RAMMSTEIN
STORY
PLAYLIST
Rammstein complete story | Rage, fire and censorship
To become the most important German band in history you have to have something special. In the case of Rammstein that something is called togetherness. Its 6 members are one, and it shows in every song they write and every concert they play. This is the history of industrial metal, the controversy, the effort and above all, the fire 🔥!
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Rammstein Trembol Card
- 🗿 Name: Rammstein
- 🎂 Year: The band started working together in 1994.
- 👫 Members: Till Lindemann – vocals, Richard Zven Kruspe – lead guitar, backing vocals; Oliver Riedel – bass guitar; Christoph Schneider – drums; Paul Landers – rhythm guitar, backing vocals; Flake Lorenz – keyboards, synthesizer, trumpet
- ♈ Logo:
- 🎻 Genres: 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.
- 💿 Discography: By 2023 they had released eight studio albums and four live albums, as well as five DVDs.
- 🌐 Rammstein Official Website: rammstein.de
- 🗣 Rammstein Social Media: Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube
The German language goes well with heavy metal. French might be the language of love, but German is the language of fury.
Oliver Ridel (Rammstein bassist)
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There are three types of fire: fire of the mind, fire of the heart and plain fire.
Till Lindemann (Rammstein frontman)
Rammstein (Facebook Images)
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Rammstein | Biography and Music
Chapter 1 | Till Lindemann’s childhood
Till Lindemann (left) and his sister Saskia (right) (Facebook Image)
Till Lindemann, singer and lead lyricist of the world’s biggest industrial metal band Rammstein, was born on 4 January 1963 in Leipzig, when it was still part of the former German Democratic Republic (East Germany).
- The son of writer Werner Lindemann and journalist Gitta Lindemann, Till grew up in a village called Wendisch-Rambow in northern Germany with his younger sister Saskia.
- Growing up in nature created a connection with it that Till still feels today. When he spends too much time in the city he has to flee to the countryside to reconnect 🏕️
At the age of 11, Lindemann took up swimming as his main activity and at the age of 15 he took part in the European Youth Swimming Championships, where he finished 7th in the 400m freestyle.
- He was shortlisted for the 1980 Olympic Games in Moscow, although he was excluded for sneaking out of the hotel during a training camp in Rome to buy a porn magazine, which was forbidden in his country.
- Eventually, an abdominal injury forced him to quit professional swimming, which he did not mind because he did not like the intensity of swimming school 🏊🏼♂️
Till Lindemann teenager (Facebook Images)
- When he was 12 years old, his parents divorced.
- Some time later, between 1977 and 1980, Lindemann spent several years at boarding school.
When he came of age, he could not go to university because military service was compulsory in Germany at the time. Till refused, saying that he would rather go to prison than to war 🔫
At that time he went to live with his father, who was very strict, was said to be a heavy drinker, and clashed with Till constantly.
- One day when Till was listening to loud music in his new car, his father slapped him, they argued and he threw Till’s things out.
- Lindemann would not return to his father’s house, although their relationship would improve over time.
Till started working at various jobs, from carpenter’s apprentice to gallery technician to wicker basket maker 🧺
- In 1985, at the age of 22, Lindemann had his first daughter, Nele, whom he raised as a single parent for the first 7 years of his life, and who has already made him a grandfather.
- In 1986, at the age of 23, Lindemann started playing drums in the experimental rock band First Arsch, releasing an album in 1992 called ‘Saddle Up‘.
On this album, Paul Landers and Richard Kruspe, future members of Rammstein, played as guest guitarists. The connection started.
First Arsch Saddle Up
Chapter 2 | The origins of Rammstein
Lindemann’s first contact with most of the future members of Rammstein happened in 1989 when he played drums on the song ‘Lied von der unruhevollen Jugend (Song of Troubled Youth)‘ with a punk band called Feeling B, the former band of several Rammstein members: Paul Landers, Christoph Schneider and Christian “Flake” Lorenz.
All members of the band were born in the former German Democratic Republic, including Richard Kruspe, lead guitarist and founder of Rammstein.
- Richard started playing guitar in order to pick up girls, but eventually fell in love with the instrument.
