These guys get a lot of disrespect. I like that. Sometimes the heavy metal websites don't even review their albums even though they have sold millions. More than metalheads go to their concerts. 12 of their videos come first, followed by at least that many live songs taken from the concerts over the years. The first couple of earliest ones aren't too great, but then things start to pick up. Some of my favorites are "Du Hast", "Sonne", and "Feuer Frei". "Feuer Frei" (Fire Freely) is sort of action movie style, with a guy driving a car off a bridge and bailing out with a parachute, etc. "Du Hast" (You Hate) is about abandoning a lover and the past and joining a band of rogues. Every member of Rammstein lost their wife or girlfriend over the band, but they refused to break up the band and stayed together through thick and thin. "Sonne" (Sun) is based on the Snow White and Seven Dwarves legend. Snow White is their "sun" and they worship her, but she is a ***** most of the time except after snorting gold dust that the grimey dwarves mine for her. One scene has her spanking the drummer's bare *** while the others look on in fear. Hey, I said it was dark comic opera, didn't I. They had me nearly rolling on the floor with laughter more than once. They said that when they try to be serious, the public takes it as a joke, and when its a joke, the public gets serious. This is the band implicated in the Columbine High School Shootings because the perpetrators listened to the music. Must have been the harsh German vocals and a bit or ethnic prejudice. The fact the student was on a prescribed drug and had a nutritional deficiency that interacted and caused psychotic behavior was a bit underplayed, in my opinion. Then again, I just might go psycho as well, so you guys had better watch what you say to me.
Actually, my mother in her late 70's has seen some of the Rammstein videos and she didn't object as much as when I played Tchaikovsky. She was insistent that continued listening to Tchaikovsky would cause me to go insane. What do you think? (It was the 5th Symphony, by the way.)
Moving on to the live songs, they are taken from a half dozen concerts down through the years. One website listed Rammstein in the top music 10 acts to see before you die, coming in at #7. Of course, after listing Slayer at #1, the #7 rating may be a bit off as well. Rammstein isn't very Rolling Stone Magazine approved, so that's another plus for them. They put on a good live show, and their music is geared toward that rather than the studio. I liked the special section where the band and production personnel talked about making the videos.
So there you have it, sell all your Tchaikovsky before you go insane and buy "Lightspielhaus" by Rammstein. If it's already too late to save you from insanity, you might enjoy the video anyway.
P.S. You're supposed to have parental advisory to view the video. But I laugh at the rules.