Rosenrot
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Rosenrot (German for "Rose-red", listen) is the German NDH-metal band Rammstein's fifth musical album. It was released on October 28, 2005 in Germany, December 6, 2005 in Canada, and March 28, 2006 in the U.S. A limited edition with a bonus DVD is also available. [1]
The album includes six unreleased songs from Reise, Reise that had been omitted for artistic reasons, and five completely new ones. It was originally going to be titled Reise, Reise Volume Two, but on August 18, 2005 the album was announced as Rosenrot.
The cover art is nearly identical to the Japanese import of Reise, Reise. The image is a slightly altered photograph of the icebreaker USS Atka, taken on March 13, 1960 at McMurdo Station, Ross Ice Shelf, Antarctica. [2]
While Rammstein did not actively promote this album, the band built anticipation through a variety of means. The first single from the album, "Benzin", premiered at the Berliner Wuhlheide and has been subsequently released. Rammstein's official website features one-minute samples from six of the album's songs, and had featured a prominent release-date countdown. A brief section of the chorus from "Rosenrot" plays in the background of an e-card containing photographs of the band and basic album information. [3]
The album ranked highly at the Hellenic Alternative Charts
Track listing
- "Benzin" ("Petrol" or "Gasoline") – 3:46
- "Mann gegen Mann" ("Man against man") – 3:51
- "Rosenrot" ("Rose-red") – 3:55
- "Spring" ("Jump") – 5:25
- "Wo bist du?" ("Where are you?") – 3:56
- "Stirb nicht vor mir // Don't die before I do" (featuring Sharleen Spiteri) – 4:06
- "Zerstören" ("Destroy") – 5:29
- "Hilf mir" ("Help me") – 4:44
- "Te quiero puta!" (Spanish for "I love you whore!") – 3:56
- "Feuer und Wasser" ("Fire and water") – 5:13
- "Ein Lied" ("A song") – 3:44
Song information
"Benzin" (The German word for Fuel) was the first song to be introduced from Rosenrot. Rammstein first played "Benzin" live at Berlin's Wuhlheide Park in June 2005. Theatrical flames shot twenty meters into the air during the live performance. Later, the song was also played at several other concerts, one of them at Nîmes, which will be included on the band's new live DVD.
Benzin can be interpretated as a political reference to the high gas prices being experienced in many countries around the world (Ich brauche Geld für Gasolin/I need money for gasoline). "Gasolin" is not actually a German word, but an English word made German. There was, however, a German chain of gas stations called "Gasolin."
Also, bassist Ollie Riedel briefly discussed the song on Rosenrot with Kerrang!, a music magazine published in the United Kingdom, where he said "We have so much fire in our shows that we wondered if we could have some lyrics about petrol, because it's been responsible for our success outside of Germany. It's basically our ode to pyromania."
The Music video depicts the majority of the band as firefighters who receive a call and drive an Oversized firetruck destroying everything in their path to reach the scene of Flake threatening to commit suicide by jumping off a skyscraper.
Mann gegen Mann
"Mann gegen Mann" (Man against man) is a song about the benefits of homosexuality, however all band members are heterosexual. The song is simply about the subject of homosexuality and seems to avoid taking sides. This song is the third single from Rosenrot. Till repeatedly screams "Schwuler" (sung as "Schwulah", concatenating an "ah" suffix equivalent to a scream "Aaahh!" In english it would be something like saying,"Playa'.") in the background, which is a derogatory German equivalent to the English word "faggot".
Rosenrot
The "Rosenrot" (Rose-red) track was highly anticipated by fans of Rammstein, as it was slated in February 2004 to be the first single from the band's fourth studio album, "Reise, Reise" (the song "Mein Teil" was released instead). In the end, "Rosenrot" did not make the tracklist of "Reise, Reise", a move that the band's management claimed "left them speechless."
The lyrics are an amalgam adaptation of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's poem "Heidenröslein", and the story "Schneeweißchen und Rosenrot" from the Brothers Grimm (Goethe's poem "Der Erlkönig" similarly inspired the "Reise, Reise" track, "Dalai Lama"). The song talks about a girl who sees a rose in the top of a mountain, she asks her boyfriend (noted as "loved one" in the song) to go for it and to bring it to her. He climbs the mountain and sees the landscape down, but he is not interested on it, due to his love to the girl. Eventually a rock breaks on his shoe, and then he falls, and dies.
In the video, the band, dressed as clergy members, arrive at a Romanian village (actually called Zarnesti) in the Carpathian Mountains. Till Lindemann's character becomes romantically involved with a younger girl there, and eventually murders her parents at her request. She then betrays him, and the villagers burn him at the stake. The girl is Cătălina Lavric, born in Botoşani, Romania, age 14, a model for Etoiles Agency [4]. The casting director for the video was Sorin Tarau, Standard Casting.
