Germans, Jackson, the undead in new albums

October 22, 2009 by Jordan Healy 

Rammstein – “Liebe ist fur alle da”
After two mediocre albums and a three-year wait, the pyromaniac German sextet have finally released new material that holds up to the Rammstein name.

From the very beginning of the album, with a powerful chant of “Rammstein!” in the chorus of album opener “Rammlied,” the listener is drawn back to the group’s first record, 1995’s “Herzeleid.” In one way or another, nearly all the songs hearken back to the untouchable trilogy that is the group’s first three albums, which isn’t at all a bad thing.

The group pummels listeners with the sonic heaviness of tracks like “Wiener Blut,” “Waidsmanns Heil” and an mysteriously titled track listed only as “B********” on the CD jacket. Interestingly, the asterisks are completely unnecessary, as the title of the song is “buckstabu,” a word invented by the group that means “whatever you want.”
The album also sees the group exploring other directions. “Haifisch” sounds extremely similar to Depeche Mode’s earlier work, which makes sense, because the group counts Depeche Mode as one of their prime influences. There are also two ballads present, “Fruhling in Paris” and “Roter Sand,” both of which contrast beautifully with the overt crunch of the rest of the album.

The only song that is slightly disappointing is the album’s lead single “P***Y,” which was written for shock value and little else. It’s worthy to note that the video accompanying the song is shocking and if the viewer can handle pornographic images that parody and mimic 1970’s pornography, it’s worth a viewing.
Overall, a must-buy for any Rammstein fan, or metal fan for that matter. If you don’t mind listening to an album sung almost entirely in German, give this one a whirl.

Twilight: New Moon, The Motion Picture Soundtrack
Naysayers to the Twilight “saga” may have a beef with the film, but there’s no reason to hate on this soundtrack. The fifteen-track collection is comprised of some of the most wonderfully bleak indie music committed to disc and will without a doubt have both hipsters and tweens up on their feet dancing to the dark mix.

The album is interesting in the fact that it tonally matches the emotions expressed in the second Twilight novel perfectly. Whereas the soundtrack to the first film was much more fast-paced, and one may even say “heavier.” This album is much bleaker and reflects the overall depressing nature of the story.

Even the upbeat remix of the Muse track “I Belong To You” bears an unexplainable melancholy tone despite its bouncing beats and sing-along chorus.

The highlights of this album are the lead single “Meet Me at the Equinox” by Death Cab For Cutie and “Hearing Damage” by Radiohead’s Thom Yorke. Both songs were exclusively written for the soundtrack and the care the artists took in creating a specific tone that would fit that of the movie really shows. “Hearing Damage” literally sounds like a ride through a dark, haunted forest with Yorke’s voice as a lost ghost calling out among the trees.

The disc is a must -buy for indie fans and is worth it for the exclusive tracks alone. Get it on iTunes and you get five bonus tracks, including a wicked rock-tinged track by hip-hop artist Lupe Fiasco.

Michael Jackson – “The Remix Suite”
It’s only been about four months since Michael Jackson’s untimely death, but this is already his fifth posthumous release, with a handful of DVDs, a few rarity and greatest hits compilations and even a feature film on the way. Within the year, Jackson will have surpassed hip-hop artist Tupac Shakur in posthumous material and Shakur passed away thirteen years ago.

Most of the material that will probably be pushed out in the coming months will be drivel focused on capitalizing on the craze that surrounded Jackson’s death. This disc is no exception.

The first thing that was a little disconcerting about the disc was attributing the release to Michael Jackson himself.
A large amount of the songs on this record were originally recorded and performed during Jackson’s time in the Jackson 5. This gives the disc an unauthorized feeling, even though it clearly wasn’t as these remixes were originally released in installments on iTunes earlier this year.

The major thing wrong with this album though, is that the remixes are flat-out terrible when compared to their originals. Most of the tracks simply sound as though the original instrumentation was taken out and replaced with newer, hollower sounding electronic beats and noises.

The one good thing about this album is the Salaam Remi remix of “ABC,” which is given a Caribbean-flavor with added drums. It’s an interesting take on the song, and works extremely well.

Pass this one up if you see it on the shelves, as it will surely be joined by a slew of similarly atrocious Jackson remix albums by the end of the year in the clearance racks of your local record store.