- He fled his hometown of Schwerin through Hungary and Austria to the Federal Republic of Germany. There he founded his first band, Orgasm Death Gimmick.
- After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 he returned to Schwerin and played for a while with another band called ‘Das Auge Gottes’.
During this time he met Till Lindemann by listening to him singing while he was working.
Richard wanted to make another kind of music combining machines and heavy guitars. He focused on writing the music, but needed someone for the lyrics, he thought Lindemann would be perfect and invited him to join his Industrial Metal project.
- Richard loved Till’s presence 👨🏼, he thought he would be a perfect frontman, although he would have to learn to be off the drums.
- His flatmates Oliver Riedel as bass player and Christoph Schneider as drummer had joined Rammstein.
So Till Lindemann, who moved to Berlin, started writing lyrics and singing for Rammstein.
Rammstein members as children (Google Images)
Rammstein (Facebook Images)
Rammstein’s founder’s daughter uses Till Lindemann surname and Till’s 3 ex-wives
It turns out that Till’s ex-wife and his bandmate Richard Kruspe had a daughter together named Khira. She has the surname Lindemann, as her mother kept Till’s surname after the divorce.
A year earlier, in 1993, Till had his second daughter, Marie Louise, with school teacher and now ex-wife Anja Köseling. In 1997, Till is said to have beaten her. Anja went to the police and filed for divorce.
Till would later marry for a third time, also divorcing her, to make way for a four-year relationship between 2011 and 2015 with German actress Sofia Tomalla.
- In 1993, Till’s father passed away. Till was with him in his last days.
- In 1994, the band entered and won a contest for up-and-coming bands in Berlin, which had a professional recording session as a prize.
- The win caught the attention of Paul Landers from a band called Feeling B. He came on board as second guitarist for the recording.
They recorded a four-track professional demo including: Das alte Leid (The Old Pain), Seemann (Sailor), Weißes Fleisch (White Flesh) and Rammstein.
- Some of these songs still included English lyrics, something they would later change to focus on their mother tongue, German.
- They were all convinced to use German, but it was also a condition that the last piece of Rammstein, the keyboard player, imposed in order to join them.
- Flake Lorenz, who also played in Feeling B with Paul Landers, at first refused to join the band because he found the style of music bland and expressionless, but in the end he agreed.
- Flake is known as Dr. Flake because that’s what he wanted to be, a doctor 👨🏼⚕️. Fortunately he chose music instead.
Rammstein (Facebook Image)
Has Rammstein ever sung in a language other than German?
All songs from Rammstein’s discography are in German except for:
- The English versions of: Engel, Du hast, Amerika, Stripped and Pet Sematary.
- 3 songs with English verses: Amerika, Stirb nicht vor mir/Don’t die before I do and Pussy.
- The song ‘Te quiero puta!’ which is in Spanish, ‘Moskau‘ in Russian and ‘Frühling in Paris‘ in French.
Rammstein’s first official performance was on 14 April 1994 at Leipzig’s alternative cultural centre naTo.
Throughout that year they would play in many small clubs in the area.
- The first name of the band was “Temple Prayers“.
Later they would call themselves ‘Rammstein Flugschau (Rammstein Air Show)‘. It was a half-joking name that they had also unknowingly misspelled, because the German town it referred to is called ‘Ramstein’, with only one “m”.
- The thing is that since then they couldn’t change it, only simplify it to ‘Rammstein’.
- The band has stated on occasion that they don’t like it, that they would have preferred to be called ‘Milch (Milk)‘, ‘Erde (Earth)’ or ‘Mutter (Mother)‘, but they were all taken.
Rammstein Live in 1994
What does Rammstein mean?
The group’s name was inspired by the German city of Ramstein. There is a military base there where, during an air show in 1988, three aerobatic aircraft collided, one falling on the audience, resulting in more than 70 casualties.
From an etymological point of view, the “m” is repeated in the name of the group, as in the verb “rammen” which means ‘to crash or sink’. This verb is joined by the noun “Stein”, which means “stone”, so that Rammstein means more or less “crashing stone” or “catapult made of stone”.
In 1995 they signed their first record deal with Motor Music, releasing their debut album, Herzeleid (Reseed), with the single ‘Du riechst so gut (You smell so good)‘.
