. The theme "Haifisch" is a variation on the Kurt Weill song "Die Moritat von Mackie Messer", whose lyrics are the work of Bertolt Brecht.

Use of language

Almost all of their songs are written in German. The exceptions are the English versions of "Engel", "Du hast" and "Amerika", the versions of the songs "Stripped" and "Pet Sematary", and the song "Te quiero puta!", entirely in Spanish. In addition, the songs "Amerika", "Stirb nicht vor mir//Don't die before I do" and "Pussy" contain verses in English, "Moskau" in Russian and "Frühling in Paris" in French. "Ollie" Riedel commented:

«The German language is good with heavy metal. The French could be the language of love, but the German is the language of fury».

From a stylistic point of view, Rammstein's texts seem simple and direct at first glance, but it is not uncommon to sometimes find double meanings, set phrases, puns and allegories in them. They are usually written in the first person and on many occasions some fragments can be interpreted in different ways. As drummer Christoph Schneider puts it, "in Rammstein songs there is always room for interpretation". or "The". In the latter, for example, they play with the repetition of the German suffix -los:

The last line can be interpreted in three ways: «sie sind Gott. / Los!” means “they are God, / come on!”. "Sie sind Gott los" It can be translated as "they got rid of God." Finally, «sie sind gottlos» means «they are impious or atheist». "Sie sind" can also be understood as "you are", adding six additional interpretations.

Ollie Riedel, bass player of the band, sailing over the audience in an inflatable boat during a concert in Gothenburg.

Shows

Rammstein have developed a particular reputation for their use of pyrotechnics in their live shows. Vocalist Till Lindemann is a qualified pyrotechnician. The show that Rammstein puts on at their concerts includes, among many other things, the use of flamethrower masks (see Lycopodium) and drumsticks, guitars, microphones and boots that They spark or burn. Lindemann used to sing the song "Rammstein" on fire, wearing a fireproof suit.

In the last few tours of the group, fireworks have taken a backseat, placing special emphasis on the comic side of the shows. For example, in "Mein Teil" Lindemann "cooks" "Flake" Lorenz in a giant pot with a large flamethrower and chases him around the stage. Another gag typical of Rammstein concerts is putting a band member on an inflatable boat and having it "sail" over the audience.

For the LIFAD 2009-2010 tour, the fireworks show regained its strength, with new effects. At the base and ceiling of the stage there are flamethrowers. In "Benzin," a supposed fan takes the stage and is set on fire. For "Ich tu dir weh", Flake gets into a bathtub and Till pretends to pour liquid metal on him. In "Engel", Till wears a pair of aluminum wings that shoot flames.

Tours

• Herzeleid Tour (1994-1996)
• Sehnsucht Tour (1997-2000)
• Mutter Tour (2001-2002)
• Reise, Reise/Ahoi Tour (2004-2005)
• Liebe Ist Für Alle Da/LIFAD Tour (2009-2011)
• Made in Germany 1995-2011 Tour (2011-2013)
• Summer Festival Tour 2016 (2016)
• Summer Festival Tour 2017 (2017)
• Europe Stadium Tour (2019)
• Europe Stadium Tour 2020 (2020)
• North American Stadium Tour 2020 (2020)
• Europe Stadium Tour 2022 (2022)
• North American Stadium Tour 2022 (2022)

Public Image

Ideology

Due to their ambiguous lyrics and tough style, during the band's early years they were often accused of having "right-wing leanings", if not outright neo-Nazis. The criticism intensified after the publication in 1998 of the video for "Stripped" (a version of a Depeche Mode song), for which they used recordings from the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games by filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl, known for her propaganda productions in times of the Third Reich. Ulf Poschardt, editor-in-chief of the supplement magazine of the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung, expressed himself in these terms in the framework of an exhibition on Riefenstahl that took place in Potsdam in 1999:

«... Such banalities, however, can only be quite suspicious, in view of the debates on the national identity that have taken place in Germany, following extreme right terrorism in recent years. The political context in which Rammstein refers to Germany is no longer that of the Brandt genuflexion in Warsaw, but that of immigrant houses burning. [...] Rammstein's retrofeeding ties to the National Socialist Supper strip his music of any kind of "hedonistic potential"».

After removing all traces of unconstitutional symbols from the video, Rammstein continued to be the target of accusations of propagating fascist ideology and irresponsibly idealizing the aesthetics of the Third Reich. The consequence was the ban on broadcasting his videos before 10 p.m. Singer Till Lindemann would later explain that a line had been crossed with this provocation and that he would never do it again. In 2001, Rammstein released the song "Links 2 3 4" to express their leftist ideology to the incessant accusations. According to keyboardist Flake Lorenz, Rammstein composed this song as a manifesto, a clear political statement aimed at "putting an end to prejudice": "We parade, but we are fully avowed leftists». Also the guitarist Paul Landers said about it:

«We do not believe that the world is divided into left and right. But in this song we explain ourselves using the simplistic classification methods that journalists seem to consider so important».

In other interviews they took a stand against acts of racist violence. Drummer Christoph Schneider explained why, despite everything, they never took part in concrete actions like the anti-fascist festival Rock gegen Rechts:

«What's that got? The right will still be there.. [...] We must accept the problem and realize once these trends exist in Germany. [...] We need to talk to them, solve their problems.».

Guitarist Paul Landers described Rammstein in another interview as "left-wing patriots." The band Laibach, who in a way sponsored Rammstein, also faced a similar discussion about their positioning politicians. Till Lindemann's use of the so-called "palatal r" in singing, like the one pronounced by Adolf Hitler, has also been used to suggest Rammstein's sympathies with the world of the extreme right. Lindemann himself explained it this way:

The "r" didn't even come up intentionally. It appeared for itself, because in this serious record you sing like this automatically. For God's sake, it was not our intention to get any fascist attitude [... ]

Many times accusations of philonazism are due to ignorance of German culture outside of this country. In line with this, in the documentary Anakonda im Netz contained in the second DVD of Völkerball, the manager of Rammstein Emanuel Fialik recounts a significant anecdote that happened during an autograph signing of the group in a music store in Mexico:

People came with many utensils that they thought were part of German culture and that a German band like Rammstein could sign. People arrived with Strauß scores, with Nietzsche books or with translations of Martin Luther's Bible. In Guadalajara a man appeared wearing a t-shirt with a swastika; he probably thought it was a folkloric symbol of Germany. This man would be about twenty-five years old and could not have a more indigenous look: long black melena, big nose and aguileña... and wearing a black shirt with a swastika. He quickly showed himself willing to take it off when he was explained that it is a symbol that does not like to see too much today. Apparently I just wanted to do the group a favor. Then someone explained to us that many Nazi war criminals settled in Guadalajara after World War II. Therefore we ask the local radio to announce that the t-shirts with the swastika would not be welcomed at the concert. This was accepted and respected. No extreme right group came to the concert. They were only people who, far from Germany and Europe, thought it was a symbol of German history and that the group would have appreciated it as a symbol of respect and recognition. We told them that wasn't like that and they understood it. Luckily the young man had appeared during the autograph firm, before the concert, and thanks to that we had the opportunity to react.

Despite all the statements made by the band, in May 2006 the accusations reappeared when the synagogue of Petah Tikva (Israel) was desecrated. The assailants, who spray-painted various Nazi symbols, wrote the word "Rammstein" on the floor of the temple, as reported by the Jerusalem Post.

Relation to violent events

Some media outlets have implicated Rammstein in violent episodes on various occasions. The video clip for "Ich will" was released the day before the terrorist attacks in New York on September 11, 2001. Coincidentally, in said video the members of Rammstein appeared characterized as terrorists. In the United States, its broadcast was restricted to the night time slot and some sectors called for its ban. The gang previously made headlines after the Columbine High School massacre in Colorado, USA. There was talk that the killers, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, were Rammstein supporters. The group publicly condemned any type of violence, rejecting any connection of their music to the event. After the Beslan (Russia) school massacre in September 2004, it was mentioned in the British newspaper The Independent that the kidnappers and murderers listened to Rammstein music as a motivational method during the police siege.

Other controversies

Rammstein has played throughout his entire career with his aesthetics and provocative attitudes. The cover of the album Mutter (2001) was criticized by religious authorities, since it showed the image of a fetus. In October 2004 the video for "Mein Teil" sparked a strong controversy in Germany. This is a particular review, with hints of black humor, of the Armin Meiwes cannibalism case, in which Christoph Schneider appears cross-dressed walking his five companions on dog leashes. The controversy raised the single to second place in the German charts. The controversy was greater when Meiwes himself sued the band for portraying his story in the song, which in reality was only intended to delay his own trial for which he was convicted, and came to nothing. According to Paul Landers, they like to move "in the limits of bad taste". For his part, Christian Lorenz assures that "controversy is fun, it's like stealing forbidden fruit." But it has a purpose. We like our audience to be confronted with our music, and people have become more receptive (to it)".

Another video clip, that of «Mann gegen Mann», from their album Rosenrot, was classified as not recommended for children under 16 years of age by the German authorities, since the band members appeared completely naked (although at no time were their genitals visible, which they covered with the instruments) and smeared with oil.

In the summer of 2007, the Youth Protection Institute carried out an official inspection and targeted Rammstein albums for official censorship by claiming to classify them as "dangerous material for youth" 3. 4;. Following negotiations with Pilgrim Management, this action ceased on October 10 of that same year, when a review panel comprised of state officials, youth protection services, educators, religious groups, and publishers determined that Rammstein's lyrics &# 34;do not subject the public to material that is obscene, incites violence, or sexually humiliating". However, on November 5, 2009, Rammstein announced on their Facebook page a new verdict that placed their album Liebe ist für alle da in the "Youth Hazardous Materials Index", specifically for the topic “Ich tu dir weh”, "a dangerous representation for youth of sadomasochistic practices', and by a photo from the booklet depicting Richard Kruspe with a naked young woman on his knees. In addition, the review committee considered the song "Pussy" and its video clip may encourage unprotected sex. This video clip, which contains explicit sex scenes, references to sadomasochism and hermaphrodites, had to be released on a pornographic website and caused a great uproar all over the world. Finally, on June 6, 2010, a resolution of the Administrative Court of Cologne was published in the Ministry's Gazette ordering the withdrawal of LIFAD from the index, and with it, the ban.

However, this was not the only controversy that accompanied Liebe ist für alle da: in mid-July 2009, Pilgrim Management and Universal Music were accused of violating press freedom after leaking material from the album, still unpublished, on the Internet. Rammstein's legal representatives took steps that resulted in the closure of two well-known fansites, as well as the removal of a story in the online edition of the daily Augsburger Allgemeine reporting on the leak of what appeared to be the first promotional single from the new album.

In February 2010, in Belarus, an observant State Council for Morality (made up of political parties, religious leaders and backed by President Aleksandr Lukashenko) called the gang a public enemy for " unreservedly promote homosexuality, masochism, violence and obscene language, among other atrocities" and proposed the cancellation of the concert planned for March 7 in the capital Minsk. However, the Belarusian ambassador in Berlin himself dismissed the councilor's statements, referring to them as "unfortunate statements in a personal capacity";. In fact, it put an end to speculation about the possible cancellation of the concert, which was the first to be held at the recently opened Minsk Arena, with sold-out locations.

Relationship with other bands

Rammstein is often compared to other German bands with a similar musical style, but which have been active for longer, such as Oomph!, a band whose musical influence has been recognized by Rammstein. The relationship between both groups is basically good:

Naturally we started before, Rammstein were our fans and gave us their Let's. That's for everyone. They show it openly and if in an interview they are asked directly about it they say that we are one of the bands that have influenced them, and no longer bothers us. We have to look at it like this: we have had influence on Rammstein, but on the other hand they have also opened our paths in the mainstream.

However, there are also some differences:

For me that is the most reprehensible Rammstein has ever done. Show abroad an image of the German youth that fortunately no longer exists. If someone is presented with the possibility of showing the world an image of the youth or of the German people, what cannot be done is to teach a video of Riefenstahl or the beauty canons of the 1930s. Because fortunately, neither the Germans in general nor the young in particular are so, but a foreigner serves to feel reaffirmed in his prejudices. They have precisely that stereotype of the Germans and then there comes a group that says, "yes, the Germans are all like this." I don't think we could look at each other in the morning in the mirror if we were to build our success in such a reprehensible public image.

Paul Landers, Rammstein guitarist, had this to say about the relationship between the two bands when his band had just achieved international success with Sehnsucht:

They exist from two years before and perhaps they are a little pissed off because we have been so successful and they still don't know anyone. I hope this changes, because musically, sometimes, they're still better than us. We really like Oomph! When we finished Herzeleid I heard a CD from Oomph! and I thought, "Friend, these do what we want to do, they're done with it."

As well as with Oomph!, Rammstein starred in a controversial controversy with another Neue Deutsche Härte group, Die Krupps, at the end of the 1990s. Rammstein had to face a plagiarism lawsuit for the song "Tier", from the album Sehnsucht, very similar to the title "The Dawning of Doom" from Die Krupps. Since then, Rammstein has listed Jürgen Engler as a co-writer of the song in the record credits. Englers himself claims that this is because Rammstein lost his case. Richard Kruspe suggests in an interview that this mention was actually introduced by mutual agreement.

Till Lindemann with a flamethrower in Chile.

Traditionally, Rammstein has also had public clashes with Campino, the leader of the punk rock band Die Toten Hosen. On one occasion Campino said referring to Rammstein:

Americans like entertainment. And they also like David Copperfield and Siegfried & Roy. That's why, if they go where they're a Siegfried & Roy type idiot and play a little with fire, they think it's fantastic.

When Rammstein was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2006, Paul Landers commented in an interview:

The good thing (to be nominated) is that it will make Campino angry.

At the 2012 Echo Awards, the band (with the exception of Till Lindemann), performed together with Marilyn Manson, one of the most well-known and significant songs of the American singer, "The Beautiful People".

Members

Oliver Riedel and Richard Z. Kruspe at a concert in Bilbao

• Till Lindemann - voice
• Richard Zven Kruspe - guitar leader, choirs
• Oliver Riedel - bass
• Christoph Schneider - Battery
• Paul Landers - rhythmic guitar, choirs
• Flake Lorenz - keyboard, synthesizer, trumpet

Discography

To date Rammstein has released a total of eight studio albums, three live albums and the film Rammstein: Paris, as well as twenty-five video clips, more than twenty singles and special editions.

Studio Albums

• Herzeleid (1995)
• Sehnsucht (1997)
• Mutter (2001)
• Reise, Reise (2004)
• Rosenrot (2005)
• Liebe ist für alle da (2009)
• Rammstein (2019)
• Zeit (2022)

Live recordings

• Live Aus Berlin (1999)
• Völkerball (2006)
• In Amerika (2015)
• Rammstein: Paris (2017)

Compilations

• Lichtspielhaus (2003)
• Made In Germany 1995-2011 (2011)
• Videos 1995-2012 (2012)
• Klavier (2015)
• Raritäten (1994-2012) (2015)
• Remixes (2020)

Simple

• Du Riechst So Gut (1995)
• Seemann (1996)
• Engel (1997)
• Du hast (1997)
• Das Modell (1997)
• Du riechst so gut '98 (1998)
• Stripped (1998)
• Asche zu Asche (1999)
• Sonne (2001)
• Links 2 3 4 (2001)
• Ich will (2001)
• Mutter (2002)
• Feuer frei! (2002)
• Mein Teil (2004)
• Amerika (2004)
• Ohne dich (2004)
• Keine Lust (2005)
• Benzin (2005)
• Rosenrot (2005)
• Mann gegen Mann (2005)
• Pussy (2009)
• Ich tu dir weh (2010)
• Haifisch (2010)
• Mein Land (2011)
• Mein Herz brennt (2012)
• Deutschland (2019)
• Radio (2019)
• Ausländer (2019)
• Zeit (2022)
• Zick Zack (2022)
• Dicke Titten (2022)
• Angst (2022)
• Adieu (2022)

Awards and recognitions

Rammstein using flamethrow masks.

• 1998 - Echo: best national video (Engel).
• 1998 - Comet: election of the public.
• 1999 - Echo: German group abroad.
• 2002 - Echo: best national artist. Metal category.
• 2002 - Kerrang!: best international live group.
• 2004 - Klassik Echo: best world premiere for the play "Mein Herz brennt" by Torsten Rasch, based on music by Rammstein.
• 2005 - Echo: best international artist. Rock/metal/alternative category.
• 2005 - Echo: better national live performance.
• 2005 - World Music Awards: German group that sells most in the world.
• 2005 - Comet: best video (“Keine Lust”).
• 2005 - MTV Europe Music Awards: best German group.
• 2005 - Edison Award: best alternative music album (per Reise, Reise).
• 2005 - Krone: better live performance.
• 2006 - Live Entertainment Awards (LEA): best manager (for Emanuel Fialik and Pilgrim).
• 2006 - Echo: best national artist. Rock/metal/alternative category.
• 2006 - Emma: best international group
• 2006 - Edison Award: best alternative music album (per Rosenrot).
• 2007 - DVD-Champions: best musical DVD (Völkerball).
• 2009 - Award of the magazine Kerrang!: album of the decade (Mutter).
• 2010 - Fonogram Award: best foreign rock/metal album (per Liebe ist für alle da).
• 2010 - Agendainfo Award: best live show.
• 2010 - Agendainfo Award: best concert (in the Netherlands in 2009; for its presentation on December 6 at the Gelredome).
• 2010 - Echo: best national artist. Rock/alternative/metal category.
• 2010 - World Music Awards: German group that sells most in the world.
• 2011 - Echo: best national video (“Ich tu dir weh”).
• 2011 - Revolver Golden Gods Awards: Best live band.
• 2012 - Echo: Best national alternative group.
• 2012 - Echo: Most successful performance abroad.
• 2017 - Preis für Popkultur: Pop Culture Award. Category "Most impressive live show".
• 2017 - UK Music Video Awards: Category "Best Live Concert" with Rammstein: Paris.

References and notes