The album opener ‘Reise Reise’(Arise, Arise)is a solid opening track about the ocean and features a psychedelic keyboard synth. Vocalist Till Lindemann expresses despair and is all in all a great listen. Track number two, ‘Mein Teil’(My Part) is by far the most controversial track on the album. The song is about the true story of cannibal called Armin Miewes, dubbed the ‘Master Butcher’ who consumed another man’s penis with his willingness. The song features an abundance of disturbing lyrics such as . The drumwork by Christoph Schneider is especially eerie and has a great climax to the ending of the song.
Meanwhile, ‘Dalai Lama’ is another disturbing song about the plane crash involving a Japanese Airlines jet which crashed into Mount Takamagehara in 1985, claiming 520 lives in the process and an 18th century poem by Wolfgang Van Goethe. The song has haunting backup vocals and ghostly strings melody. ‘Keine Lust’ (Don’t Feel like It) features Lindeman singing of detachment form the music industry and the pressures that come with it. The song has great keyboard and guitar work and is another solid track on the album. Los(Less) contributes very little musically as there is a notable absence of keyboards and the drumming and guitar are limited in the song. The song meaning is about how the band are frustrated about the political controversy that surrounds them. ‘Amerika’(America) is another magnificent single on the album about Americanisation that impacts upon the world, satirising Coca Cola, Mickey Mouse and wonderbras. The song is probably the most humourous on the album.
‘Moskau’(Moscow) is about how close the band felt towards Russia and the pros and cons of the culture due to the fact that all grew up relatively close to Russia in East Germany. The song surprisingly features backing vocals in Russian and has an infectious rhythm to the song due to the quickened pace of the drumming and guitar. ‘Morgenstern’(Morning Star) ventures into a more serious tone that was absent earlier in the album. The song is solid but doe not provide anything out of the ordinary. ‘Stein um Stein’(Stone by Stone’) is an engaging track and features a contrast from the other tracks on the album. The song is similar to System of a down’s ‘Chop Suey’ due to the frantic growling by Lindemann then cutting to a ballad style vocals. The song is not for everyone due to the screaming and growling but is one of the more peculiar songs on the album.
Ohne Dich(Without You) , is a beautiful song with powerful and touching lyrics. The song builds up slowly to the beautiful climax at the ending and is one of the best songs on the album. The only disappointing thing about the song is that it was not the album closer. The album concludes with a song entitled Amour(Love), another love ballad that describes love as an animal capable of tearing you apart, so we may be better off without it. Although the song isn’t ground-breaking it features a brilliant guitar solo during the bridge.
