Maps of Music

Sehnsucht (1997)

Where the lyrics of Sehnsucht take you, and where it was really made.

Sung entirely in German, this album is the only such album certified platinum by the RIAA in the US.

Key places

Recording begins at Temple Studios (1996)

Recording site Temple Studios — Recording for the album started here in November 1996, with producer Jacob Hellner working with the band. The studio is located in St. Paul's Bay, Malta. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Sehnsucht, meaning Desire or Longing, is the second studio album by the German Neue Deutsche Härte band Rammstein
• Released 22 August 1997 through Motor Music in Europe and Slash Records in the United States
• Sung entirely in German, it is the only such album certified platinum by the RIAA in the US
• Reached number one on the Austrian and German charts

Background

• Recording was done at Temple Studios in Malta, starting in late 1996
• Producer Jacob Hellner worked with the band on the album
• The band toured Germany, Switzerland and Austria while the album was being mixed
• Mixing was handled by Ronald Prent and mastering by Björn Engelmann

Recording

• Credits list the band members as production and programming
• Bobo sang the female vocals on Engel
• Mark Stagg is credited with additional programming

Cover

• Austrian artist Gottfried Helnwein created the cover art and portrait photography
• The booklet folds out to show six different covers, one for each band member
• Each photo shows a member with vintage medical or surgical instruments
• The most commonly seen cover shows Christoph Schneider with a barbed-wire gag and eyes rolled back
• The cover resembles the one Helnwein made for the Scorpions album Blackout

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Rammstein is a German Neue Deutsche Härte band formed in Berlin in 1994.
• Before forming, some members were associated with the punk acts Feeling B and First Arsch.
• The band won a Berlin amateur contest in 1994 with a 4-track demo, which earned them a week in a professional studio.
• The band was first called Tempelprayers; the name Rammstein came from an early song about the 1988 Ramstein air show disaster.
• The band was signed by Motor Music and recorded its debut album Herzeleid in 1995 with producer Jacob Hellner.

Members

• Lineup: Till Lindemann (vocals), Richard Kruspe (lead guitar), Paul Landers (rhythm guitar), Oliver Riedel (bass), Christoph Schneider (drums), Christian "Flake" Lorenz (keyboards).
• The lineup has remained unchanged throughout the band's history.
• Lindemann writes and sings the lyrics over instrumental pieces the rest of the band completes beforehand.

Career

• Sehnsucht (1997) debuted at No. 1 in Germany and led to a worldwide tour lasting nearly four years.
• After signing with Universal Music, the band released Mutter (2001) and Reise, Reise (2004).
• Liebe ist für alle da (2009) was placed on the German Federal Review Board's index over the song "Ich tu dir weh".
• The untitled seventh album (2019) reached No. 1 in 14 countries; the eighth album Zeit was released in April 2022.
• The band is considered the most successful German-language band of all time.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Reached number one on the Austrian and German charts
• Charted in several European countries in 1997, including Sweden and the Netherlands

Reappraisal

• Metal Hammer included the album in its 2020 list of top 10 albums of 1997
• Metal Hammer also placed it in its 2020 list of top 20 metal albums of 1997

Records

• US Billboard 200: 45th place in September 1998
• France: 76th best-selling album in the week of 13 to 19 February 2005
• Certified platinum in Germany, Austria, the United States and Canada
• Certified double platinum in Switzerland
• RIAA platinum certification in the United States, the only fully German-language album to earn it

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · pt.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The booklet holds six covers, one per band member, each showing the member with vintage medical or surgical instruments.
• The cover art is by the same artist who made the cover for the Scorpions album Blackout.
• The instruments shown on the faces are described as original surgical instruments that belonged to surgeon Ferdinand Sauerbruch.
• Christiane "Bobo" Hebold provided the female vocals on Engel.
• Alter Mann was composed in 1994, before the album sessions began.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · fr.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

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