Sehnsucht ("Desire" or "Longing") is the second studio album by German Neue Deutsche Härte band Rammstein. It was released on 22 August 1997, through Motor Music in Europe and Slash Records in the United States. It is the only album entirely in German to be certified platinum by the RIAA in the US. The album peaked at No. 1 on the Austrian and German charts. In 2020, Metal Hammer included it in their list of Top 10 1997 Albums.

Cover art

The album booklet folds out to reveal six different covers, one for each band member (each photo depicting the member with vintage medical / surgical instruments). The cover most commonly seen shows Christoph Schneider with a barbed-wire-laced worn as an oral gag and his eyes rolled back into his head. The cover art was created by Austrian artist Gottfried Helnwein, who also created the cover for the Scorpions' Blackout album, which the Sehnsucht cover resembles.

Track listing

Additional notes

Special editions

Multiple special editions of Sehnsucht were released, offering different bonus tracks:

Anniversary Edition

On 15 April 2023, Rammstein released a short teaser to their social media channels, showing the album's various front covers along to the intro of Bück dich. A day later, another teaser was posted, with footage of the band rehearsing Engel on 18 April 1997. The caption of that video announced the "Sehnsucht Anniversary Edition". On 17 April 2023, a third teaser followed, including footage from Live aus Berlin and the announcement, that the pre-order of the anniversary edition would start the next day, 19 April. The Anniversary Edition was scheduled for release on 9 June 2023. Besides being remastered, the album features an exclusive new mix of Spiel mit mir, titled "2023 Mix", and a 40 page booklet with previously unreleased photos of Gottfried Helnwein.

Personnel

Rammstein Guest vocals Production

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications