Rammstein's Reise Reise: A Masterpiece of an Album

Rammstein has released yet another masterpeice, an album that breems of powerful music and even more powerful lyrics.

Synopsis: This album is somewhat of a blend, and yet brand new. It features powerful orchestral music along with good 'ol headbanging metal, but the way it was presented sets it far apart from the earlier albums such as Sehnsucht and Mutter. This album's theme is political and cultural difference around the world as well as travel.

From the whorish description of Moscow to the cannabalism trial in Germany to the "Bigger Brother" America. This album has all that R+ fans adore... you get hardcore metal in songs like "Mein Teil", harmonious melodies like "Ohne Dich" and powerful orchestrals such as "Reise Reise".

The Package:
The disc is contained in a case with orange rusty metal designs with two white stripes (think of the Kill Bill poster). The design of the Jewel Case is based off of a german flight recorder (the "Black Box"). The lyrics booklet follows a similar design of plane wreckage.
On the back of the case there is a tank that displays a code, this code translates into the original release date of the album.. nice trick... The CD itself is beautiful, pure silver with the design of a radar disc inscribed into it.

Secret Song "Negativzeit": One of the cooler and more errie features of this album is that secret song is cleverishly hidden. In order to hear it you must have the actual album (most conventional ripping programs don't reguard it as an actual track) and let the first song play for a few seconds. Then hit rewind (or search <<... whatever...) and you'll soon see it passes "00:00" and goes all the way up to "-00:36" you should stop around -34 seconds or else you player may skip to the last song.

ANYWHO what you hear is a low humming mixed with frantic cries. You can hear an onboard computer giving commands first in German, then an alarm begins to sound (it's a strange sound too..) and is follwed by a computerized "Pull Up!" only seconds later you hear a crash, followed by another loud one that ends the song. Rumor has it this was the actual flight recording from a plane that had recently crashed in Berlin.

1st song "Reise Reise": This song brings up the image of a raging storm and a giant ship crashing through the torrents. "Reise Reise" (which means "Arise, Arise", an old saying to awaken fisherman sleeping below deck) tells a story of a fisherman and the connection between him and murder and/or war. Till sings the song in his usual deep booming voice, and he does it well. Heart-stopping orchestrals is the heart of this song however, whenever the chours plays you cannot help but imagine a raging storm. There's even an accordian that compliments nicely to the "fisherman theme".

2nd Song "Mein Teil": Correctly translating to "My peice" the similar slang we use by saying "My package". This song unfortunatly does not feature the original openeing found on the Mein Teil Single that explains the song. The song is about the last moments of Johan Brandes, a man who willingly allows another man by the name Armien Mewines to eat him.... litterally. This was a response to a thread Armien posted in a Cannablism thread (stating "Seeking 18-30 well-built man for slaughter - The Master Butcher").

The song takes the perspective of Johan where Till sings in an style not normal to him. Instead of his normal deep gutteral style Till sings in a high scratchy tone, like some kind of vulture that scrapes the inside of your cranium. Although horrific sounding, it does compliment the song's theme wonderfully.

For those wondering why the song is called "My peice", this is one of the key points in the story. Before Branndes was stabbed to death, cut up to peices, and eaten over a period of 6 months, Armein chopped off Branndes... *ahem* "peice"... flammbeed it and they BOTH ate it together. Which ties into the main line in the chorus "You are what you eat". This song is for those who appreciated the Sehnsucht album, it's powerful, metal, and makes you want to break your neck headbanging.

3rd song "Dalai Lama": Inspired by a poem by Goethe, Dalai Lama is a song about the skies. It is about a man and his child on an airplane flying directly into disaster (ties into the Case and Secret song). A storm brews over the plane as God himself punishes the humans for entering His realm. God tells his angels to retrieve the child to him. The song is errie, filled with an even more gothic choir (the angel's voices) and a nice rythmic chours.

The cool part in the lyrics is how the angels retrive the child. They cause a storm that shakes the plane, the father then embraces the child (note: this part is a very powerful bridge, Till puts his heart into singing this and you can clearly hear the pain in his voice) so hard that his "squeezes the soul from the child". This song is one of my personal favorites and it ties into the overall irony of this album (see end to let me explain).

4th song "Keine Lust": I wasn't too impressed with this song, although it's a catchy tune and a good headbanger... I wasn't too enthralled with it. It's about an urge to try new sexual acts but not wanting to risk it. The character in the song wants to "feel like it with big animals" but doesn't want to get cold in the snow... on the plus side it IS a good marching song and good to listen to if you're walking to somewhere.

5th Song "Los": In its context it means "Less" such as "heartless" or "breathless". This song seems to be a reflection of what critics say about Rammstein. That they have no composure, they are "hopeless" "Helpless" and "songless". The band then turns around by stating that they are not "toneless" and that people CAN hear them.