Spring
"Spring" (Jump) is about a man who climbs high onto a bridge just to see the view. A crowd gathers, thinking that he wants to commit suicide and encourages the man to jump. The man tries to climb down but the crowd doesn't let him. In the end, with people screaming at him, he is kicked off the bridge by a member of the crowd (Till's "character" in the song), saving him, as they see it, from his shame (of being mentally unable to jump). The song has a very melodic, gentle and melancholy keyboard-based chorus, accompanied by Till's trademark voice.
Wo bist du?
"Wo bist du?" (Where are you?) is a song that was supposed to be on Reise, Reise but because Rammstein wanted to make Reise, Reise the hardest album they have made so far, it was felt that the song was too gentle and it was left out. The song begins with a clarinet and then the rest of the instruments begin to play. The song is different because the keyboard is the instrument that is easiest to eat.
Stirb nicht vor mir // Don't die before I do
"Stirb nicht vor mir // Don't die before I do" is uniquely different compared to Rammstein's other songs. It is dominated by clean, arpeggiated guitars, with no distorted guitar to be found on the track. "Stirb nicht vor mir" is a duet, featuring Sharleen Spiteri from the British band Texas on vocals along with Till Lindemann. Till sings in German as usual, but Sharleen's lyrics are in English.
A strictly German version may be released sometime in the future. Christian "Flake" Lorenz expressed dissatisfaction with the current song in an online chat with fans: "I hope that we can release the German version. The English version is not good, IMO. I don't know how English speakers feel about it. For me it's just embarrassing. In the German version, Bobo sings it." [5]
When asked about up-coming music videos in a recent interview, Richard mentioned that the next video will be for Stirb nicht vor mir, saying: "We will do one more for the duet with Sharleen.".[6]
Zerstören
Zerstören (Destroy) is a song about a young boy who likes to destroy other peoples belongings. This song is played quite fast and with high energy. It opens with a woman singing Turkish folk song Huma Kusu and loud slightly echoing drumming, and increases in intensity until the "end" of the song. At this point it relaxs a little, and is a bit quiet, calm and soothing. The listener hears a sad story, or (arguably) the ending to the same story:
"He met a girl that was blind, shared pain and like-minded. Saw a star go from the sky and wished that she could see.
She opened her eyes and left him in the same night."
In the background a cute, child-like keyboard can be heard. It ends with some odd discordant notes.
Hilf mir
"Hilf mir" (Help me) is based on the story of "Die gar traurige Geschichte mit dem Feuerzeug" from "Der Struwwelpeter" by Heinrich Hoffmann (1809-1894)[7]. The story is about a girl who lights a match and develops an unusual love of fire (see pyromania). When a flame accidentally touches her dress, she, along with her house, is burned to the ground. At the end she rises from the ashes to the sunshine.
"Te quiero puta!" (I love you, bitch!) is notable for being Rammstein's first and currently only song in Spanish. It is the only song in which Rammstein has predominantly used a trumpet, though Benzin and Rosenrot both use a trumpet, and one can be scarcely heard during Klavier's bridge. The Spanish vocals are sung by Carmen Zapata.
Feuer und Wasser
In the chorus of "Feuer und Wasser" (Fire and water) , Till Lindeman sings "Feuer und Wasser kommt nicht zusammen" (Fire and water doesn't come together). While this would be grammatically incorrect, the use of the singular third person verb kommt rather than the plural kommen indicates the intent for fire and water to be viewed as a single entity. Thus, a literal translation would be "Fire and water doesn't come together". This song tells of a man who is madly in love with a woman that has no interest in him (Sie schwimmt vorbei bemerkt mich nicht, Ich bin ihr Schatten sie steht im Licht|She swims past and doesn't notice me, I am her shadow, she stands in her light).
Ein Lied
"Ein Lied" (A song) is one of Rammstein's few slow songs, such as Nebel. It features acoustic guitars, bass, ethereal synthesizer sounds somewhere in between strings and choir, and a theremin-like keyboard lead doubled by another synthesized string part. Till's lyrics are partly spoken and partly sung in low breathy tones. He sings "Spielen wir für euch" [We play for you]; it is a song for the fans of the band.
The song has no percussion, and is sort of quiet and dreamy. The end of the song is met without much spectacle, as the keyboards die away.
Singles
Benzin
The Benzin single was announced on August 18, 2005, and released October 7 through Universal-Rock.de (the German Universal website).
