Sehnsucht (Rammstein album)

Sehnsucht (German pronunciation: [ˈzeːnˌzʊxt]; "Desire" or "Longing") is the second studio album by German Neue Deutsche Härte band Rammstein. It was released on 22 August 1997, through Motor Music in Europe and Slash Records in the United States. It is the only album entirely in German to be certified platinum by the RIAA in the US. The album peaked at No. 1 on the Austrian and German charts.

Sehnsucht
One of six different cover arts for the album, with this one featuring Till Lindemann
Studio album by
Released22 August 1997
RecordedNovember 1996 – July 1997
StudioTemple (St. Paul's Bay)
Genre
Length43:51
LabelMotor
Producer
Rammstein chronology
Herzeleid
(1995)
Sehnsucht
(1997)
Live aus Berlin
(1999)
Singles from Sehnsucht
  1. "Engel"
    Released: 1 April 1997
  2. "Du hast"
    Released: 19 July 1997

In 2020, Metal Hammer included it in their list of Top 10 1997 Albums.[1]

Cover art

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The album booklet folds out to reveal six different covers, one for each band member (each photo depicting the member with vintage medical / surgical instruments). The cover most commonly seen shows Christoph Schneider with a barbed-wire-laced worn as an oral gag and his eyes rolled back into his head. The cover art was created by Austrian artist Gottfried Helnwein,[2] who also created the cover for the Scorpions' Blackout album, which the Sehnsucht cover resembles.

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [3]
Christgau's Consumer Guide [4]
Pitchfork2.9/10[5]
Q     [6]
Rolling Stone     [7]
Rock Hard9.0/10[8]
Spin5/10[9]
Sputnikmusic4.5/5[10]

Track listing

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All tracks are written by Rammstein, except "Sehnsucht" (written by Rammstein and Orgasm Death Gimmick) and "Tier" (written by Rammstein and Jürgen Engler)

No.TitleLength
1."Sehnsucht" ("Desire"/"Longing")4:04
2."Engel" ("Angel"; featuring Bobo)4:24
3."Tier" ("Animal")3:47
4."Bestrafe mich" ("Punish Me")3:38
5."Du hast" ("You Have"[nb 1])3:55
6."Bück dich" ("Bend Over")3:22
7."Spiel mit mir" ("Play with Me")4:46
8."Klavier" ("Piano")4:24
9."Alter Mann" ("Old Man")4:24
10."Eifersucht" ("Jealousy")3:37
11."Küss mich (Fellfrosch)" ("Kiss Me (Fur Frog)")3:30
Total length:43:51

Additional notes

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  1. ^ The spoken form of the title is a play on homophones (in German) that mean "you have" ("du hast", the translation of the written form) and "you hate" ("du hasst"); the English version uses "you hate" in the lyrics.

Special editions

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Multiple special editions of Sehnsucht were released, offering different bonus tracks:

  • The following songs as tracks 12 and 13 for the North American and Japanese releases:
  • "Du riechst so gut '98" as track 12. A version also includes the video for "Du riechst so gut '98".
  • Polish cassettes included a short Polish introduction to the album, spoken by Till.
  • A limited edition release in Europe features 14 tracks:
  • "Stripped" as a twelfth track, which may be included on the micro-cassette version and/or be included as a hidden track.
  • "Stripped" as a twelfth track and the "Asche zu Asche" single as a second CD. The "Asche zu Asche" single may be included on the first CD to make a total of 18 tracks.
  • A 2001 Australian Tour Edition, which had "Stripped" as a twelfth track, and a second CD with the "Asche zu Asche" single as the first track, followed by five live songs.

Anniversary Edition

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On 15 April 2023, Rammstein released a short teaser to their social media channels, showing the album's various front covers along to the intro of Bück dich. A day later, another teaser was posted, with footage of the band rehearsing Engel on 18 April 1997. The caption of that video announced the "Sehnsucht Anniversary Edition". On 17 April 2023, a third teaser followed, including footage from Live aus Berlin and the announcement, that the pre-order of the anniversary edition would start the next day, 19 April.

The Anniversary Edition was scheduled for release on 9 June 2023.

Besides being remastered, the album features an exclusive new mix of Spiel mit mir, titled "2023 Mix", and a 40 page booklet with previously unreleased photos of Gottfried Helnwein.

