Völkerball is released in the following formats:

*Standard Edition: 2 Disc Set (1 DVD, 140 minutes Live Video + 1 CD, 75 minutes Live Audio).

*Special Edition: 3 Disc Set (1 DVD, 140 minutes Live Video + 1 DVD, 90 minutes Documentation, incl.: 'Anaconda in the Net' + 'Reise, Reise: The Making Of The Album' + 1 CD, 75 minutes Live Audio).

*Limited Edition: 190 Pages Tour-Photobook, incl. all 3 Disc contents of the Special Edition + the entire live-audio-recordings of the concerts (140 minutes) on an additional 4th Disc!

Formed in 1994 in East Berlin, Germany, this confrontational alternative rock band first came to international prominence when film and television director David Lynch ( Twin Peaks ) declared his admiration and commissioned them to work with him. By this time, Rammstein's explosive, unhinged live shows had already made them famous throughout mainland Europe. The band comprises former Olympic swimmer Till Lindemann (b. 4 January 1963, Leipzig, Germany; vocals), Richard Kruspe (b. 24 June 1967, Wittenburg, Germany; guitar), Paul Landers (b. 9 December 1964, Berlin, Germany; guitar), Christoph Schneider (b. 11 May 1966, Berlin, Germany; drums), Oliver Riedel (b. 11 April 1971, Schwerin, Germany; bass) and "Flake" Lorenz (b. Christian Lorenz, 6 November 1966, Berlin, Germany; keyboards).

Their pyrotechnics earned them comparisons to Kiss, but their frenzied industrial metal sound and dubious lyrics were less obviously commercial. Those lyrics, touching on subjects including child molestation and natural and man-made catastrophes, at first saw them attract a right-wing audience - although the band strenuously deny that this was their intention. Rammstein, allegedly named after the 1988 air show disaster that killed 80, although the word translates directly as "a battering ram made of stone".

They made their debut in September 1995 with Herzeleid, produced in Sweden by Jacob Hellner (previously a veteran of work with Clawfinger ) on a modest budget. Nevertheless, the record sold in excess of half a million copies in Germany alone, and established the band as a potent commercial force. By the time Sehnsucht followed in August 1997, they had extended their popularity via a clutch of headlining appearances at European festivals. Following Lynch's inclusion of two Rammstein songs on the soundtrack to his 1996 movie Lost Highway, US gore-metal fans, who followed controversial acts such as Marilyn Manson and KMFDM, were also won over.

Like Manson, the band were forced to defend themselves after becoming embroiled in the moral outfall from the infamous Colombine High School killings - the two teenage killers had namechecked Rammstein after shooting 15 of their classmates in April 1999.

Although they sing in German, all the band's lyrics are translated in accompanying CD liner notes, adding to their growing international appeal.

Kann man Herzen brechen
können Herzen sprechen
kann man Herzen quälen
kann man Herzen stehlen

Sie wollen mein Herz am rechten Fleck
doch seh ich dann nach unten weg
da schlägt es links

Können Herzen singen
kann ein Herz zerspringen
können Herzen rein sein
kann ein Herz aus Stein sein

Sie wollen mein Herz am rechten Fleck
doch seh ich dann nach unten weg
da schlägt es links
links zwo drei vier

Kann man Herzen fragen
ein Kind darunter tragen
kann man es verschenken
mit dem Herzen denken

Sie wollen mein Herz am rechten Fleck
doch seh ich dann nach unten weg
da schlägt es in der linken Brust
der Neider hat es schlecht gewusst

Links zwo drei vier


translation

Can you break hearts
can hearts speak
can you torture hearts
can you steal hearts

They want my heart on the right spot
but then I look below
it beats left there

Can hearts sing
can a heart burst
can hearts be pure
can a heart be made of stone

They want my heart on the right spot
but then I look below
it beats left there
left two three four left *

Can you ask hearts
(can you) carry a child under yourself
can you give it away
(can you) think with your heart

They want my heart on the right spot
but then I look below
it beats there in the left breast
the envious have not known it well

Left two three four left