Review Summary: Völkerball is a great live album, but have you already heard 'Live aus Berlin'? 'Live aus Berlin' is a great live performance of Rammstein in their younger years. It's aggressive and heavy. Simply worth buying!
Rammstein is Germany’s export product number one. Ask an all-American guy about facts of Germany and he would probably say: “Mercedes and Rammstein!”. Despite the fact that Rammstein only sing their songs in the German language, their songs are well-known all over the world.
In a certain point I’m disappointed about the fact that nobody has written a review about ‘Live aus Berlin’, since it simply is one of Rammstein’s best products. I think it’s even better than their last release Völkerball. But from the other hand, it gives me the opportunity to write my first review about one of my favourite bands.
Let’s get back to topic. ‘Rammstein: Live aus Berlin’. The CD is a live recording of one of the biggest concerts Rammstein has done in their younger years. The performance is recorded, you already guessed it, in the capital of Germany, namely Berlin.
The CD starts with a big bang. That means Rammstein is on stage. A quite boring intro of 45 seconds goes on, until the keyboard intro of ‘Spiel mit Mir’ appears. The slow and heavy riff begins, which sounds even heavier live. Till Lindemann starts singing. His voice is much deeper and more unpolished than on the studio albums, which is great, in my opinion. Every band member is very well heard. The sound is great. The solo after the breakdown is done very well and sounds even better than on the studio version. The song is slightly changed for the live performance, which made a breakdown right in the middle of the song. It is a nice start for this concert, but a more powerful and faster song had been better. (3.5/5)
‘Bestrafe Mich’ is their next song. I really hate the studio version of this song, but the live version is something else. Instead of a tight and forced riff, the riff sounds heavier and more loose. The song still isn’t that great, but that’s my opinion. (3.5/5)
After two songs, Rammstein finally goes into the faster work. ‘Weisses Fleisch’ is one of their fastest and sickest songs and is played even better live. Till really growls the lyrics, Christoph Schneider uses double-pedal and the guitarists Paul and Richard play the riff like they are insane. Richard shows some lead guitarist skills by playing a nice solo. A great song, played even better live. (5/5)
Another great song: ‘Sehnsucht’. The famous synthesizer intro followed by one of Rammstein’s best guitar riff ever. The song is played faster live. The crowd shouts the lyrics together with Till. The marching beat, created by Christoph, is heard better and gives the song a heavier feeling than it already had. (5/5)
‘Asche zu Asche’ starts right after ‘Sehnsucht’. This songs has also a great guitar riff, which is, again, very well performed. Richard does some nice backing vocals. A nice synthesizer solo from Flake, followed by a bass guitar solo from Ollie, determine the breakdown of the song. A classic. (5/5)
After the heavier work, ‘Wilder Wein’ starts right after ‘Asche zu Asche’. This song was actually a demo, but that didn’t restrain Rammstein from playing it. Musically, the song is done very well, but vocally it isn’t that great. Till doesn’t sing the song that well. (4/5)
Another sick song: ‘Heirate Mich’. The songs starts with Till growling the lyrics. After this, a fast and heavy riff kicks in. The sound of this song is just insane! The riff sounds so much more aggressive than on the studio album. The guitar solo of Richard is also done better live. It already was a great song, but it’s made even better live. (5/5)
Rammstein’s first single ‘Du Riechst So Gut’ is next. The studio version is in my opinion a kind of boring and not worth a single. But, again, Rammstein managed to make a boring song a great live song. The crowd yells along with the lyrics. The sound is extremely heavy and Till sounds great. (5/5)
‘Du Hast’ is well-known by everyone. The best thing about this song is the crowd. The crowd is well heard in this song. Till sounds great in this song and manages to sing the higher notes. The guitars sounds a lot more aggressive, which makes a simple song like this a great live performance. (4.5/5)
‘Bück Dich’ is notorious about his live-act. The songs starts with a stupid filler intro, but the heaviness of the song takes it all away. The crowd shouts: “BÜCK DICH!”, which gives a great feeling about the song. It is nice and heavy and is performed very well. (4.5/5)
When the outro of ‘Bück Dich’ finally ends, the hit that made Rammstein big, ‘Engel’ starts. I don’t like this song. However, it’s done better live. Rammstein has hired Bobo to do some backing vocals, which makes the song less repetitive. They did a nice job with this performance, but I prefer to skip this one. (3.5/5)
After ‘Engel’ Rammstein goes off-stage, but they’re just pretending. After a boring and repetitive intro of more than one-and-a-half minute, the guitars kick in with an insane heavy riff. ‘Rammstein’ is the name of this classic. Till spits out the lyrics to give the song even more heaviness. The song is full with guitar solos, which are all done so damn good! Richard shows that he’s a really good lead guitarist. A classic! (5/5)
Rammstein’s next song is ‘Laichzeit’. The song is less techno than on the studio album and more heavy. Till sings the lyrics very well and the crowd shouts along. The song ends with the guitar riff going slower and slower. Great song. (4.5/5)
‘Wollt Ihr Das Bett In Flammen Sehen’ kicks in right where ‘Laichzeit’ ended. The brutal and repetitive guitar riff goes on and on, with Till growling the lyrics. Finally some variation after two-and-a-half minutes, until a major explosion appears. Well, you have to see the DVD after listening to this CD… The song goes on and ends after a long and repetitive outro. A great song, too bad it’s so repetitive. (4/5)
The final song of the concert: ‘Seemann’. They couldn’t pick a better song as finishing touch, because this song is simply brilliant. The bass line only is a classic already. Till doesn’t sing the song very well, but he sings it with a lot emotion and dedication. The guitars kick in, who sound very heavy again. A long and boring breakdown appears, but it can’t make the song less beautiful. The song ends with the famous bass line, which is also well heard through the rest of the song. The best closer of a concert ever! (5/5)
Pros:
- Rammstein in their prime!
- Great sound
- Heavier than studio versions
- Great crowd
- Great show (if you can get the DVD, buy it!)
Cons:
- Till’s voice isn’t always as good
I would strongly recommend this CD. It’s a quite old CD, so it might be difficult to get this, but keep looking. It’s really worth buying! It’s also a good CD to get into Rammstein, because the best songs are played here and it’s Rammstein in their prime.
I would also strongly recommend to check out the DVD. During the CD you hear a lot of explosions and you just can’t see what’s going on! So if you like the CD, just check out the DVD too.
