Sehnsucht (album)

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Sehnsucht is the second album by Rammstein. It was released on August 22, 1997, in Germany and on January 13, 1998, in the USA. In the US "Sehnsucht" was the debut album of the band. and promoted as such.

Sehnsucht
Sehnsucht cover
Studio album by Rammstein
Released GER: August 22, 1997
US: January 13, 1998
Genre Neue Deutsche Härte
Label Motor
Producer Jacob Hellner
Listen/buy Spotify
iTunes
Rammstein chronology
Herzeleid
(1995)		 Sehnsucht
(1997)		 Mutter
(2001)
Singles from Sehnsucht
  1. "Engel"
    Released: April 1, 1997
  2. "Engel (Fan-Edition)"
    Released: May 23, 1997
  3. "Du hast"
    Released: July 18, 1997
  4. "Sehnsucht"
    Released: 1997

Recording

Recording of the album began in November 1996. Rammstein entered, together with their long-time producer Jacob Hellner, the Temple Studio on Malta. During the recording some demos from the "Herzeleid" sessions were re-recorded. Those were "Alter Mann", "Schwarzes Glas", "Spiel mit mir", "Sehnsucht" and "Bestrafe mich". All songs were already performed live before the album was released ("Alter Mann" and "Schwarzes Glas" even dating back to 1994 concerts). However, "Schwarzes Glas" was later rejected in favor of some other song.

Album

Cover

Most countries got six different cover artworks. In Germany, even a censored version was released, with a black paper in front of the cover and a warning written on it. Also in most countries, the album title and band name are printed in silver on the jewel case, not on the cover. Exceptions make Japan and Australia. Australia has album and name in grey print on the cover, Japan in white print.

Booklet

The booklet shows single pictures of each band member. The photos were taken by Gottfried Helnwein in 1997. Each band member is wearing bizarre facial-wear made from kitchen objects. Till is wearing glasses made of forks, which are the same already used on the cover of "Blackout" by the Scorpions.

The booklet is a fold-out booklet including six pages (12, when counting both sides). One side is showing each band member, the other one shows a stock image of a beach and all lyrics and credits. The Universal re-release from 2001 features some lyrics in English. Depending on the cover your copy of the album has, the arrangement of the bandmembers differs.

Formats

CD

Sehnsucht was released in CD format in Germany, the UK, France, South Korea, USA, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, and even Venezuela; the booklets of these CDs had variable artwork; every CD would have a random band member's face on the front. European copies (with the exclusion of the XIII Bis Records copies) featured the Rammstein logo, as well as the album title on the front of the jewelcase itself, foil-printed in silver. Other non-European countries received CDs with the logo printed on the actual booklet.

Some of the first German copies had black cards slotted in front of the front artwork, censoring the band members' faces on the front as they were considered 'graphic'. This card could be removed at any time, revealing the artwork. A later German limited edition version was released including "Du riechst so gut '98" as a final bonus track. Typically, Flake's face would appear on the front of these copies. To promote the upcoming tour, Sehnsucht also got a MotorWare Tour box featuring a Rammstein T-Shirt, and a Sehnsucht CD which is now considerably rare.

In France, the album was released as a standard jewelcase, but also in two different digipacks. Both digipacks are numbered and have Till on the cover. The first digipack has the standard 11 tracks on the CD, while the second version includes three bonus tracks. It is not known how high the limitation of both versions is.

An Australian Tour Edition of Sehnsucht was released in 2001 with two CDs to promote Live Aus Berlin; the original Sehnsucht album with Stripped as a final track, and the Asche zu Asche EP, stylized to look more like a Sehnsucht-style CD. An earlier 1997 version was released in Australia, excluding the additional CD.

Some US / Canadian copies of Sehnsucht had the English versions of Du Hast and Engel as the final two tracks, making a total of 13 tracks, and others included Stripped as a final track, making a total of 12 tracks. Japanese copies included the English versions of the aforementioned songs.

