Reise, Reise

Reise, Reise (German pronunciation: [ʁaɪzə, ʁaɪzə], a German wake-up call, literally “(a)rise, (a)rise”, although it can also be interpreted as meaning “journey, journey”, or as a command “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. The album was recorded in a span of two years at El Cortijo Studios in Málaga, Spain. It was produced by the band themselves along with Swedish record producer Jacob Hellner. The album charted in the top ten in several European charts and was a number one hit in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Iceland, Finland, Estonia and Mexico. As of February 2006, the album has shipped 1.5 million copies globally.

The album is based on the crash of Japan Airlines Flight 123 on the evening of August 12, 1985. Twelve minutes into its flight, the Boeing 747 suffered an explosive decompression due to failure of its rear pressure bulkhead, caused by a faulty repair years earlier. The explosion tore off most of the aircraft’s vertical stabilizer and ruptured all four of the hydraulic systems, causing the loss of all flight control surfaces and rendering the aircraft uncontrollable. The pilots fought to keep the aircraft aloft for nearly 32 minutes, but eventually became trapped in the towering mountain ranges surrounding Mt. Fuji and crashed, killing 520 out of the 524 passengers and crew on board. As of 2016, it remains the deadliest single aircraft disaster in history. Some pressings of the album contain a recording of the last 30 seconds of the flight as an easter egg hidden in the pregap. The length of the album is often related to the Japan Airlines Flight 123’s Boeing 747 that suffered an accident.

The album artwork shows a damaged aeroplane cockpit voice 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 (like Michael Douglas in Falling Down) 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. While past albums have all featured the six band members in various photographic scenarios, “Reise Reise” features a minimal packaging, and there are no photographs featuring the band’s members.