The Biography and History of Rammstein
Biography of Rammstein.
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RAMMSTEIN is a powerful German
dance/industrio-metal music band.
They describe themselves as
"tanzmetal", meaning dance/metal.
This is very true, but a little
misleading. Since dance is only a small
element of their work.
Essentially no one realy knows the true
meaning why the word "Rammstein"
was chosen by the six members, but
there are a couple of prime
possibilities. Rammstein means a stone
battering ram. (Rammen meaning to
ram, and stein meaning stone).
Another theory is it is named after a
the Ramstein (not only one 'm')
airbase, in Germany, where a
spectacular airshow disaster occured.
The last song on the bands debut
album, Herzeleid, also the first song
Rammstein ever wrote, was inspired by
this accident.
Before Rammstein, all the six members
were friends and were in other, lesser
known bands. In 1994 Richard Kruspe
invented the idea and formed the
band. All members, who are all male in
their 30's, was born and raised in either
Berlin, or Schwerin (north west of
Berlin, close to the coast), Wittenerg
or Leipzig. In order to make a living
they mostly were all industrial
labourers. It is understood that the
vocalist, Till Lindemann, was a
champion swimmer. Hejhejhejprutt
gubbe
One of the the contributing factors
that propelled Rammstein into fame
was their strong use of pyromania in
their concerts, making them an
awesome band to see live, however the
makeup of the band is possibly why
they are so well liked. Till Lindemann
is the vocalist, Richard Kruspe and Paul
Landers on guitars, Oliver Riedel on
bass, Christian "Flake [flah-keh]"
Lorenz on keyboards and Christoph
Scneider as drummer. Rammstein is set
for any genré of music they wish.
Dual lead guitarists allow the band to
create sounds far too complex for an
ordinary single guitar,s this combined
with Kruspe and Lander's impeccable
syncronisation and Reidel providing the
'reinforcement' make the core of the
music very strong. Keyboards in metal
bands should not be overlooked, it
creates a good rythm and is excellent
for intro's and outro's. [see Du Hast,
Engel, Spiel Mit Mir, Du Riechst So Gut
etc.] Flake provides an excellent talent
to the band. But Till is surely one of
the greatest vocalists in the world
today, making him the driving force of
Rammstein. The general image of him
being able to sing to standard while
being engulfed in flames from head to
toe lets us know how excellent he is.
The History of Rammstein.
Some people think that Till singing
almost exclusivly in German lets the
band down when appealing to english
markets, but in my humnble opinion,
that what makes then excel. How many
people actually like the English version
of Du Hast or Engel better than the
German original? Although Stripped is
one of my favourites, just the sound
and tone made by the German
language really compliments
Rammstein's music.
Flake said that he used to go to David
Bowie concerts when he was young,
even though he didn't understand a
word that was said, he just loved the
music. When Rammstein did make an
englsih set of two of the singles from
Sehnsucht, radio DJ's wouldn't accept
them, because people liked the
German versions better. If the reson
that you listen to music is because of
he lyrics, then you are better off
listening to the news. Besides, it has
been said that due to the lyrics being
reasonably "revolting" you won't want
to listen to Rammstein if you either
know or plan on learning German.
Rammstein do not, however, view their
lyrics as harsh or revolting. Flake says
"they are completely normal, romantic
lyrics". Who wouldn't agree after
hearing translations to songs like
Herzeleid or Seemann, but then, who
would after knowing the meaning [let
alone seeing the stage show] of
Büch Dich. This all simply displays
the broad range of topics Rammstin
covers.
Contrary to popular belief, Rammstein
are not associated with or are not
influenced by the Nazi movement. It is
very sad that the media must describe
them as such. Apparently this was
based on the cover art to Herzeleid,
which features the bands members
with their shirts off, standing in front
of a flower, "a photo for a new master
race". "Rubbish," states Flake, "it's just
a photo" as Rammstein laughs off all
allegations that they are influenced by
the Nazi's. "If we were Spanish, we
wouldn't have to deal with this hassle"
argues Landers. But then who can help
calling any German that you dislike a
Nazi? The critics can't.
In 1997 Rammstein released their
second album, nearly two years after
the first. Sehnsucht entered the charts
at #1. At the same time Herzeleid was
in the same chart, in to top 20. Both
singles, Engel and Du Hast were also in
the top 20 in the singles charts. To top
this off, Sehnsucht went platinum in
Germany (500,000) in the presale,
before they hit the streets. Go figure.
Two years later, just before the USA
family values tour, Rammstein teamed
up with the bads, Joachim Witt,
Alaska, Nina Hagen and Danzig, and
pulled off an immense concert in
Wulheide in Berlin. This is the biggest
concert to date, with 17,000 people
attending each night, for two nights.
The Live Aus Berlin CD and video was
released from this footage.
Rammstein has played in USA with
KMFDM and on the hugely popular
Family Values tour, they have also
supported Kiss in South America.
Unfortunately their Australian
performances had to be cancelled on
account of Schneider perferrating his
eardrum, and being unable to fly out.
Through this they have been warmly
welcomed and accepted into popularity
by many, many people. One thing is
certain, although the controversy of
their video's, the question of legality
and morality of their stage shows and
the fact that Till sings exclusively in
German, Rammstein will not change
these fame creating ways. Or it just
wouldn't be Rammstein, would it?
Rammsteins Released Albums
In 1995, Rammstein released their debut album, Herzeleid. In 1997 Sehnsucht went
platinum (500,000) in Germany even before it hit the streets. Two years later they put on
a 17000 thousand person attendance rate, both nights, concert. In 2001, Mutter, their
most recent album, was released. We are expecting another album soon.