The album cover was somewhat controversial for appearing shirtless and with oil on their torso. The band themselves didn’t like it and changed it on the future American edition of the album in 1998.
- They toured, first opening for Cottbus Sandow, Project Pitchfork, The Ramones and Clawfinger, then solo on their first German headline tour for 17 shows.
- Their first UK gig would be on MTV where they played ‘Wollt ihr das Bett in Flammen sehen? (Do you want to see the bed on fire?)‘ and their first single. During the performance Till falsely hit himself with the microphone and broke a blood capsule he was carrying, pretending he was bleeding 🩸 MTV stopped the broadcast.
They began to be known beyond Germany thanks to David Lynch’s film, ‘Lost Highway‘, which used their songs ‘Heirate Mich (Marry Me)‘ and ‘Rammstein‘, which speaks of the arieal tragedy that inspired their name.
- The album spent 29 weeks in the German charts selling 250,000 copies.
All interviews at the time were answered by Rammstein in first person, as if they were a single individual because the band wanted to be seen as such, as a unit. In fact, Rammstein never rehearses without all six members present.
Rammstein Du riechst so gut (You smell so good)
Rammstein Herzeleid cover
Rammstein (Facebook Image)
Herzeleid’s music was not easy to categorise. Some magazines called it Techno-Metal, although the band itself coined the term ‘Tanzmetall (Dance Metal)‘.
- Nowadays there is a consensus that Rammstein belongs to the trend that emerged in their home country in the 1990s called ‘Neue Deutsche Härte (New German Hardness) – NDH‘.
- NDH is characterised by lyrics in German, with vocals sung in a gravelly register and highly distorted electric guitars, to which are added the usual bass and drums, keyboards, synthesizers, samplers and even drum machines.
They reached their 100th concert and celebrated it with a show called “100 years of Rammstein“.
Till had started playing with pyrotechnics and fire on stage.
- He explained he was very shy and wanted people to notice something other than him. That’s why he also wore sunglasses.
At some concerts Till wore a fireproof suit and set himself on fire. On more than one occasion he burnt his ears, hair and arms. The band joked that he did it on purpose because he liked the pain.
Things took a turn for the worse when at a concert in 1996 some of the pyrotechnics fell, injuring part of the audience. Since then the band decided that they had to professionalise that part of the show and Till Lindemann got his professional certification in pyrotechnics. Every member of Rammstein has been instructed in the use of the pyrotechnic equipment 🧯
Lindemann was forging his powerful stage presence with:
- His baritone voice with the ability to reach very low notes.
- His tendency to pronounce “R” like the Spanish “rr” sound
- His unique trademark, “Till’s hammer”, which is nothing more than a movement Till makes by hitting his thigh with his fist to the beat of the music.
Rammstein’s music cannot be understood without their music videos and concerts because it is an audiovisual spectacle. Till himself said that pyrotechnics with music is like parsley on meat 😆
Rammstein pyrotechnics (Facebook image)
Rammstein pyrotechnics (Facebook image)
Rammstein Engel (Angel)
Rammstein Tier (Animal)
In 1997 Rammstein released their second album, ‘Sehnsucht (Longing)‘, which took off right from the start both in Germany and abroad thanks to two essential songs: Du hast (You’ve Got / You’ve Got Me) and Engel (Angel).
- With the music video for Engel, featuring Till’s daughter in a cage, which they also did at some concerts, they won their first ECHO award.
The band didn’t have much time for songwriting, so they said they recorded the songs without much thought.
The album included another song called ‘Tier (Animal)‘, which was about the kidnapping of a little girl in Belgium which particularly touched Till as he had a daughter of that age.
- This song earned Rammstein a complaint for plagiarising the song ‘The Dawning of Doom’ by the band Die Krupps. Rammstein settled with them and credited the song to Die Krupps.
Till’s favourite song is ‘Klavier (Piano)‘ which is about the passion and madness of a murderer. Till started writing it as a love poem to a piano teacher and ended up with something grotesque 👺
On this second album, the band started to use more electronic elements and changed Till Lindemann’s vocal form from simply talking to singing.
What does ‘Du Hast‘ mean?
