Herzeleid (XXV Anniversary Edition – Remastered)

Rammstein

Released on 24-09-1995 by Vertigo Berlin
Main artists: Rammstein
Genre: Rock

Available in

24-Bit/44.1 kHz Stereo

Unlimited Streaming

Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps

Start my trial period and start listening to this album

Enjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription

Digital Download

Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.

It's one of those albums that's thought of as a real act of foundation. In 1995, Herzeleid established a group which was destined to become huge in a few years and which, while it didn't quite create a new musical genre, would still become an instantly-recognisable touchstone with a distinctive personality. A group that, literally and figuratively, would let the gunpowder do the talking. Rammstein began their stage career relatively "soberly", a long way off from the pyrotechnics that would later make their reputation. But this sobriety was more due to a lack of means than a lack of ambition. The sound that would forge the band's identity is already here on this album. Pure metal riffs without any hesitation whatsoever, over rhythms and ambiances that borrow cold and sometimes martial aspects from industrial music. The recipe works. The decision to sing in German, the outfit's native language, and the choice of some of the photos used to illustrate the album, fuelled a controversy that proved irresistible to some critics, who had been hoping for an opportunity to circulate dark rumours about pro-neo-Nazi propaganda. The group would be forced to alter the visual design on the album for the American market, and the liner notes on the French release contained a translation of the lyrics into the language of Molière, just to prove these rumours false.

Beneath the superficial appearance of a muscular album ornamented with saturated sounds, Herzeleid is fully loaded with romanticism in the purest sense of the word (after all, this cultural current originated in Germany a little over two centuries previously). Launched ahead of the LP, the single Du riechst so gut (which translates as "you smell so good") is the perfect illustration of this: it would be released again in 1998 in a new, remixed version. Seemann, slower and quieter, would accentuate the "poetic" side that the band was aiming for, whereas Der Meister presented a darker, more metal aspect thanks to a relentless guitar riff that picks up right from the first second. Rammstein is already Rammstein, without any of the awkward beginnings that can sometimes accompany a first release. And yet the band suffered in the studio, going from internal tiffs to squabbles with their producer, before finally managing to finish the album, albeit chaotically. But their unmistakeable musical footprint was there from the start.

This anniversary re-release, issued to celebrate twenty-five years of this milestone album, is an opportunity to reconnect with tracks which have been remastered in high definition. It allows us to better savour this hybrid music, caught between the organic sound of guitars and the synthetic electronics that weave their web around saturated riffs and percussion that drives onward with the regularity of a brutally abused drum machine. An album without a wrinkle (or at least one that's aged this well) is rare enough to merit attention. © Chief Brody/Qobuz

More info

Herzeleid (XXV Anniversary Edition – Remastered)

Rammstein

You are currently listening to samples.

Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.

Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.

From 13,50€/month

Wollt ihr das Bett in Flammen sehen

00:05:15

Paul Landers, ComposerLyricist - Christoph Doom Schneider, ComposerLyricist - Doktor Christian Lorenz, ComposerLyricist - Oliver Riedel, ComposerLyricist - Till Lindemann, ComposerLyricist - Jacob Hellner, Producer - Carl-MIchael Herlöfsson, Producer - Ronald Prent, Mixer, StudioPersonnel - Rammstein, MainArtist - RICHARD Z. KRUSPE, ComposerLyricist