Rammstein

[fillow]

Mutter sounds much more radio-friendly than Sehnsucht. And no less than half of Sehnsucht songs were already written by the time they went on tour for Herzeleid and were performed live simetimes during 95-96

[seasonsinthesky]

Mutter sounds much more radio-friendly than Sehnsucht.

that may be, but i agree with Triggermine. Sehnsucht sounds very much — in general, of course — like the band refining their ambition into the most accessible approach they could. Mutter takes that approach and refines it, so they sounded more comfortable in their sound and could really use it to its full potential — which is why it opens with an incredibly compelling and fluent 6 songs in a row, all of which have become R+ classics, and most of which were singles. the same cannot be said for Sehnsucht, which certainly has classic songs, but is very inconsistent in comparison to Mutter, and sometimes feels like it's trying too hard. the title track, for instance, is a poor opener, i think. it took me years to warm up to it!

i think every album has some filler in the last half, though, with "Küss Mich" being a prime example (does a song get any more generic Rammstein than that?).

[ManBurning]

that may be, but i agree with Triggermine. Sehnsucht sounds very much — in general, of course — like the band refining their ambition into the most accessible approach they could. Mutter takes that approach and refines it, so they sounded more comfortable in their sound and could really use it to its full potential — which is why it opens with an incredibly compelling and fluent 6 songs in a row, all of which have become R+ classics, and most of which were singles. the same cannot be said for Sehnsucht, which certainly has classic songs, but is very inconsistent in comparison to Mutter, and sometimes feels like it's trying too hard. the title track, for instance, is a poor opener, i think. it took me years to warm up to it!

i think every album has some filler in the last half, though, with "Küss Mich" being a prime example (does a song get any more generic Rammstein than that?).

I will agree with you about most Rammstein albums second half's being weaker then the first, however not Sehnsucht! In fact, Sehnsucht has some of the best tracks at the end. I like the Rammstein tracks that are a little more rare and less played for some reason. Prime Example: Eifersucht. That song is spectacular all around, so is Alter Mann. ALter Mann used to be my faviourte song. Now I don't know if I only feel this way because those songs are more obscure songs that don't get alot of attention, but I think Sehnsucht starts off strong with a 1-2-3 punch of heavy hitters, sehnsucht, engel, Tier. Gets a little weak in the middle with Bistrafe Mich and Buck Dich, but Then it gets better again near the end with Spiel Mit Mir, then Alter mann, Eifersucht and I don't mind Kuss Mich.

Mutter has good tracks, and it's totally the album that defined them as a band. I will agree that the music seems alot more tight and more produced. But I donno, just something about it seems almost TOO over-produced. I liked the raw sound of Sehnsucht, like they just picked up and started jamming and just recorded whatever sounded good. Mutter seems like it was made by a group of perfectionists that were really trying to "break into a mainstream scene". This will probably make me sound nuts, but I can't really stand any of the singles on Mutter. I don't know if it's because they are so overplayed, but to me Feuer Frei! Links 2-3-4 and Ich Will aren't top choices of Rammstein songs I want to listen too over and over. I will admit that compare to the other albums Sehnsucht is a terrible opener. It's not epic or builds up to anything in the slightest.

I think if it's one thing Rammstein is known for it's the first track on their albums, they always put the best track as their opening track, the most epic song to start everything out with a BANG!! Wollt Ihr Das Bett In Flammen Sehen, Mein Herz Brennt, Reise Reise and Rammlied. I'm not counting Rosenrot's opener "Benzin" as I consider Rosenrot a collection of left-over songs. So they weren't going for an epic concept album on that one. But excluding Benzin, you see that all the other songs there are very, very epic. Mein Herz Brennt has to be one of the all time best openers of all time. Going back to what I was originally saying, evn on Mutter I find my faviourte tracks are at the end. Zwitter, Adio and Spieluhr. Once again, the more lesser known songs.

The main point I was agreeing with was the first half of the albums are generally better. asside from Mutter and Sehnsucht I find that Herzeleid, Reise Reise, Rosenrot, and LIFAD have their weaker songs towards the end and I usually turn them off halfway or skip some. I just find the 1 album I can listen to all the way through is Sehnsucht (only skipping Klavier, lol). Herzeleid is a close second and then Mutter would round up the top 3.

