So, please tell me you've heard of perhaps the best German band of all time. No, I'm not talking about Rammstein. Out of guesses? Well, the band is called 'Dschinghis Khan'. Never heard of them before? You have to check them out now. Go ahead. I will be forever grateful to Jamie Tolosa and Deanne Lyon for leading me to the light.
Click here for your viewing pleasure
While you're waiting to download this gem, you can honor me with your presence and read my review of Rammstein's latest release Reise, Reise.
I remember hearing Rammstein for the first time years back--and not really knowing what to think about them. They were so serious, yet they made me smile. Vocalist Till Lindemann had perhaps the manliest-man voice of all mankind that I had ever heard. His voice mixed with the huge metal guitars, keyboards, and techno/dance beats, lead to a kind of music I had never experienced. I was in love after a few listens. They were like Manly-Metal Depeche Mode.
Reise, Reise (which means 'voyage, voyage' or 'journey, journey') is the Berlin boys' fourth studio outing since '95, and the first since '01's Mutter. With Reise, Reise, Rammstein ventures into more of a progressive rock territory than they had in any of their prior releases. There's much more diversity than in previous albums, aided in part by the inclusion of more ballad and mid-tempo songs. Musically, it's their most creative. The use of the choirs, and instruments from accordions to oboes to mandolins add to the album. Vocally, it's Till's best performance yet. The production is brilliant, as always with any Rammstein release. There's so much atmosphere with each of the songs, they encompass you to the point you feel you're inside the song.
The title track starts the album off well. 'Reise, Reise' is as anthem-matic as they come. Till's vocals in 'Mein Teil' capture the pure evil regarding the subject matter of the song, and couldn't be more fitting. His voice is so sinister and eerie, it gave me chills at times. I say 'gave' because I don't like listening to the song anymore. The subject is just too morbid for me.
While the first 2 tracks are more typical Rammstein, the rest of the album starting with 'Dalai Lama' switches things up. 'Los' is an uncharacteristic Rammstein song. It is acoustic guitar based and has a great groove to it--almost bluesy.
Their second single 'Amerika', while utterly memorable and even silly at times, (I'd make a safe bet nobody has EVER rhymed wunderbar and Wonder bra) I was unfairly wanting another single like 'Sonne'. I was also getting tired of the Anti-American trend in music, so I didn't really care for it at first--but it is just too catchy, and really has grown on me.
Okay, hopefully you've downloaded it by now. Isn't it awesome? You know what's really awesome? Rammstein has a track 'Moskau' on their album as well. And even though the chorus isn't near as catchy and sing-songy as 'Dschinghis Khan's' version, it's still pretty good.
'Ohne Dich' and 'Amour' slow things down nicely to close out the album. 'Ohne Dich' is beautiful. 'Amour' starts out softly, but begins to build up during chorus, then throughout the rest of the song. It ends with one of my favorite Rammstein riffs--not technically difficult, but melodic and fitting.
Rammstein has delivered another larger than life album with Reise, Reise. I love it.
And I bet Dschinghis Khan would too.
3.5/4
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