The interpretation is complicated because the German pronunciation has 2 different meanings:
- ‘Du Has Has Mich’ means ‘You have me’.
- ‘Du Hasst Mich’ means ‘You hate me’.
Thanks to the context of the rest of the song it becomes clear that the correct one is the first option ‘You have me’, because then it says ‘You have asked me and I have said nothing, Do you want to be faithful to her till death do you part’, to which the chorus answers ‘Ja (Yes)‘, but Till Lindemann answers ‘Nein (No)‘. Then the song continues: ‘Will you, till the vagina’s death, love her on bad days?‘.
- ‘Du Hast’ was released in 1997 when Rammstein had gone through a tense time. Founder and guitarist Richard Kruspe wanted total control of the new album creatively and the rest of the band objected, which reportedly almost led to a split.
Fortunately this was not the case, the dust settled and the band now considers the song a song of loyalty and commitment, like the marriage vows to which the lyrics allude 💍
The Sehnsucht tour took them all over Europe in 1997, as well as across the pond to play in the US for the first time. Although the tour was a blast, one of the concerts they remember most fondly is the one they performed for their fan club in Cologne, which was called ‘the panties concert 🩲‘. It became legendary for them.
In 1996 Rammstein released the single ‘Das Modell (The Model)‘, with their version of the famous Kraftwerk song.
- This single includes the previously unreleased track ‘Kokain (Cocaine)’ and a video game of the band.
- They said at the time that they experimented with different drugs to see how their music sounded with each one.
Rammstein (Facebook image)
Rammstein Du Hast (You have me)
In 1998 they were invited to perform ‘Du hast’ at the MTV Europe Music Awards. The song became so popular that it was even used in the cult film, The Matrix.
That same 1998 they decided to cover Depeche Mode’s ‘Stripped‘ in English. They recorded a controversial video using footage from the 1936 Berlin Olympics by filmmaker Leni Riefenstahl, known for her propaganda productions during the Third Reich.
- Rammstein were accused of being fascists and their videos were banned from being shown before 10pm. Singer Till Lindemann would later explain that with this provocation he had crossed a line and that he would never do it again. 🙇🏼
In 1999 Rammstein received their first Grammy nomination for ‘Du hast’ and their second ECHO award, this time for being the most famous German band abroad.
In 1999 they released a double album called ‘Live aus Berlin‘, recorded at 2 concerts that drew 34,000 spectators in total, the largest attendance at a Rammstein performance to date.
- The album reached number one in the German album charts.
Rammstein’s hectic tour continued in the USA:
- Till Lindemann and his bandmate Christian “Flake” Lorenz were arrested in Massachusetts for lewd conduct during their song ‘Bück dich (Bend Over)‘. It turns out that Lindemann used a dildo with liquid in it and pretended to have anal sex with Lorenz.
- Both Lindemann and Lorenz were released the next day after posting bail, although Lorenz was a bit scared in the cell with so many bad people 💩
Rammstein were invited to take part in a US tour called the ‘Family Values Tour’. It was organised by the band Korn and besides them, Limp Bizkit, Incubus, Orgy and Ice Cube played.
- There were 28 very successful concerts.
- For Rammstein it was a unique opportunity to make themselves even better known in the country, although as they spoke practically no English, communication with the rest of the bands was scarce. However, after each concert, they threw the most brutal parties to, as Till said, compensate for the adrenaline after a concert 🥳
The tour continued in Mexico where they were welcomed like gods, something the band had never experienced before. There was even a whole merchandise market just for Rammstein.
- The ugliest part of the tour came in Sao Paolo where they were opening for the band that inspired them to get into music, Kiss. When they came out to play, the audience, who weren’t expecting them, booed them, threw stones and lighters. It was the worst concert of their entire career.
A year later, in 2000, Rammstein would play for the first time as part of the Fuji Rock Festival live in Japan.
Rammstein Bück dich (Bend over)
Rammstein (Facebook Image)
Rammstein Links 2 3 4 (Left 2 3 4)
Four years after their last studio album, and under a different label, Universal Music, Rammstein released ‘Mutter (Mother)‘ in 2001, an album that made Rammstein achieve the best sales figures of their entire career with double platinum.
