From Liebe ist für alle da · 2009 · Track 1
Rammlied
«Ramm song»
More from the album · Liebe ist für alle da
In context
A chorus that spells out the band's name over a marching beat. No character, no story: it is an entrance.
- The band on itself
- Slogan
- Opener
- Origin
- Opens “Liebe ist für alle da” (2009). On that album's tour it was the song that started the concert. There is a “Thrash-terpiece Remix” by Robb Flynn (Machine Head), arranged through Roadrunner Records with a single instruction: as brutal as possible, with total freedom.
- The German key
- The chorus explains nothing: it repeats the name until it becomes a slogan. It is a staging decision more than a compositional one.
- What the band has said
- Flynn described his process: he changed about 90% of the rhythms, put in thrash and blast beats, a slow drum-machine beat and an old-school hip-hop rhythm in the breakdown. The initial idea was to use only programmed drums, but the thrash parts sounded flat, so he called Jon Allen (Sadus, Testament) to play them for real.
- Live
- The fixed concert opener during the 2009–2011 tour.
Our reading
Rammstein had done something similar fourteen years earlier with “Rammstein”. The difference is position and tone: that one closed the album of an unknown band; this one opens the sixth album of a band that filled stadiums, and instead of introducing itself it sounds like it is claiming a place it already had.
The archive's interpretation, not an official account.
A band announcing itself
“Rammlied” opens Liebe ist für alle da and its subject is the band itself: a choir spelling out the name over a marching step, the line-up introducing itself before the record proper begins. There is no character and no story; it is an entrance.
Rammstein had done something similar on their first album with “Rammstein”, fourteen years earlier. The difference is position and tone. That one was the closing track by an unknown group; this one opens the sixth record by a band filling stadiums, and instead of introducing itself it sounds like it is claiming ground it already held. The choir explains nothing: it repeats the name until it becomes a slogan.
It is a staging decision more than a compositional one, and it works as such: on that album’s tour it was the song the concert started with.
The remix they approved
The version known as the “Thrash-terpiece Remix” was made by Robb Flynn, singer of the American thrash metal band Machine Head. The name comes from a demo of his own song “Aesthetics of Hate”.
By Flynn’s account, the approach came through the label Roadrunner Records with a single instruction: make it as brutal as possible, with total freedom. He changed around 90% of the beats, reworked arrangements, added thrash patterns and blast beats, a slow drum-machine beat and an old-school hip hop beat for the breakdown. The original plan was to use programmed drums throughout, but the thrash sections sounded flat, so he brought in Jon Allen — drummer for Sadus and Testament — to play them for real.
The detail that best captures the operation: secrecy around the record was such that Allen could not be played the original song. He recorded blind, following only the click track. Of the several remixes commissioned, Flynn said his was the only one the band approved.
For years that remix was only obtainable by pre-ordering the album on iTunes. It was finally released digitally on 6 February 2026, as a b-side to the “Pussy” single.
Context
First track on Liebe ist für alle da (16 October 2009), recorded in 2008 at Sonoma Mountain Studio in California. Its working title was “Ramm-Mix”. It was played 148 times live between 27 October 2009 and 5 August 2023.
Notes by Rammstein Colombia, for the purpose of analysis. The original lyrics belong to their authors and are not reproduced in this entry.