The cover art had been posted and then quickly removed from Rammstein's official website on August 29, leading to some brief speculation on its authenticity. It was reposted the next day however, as the official cover art.
Track Listing:
- "Benzin" – 3:48
- "Benzin (Combustion Remix by Meshuggah)" – 5:06
- "Benzin (Smallstars Remix by Ad Rock)" – 3:44
- "Benzin (Kerosine Remix by Apocalyptica)" – 3:49
- "Benzin (Game) – 0:31
Rosenrot
The "Rosenrot" single was released on December 16, 2005.
Track Listing:
- Rosenrot - Single Version – 3:47
- Rosenrot - The Tweaker Remix by Chris Vrenna – 4:34
- Rosenrot - Northern Lite Remix by Northern Lite – 4:45
- Rosenrot - 3AM At Cosy Remix by Jagz Kooner – 4:50
Mann gegen Mann
On March 3, 2006 "Mann gegen Mann", the third single of the Rammstein album "Rosenrot", was released.
Track Listing:
- Mann gegen Mann – 3:52
- Mann gegen Mann (Popular Music Mix) by Vince Clarke – 4:06
- Mann gegen Mann (Musensohn Remix) by Sven Helbig – 3:14
- Ich will (Live (Video) at Festival de Nimes) – 4:07
A 12inch Vinyl will also be released.
Tracklisting:
- Mann gegen Mann – 3:52
- Rosenrot (3AM at Cosy Remix by Jagz Kooner) – 4:50
Te quiero puta!
The "Te quiero puta!" single was released in December 2005 as a limited promo-single, for promotional use at radio stations and clubs. [8]
Track Listing:
- Rosenrot – 3:47
- Te quiero puta! – 3:56
Videos
On August 18, 2005, it was announced that "Benzin" would be the first video for Rosenrot. The "Benzin" video premiered on German MTV on Friday, September 16, 2005. In the video, all of the members of Rammstein except Flake play the role of reckless firemen driving a massive fire truck destroying things along the way. Flake does not appear until the end of the video as a man about to commit suicide by jumping off the roof of a tall building. The other band members open a trampoline for him but it ends up ripping. The video was shot in Berlin over three days in August 2005. It was directed by Uwe Flade.
The second video from the album, "Rosenrot", premiered on November 30, 2005 on MTV Germany. [9] A streaming version of the video has been made available on Rammstein's official site.
The third video, "Mann gegen Mann", was released on February 1 2006. It shows the band (genuinely) naked and utilizing their respective instruments to cover themselves, with the exception of Till, who is wearing a latex diaper, and sports an inverted mohawk haircut. The video switches between the band playing, and teeming masses of naked male body-builders. Towards the end, Till transforms into the demon that is portrayed on the cover.
The fourth and final video, "Stirb nicht vor mir," will be filmed in 2006.
Limited Bonus DVD Edition
This will include the normal CD plus three live performances:
- Reise, Reise (Arenes de Nimes, Nimes / France July 2005)
- Mein Teil (Club Citta, Kanagawa / Japan June 2005)
- Sonne (Brixton Academy, London / UK February 2005)
Interviews
Bassist Ollie Riedel briefly discussed the songs on Rosenrot with Kerrang!, a music magazine published in the United Kingdom.
Benzin: "We have so much fire in our shows that we wondered if we could have some lyrics about petrol, because it's been responsible for our success outside of Germany. It's basically our ode to pyromania."
Mann gegen Mann: "It kind of confronts and showcases German attitudes towards homosexuality. We wanted to fight small-minded, segregationist attitudes."
Rosenrot: "It's the title track. It's one of the best songs on the album, but it doesn't represent everything we have done with these songs. There's much more to look forward to once you get past this song."
Wo bist du?: "We wanted to make Reise, Reise one of the hardest albums we've done, so a few gentler songs were left over, and this is one of them. But we don't want you to think it's a leftover, because it fits on here perfectly".
Zerstören: "It's one of our longer songs, but it doesn't sound long when you listen to it. There's a lot of keyboards, a lot of melody, but it's not exactly a ballad. It's angrier."
Te quiero puta!: "Till has always listened to Mexican music, and loves South America, so this has that vibe going on. In the beginning, though, it sounded very Eastern. In the end, we decided to totally change it and add a mariachi band". He also assured "it sounds strange, but musically it works."
Following a press meeting, the editor of the German metal magazine Metal Hammer reviewed nine of the tracks on the Rosenrot album.
Mann gegen Mann: "This track proves that Rammstein still know how to provoke. It starts with drum and bass rolls, the keyboard waves. Then Till gets in the lead and recites, in gross pictures, the pleasure and pain of homosexual love. Above everything is enthroned a chorus that's made for eternity: 'Man against man, birds of a feather flock together,' presented in a perfect, marine-choir like manner."
