Reise Reise [Digipak] - Rammstein > Reviews > Whats German for 'They've delivered again'?

Author's product rating:   

Originality	Definitely a cut above the rest
Lyrics	Standard
Quality and consistency of tracks	Flawless
How does it compare to the artist's other releases	Outstanding
Value for Money

Advantages:	Excellent riffs and orchestral pieces, excellent overall
Disadvantages:	Some may find it annoying you cant understand the lyrics

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

Rammstein-Reise Reise

Achtung! Achtung!

Once again I start off a Rammstein review by stating the power of the German language when it comes to drama and power, whether its shouting 'Warning', or shouting ' Hermaphrodite' it gives off a perfect essence of dramatics.

And this is where our favourite German Industrial metallers have found theyre Niche in the world of music.

As the only German band to become popular in the U.S, specificly with their 2001 album entitled 'Mutter' they certainly have a fair bit to live up to, especially with Mutter being the third release from the bands storming career.

But Im not here to tell you about Mutter, I already did that half a year ago, Im here to tell you about Rammsteins latest Effort 'Reise Reise'.

Producing a successor to Mutter was not easy for the band, they now had a new long group of fans and they had to please them all, so does Reise Reise live up to its predecessors, or is it the first time Rammstein have fallen flat on their backs?

*Puts cd into drive*

REISE REISE:-(4:11)

This song opens the new album up with some instantly recognisable sound effects and guitar work, this all sounds rather like the way the Song 'SONNE' sounded at first with the chunky riff and the orchesteral sounds. This of course is no bad thing and Once the vocals break in, its clear this so far, is no mean leap.

The guitar is crisp and clean, the drumming is simple but effective and theres some heavy breathing vocals in there that add to the effect.

Then the chorus opens up with one of the best flowing choruses Rammstein have ever produced.

Its powerful and well produced, and flows perfectly as Till purrs(almost) Reise Reise behind a monster riff that works very well.

Theres a litle accordian piece at the end that ends the first song on the album perfectly and leaves you thinking, hey this has started off really quite well.

MEIN TEIL:-(4:32)

This opens up directly after Reise Reise with a storming guitar and drum riff and some powerful sound effects to accompany it. For the verse theres a Muse-esque down tuned bass piece that fits the vocals well and makes for a dark and gothic verse leading onto a storming heavy drumming piece that will please the heavier Rammstein fans out there. Its a storming intro to a powerful chorus.

The make up this song resembles Mutters 'Sonne' Including the instrumental piece in the bridge and the gothic female choir vocals at the end, this was the bands first single and the video is equally as dark and disturbing.

DALAI LAMA:-(5:38)

This song starts off with a quirky little guitar piece that sounds really catchy after a few listens, this is soon coupled by guitar overlays and vocals and then finally the drums. It soon breaks into a slightly mysterious sounding heavier riff with a 'ghostly' sound effect. Its a kind of slow stomping track that pleases due to the tight drumming and guitar work. However this song nevr really gets going too much and despite some little piano pieces and heavier guitar it doesnt overly impress, at least not untill the little guitar solo and 'climax' pieces are heard,Its a decent song though if not just for the repeatingguitar riff.

KEINE LUST:-(3:43)

This is a much faster heavier song. It starts off witha classic rammstein sound effect piece before breaking into a 'headbanging guitar rif thats sure to make instant fans. The vocals fit the guitar perfectly and little guitar hooks really make this song progress into a storming chorus, which is powerful and dramatic as Rammstein like to do so often. The make up of this song is fairly basic and it doesnt stray far from this formulae. The bridge is powerful and melodic and then theres some neat little guitar pieces before the chorus breaks in again and ends the song on a great note.

LOS:-(4:25)

This song starts off with a riff similar in structure to Dalai Lama. Its aucostic , but sounds heavy. Its also very catchy and when the drumming and vocals enter the scene it gets bouncy and catchy. This song has a slightly different make up as it has no real Chorus, it mostly repeats the riff and vocals over and over untill it breaks into a catchy little guitar solo piece. It sounds very relaxed and melodic and whilst this song doesnt live too long in the memory the guitar solo that it also ends with saves this song from being not that good.

AMERIKA:-(3:47)

This song is the second single of the album and imo it should have ben the first.
Its most easily accessible catchy song Rammstein have evr made in their career, and while some may think it sounds too mainstream it really gets the job done.
It starts off with the chorus (sung in English I might add)
'We're all living in America, America, America!
Then the soft and overlaying verse breaks in with some strong lyrics and drumming.
Again its the chorus that is the most catchy about this song, and it will have everyone bouncing up and down.

