Mein Teil (single)

From RammWiki
Mein Teil
Single by Rammstein
Producer:Jacob Hellner
Released:26 July 2004
Format:Jewelcase, Digipak, 3" CD, Vinyl
Label:Universal
Discogs:
Rammstein single chronology
Feuer frei!
(2002)
Mein Teil
(2004)
Amerika
(2004)
Alternative artwork:
Misprint
Circled

Mein Teil is the first single off the album Reise, Reise by Rammstein. It was released on 26 July 2004.

Information

  • The single was originally planned for a release on 14 June 2004. First, it was delayed to 28 June 2004 before it was ultimately pushed to 26 July 2004, because of "controversial discussions between the band and record company".[1]
  • The jewelcase of the single has a small misprint on it: one version shows the catalogue number on the spine, the other version doesn't. It is unknown which one of these is the correct one.
  • The single came with an enhanced CD part, which was a small program to download Mein Teil-themed wallpapers and watch the video. The program was called Rammstein Monitor. It has been updated up to the release of Amerika but it is not supported nor working anymore. But the archived website for it can be visited here.

Promotion

There are two different German promotional CDs for the single: One comes in a jewelcase, and the other one, titled "Hands On Mein Teil" is a cardsleeve, with the entire artwork of the later release. Both CDs include the same tracklist as the 12" vinyl does. In Mexico a different cardsleeve promo was given out, also titled "Hands On Mein Teil". It includes the same tracks as the standard retail single does, even including the Rammstein Monitor. Additionally, the single was promoted with a DVD release in Canada, just like Sonne was before. The DVD includes only the video of the song. In the UK the promotional single was the standard 2-track cardsleeve single, but coming with a promotional text sheet. That text sheet included the following short biograpy:

English original
 

German rock sextet, RAMMSTEIN are set to release their new single "Mein Teil" on 6 September through Motor/Island Records, followed by their fourth studio album "Reise, Reise" on 20 September.

Rammstein are Flake Lorenz (keyboards), Oliver Riedel (bass), Christoph Schneider (drums), Paul Landers (guitar), Richard Z. Kruspe-Bernstein (guitar) and Till Lindemann (vocals). There have been no line-up changes since the band was established in 1993.

The band's last album "Mutter" was released in 2001 and spawned a number of singles including the first top 40 UK hit (Feuer Frei) sung in German. The album went on to achieve silver status in the UK and sold in excess of 80,000 copies. Rammstein sind in German. In contrast to most of their colleagues, they have never sought to do otherwise. "Why should we?" ask Rammstein. "We wanted to do our own thing, and that has to do with where we come from. And we are from the German nations."

The single "Mein Teil" (My Tool) centers around the actions of Armin Meiwes, the 42 year old German computer analyst, who was charged earlier this year with cannibalising Bernd Jürgen-Brandes, a man he met over the internet. The song refers to the couple's attempt to try and eat Brandes' severed genitals and according to the band is a love song!

The band have a lot more humour than some people credit them with. Rammstein' toying with the dark side of desire is admittedly overdone at time to the point of becoming black comedy. That can lead to misunderstandings.

USA, Japan, Australia, Europe, South America - there is scarcely anywhere upon earth where Rammstein have not get off their rockets. They are one of the few bands in recent years to have defined themselves very largely through their live shows, which in turn are characterised by their vast battery of pyrotechnics, which come over close to a full-scale operatic production. Rammstein's concerts are marked by grand gestures which linger on in the mind's eye. UK dates are expected in 2005.

Release dates[2]

Date 2-Track Pock-It! Maxi Vinyl Country
26.07.2004 X Austria
26.07.2004 X X X Germany
26.07.2004 X X Switzerland
30.08.2004 X Czechia, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Spain
30.08.2004 X X Belgium, Norway
1.09.2004 X X Sweden
5.09.2004 X Australia, New Zealand
13.09.2004 X UK

Tracklist

Standard single

CD:

  1. Mein Teil - 04:24
  2. Mein Teil (You Are What You Eat Edit) - 04:08
  3. Mein Teil (The Return To New York Buffet Mix) - 07:24
  4. Mein Teil (There Are No Guitars On This Mix) - 07:16

3" CD & Cardsleeve:

  1. Mein Teil - 04:24
  2. Mein Teil (You Are What You Eat Edit) - 04:08

12" LP:

  1. Mein Teil (You Are What You Eat Mix) - 06:47
  2. Mein Teil (You Are What You Eat Instrumental Mix) - 06:53
  3. Mein Teil (The Return To New York Buffet Mix) - 07:24
  4. Mein Teil (The Return To New York Instrumental Buffet Mix) - 07:21
Promotional single

Hands on Mein Teil (Germany):

  1. Mein Teil (You Are What You Eat Mix) - 06:47
  2. Mein Teil (You Are What You Eat Instrumental Mix) - 06:53
  3. Mein Teil (The Return To New York Buffet Mix) - 07:24
  4. Mein Teil (The Return To New York Instrumental Buffet Mix) - 07:21

Hands on Mein Teil (Mexico):

  1. Mein Teil - 04:23
  2. Mein Teil (You Are What You Eat Edit) - 04:08
  3. Mein Teil (The Return To New York Buffet Mix) - 07:24
  4. Mein Teil (There Are No Guitars On This Mix) - 07:16
  5. Mein Teil (The Return To New York Instrumental Buffet Mix) - 07:21
  6. Mein Teil (Video) - 04:25

Formats

Release Country Label Type Comment Bonus content Discogs
2004-??-?? Germany Universal Music CD Jewelcase Promotional CD
2004-??-?? Germany Universal Music CD Cardsleeve Promotional CD
Hands On Mein Teil
2004-??-?? Mexico Universal Music CD Cardsleeve Promotional CD
Hands On Mein Teil
2004-??-?? UK Universal Music CD Cardsleeve Promotional CD
2004-??-?? Canada Universal Music DVD Jewelcase Promotional DVD
2004-07-24 Europe Universal Music CD Jewelcase Without catalogue number
2004-07-24 Europe Universal Music CD Jewelcase With catalogue number
2004-07-24 Europe Universal Music CD Digipak
2004-07-24 Europe Universal Music CD Cardsleeve 2-track single
2004-07-24 Germany Universal Music Vinyl 2x 12" LP

Gallery

Sources

  1. Rammstein website, News from 17 June 2004
  2. Archived release page