Spring: "The most emotional story on "Rosenrot", about a person who wants to get closer to Heaven, but ends in Hell instead. Menacing guitars rear up, the song stamps along until a piano lightens up the atmosphere. After that the song takes a short run before jumping: the guitars roar and breathe heavily. Then Rammstein reduce the speed and the instruments die away like waves. In the end, you can hear a droning/humming crowd. Touching.
Rosenrot: "Brothers Grimm meets Goethe. Result is a 'bang-waltz.' 100% Rammstein, no big surprises."
Wo bist du?: "Rammstein form a new genre: stadium-gothic. It starts with a clarinet, then well structured drums and Depeche Mode alike keyboards set in and dominate. Great gothic-rock. In a massive chorus, Till asks the momentous question, and growls deeply, almost menacing, Wo bist du? and goes on with lyrics such as I love you, I love you not, I don't love you anymore. A song like a movie."
Zerstören: "The most brutal track on 'Rosenrot.' A muezzin opens the song, and after one minute, aggro-Till steps in, and nothing remains intact. Everything gets crushed, picked to pieces, sawed, knocked down. Maximum destruction, lyrically and musically. The song is a song to bang your head away, rapid and radical. In the end, when Lindemann stands in front of the pile of shards, he calms down. Very quietly, he speaks a few poetic words, and in the background you can hear a music box. Weird."
Te quiero puta!: "Rammstein start with a cool Hey amigos!, and the dusty ride through the desert begins. Trumpets and an industrial rhythm: a weird combination. Till, acting as a Mexican bard, rejoices Vamos, vamos mi amor and his female counterpart answers. During the song, Till's voice gets more and more massive, the trumpet players give everything, you can hear bottle jingles. In the end, Rammstein carry the fun to extremes with a powerful Hoi, hoi, hoi before the song vanishes in the sundown, accompanied with the sound of pattering hooves".
Feuer und Wasser: "Deep longing for a lady, and burning passion define this song. Fervid metaphors like 'The legs open like scissors, the flame glows hot from the hiding place' are thrown in. Accompanied with hypnotizing beats, Lindemann reveals the depths of his vocal cords. After two minutes the song explodes like a volcano; huge riff-mountains push forward. The track unfolds to a momentous thing that falls apart in a slow and orchestral way in the end."
In October 2005, singer Till Lindemann and drummer Christoph "Doom" Schneider were interviewed by French magazine Hard and Heavy. They commented on the band's new album: [10]
On the album Till: "I see Rosenrot like the brother of Reise, Reise, or like a different branch in the same tree. But these two records are totally independent. Each one exists by itself. The time elapsed between Reise, Reise and Rosenrot was very short. We took a fair amount of songs, ideas, rhythms and sounds out of Reise, Reise to make the last album. The two albums were cast in the same mould, so to say. They both share the same feelings, the same impressions."
Christoph: "Some songs come from the Reise, Reise sessions, to which we've added five entirely new tracks. Rosenrot is Reise, Reise's second part. That is also why we are not promoting it a lot."
On "Mann gegen Mann": "It came after a night out with some gay friends. We were in Berlin and I showed my neighbourhood to them. It's a place where gay people like to meet: they've got gay clubs and bars around, and so on. As we were in one of these bars, it surprised me to see how easy it was for them to communicate. They meet merely by looking into each other's eyes. However, between men and women, there's all this chatting up and seduction ritual going on. That difference inspired 'Mann gegen Mann' lyrics to me. The verse « fate has given me a gift » explains this simple and carefree way to meet each other. I also point out the fact you can't have children when you're gay. I mean it's nice to have some, but it's also a source of problems gay people don't have to deal with. Their life is much simpler as it seems."
On "Te quiero puta!": "I really love the Spanish language, and I think it's quite close to German, notably because both languages roll the « r » the same way. We also scan our languages pretty much the same way. If you want a strong refrain, you need strong lyrics. We had composed 'Te quiero puta!' a long time ago, but we didn't really have a refrain. Then I came up with that sentence, 'Te quiero puta!', I proposed it to the other band members, like I always do with Rammstein texts, and they all liked it! Reise, Reise was number one in Mexico, and it made us want to pay a tribute to this country. This is how 'Te quiero puta!' was born. It's relatively the same process that led to 'Moskau' on Reise, Reise."
External links
- Official Rosenrot information page (English)
- Official Rosenrot information page (German)
- Official Rosenrot information page with Benzin video clip (English)
- The making of "Benzin" (video)
- Lyrics and unofficial translations
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