In this series of posts I'll discuss an album I picked up as a teenager or in my early 20s and haven't listened to in a very long time.
Well, Sehnsucht was the first Rammstein album I bought. I want to say I was in college, so I was maybe 16 or 17, but I had been well aware of Rammstein and several of their songs since my school days. Being a fan of heavy music it was practically impossible not to have heard songs like 'Du Hast', 'Mutter', 'Links 2 3 4', 'Ich Will', 'Mein Teil' etc. (let's face it, Rammstein are fucking huge worldwide), I just hadn't heard any of their albums from start to finish until I picked up Sehnsucht. I'm not entirely sure why I got hold of this one before Mutter, but here we are. Must've been cheaper in my local HMV at the time or something.
Well, as you know now already, I clearly don't enjoy this record as much as I do the 2 that followed. I'm hardly clued up enough to tell you about techno/dance/whatever music, but I feel that Rammstein in the 1990s had a much stronger 90s Euro techno sound to accompany the heavy side of their music. Sometimes it sounds great, other times it rubs me the wrong way and sounds dated in a way that I can't get on board with. And that is precisely why I don't reach for this or Herzeleid very often, if at all. Having said that, there's a handful of songs that totally RULE on Sehnsucht - songs that have been in rotation for me for years and years. It's the fact I haven't heard Sehnsucht in full for such a long time now that it's qualified for this 'Blast from the past albums' post! The songs I don't like on here, I never listen to. But the songs I do like, well, they're just great songs.
So, the tracks I do like then. What are they? 'Engel' for starters. It's slow and rhythmic, the riff and basslines are ridiculously catchy, the added female vocals balance out Till Lindemann's bass/baritone pitch in a way that is irresistible, the keyboards provide atmosphere and melody in a way that isn't annoying to me... just a great example of what Rammstein were capable of early on in their career. I love 'Tier' as well. Very simplistic - but in a good way. To be honest, part of Rammstein's appeal is the simplistic nature of their riffs and structures, and 'Tier' is no exception. Heavy and metallic in terms of it's guitars, with added industrial flair thanks to the keyboards. I also enjoy the heavy, lumbering 'Bestrafe Mich'. The whole song sounds kinda ridiculous and Till's bass vocals are so hilariously over-the-top I can't help but chuckle whenever I hear it. Yes, it's dumb, but I've never stopped replaying it so I clearly dig the hell out of it!! Same can be said for the much faster, upbeat 'Buch Dich' (literally translates to 'Bend Over'...). Utterly fucking ridiculous song. It's silly, it's stupid, and I probably lose brain cells every time it comes on... but the pumping energy of the keyboards combined with the fast heavy metal riff is just contagious to say the least!
There's a couple more tracks on here I like too. I don't love them like I do the one's I've just listed, but I still think they're good. 'Spiel Mit Mir' for example, starts off all moody and brooding, before transitioning into another slow, monstrous riff-driven number similar to 'Bestrafe Mich'. But it still comes with a totally memorable chorus and some very identifiable and bizarre backing keyboard tones. The ballad 'Klavier' is a good one too. This is the song that sounds the most like what was to come on the next few albums, in my opinion. Mellow piano-driven verses, but a massively heavy arena-tier chorus. It feels a bit more serious in nature, and Till sings it in a higher vocal manner - and it works.
It's a shame then, that I don't care much for the rest of this album. I never liked the opening title track much. The riff is fast and memorable, but I hate the keyboards on this one! Horribly-dated 90s techno dance beats are not my thing! I feel like a bit of a hypocrite, because 99% of my favourite music is old as fuck now; but then 99% of my favourite music contains no electro dance-inspired beats anyway. Anyhow, I don't like 'Eifersucht' either. Again, the dance beats piss me off. They actually remind me a bit of video game soundtracks from the 90s. Did any of you readers play the original Wipeout on the Sega Saturn or the original PlayStation? You know, that cool sci-fi racing game?! If you took the guitars away form 'Eifersucht', it wouldn't sound out of place in said game! In that context, I might enjoy it, but in other situation I don't. I don't get on with 'Alter Mann' either. This one isn't as irritating to my ears, I just find it boring and unmemorable. Finally, closing piece 'Kuss Mich (Fellfrosch)' again manages to irk me with it's weird keyboards. It's a skip for me.
How would I describe the production? Erm, it's very 90s I guess!! I can barely hear the bass, aside from on 'Engel' because it is partially built around a bassline anyway. The guitars are distorted, but in a clean and compressed manner. They don't necessarily sound terrible, but they'd sound far better on subsequent Rammstein albums. The keyboards are prominent in the mix because they play a huge part in the music, and are not just there for atmosphere. Hmm. Sehnsucht is kind of a so-so album for me sonically. It's strengths come from it's often incredibly catchy hooks - whether they be driven by the guitars, keyboards or vocals. Also, the fact the entire album is sang in German is also part of it and Rammstein's charm in general. Bands that sing in foreign languages don't bother me one bit. I do like how they very occasionally dabbled with English tongue in their songs ('Amerika' anyone?), but the German language and song titles are a massive part of the band's identity.
Overall I really enjoy about 2/3rds of Sehnsucht. If it had just 1 or 2 more tracks I thoroughly enjoy like I do 'Engel, 'Tier', 'Du Hast', 'Buch Dich' etc., it'd easily have gained a score within the 8/10 ballpark. But as I said in the beginning of this post, 90s Rammstein doesn't always do it for me due to some of the techno/dance infleunces, and I almost never reach for this or Herzeid and listen to them in their entirety. I think they MASSIVELY improved on Mutter and Reise, Reise in terms of both songwriting and also production. I think both of those records are great from start to finish - they don't have that same 90s dance feel at all, and have more of an epic, heavier arena sound to them.
Whatever the case, the songs I do enjoy on Sehnsucht I'll continue to enjoy for the rest of time.
Adam's rating: 7.6/10