[Conan The Barbarian]

I respect your opinion, but I think you are nuts lol

[dlb]

I never re-listened to Herzeleid and Sehnsucht since Live aus Berlin came out, which I consider a pretty good best-of album of those two records, but after seeing them live and falling in love with Wollt ihr das Bett in Flammen sehen? again I dug deeper into the Herzeleid-sound and have to say that it's their strongest and most consistend album alongside Mutter which just flows perfectly. Mutter and Herzeleid are the only R+ albums that I can listen to all the way through.

Sehnsucht produced some of their hit singles and live favorites tough and I don't mind the title track. I really like it acutally, especially live, but have to agree that it's not a good choice to start off the record. Could have been Engel or Spiel mit mir like on the '98 tour. On a whole scale this album seems too forced and limited, a fact that the band seems to agree on. That's why they choosed to be more liberate sound and lyric-wise on later albums.

Reise, Reise is a solid record, Rosenrot I just can't stand and LIFAD never really stuck with me apart from the B-sides (Donaukinder!). I just don't like the new direction the band was heading for after Mutter and I really miss this cold and bold industrial energy that they once had. Seeing them live of course is a whole different thing, since they try to incorporate all the best from those 6 albums and usually find a good balance. The Made in Germany shows are a return to full form in my opinion and offer one of their best set lists to date. Still I'd kill for a proper DVD that contains footage from 2001-2002. I just can't belive on how much material these guys are sitting on, but oh well. I blame the management and Fialik for all things that piss me of with this band.

It's a love/hate relationship that I don't have with any other band.

My list:

Mutter
Herzeleid
Sehnsucht
Reise, Reise
Rosenrot
Liebe ist für alle da

[ManBurning]

It's a love/hate relationship that I don't have with any other band.

My list:

Mutter
Herzeleid
Sehnsucht
Reise, Reise
Rosenrot
Liebe ist für alle da

I'll just cut your post down to just this, but the entire post you made was very well said. Agree with almost everything you said.
Especially the love/hate relationship with this band. When they are good, they are REALLY good, but then when they are bad, well... they're not so bad they are untolerable, but it's kind of strange that they can make such masterpieces like reise reise, mein herz brennt and rammlied as opening songs and then they come out with some hit-or-miss songs/records like Rosenrot.

Actually, i am very shocked you rate LIFAD dead last after Rosenrot, especially after stating: "Rosenrot I just can't stand". i was totally expecting to see it last.

And the thing about the Mutter tour DVD, I couldn't agree more on. I think it was their best tour by far, in fact I was just looking at live footage on youtube from the 2001-2002 concert tour for Mutter, it's great stuff! I'm so glad I was able to catch a Mutter tour live, not to say the live show sucks now, as it's morphed into something COMPLETLY OUT OF THIS WORLD. They've really just continued to up the ante on each of ther live shows as their career goes on. I'm looking forward to seeing the "Made In Germany" tour in the spring, it looks like it's a tour to end of tours.

[dlb]

Actually, i am very shocked you rate LIFAD dead last after Rosenrot, especially after stating: "Rosenrot I just can't stand". i was totally expecting to see it last.

Well, LIFAD really did not stick with me. It's not a bad album and not as bad as Rosenrot IMHO, but other than Donaukinder I don't listen to any of these tracks anymore. I bought it the day it came out and listened to it for a week, but nothing happened. I really have a problem with the lyrics and the visual presentation of that album. It just doesn't click with me and the only tacks that I keep playing are Donaukinder and Waidmanns Heil. Roter Sand is okay aswell, but for me their weakest soft Rammstein-song.

And while I'd consider Rosenrot their worst album there are still songs on it that intrigue me more than the ones on LIFAD. Spring, Benzin and Ein Lied are regulars on my playlists and that's why I rank it a bit, but only the slightest bit, higher than LIFAD.

@Ryan: I'm more than glad that my deluxe edition arrived safely and everything was how it's supposed to be, but at least Universal is not a bitch about it. Reminds me of the Ghost limited edition.... :/