- The album included a track called ‘Links 2 3 4 (Left 2 3 4)‘ to express their left-wing ideology in the face of incessant accusations of neo-Nazism.
Equally criticised was the album cover, which showed the image of a foetus, something the religious authorities did not like at all.
The most successful song on the album was ‘Sonne (Sun)‘, although the album is full of great songs such as: Feuer frei! (Free of fire!), with which they appeared in a scene from the film xXx, Ich will (I want to) or Mein Herz brennt (My heart is burning).
They toured throughout 2001 in Europe, the United States, Canada and Mexico, having previously visited Australia.
- Rammstein had become so popular that in 2002 a tribute album was released in their honour entitled ‘Battery: A tribute to Rammstein’.
Rammstein Sonne (Sun)
In 2002 Till Lindemann would publish his first book of poems 📖, entitled ‘Messer (Knife)‘.
Rammstein would release ‘Lichtspielhaus’, a DVD compiling their video clips along with many live performances.
At that time Till was offered the role of the villain in a children’s film called ‘Amundsen, der Pinguin (Amundsen, the penguin)‘, and he readily accepted.
Till Lindemann (Facebook Image)
In 2004, Rammstein released their fourth album, ‘Reise, Reise (Journey, Journey)‘, introducing it with the single, ‘Mein Teil (My Part)’.
- The video for the song generated a lot of controversy in Germany, as it portrayed Armin Meiwes’ case of cannibalism with black humour, as well as featuring drummer Christoph Schneider in drag, walking his five band mates on dog leashes 🐕🦺
Musically, for this album the band swapped synthesizers for a symphony orchestra.
- Another great track on the album was ‘Amerika (America)‘ where the band criticises the US government and more specifically the invasion of Iraq after 9/11, which Rammstein suffered live as they were touring the US when it happened.
- In the video for ‘Keine Lust (Lust)‘ they appeared as if they were all very obese, to laugh at themselves, something Rammstein loves.
Rammstein Mein Teil (My part)
Rammstein Keine Lust (Lust)
Rammstein live (Facebook Image)
On the album there was a secret track that could be listened to by turning the CD backwards when it started playing. It was a recording taken from the black box of the Japan Airlines plane that crashed in 1985.
Thanks to the success of the album, Rammstein became the most successful German-speaking band of all time.
- To celebrate, the band would go on a long tour called the ‘Ahoi Tour’ to present the album in Europe in front of more than 1 million people.
- At the concerts there was a highlight with the song ‘Mein Teil‘, in which Lindemann cooks keyboardist Flake Lorenz in a giant pot with a big flamethrower and chases him around the stage.
- They also started another big attraction at the concerts: they used to put a member of the band on an inflatable boat and sail it over the audience 🛶
With the leftover material from the recording of ‘Reise, Reise’ they released ‘Rosenrot (Red Rose)‘ in 2005, presented with the single ‘Benzin (Gasoline)‘. The album also includes a duet with Scottish singer Sharleen Spiteri, on the track ‘Stirb Nicht Vor Mir (Don’t Die Before Me)’.
- Rosenrot reached the top 10 of the charts in 20 different countries.
Both Rosenrot and its predecessor, ‘Reise, Reise’, dealt with themes related to interpersonal relationships: friendship, loneliness, obsession, unrequited love and superficiality in relationships.
- The album included their only song in Spanish, which catapulted them into the Latin world, ‘Te quiero puta!’.
Rammstein Te Quiero Puta! (I Love You Bitch!)
Rammstein Mann gegen Mann (Man vs. man)
Rammstein Rosenrot (Red rose)
- To continue their censorship streak, the video for ‘Mann gegen Mann (Man vs. Man)’, was classified as not recommended for children under 16 because the band members appeared completely naked and smeared with oil.
- In the video for the song ‘Rosenrot’ the band members are shown whipping themselves with a whip, it turns out they did it for real because Till always insisted on making everything depicting his songs more realistic.
The band would tour again with the bad luck that at a concert in Sweden, keyboardist Flake accidentally collided with Till while riding a Segway, injuring his knee and causing the cancellation of several dates on the tour.
In 2005, Rammstein received the “World Sales Awards” for more than 10 million copies sold worldwide. The band took the opportunity to release a new live CD, ‘Völkerball‘, and took a break to regain inspiration for a future new album.