A good pun in this song is that the lyric "sie sind gotlos" means "They are godless" but the way Till sings it, he pauses for a brief moment before saying "less" so it sounds at first he says "they are God". This song is a new style to Rammstein, almost american blues. It features a great guitar tab and harmonica that compliment the repetitive lyrics that follow a strict pattern. A good song to tap your feet too.

6th Song "Amerika":Another personal favorite of mine. This is a song pointing a finger directly at us Americans. It personifies America as this "bigger brother" that is telling the world "We are making a nice round dance" and that "I'll show you the right moves". This is a political statement on the overcontrolling nature America has on the world. That "whoever doesn't want to dance at the end doesn't know yet that they must".

The bridge as well as other parts are sung in English, the bridge however says "This is not a love song, I don't sing my mother's tounge" letting us now that Rammstein isn't saying the nicest things about us. However what Rammstein illustrates in the song are true, and Rammstein does not say this is an attack on the world it is merely their observation.

7th song "Moskau": Originally planned to have a cameo from the singer of T.A.T.U., instead Till is accompainied by Veronika, whos high, angel-like voice perfectly contrats Till's deep one. Moskau is about who Moskau is personified as an "old whore" that people keep going too. "She sleeps with me, but only for cash" which is irony because the opening lyrics state "the most beautiful city in the world Moscow".

The Russian lyrics mix well with the German ones, and even Till has a whack singing them.As far as music goes it is very catchy but nothing too impressive, this song relied more on the vocals then the music. Still a great song however.

8th song "Morgenstern": Another powerful orchestral song about a man who claims that he and this girl is so ugly that she cannot go outside, and how he pleads that the heavenly dawn shines upon his face and make him handsome for her. The song features a powerful chorus and good choir mixes in between the lyrics. A great song if you liked Reise Reise.

9th song "Stein um Stein": Another favorite of mine. This song is extremly powerful both in music and in lyrics. This song is about a man who wishes to keep his love around forever, so he is building her a house with no windows or door. Basicly he is walling her inside a mausolium "Stone by Stone".

This features an interesting guitar sound I have not heard used before and Till sings in almost wispears until he hits the dramatic chorus. Another pun in this song is the end of one lyric and the begining of another. When Till sings the bridge about "hammering nails" and going back to "Stone by Stone" he pauses so dramaticly all music stops for a moment. The effect is you can sew the last word with the first to form "Rammstein".

10th song "Ohne Dich": A very sad song, a definite favorite for anyone who loved "Mutter". This song can be interpreted many ways (just as the rest), I see this as a man who is searching for his lover who dissapeared into the woods, and his cries for how much it hurts to be alone. So sad that "the birds no longer sing".

Now I feel the song describes him finding her dead and lifeless in a ditch, and that is the powerful ending. Ohne Dich (meaning "Without you") is a piano/guitar song with minor drumming. The core of the song however elies on Till's voice as his voice gives the song passion. Violoins help set the dark mood of the song that can almost bring a tear to the eye.

11th song "Amour": Using the french word for "love" just as we do in english. this song tells the story that Love is a wild animal that attacks you, tearing you to peices and never letting go. That people try to tame Love but to no avail. This is yet another song in which Till wispears to the listener, his deep voice frightful, you feel as if he's going to jump out and cut your throat the way he is singing it. A great ending to the album with a great intro and ending.

Ironic twist: This album has many refferences to plane crashes, such as the packaging, the song Dalai Lama and the hidden recording. For those who don't know Rammstein's history, the band's name is derived from a tragedy at Ramstein (note the single "m") Airfeild involing a russian airshow gone horribly wrong. It's almost a blast from the past to see this album, I cannot help but think of their first song "Ramstein" when I hear "Pull up!"

Overall: This is a sure buy for ANY Rammstein fan. Although it took a while it was worth the wait. I definatly reccomend this album to any R+ fan or anyone getting into R+.

Score:
Musical Aspect: 9/10, Although not fully nessecary in some songs, the music in most was extremly powerful
Vocal Aspect: 10/10 Till belts out what made him famous, as well as trying new things. Also the addition of Veronica and the choirs was icing on the cake
Lyrical Aspect: 10/10, My favorite part about this album, as is Rammstein's style the lyrics are just as powerful and meaningful as the song itself, each song teeling a deep story.
Goodies: Secret track, hidden codes, puns within songs, Sepcial Thanks to Jeremy Williams of Herzeleid.com... oh yeah...it's got goodies.
Help me with my German?: This album features a loy of vocabularly your book will never teach you. It uses old language as well as new slang to help you become better and more fluent.