Album Details

• Artist: Rammstein
• Album: Rosenrot
• Label: Universal
• Year of Release: 2006
• ME Rating:
• Reviewed by: solitaryman on 2012-05-30

Sparking fires with live performances, creative music videos and, of course the basis for all that, excellent studio works, Germany's globe-spanning popular metal outfit Rammstein had become accustomed to heavy workloads. With more time to relax and reflect, rumors began to circulate that the band was calling it quits. Of course these existed in the distant past as well, as the band has been known to take their time between albums, but it somehow seemed a bit more relevant right up until Rosenrot was released. As the increased fanbase demanded more and more, it appeared that for the first time in the band's experience, they weren't totally prepared to deliver.

Much of what's good about Rosenrot takes place in the early workings of the album. Two of the album's most successful singles, "Benzin" (a scorching take on the dominance of gasoline over humanity) and "Mann Gegin Mann" (a sly, masochistic take on homosexuality) kick the album off in fine form. Followed by the mellow title track (which was garnered with a quality video accompaniment), the powerful, bombastic "Spring" and the emotive and moving "Wo Bist Du?", it would appear Rosenrot was destined to be another superb notch in the band's collective belts. However, the album takes a sharp turn towards experimental folly with the purely pop-rock "Stirb Nicht Von Mir", a serious mistake for a band who have always dabbled effectively with sound variation in the past. After a couple of comparibly forgettable tracks, the band takes another wild swing at variety with the Spanish stylings of "Te Quiero Puta", an altogether ridiculous track both musically and lyrically. The only track worth noting on the album's back half is the quiet poetry of "Ein Lied", one of my favorite Rammstein "ballads", as they are.

In the annals of the band's discography, I do believe Rosenrot will go down as the only real "incomplete". With a handful of excellent tracks and another of purely incomparible nonsense and basic filler material, there's a heavy cloud of dissatisfaction that lingers over Rosenrot. As silly as it can get, it still retains just enough in the way of powerful moments to warrant at least a precursory glance.  

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