Reise, Reise (German (Literally): "Journey, Journey" or "Travel, Travel") is Neue Deutsche Härte band Rammstein's fourth studio album. It was released on September 27, 2004 in Germany and followed shortly by its release across Europe. It was released in North America on November 16, 2004. It was in the Top 10 in several European charts and a #1 hit in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Iceland, Finland, Estonia and Mexico. The album ranked at #67 for Top 100 Albums of 2004 by Rate Your Music.

As used in "Reise, Reise aufstehen! Kommt hoch nach alter Seemannsart", the album name is an old sailor's expression to waken other sailors, hence the translation of the title would be "Arise, Arise", as seen in the song of the same name. Given Rammstein's propensity to use puns, a double meaning could well be intended, as the direct translation is "The Journey".

Album art

The album art shows a damaged aeroplane flight data recorder depicted on the front and back covers. Its caption ("Flugrekorder, nicht öffnen") means "Flight Recorder, Do Not Open". The inner part of the Digipak edition case shows a picture of the six members in suits wielding suitcases and weapons leaving from a crashed aeroplane.

The cover art is an allusion to the song Dalai Lama, which deals with an aeroplane accident. It is also suggestive of the overarching 'travelling' theme of the album.

The aeroplane accident on which the album is based occurred on the August 12, 1985, nearly 20 years earlier. A Boeing 747, Japan Airlines Flight 123 took off from Haneda airport, Tokyo, and about 30 minutes later, crashed into the side of a mountain. 520 out of the 524 passengers and crew died, and as of 2008 it is still the deadliest single aircraft disaster in history.

The song "Reise, Reise" itself contains a recording of the last 40 seconds of the flight in which the onboard computer is warning "Pull up! Pull up!" and the pilots shout in panicked Japanese, however, on the European pressings, the track has to be rewound before the 0:00 mark to be heard. On the US release, the recording is the beginning of "Reise, Reise".

Track listing

U.S. edition

On this release, the "easter egg" fragment is placed at the beginning of "Reise, Reise" in normal playback.

The 2005 pressing does not contain the easter egg, but the original 2004 pressing does. On the European version the 'Easter Egg' is in negative time, to access it, you must rewind the CD past the beginning of Reise, Reise.

The American iTunes version of "Reise, Reise" also contains the easter egg.

Japanese edition

In April 21, 2005 Rammstein released a special Japanese version of Reise, Reise. It has two bonus tracks, a bonus DVD and different cover art which was later used as the Rosenrot cover art, slightly altered. The easter egg is present in negative time as it is on the European version.

Personnel

• Till Lindemann – vocals
• Richard Z. Kruspe – lead guitar, backing vocals
• Paul Landers – rhythm guitar, backing vocals
• Oliver Riedel – bass guitar
• Christoph Schneider – drums
• Christian Lorenz – keyboards
• Viktoria Fersh – vocals (track 7)
• Bärbel Bühler – oboe (track 10)
• Michael Kaden – accordion (tracks 1, 7)
• Olsen Involtini – string arrangements (tracks 9, 10)
• Sven Helbig – string arrangements (tracks 1, 9), choir arrangements (tracks 2, 6, 8)
• Kinderchor Canzonetta – choir (track 6)
• Dresdner Kammerchor – choir (tracks 2, 6, 8), conducted by Andreas Pabst
• Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg – Orchestra parts, conducted by Wolf Kerschek, coordination by Nucleus, Jens Kuphal
• Köpenicker Zupforchester – Mandolin (track 10)

References