- Meanwhile, in 2006, they have the honour of naming an asteroid after themselves, Rammstein 🪐
During the hiatus, Rammstein founder Richard Kruspe starts a musical side project called Emigrate, whose first album is released in August 2007.
- By 2021 he had released 4 albums: Emigrate in 2007, Silent so long in 2014, A million degrees 2018 and The persistence of memory in 2021.
- They have never played a concert, being only a studio project.
At that time the rumour started to spread that Till Lindemann was going to leave the band. Of course Rammstein denied it, confirming that this was not the case and that if one of the members ever left the band, the rest would not continue.
Rammstein (Facebook Image)
What are the main themes of Rammstein’s lyrics?
Lyrics are an essential element of Rammstein’s musical identity. The Germans don’t mince words, in fact they like to talk about controversial topics such as:
- Sadomasochism: Bestrafe Mich, Ich tu dir weh or Feurrader.
- Incest: Spiel mit mir, Wiener Blut, Tier or Laichzeit
- Voyeurism: Feuer und Wasser or Weit weg
- Sex: Pussy, Buck Dich, Frühling in Paris, Rein raus, Das Alte Leid, Ausländer or Sex
- Criticism of the US government: Amerika, Zerstoren
- Rape: Weißes Fleisch, Liebe ist für alle da, Hallomann
- Child abuse: Weißes Fleisch, Tier, Spiel mit mir
- Sexual abuse by the clergy: Halleluja, Zeig dich
- Necrophilia: Heirate mich
- Cannibalism: Mein Teil, Eifersucht
- Murders: Stein um stein or Puppe
- Or religious symbols: Asche zu Asche.
In 2009 Rammstein released ‘Liebe ist für alle da (Love is there for everyone)‘, with ‘Pussy‘ as the first track.
- Of course, the song has sexually explicit lyrics and was accompanied by a video with explicit sex scenes that was criticised for inciting unprotected sex.
- The video was released on a pornographic website called Visit-X and caused quite a stir around the world.
The second single, ‘Ich tu dir weh (I hurt you)‘, was categorised in the “Dangerous Materials for Youth Index” for depicting sadomasochistic practices.
- During the filming of this video, Lindemann made an incision in his cheek to insert a wire with a light in his mouth and create a striking visual effect. He certainly succeeded.
It went so far that the album was banned ⛔, but after a lengthy legal dispute, Rammstein prevailed against the Federal Republic of Germany and the album remained on sale.
Rammsterin Pussy
The video contains explicit sex scenes. If you want to watch it, click on the "+"
Rammsterin Ich tu dir weh (I hurt you)
For the album tour during 2009 and 2010, Rammstein returned to the pyrotechnic show, including flamethrowers at the base and roof of the stage.
- In ‘Benzin‘, a so-called fan of the band climbs on stage and is set on fire.
- For the song ‘Ich tu dir weh‘, keyboard player Flake gets into a bathtub and Till pretends to throw liquid metal on him.
- Also in ‘Engel’, Till uses a pair of aluminium wings that shoot flames.
The tour was to be a success:
- They performed their first outdoor gig in the UK at Knebworth Park.
- They played to over 130,000 people in Quebec.
- They visited South Africa
- They returned to the US after seven years without playing there and did it in style, selling out Madison Square Garden in New York in minutes.
In all those concerts, as they always do before going on stage, they drank a tequila 🥃 and stared into each other’s eyes to get the connection that makes them unique before going on stage.
- For all this they were given the Revolver Golden God award for best live band, their first award in the United States.
Rammstein live (Facebook Image)
In 2011 Rammstein released a greatest hits album titled ‘Made in Germany 1995-2011’ with a magnificent unreleased track, ‘Mein Land (My Country)’.
A couple of years later, in 2013, Till would present his second book of poetry, ‘In Stille Nächten (In Silent Nights)’.
The band members, who hadn’t stopped for a moment since 2008, decided to take a sabbatical and restart some personal projects.
- In 2015 Till Lindemann turned 52 and founded a new band together with Swedish musician Peter Tägtgren called ‘Lindemann’. The debut album was called ‘Skills in Pills’. They would release 2 more albums, ‘F&M‘ in 2019, and ‘Live in Moscow‘ in 2021.
