Herzeleid (1995)
1.
Wollt ihr das Bett in Flammen sehen - For all this album's sins, it really kicked off wonderfully with a fantastic, driving keyboard riff before breaking into that same riff, but with guitars. Overall I really like Flake's work on this song a lot, it helps set the band apart as a whole. The guitar sound isn't yet perfected, but it's already pretty good. Till is also not yet perfect; his vocals here are some of the album's stronger ones, but they're not my favorites from him overall. The chorus is kinda stupid - just repeating the band's name over and over - and the bridge is really bland. The song also goes on for far too long with that last chorus. Despite these meh parts, I think the energy in here is pretty great, and it's quite a banger sort of song, one you can easily start moving to. Kinda debating what score to give it, but I think I'm gonna round down because it's just not really a stand-out song from Rammstein whilst being a pretty strong start to the discography.
7/10
2.
Der Meister - Now this is more like it. That opening riff is pretty kickass, the guitars are heavy, kinda thrashy, while keeping in with the more industrial sound the band performs with. There's a piece before the first verse that seems like a repeat from the previous song, but the verse itself is quite a solid one (although also a bit similar to "Bett", though the riff helps make it get a different vibe). What makes this one work better than the previous one is the actual chorus, which didn't do anything for me at all at first listen, but now makes it one of my favorites from this album. Till sounds really good and Flake's keyboard over top of the guitars makes it a really nice, atmospheric sort of piece. So yeah, quite like this one.
8/10
3.
Weisses Fleisch - Another keyboard opening that sorts slow but progressively gets faster and faster before Schneider comes in with the drums and Till signals the guitars to attack with a shout of "Weisses Fleisch!" What a badass way to open a song. The verse is following the same pattern as the previous one, but once more works differently to give a different feel. This song is even more aggressive than the previous two, which comes to a head with the chorus, and I love the line "Ich bin doch nur ein Gigolo." It's quite a good song, and showcases the band's wanting to push the line as far as possible. These first three songs are really solid ones as a whole.
8/10
4.
Asche zu Asche - A guitar / keyboard riff kicks this bad boy off really well. It's an awesome way to begin a song. Unfortunately, I really don't care for the verse whatsoever. It's just bland. The keyboard there is weird and doesn't fit Rammstein much, if at all. Till and the lyrics don't blow me away either. The chorus is stronger, but nothing terribly special at the same time. The keyboard solo after the second one is sounds a bit wonky but I don't mind it. The final chorus also goes on for too long, as far as my taste is concerned. Rammstein can be great when they're repetitive, but not here so much. It was a song I liked on first listen but has fallen a lot since. It could've been better instantly if the verses were different and if that ending had been chopped in half, but as it is, it's kind of disappointing.
6/10
5.
Seemann - This ditty opens with noises intended to bring up images of - I believe - submarines, and it does a good job of that. The bass kicks in and it's really a nice opening. I love Till's vocals in the verse, emotional yet a bit dark to fit Rammstein's mood... and then the guitars kick in and it's just... whoa. Some of the heaviest shit these boys have ever done. In fact, the distortion feels like something straight off of a black metal album. Till also sounds really good on the chorus, using his deep voice to really bring the song to life. The lyrics are also really fascinating and as a whole I really dig the song. It's easily my favorite song on the entire album. Although that also highlights how iffy the whole album lies for me. I really don't have anything I dislike about the song, but it's just not as good as Rammstein would get.
8/10
6.
Du riechst so gut - Another driving keyboard riff opens up this song before the guitars come in. I suppose they wanted to bring up the mood again after "Seemann", but I just care for this one at all. Ditto on the verse. Till just doesn't sound good enough. Dunno if that's down to what he recorded with or just how he sang at this point, but it doesn't gel with me. The way the keyboard rises up halfway through that verse is also just... meh. And the chorus is as bland as the rest of the song. And that instrumental piece after verse 2 is one of the worst moments on the whole album. Just a meh song overall. Could've been better, many people probably like it - it was a single, after all - but it's just not my thing at all.
4/10
7.
Das alte Leid - "Hallo, hallo." I like the way this song starts, with the drums leading into the riff, which is pretty great. Not a wunderbar sort of verse but it's solid enough, and I like the way they incorporate the song's title into it. Till's scream, "Ich will ficken!" kinda makes for an interesting climax here, but I'm not sure his execution of it was right up to par. The ending also goes on for too long, yet again. Altogether there's not much I can say about this one. It's a very solid song, but not one of their greats. Crying babies make my day though.... I kid, I kid.
7/10
8.
Heirate mich - This opening is also very meh. Till just doesn't sound good at all there, and when the keyboard comes in it doesn't get better at all. The guitar sound that kicks in afterwords is great, but the riff itself is pretty boring. Then more keyboard on top of that riff and it's just... nahhhhh. The verse is also bland, but hey, the pre-chorus is pretty strong! Wish I could say the same about the lyrics... and that chorus. Meh. As one person said, Rammstein have recorded some turkeys over the years... and this is one of them. But hey, at least that guitar sound is nice. The rest of the song? Back to the drawing board.
4/10
9.
Herzeleid - A really slow start as Till sings only one or slightly more syllables at one time between the riff. It's an interesting idea, but not actually interesting in execution. Title tracks are supposed to be stronger than this, right? And more memorable, one would hope. Because this is literally one of the least memorable songs on the entire album. The chorus is solid enough and the music is pretty nice, but it's nothing more than an average song.
5/10
10.
Laichzeit - Oh lord, more bleh keyboard riffs. Honestly, "bleh" describes the whole damn song. It's just not good, and comes close to being terrible. I don't want to hear about "der Fisch", and honestly "Spawning Time" is kind of repulsive to begin with. By far one of the band's worst ever songs.
2/10
11.
Rammstein - A really cool opening to this one, actually. Kinda feels like an introduction to a song about the Ramstein airshow disaster. In fact, that's what this is about. Yay me. The lyrics are rather simplistic, but work well enough to bring to life the horrors of that day. It's a slow, trudging song though, and honestly I didn't need
another song that repeats the band's name over and over again. Some of the guitar pieces here also don't keep me in as much as they should, particularly at the ending. It's a solid enough closer overall, I guess. We could've ended with "Laichzeit"...
6/10
Most bands don't succeed right away with the debut, and Rammstein is yet another of them. The album starts out strong, but it never really hits the heights it could and probably should, and not much after "Seemann" is outstanding. It also features some of the band's worst material, particularly "Laichzeit", which is just... eugh. Enough of it is solid enough to warrant returning to, but not on a regular basis. Slightly about average overall.
Rating:
59%
. It's probably not the best but hey ho. For context, I have never listened to any of these songs in studio form or have listened to the album in full, but I have seen a few videos of some of the songs being played live.