The Bridge is equally as good with a strong guitar riff as the song changes its tune from happy and light to more dark and deep with Till singing 'This is not a love song, No this is not a love song', Then there is a litle melodic sound effect before a storming guitar solo that really brings in the final chorus brilliantly and with the lyrics 'Were all living in America , Coca Cola, Sometimes war I think we all know what its about. The song ends with a storming riff and drumming piece that ends this song excellently, despite it being mainstream I think this is the best song on the album.

MOSKAU:-(4:16)

This song is definatly one of my favourites as it finally brings back the female vocals that were heard on 'Sehnsucht'. Opening with a storming, fast and powerful riff this song makes its intentions clear instantly and doesnt let down. There a strong verse that leads into a powerful fast, part female- part Male vocal chorus that fits so well its almost certain to become a favourite. The structure is fairly basic but this doesnt let the song down. Theres an accordian inspired bridge before a darker guitar riff sets up the final climax into the chorus, a welcome return of the female vocals for a brilliant song.

MORGENSTERN:-(4:00)This song starts off with a very gothic, choir type of singing before breaking into a jumpy grinding riff that mirrors 'Keine Lust', the verse is very jumpy and headbangy and the chorus is very powerful and dramatic with some strong vocals beside the gothic sound effects. Its clear Rammstein are playing to their strengths on this track. The bridge is extremely powerful and dramatic, again it brings back memories of the powerfulness of 'Sonne', the chorus then breaks out again, all in all this is a great song to add to the great continuity of this album.

STEIN UM STEIN:-(3:56) This is one of my favourite songs on the album, Im sure it will be a single evntually. It starts off very slow and with a great litle melodic piece, but this is a cover up for the storming pieces to come. Just as your swaying and moving slowly to the melodic music it explodes into a grinding powerful riff with Till growling , 'STEIN UM STEIN', which I believe means 'Stone around Stone' or something to that effect. I'm even more confused now I know the translation! But that does not matter as the music is stunning. Another half a minute of the melody , before Till lets loose with this song, STEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEIN! he yells at the top of his voice, before the crunching riffs and drum come in to make this probably the 'heaviest song' on the album. Especially when after a seconds silence it explodes back in with the screaming vocalsa and strong guitar solo. The song ends with Till yelling STEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEIN again but without he backing music, its a heavy hitting but powerful song that is sure to become a favourite for many.

OHNE DICH:-(4:32)This song is the third single for the band, but Im not so sure it should have been. Yes its melodic and powerful, but it lacks the edge that say the song 'Mutter' had. The first minute and a half of this song features litle or no guitar work and focuses on powerful instrumentals and soft vocals. When the guitars do come in it is melodic and powerful, although a little repetitive. Still theres a great little guitar solo piece in this song that seems to almost mirror the bridge of 'Mutter'. It then goes rather quiet for a while before the chorus comes back in and finishes this song off in a typically powerful fashion. It is a good song with lots of quality, the only reason I felt it shouldn't have ben the next single is that theres lots of other songs with slightly more quality ie 'Stein um Stein' and 'Moskau', but Rammstein are fairly generous with their videos so we should see another couple of videos come out anyway!

AMOUR:-(4:50)The final track on this album picks up wheere Ohne Dich picked off, with a melodic guitar piece and some soft vocals, I actually prefer this particular guitar riff at first though, its kind of uplifting at the same time as being strong. The chorus is also quite powerful as Till softly croons 'Amour Amour' his typical rasping voice working wonders on this track. The song gets going a lot faster after a while and begins to grow in strength, the bridge is pretty much a slightly more beefy version of the first minute of the song. The final chorus ends with a great little guitar solo that almost sounds like something 'Muse' might produce. It ends in a powerful fashion and actually quite heavy. Its a great song to end with and has kept up the continuity of the album overall.

So overall is Reise Reise a good album and does it contain songs that can be up there with the 'greats' of Rammstein? The answer is without a doubt Yes. Tracks like 'Amerika' and 'Mein Teil' will be instantly accessable to any rock and metal fan and once theyve heard them 'Reise Reise', 'Moskau' and 'Stein um Stein' will be equally as loved. While one or two tracks Like 'Dalai Lama' and 'Los' dont quite keep up the amazing quality overall they do not do any wrongs and are good songs in their own way. Fans off emotional power rock will be pleased to se the 'Seeman-esque' songs are back in the form of 'Ohne Dich' and 'Amour'.

This is a very worthy return for the German metallers, its not quite 'Mutter' but it definatly takes second place out of the 4 albums. Buy this album if you're a fan of heavy metal or any kind of rock really, but especially if like me, You're a fan of the greatest rock band Germany has ever produced.

We can only wonder where Rammstein can take us from here!

Rating-91%-Excellent

Reise Reise Tracklisting-shortlist.

1.Reise Reise
2.Mein Teil
3.Dalai Lama
4.Keine Lust
5.Los
6.Amerika
7.Moskau
8.Morgenstern
9.Stein um Stein
10. Ohne Dich
11.Amour