Personnel

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Charts

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Certifications

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Certifications for Sehnsucht
Region Certification Certified units/sales
Austria (IFPI Austria)[34] Platinum 50,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[35] Platinum 100,000^
Germany (BVMI)[36] 5× Gold 1,250,000
Netherlands (NVPI)[37] Gold 50,000^
Poland (ZPAV)[38] Gold 50,000*
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[39] 2× Platinum 100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[40] Gold 100,000
United States (RIAA)[41] Platinum 1,000,000^
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[42] Platinum 1,000,000*

* Sales figures based on certification alone.
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.
Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ "The Top 10 best albums of 1997". Metal Hammer. Future plc. 31 July 2020. Retrieved 5 August 2020.
  2. ^ "Rammstein Album "Sehnsucht" was Released with Six Different Covers by Gottfried Helnwein". Helnwein Music. 22 July 1997. Archived from the original on 25 February 2012. Retrieved 15 February 2009.
  3. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas (13 January 1998). "Sehnsucht – Rammstein". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 January 2012.
  4. ^ "Robert Christgau: CG: Rammstein".
  5. ^ "Rammstein: Sehnsucht: Pitchfork Record Review". Archived from the original on 27 June 2007. Retrieved 27 June 2007.
  6. ^ Q review Archived 13 November 2004 at the Wayback Machine
  7. ^ "Rolling Stone : Rammstein: Sehnsucht : Music Reviews". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on 10 March 2007. Retrieved 27 June 2012.{{cite magazine}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  8. ^ "RAMMSTEIN - Sehnsucht". Rock Hard. 22 August 1998. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  9. ^ "SPIN Mar 1998". Spin. 1 March 1998. Retrieved 11 March 2023.
  10. ^ STAFF, Simon (29 June 2015). "Rammstein – Sehnsucht". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
  11. ^ a b c "Sehnsucht credits". AllMusic. All Media Guide (Rovi). Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  12. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Rammstein – Sehnsucht". Hung Medien.
  13. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Rammstein – Sehnsucht" (in German). Hung Medien.
  14. ^ "Ultratop.be – Rammstein – Sehnsucht" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 14 August 2022.
  15. ^ "Top RPM Albums: Issue 4744". RPM. 17 July 2013. Retrieved 4 December 2023.
  16. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Rammstein – Sehnsucht" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
  17. ^ "Eurochart Top 100 Albums - September 13, 1997" (PDF). Music & Media. Vol. 14, no. 37. 13 September 1997. p. 13. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  18. ^ "Rammstein: Sehnsucht" (in Finnish). Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland. Retrieved 4 June 2023.
  19. ^ "Lescharts.com – Rammstein – Sehnsucht". Hung Medien.
  20. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Rammstein – Sehnsucht" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts.
  21. ^ "Album Top 40 slágerlista – 2023. 24. hét" (in Hungarian). MAHASZ.
  22. ^ "2023 21-os savaitės klausomiausi (Top 100)" (in Lithuanian). AGATA. 26 May 2023. Retrieved 26 May 2023.
  23. ^ "Charts.nz – Rammstein – Sehnsucht". Hung Medien.
  24. ^ "Album 2022 uke 30" (in Norwegian). topplista.no. 29 July 2022. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  25. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Rammstein – Sehnsucht". Hung Medien.
  26. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Rammstein – Sehnsucht". Hung Medien.
  27. ^ "Rammstein Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard.
  28. ^ "Jahreshitparade Alben 1997". austriancharts.at. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  29. ^ "Year in Focus" (PDF). Music & Media. 27 December 1997. p. 7. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  30. ^ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  31. ^ "Schweizer Jahreshitparade 1997". hitparade.ch. Retrieved 8 July 2020.
  32. ^ "Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts" (in German). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 8 September 2016.
  33. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1998". Billboard. Retrieved 23 March 2021.
  34. ^ "Austrian album certifications – Rammstein – Sehnsucht" (in German). IFPI Austria.
  35. ^ "Canadian album certifications – Rammstein – Sehnsucht". Music Canada.
  36. ^ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Rammstein; 'Sehnsucht')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie. Retrieved 17 May 2023.
  37. ^ "Dutch album certifications – Rammstein – Sehnsucht" (in Dutch). Nederlandse Vereniging van Producenten en Importeurs van beeld- en geluidsdragers. Retrieved 28 August 2019. Enter Sehnsucht in the "Artiest of titel" box. Select 2003 in the drop-down menu saying "Alle jaargangen".
  38. ^ "Wyróżnienia – Złote płyty CD - Archiwum - Przyznane w 2001 roku" (in Polish). Polish Society of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  39. ^ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards ('Sehnsucht')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
  40. ^ "British album certifications – Rammstein – Sehnsucht". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 13 June 2023.
  41. ^ "American album certifications – Rammstein – Sehnsucht". Recording Industry Association of America.
  42. ^ "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 1998". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2 February 2020.