France limited edition

BIS XIII Records Stone

A very exclusive limited edition version of Sehnsucht was released by XIII Records in France - bizarrely, it is comprised of a French digipak of Sehnsucht featuring 3 bonus tracks, suspended behind a plate of clear Plexiglas which is signed by all six band members in pink marker. The Plexiglas itself is attached to a large base made of a white, hard stone-like material by four large metal bolts, inserted in a diamond formation around the digipak. This item comes with two A4 paper letters of certification from the then-president of XIII Records. This item is speculated to be limited to only ten copies, although, the source for this exact information is unknown.

Vinyl

On December 4, 2015, the album was part of the "XXI" vinyl box set. It was the first time the album was released on vinyl. Two years later, on December 8, 2017, the vinyl of the album was made available separately.

Polish text

On polish cassettes Till introduces the listener to the album in Polish. This is what he says:

Hallo! Cześć jesteśmy Rammstein, pozdrawiamy całą Polskę i życzymy wielu miłych wrażeń w słuchaniu naszej nowej płyty pod tytułem Sehnsucht.

Translation:

Hello! Hi, we are Rammstein. We're greeting all the Polish and we wish you a lot of nice experience while listening to our new album named Sehnsucht.

Certifications

Certification Certification date Certified units Country
2x Platinum[1] 2004 160,000 Switzerland
Platinum[2] September 29, 1998 - Austria
Platinum[3] July 10, 2001 - Canada
Platinum[4] 1997 500,000 Germany
Platinum[5] July 1, 1999 1,000,000 USA
Platinum[1] 1997 50,000 Switzerland
Gold[2] January 15, 1998 - Austria
Gold[3] November 30, 1998 - Canada
Gold[4] 1997 250,00 Germany
Gold[5] September 2, 1998 - USA
Silver[6] July 22, 2013 60,000 Great Britain

The certified units are based on the minimum need of sales to receive the award.

Tracklist

Standard album

  1. Sehnsucht - 04:04
  2. Engel - 04:24
  3. Tier - 03:47
  4. Bestrafe mich - 03:39
  5. Du hast - 03:55
  6. Bück dich - 03:22
  7. Spiel mit mir - 04:46
  8. Klavier - 04:24
  9. Alter Mann - 04:24
  10. Eifersucht - 03:37
  11. Küss mich (Fellfrosch) - 03:31

Promotional album cassette

Two of the four promotional versions of the album on cassette included a longer version of "Du hast"

  1. Sehnsucht - 04:04
  2. Engel - 04:24
  3. Tier - 03:47
  4. Bestrafe mich - 03:39
  5. Du hast - 04:24
  6. Bück dich - 03:22
  7. Spiel mit mir - 04:46
  8. Klavier - 04:24
  9. Alter Mann - 04:24
  10. Eifersucht - 03:37
  11. Küss mich (Fellfrosch) - 03:31

Bonus tracks

Polish cassettes:

  1. Till's Polish introduction - 00:05

US/Australia bonus:

  1. Stripped - 04:44

Japan bonus:

  1. Du hast (English Version) - 03:54
  2. Engel (English Version) - 04:25

German bonus:

  1. Du riechst so gut '98 - 03:54

French bonus:

  1. Rammstein (Eskimos & Egypt Radio Edit) - 03:40
  2. Du riechst so gut '98 - 03:54
  3. Du hast (Remix by Clawfinger) - 05:24

Australian bonus CD:
same content as the "Asche zu Asche" single

  1. Asche zu Asche - 03:51
  2. Spiel mit mir (Live) - 05:22
  3. Laichzeit (Live) - 05:14
  4. Wollt ihr das Bett in Flammen sehen? (Live) - 05:52
  5. Engel (Live) - 05:57
  6. Asche zu Asche (Live) - 03:24

Sources

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 IFPI Swiss certifications
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 IFPI Austria certifications
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Music Canada certifications
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 BVMI certifications
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 RIAA certifications
  6. ↑ BPI certifications
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