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Teutonic Knights - Kerrang! reviews Live aus Berlin Issue 941 08-Feb-03

Rammstein
Live aus Berlin (Island DVD/£16.99)
KKK

Germanic Metalhead’s Live DVD re-release fails to ignite

That Rammstein are one of the greatest live bands in the Western hemisphere is beyond question. Between the lasers, the flamethrowers and the spunk- shooting prosthetic dicks, they've pretty much got all the bases covered. As a document of a Rammstein show, 'Live Aus Berlin' (originally released in 1999 on video, and now available on DVD for the first time) is largely faultless. Seventeen tracks, lifted from their first two albums, presented in sparkling digital form? Check. Pyros? Check. Rubber knobs? Check. Ironic po-faced posturing? Check.

No, the problem here is what isn't on the disc. Extra features are sparse: you can watch three songs ('Tier','Du Hast'and a particularly pyro-tastie'Rammstein') from six different perspectives, and there's a subtitled, 15-minute long featurette that mixes surprisingly humorous interviews with all six band members, including notoriously publicity-shy frontman Till Lindemann, with tantalisingly brief clips of their early promo videos. But that's all there is. No behind-the-scenes insights, no historical content, not even one promo clip in its entirety. You don't walk out of a Rammstein show thinking, 'That was... alright'. Which is precisely what makes 'Live Aus Berlin' so frustrating.
DAVE EVERLEY

© 2005 Sue Lindemann