Album Launch Event In Birmingham

I’VE JUST returned a little bleary-eyed from the launch event for the new Rammstein album at Subculture at the Academy 2 in Birmingham, and a good (and lengthy) night, I’m delighted to say, was had by all.

Thanks a lot to Dave Juste for organising the event, and thanks also to James Booth for taking charge of the twin decks of death, and it was good to see the likes of classic Kiss and Journey going down a storm alongside The Prodigy, Lost Prophets, Rage Against The Machine, System Of A Down… and of course Rammstein! This was the first time I’d heard ‘Liebe Ist Fur Alle Da’ played through giant speakers, and I have to say that, fully cranked, the 11 tracks sound absolutely magnificent – congratulations to regular producer Jacob Hellner and mixing engineer Stefan Glaumann for ensuring that the new songs can be happily turned up to 11 without the merest hint of distortion, and of course there are certain songs (the likes of ‘Rammlied’, ‘Ich Tu Dir Weh’, ‘B*****’, etc.) that sound even more unstoppable with the volume needle flicking into the red and the bottom end ruthlessly re-arranging your inner organs.

Thanks also to the young ladies who gave out the various Rammstein goodies (T-shirts, drumsticks, vinyl, etc.), and I hope that the winner of the main prize, an extremely natty Rammstein jacket, will be wearing it to the band’s Birmingham show next February, tickets for which are now perilously close to selling out. You have been warned!

Actually, I knew it was going to be a good night when the video for the ‘Pussy’ single (censored version) and the song itself synched together almost perfectly, despite the fact that one of them was coming from a DVD loop and the other was being played independently via the DJ decks. The chances of that happening are probably millions to one, so fate, I guess, decided to lend a hand.

Oh, and by the time you read this, the album will be racked out in UK stores, and you’ll be able to fully appreciate the sheer quality and attention to detail of the packaging… and don’t forget there’s actually five different versions available, so all tastes, foibles and desires should be catered for: OK, there’s the standard CD, the special CD (with a bonus disc and five extra cuts), the iTunes version (including an exclusive Remix by Machine Head’s Robb Flynn), the double ‘pink’ vinyl version (only available from www.whatrecords.co.uk), plus the Deluxe version with the pink dildos and lotion, which has proved a talking point almost on a par with the ‘Pussy’ video!

However, it’s the music that really counts, of course, and with ‘Liebe Ist…’ Rammstein have delivered an album that, as the reviews are pointing out, could well be their best body of work since the ‘Mutter’ classic of 2001. And, according to Oli, who I spoke to just the other day, most of these new songs may well feature in the live show, which is being put together right now. Exciting times, indeed ...