Rammstein

Essay by serxious22High School, 11th gradeA+, April 2005

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Rammstein was formed in 1993 by an assembly of factory-weary proletarians raised in East Germany. They took their name (adding an "m") from the location of a German tragedy where 80 people were hurt and killed, as the result of a crash during an American Air Force flight show. The literal translation of "ram-stein" is a battering ram made of stone. Word of RAMMSTEIN's horror romanticist blend of theater and music spread like wildfire. Till Lindemann would sing entire songs engulfed in flames from head to toe. The band's first album, Herzeleid (or Heartache), built on the grounds created by the band's live reputation. Scaling the German charts (and remaining there until the release of the second Rammstein LP some two years later), the album also introduced the band to the world outside of the Germany/Switzerland/Austria region. As Rammstein's second album, Sehnsucht (Longing), was released, the band was headlining throughout Europe to crowds of 10,000 to 30,000 people.

Sehnsucht entered the German charts at number one immediately upon its release, and came very close to doing to the same in Austria and Switzerland. Within weeks, entries on other countries' charts had Sehnsucht rubbing elbows with Prodigy, Radiohead, and the Rolling Stones on Billboard's cumulative Eurochart. From there the fever spread, transcending any perceived language barrier. Somehow, the German language is integral to the RAMMSTEIN sound. Later RAMMSTEIN released two more albums: Live aus Berlin (Live from Berlin) and their fourth full album, Mutter (Mother) in 2001. The band is made up of six members, first is Till Lindemann on vocals, Richard Z. Kruspe-Bernstein on guitar, Paul H. Landers also on guitar, Oliver Riedel on bass, christoph Schneider playing drums and last is Christian Lorenz on the key boards.