[Praying Mantidae]

Ich Will: A Beginner's guide to Rammstein,
And Maybe Some Stuff you Didn't Know.


Part 1: "In the Beginning"
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Rammstein was started up by Richard Z. Kruspe-Bernstein. Richard had escaped East Germany in 1989 over the Austria/Hungary border, and ended up in Berlin where, in 1993 he started a band named "Orgasm Death Gimmicks" a heavily American influenced band. When the Wall came down, he moved to Schwerin, where he lived with Oliver Riedel of "The Inchtabokatables" and Christoph Doom Schneider of "Die Firma". Richard felt discontent with the current music he was playing at the time, and the three began planning a new project. Till Lindemann, at the time, worked as a Basket Weaver in Schwering, and was the drummer for "First Arsch". Richard had heard Till singing while he was working, and asked Till to join the band as their singer.

The band entered a contest for up and coming bands, and won the contest, the prize for which was studio time. It was at this point that Paul Landers agreed to join the band after listening to their new material. Now all they needed was a keyboardist. Paul Landers had played with Christian "Flake" Lorenz in a previous band, and they tried to get him to join. Lorenz wasn't very excited about the idea at first, but eventually agreed to join. Rammstein released their debut album in 1995. It was entitled "Herzeleid" (Heartbreak). The band had decided on the name because they were all having relationship problems at the time.

Rammstein has since reached Gold and Platinum Status, and are Germany's number one music export.
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Part 2: Meet The Band.
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Richard Z. Kruspe-Bernstein

Birth Date: June 24, 1967
Instrument Played: Guitar
Previous Employment: Salesman.

Till Lindemann

Birth Date: January 4, 1963.
Instrument Played: Vocals
Previous Employment: Basket Weaver

Christoph Doom Schneider

Birth Date: May 11, 1966
Instrument Played: Drums
Previous Employment: Telephone Installation

Oliver Riedel

Birth Date: Aprill 11, 1971
Instrument Played: Bass
Previous Employment: Plasterer

Paul Landers

Birth Date: December 9, 1964
Instrument Played: Guitar
Previous Employment: Boiler

Christian "Flake" Lorenz

Birth Date: November 6, 1966
Instrument Played: Keyboards
Previous Employment: Toolmaker.
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Stay tuned for the rest, tomorrow....

[TheEmperorsJanitor]

So far so good. Rock on you crazy Germans! :rockon: :rockon: :rockon: :rockon: :rockon:

[Praying Mantidae]

Part 3: The Music.

Rammstein draws their sound inspiration from Industrial Metal, Electronic, and Hard rock to create a hybrid form of music that they call Tanz-metall or "Dance Metal". Otherwise known as Neue Deutsche Härte (New German Hard). Other bands that play the same style of music are "Oomph!" –who are considered to be the pioneers of the sub-genre– Fleischman" and "Joachim Witt. Rammstein were the first to bring the genre into the mainstream in the United States and the rest of the world.
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Although Rammstein has a reputation for its brutal style, much of their recent music is tongue-in-cheek commentary on the world, and some songs are even inspired by famous poems.

The best example of this tongue-in-cheek style is the song "Amerika" from the album "Reise, Reise"

The chorus near the end of the song switches from:
"We're all living in Amerika,
Amerika, is Wunderbar
We're all living in Amerika,
Amerika, Amerika..."

To:
"We're all living in Amerika,
Coca-Cola, Wonderbra."
In an even later chorus it changes to "Coca-Cola, sometimes war."
[hr]
In a complete (and some would say surprising) reversal from their satirical songs, there are also songs that can be considered downright poetic, literally, in some cases.
The song "Dalai Lama" is an adaptation of the poem "Der Erlkönig" by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. Interestingly, the song is about an airplane crash, and the current Dalai Lama is known to have a strong dislike of flying.

Other songs include "Hilf Mir", inspired by a short story by Heinrich Hoffmann. The song "Rosenrot" is inspired by the story "Schneeweißchen und Rosenrot" by the Brothers Grimm.
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Part Four: The Controversy.
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As is to be expected of a band with such unrelenting sound and lyrics, there is quite a lot of controversy following Rammstein wherever they go. They have even been accused of being "Poster boys of the Master Race." in response to the original album cover of Herzeleid, which showed the band's upper bodies. They subsequently changed the album cover to be just headshots of each member.

One of the major sources of controversy are Rammstein's on-stage performances. They are infamous for their risque shennanigans like coming down onto the stage on wires, wearing giant diapers. Another stage act, at a concert in Massachusetts, USA, involved the band members chasing each other around the stage with giant rubber dildos that sprayed custard. This particular act earned the band a night in jail.

Some of the controversy is not all lighthearted, however. The perpetrators of the Columbine Massacre in Denver, Colorado, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold listened to Rammstein and stated them as one of their favorite bands. Rammstein came under considerable fire from Conservative and Christian groups who accused the band of many things, including "Demonic influences." In response to the attacks, the band issued this statement:
The members of Rammstein express their condolences and sympathy to all affected by the recent tragic events in Denver. They wish to make it clear that they have no lyrical content or political beliefs that could have possibly influenced such behavior. Additionally, members of Rammstein have children of their own, in whom they continually strive to instill healthy and non-violent values.

There were also claims by Russian authorities that the organizers of the Beslan Massacre in September of 2004 listened to Rammstein to "...Keep themselves edgy and fired up" although the claim has not been confirmed as true. In response to the claims, the band members spoke:

"There's been a lot of talk about that, but if there are radical feelings in people anything can wake them – a painting, a picture, whatever. It's just a coincidence that it happened to be our music. It's important to think about what caused them to make their decisions, how they became animals, not their taste in music. Whenever something like this happens it's like 'Okay, let's blame the artist.' Such bullshit."-Till Lindemann.

"Our music is made to release aggression, and people listening to it are also needed to do that, but it's not our fault. Should we stop making hard music because bad people might like it?"- Christoph Schneider.
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Sources: Wikipedia, Herzeleid.com
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Comments? Good/bad? Anything I missed?

[Aquila_XV8]

They like fire ;D



Yes....thats right. HELMET MOUNTED FLAMETHROWERS WHILE PLAYING GUITAR.
They have absolutely no care for self-preservation whatsoever........ >

[Praying Mantidae]

Don't forget the time where Till sang most of a song while on fire.

[Aquila_XV8]

I never will....

[Tenseiga]

Good stuff, willst wir mehr!!!

[A_lil_confuzed]

Rock on Crazy germans!

I hope they come to England sometime soon... so i can convince my Daddy to take me to see them!!

[Ferrox]

OMG! At long last! Other Rammstein fans, Me and my brother have every single song released by Rammstein but have never seen people online who like them as much as we do, My brother knows too much for his own good.

[MechTau]

Rosenrot is a great song. I absolutely love the flow...