Rammstein Mein Land (My Land)
- Rammstein released their third live DVD in 2015 called ‘In Amerika’ along with a documentary of the same name.
- Some time later they would also release all their remastered albums in a box set called ‘XXI-The Vinyl Box Set‘ which included a rarities album, ‘Raritäten’, with unreleased songs.
- In December 2015 they released a compilation album with their hits played only on piano, under the name ‘XXI Klavier (XXI Piano)’.
- In 2016, the production ‘Rammstein: Paris‘, a live concert in Bercy, was presented at the Cannes Film Festival.
Following his transgressive and uninhibited spirit Till Lindemann would start in 2016 a new project known as ‘Doctor Dick‘ with which he would create art objects related to the male reproductive organ 🍆🥒🌽
Till Lindemann of Rammstein (Facebook Image)
In the summer of 2017, Rammstein play 18 concerts in 11 countries in front of more than 500,000 spectators, ending with three performances in the famous amphitheatre in Nîmes, where in 2005 the concert for the DVD ‘Völkerball’ was recorded.
- In the same year, Rammstein received the pop culture award for the “most impressive live show“.
Back to the music, Rammstein’s new album will be released in 2019. The first single, ‘Deutschland (Germany)‘ was released with a nearly 10-minute music video. This was followed by the tracks ‘Radio’ and ‘Ausländer (Foreigner)’. Interestingly, the album has no title. The cover shows only a match, which is why it is commonly referred to simply as “Rammstein”.
Rammstein Deutschland (Germany)
- The album went straight to No. 1 in 14 countries and No. 9 in the U.S., its highest position there.
- Rammstein set a record for the most album units sold in its first week in Germany in the 21st century, as well as being the best-selling album of 2019 in Germany, Austria and Switzerland with over 600,000 copies.
The album touches on tough subject matter as is the tradition of Germany’s biggest Industrial Metal band, from criticism of the Catholic Church in ‘Zeig dich (Show Yourself)‘, to an analysis of sex as disgusting in ‘Sex (Sex)’, to a child molester ‘Hallomann (Hello Man)‘, to the case of a girl who kills a man who beats her sister while she is a prostitute ‘Puppe (Puppet)’.
To present the album, Rammstein would head out in 2019 on their first ever stadium tour.
- 31 shows in 24 cities in 17 countries in front of more than 1.2 million spectators. With a staff of 265 employees in total and 90 trucks to transport the 1,350 ton production across the continent.
- All tickets were sold out.
Rammstein stadium tour (Facebook Image)
In 2020, Till would join German violinist David Garrett on the song ‘Alle Tage ist kein Sonntag (Every day is not Sunday)’. A song from 1920. But this would not be the only thing, as Lindemann would sing 2 more solo songs: Ich hasse kínder (I hate children) and Lubimiy Gorod (Beloved city).
After the Pandemic hiatus in 2022, Rammstein announced that their eighth album, Zeit (Time), was ready. It opened with a song of the same name, Zeit.
- The cover of Zeit shows the members of Rammstein descending a staircase connected to the Trudelturm, a monument dedicated to aerial research, located in Berlin.
Rammstein Zeit (Time)
The second single was ‘Zick Zack (Zig-zag)’, which was preceded by an advertising campaign in which the band claimed to have falsely opened a cosmetic surgery clinic. All because the song talks about the obsession with the physique with mythical phrases like “put botox in your brain” or “lose weight and you’ll see your penis again“.
- Later they presented ‘Angst (Fear)‘, followed by ‘Dicke Titten (Big Tits)‘ and the fifth and last single ‘Adieu (Goodbye)‘ with which they say goodbye for the moment, and only for the moment because they are in the middle of the second part of their stadium tour and their creativity and strength are not intact, so there is Rammstein for a long time 🤘🏼
Rammstein Zick Zack (Zig-zag)
Rammstein live (Facebook Image)
The story of Rammstein is that of the greatest German band of all time, of a group that with 35 million copies sold has remained true to itself, to its unique way of making music and telling stories and that above all keeps faith in its 6-member unit.
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