Track Listing

1. Mein Herz brennt
2. Links 234
3. Sonne
4. Ich will
5. Feuer frei!
6. Mutter
7. Spieluhr
8. Zwitter
9. Rein raus
10. Adios
11. Nebel

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3805 in Music
• Released on: 2001-04-03
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

Amazon.com
This German industrial-metal machine has proven itself to be quite popular, with their engaging, potent brand of electronic-enhanced guitar rock and outlandish stage shows appealing to everyone from young teens to fortysomethings. (Their last studio release, 1998's Sehnsucht, went gold in the U.S.) On their third studio album, Mutter, the sextet augments its propulsive sound with a live string section and a soprano on a few tracks, while offering two mellower tracks to show their soft side. Even if they're not breaking down major barriers with their latest release, the enigmatic Rammstein should still continue pleasing numerous musical insurgents across the globe. --Bryan Reesman

Customer Reviews

RAMMSTEIN - Uber alles
Rammstein is back!!! Those insane, Teutonic, metal-spewing, fire engulfed Germans are back and with quite a bang!!! This cd is definitely a change of sound for the Industrial Metal band that made it big in the states a few years back with Sehnsucht (their second album). Rammstein, in Mutter, shows their audience that they can really put forth the goods and not be repetitive, as most metal bands are.

Peppering Mutter with a large dose of orchestral influence blended with eerily voiced lyrics and a healthy dose of grinding guitars, creepy samples, and superbly formatted songs, the group from East Germany manages to step up in their creative ladder and form a refreshing sound that brings memories of their past albums but does not become a stereotypical cd.

In this album Rammstein address the public/critics' views of their music in the song Links 234 (the critics once accused Rammstein of Nazism, this is their cleverly disguised retraction to the false claims). Gothic, classical influence is pleasantly explored in Sonne(Sun) and Nebel(Fog)to extremely good results. A sense of fantastical horror is meticulously threaded in the tunes, Mein Herz Brennt(My Heart Burns) and Spieluhr(Music Box)which, in my personal opinion are the paragon of the album. Fast metal, with a new and crunching melody, can be found in fascinating Zwitter(Hermaphrodite), Rein Raus(In Out), Adios(a very successful punk sound is played out here), Feur Frei(Fire!!), and the incomparable Ich Will(I Want). A very dramatic mode of metal is accomplished in the title track Mutter(Mother) which seeps with sorrow and a heavy pessimism but also has a very important message behind it.

Overall this album proves Rammstein's most intriguing work as the band delves into musical lands they had yet to uncover and do so with no failure. Fans of the past will find the album refreshing and most astounding. Newcomers will discover Rammstein as no one has ever seen them before, fully matured in their music and at their height(so far, at least) of their talent. Mutter has been waited for for nearly four years and Rammstein did not fail their fans in delivering the goods. A definite MUST BUY!! Even for those who are not particularily partial to German music this proves to be an album on which to make an exception. Fantastic, overwhelming, and spellbinding, don't miss it!!!

Rammstein Takes A Step -- And Succeeds
Garnering some national attention after their song "Heirate Mich" appeared on the soundtrack for David Lynch's "Lost Highway", the German outfit Rammstein has sold well in the States, despite the lyrics being exclusively in German. The intense guitar riffs of songs like "Buck Dich" and "Engel" served to be popular, and the video for "Du Hast" even got some MTV airplay. Rammstein seemed poised to break into the American market big time.

And with their latest album, Mutter, they have done everything right. Containing their powerful, trademark guitar as well as more diverse music and lyrics, this is Rammstein's best album by far. A few songs contain a string orchestra, and Till Lindeman does more singing than his previous gutteral growls. Fans of their previous albums (Herzeleid and Sehnsucht) will feel right at home with "Mein Herz Brennt", the single "Sonne", and "Feuer Frei!" -- these licks are as exhilirating as anything they've done. However, the songs are not reliant on the guitars, as the orchestral arrangements and further use of electronics contribute more mood to the songs. This musical experimentation is a rousing success -- another step that's not too ambitious, but just right.

Lyrically, Mutter is incredible. A great album just based on the music, when the songs' meanings are discovered, it becomes one of the best albums of the year. Rammstein fans should do themselves a favor and get a German/English dictionary -- you'll gain new respect for these guys. The lyrics are just as diverse as the music: the creeping evil of "Mein Herz Brennt" (one of Rammstein's best songs ever), the Apocalyptic imagery of "Sonne", the eerie and haunting "Spieluhr" and "Nebel." And in case you were wondering, yes, the sexually deviant content is here as well: the hilarious "Zwitter" ("Hermaphrodite" -- trust me, it's a riot) and "Rein Raus".

Rammstein's Mutter deserves to be a huge hit. Perhaps a song in English would have been welcome to further their exposure, and an album with such fantastic music just cries out for an instrumental track or two, but despite this, Mutter is by far the most accomplished, diverse, and powerful album by Rammstein to date.

Spine chilling delights
In Mutter, Rammstein breaks away from the almost one-dimensional onslaught of their previous albums to create a powerful, diverse album of exceptional musical quality.

The opening track, Mein Herz Brennt, is a ripper. The lyrics speak of demons, ghosts and black faeries creeping through children's bedrooms and is backed up by a powerful melody that just blows you away once it gets into full swing.

Almost every track on the album from here on features something that makes it memorable. Just a little change in pace here, a little change in melody there, some powerful chorus sections on most and you soon find this album growing on you every time you listen to it.

Tracks like Links 234, Feuer Frei and Rein Raus will satisfy fans of Rammstein's pacy metal style used in their previous albums, while Sonne, Zwitter, Ich Will and the foot-stomping head-banging delight that is Adios oozes with a classy assembly and finish that are often lacking in this genre of music.

Rammstein also shows a gentler side with the tracks Mutter and Nebel, slower paced but no less brilliant.

For me the best song on the album has to be Spieluhr though. Superb, yet eerie lyrics talk about a child being buried alive by accident with a music box in his/her hands. The chorus is fantastic, just about the catchiest thing I've heard in any form of music in a long time, and the whole song is just brilliantly put together like all the other tracks on this album.

To summarize:

Best tracks: Mein Herz Brennt, Sonne, Spieluhr, Adios

Worst track: Rein Raus, if you have to push me for one

Mutter as an album delivers an incredible musical experience and every song deserves its place on the album - no fillers here. The deep, thundering sound demands a pair of decent speakers - turn up the volume and prepare to hear the windows rattle.

Rammstein is a band on the rise, that's for sure. The mere fact that they broke away from their one dimensional metalish sound on the previous two albums and ventured into a smarter, more orchestral and melodic, yet still pleasurably hard and heavy sound (yep, the parents will definitely worry about you if they find you listening to this lot in a dark room!) for Mutter shows us that this is a band with massive potential. I can't wait to hear their next effort - hopefully they stick to German. Rammstein in English just won't be the same.

Check out [URL] for English translations of the German lyrics.