Mutter (; English: "Mother") is the third studio album by German Neue Deutsche Härte band Rammstein. It was released on 2 April 2001 through Motor and Universal Music. The album's cover image is a photograph of a dead fetus, which was taken by Daniel & Geo Fuchs. The album has yielded six singles which, to date, are the most released from any Rammstein album.

Writing and recording From September to December 1999, the band rented the house Weimar in Heiligendamm on the Baltic Sea for pre-production. The sound recordings took place in May and June 2000 at Studio Miraval in southern France. In advance of the album's release, Rammstein released the song "Links 2 3 4" on their website for download in December 2000. The single "Sonne" was released in January 2001.

Versions "Mutter" was released in various versions, initially as a normal CD and, in Germany, also as a vinyl LP. A digipack was also released, which was exported to other countries. Another double CD edition with the video of ‘Sonne’ and the track Halleluja was released in the USA. The Japanese version contains Halleluja two minutes later—as a so-called ‘hidden track’—after the end of the regular CD. The album was later released as a limited tour edition, which contains four live tracks on a second CD. The cover remained unchanged, except for the colour, which became red. A vinyl pressing of the Japanese version has existed since 2013, but it is merely a bootleg, or more precisely, a counterfeit. It also contains the song Halleluja, but in two different versions: Once as Halleluja (with choirs at the beginning) and once as ‘Halleluja’ (without choirs at the beginning).

Critical reception and legacy

In 2005, Mutter was ranked number 324 in Rock Hard magazine's book The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.

In the interview with Noizr Zine, the well-known Swedish producer and musician Peter Tägtgren advised "Mutter" as a reference work for beginner producers: "I think, if you are not into death metal or something like that, but if you are into metal, I would say maybe Rammstein’s "Mutter" is very good, because it has a lot of different elements, it has orchestra parts, heavy guitars, good drum sound — that could be a good reference."

Track listing

There are various editions of Mutter, each with different features: The Limited Tour Edition had the same cover, but red with the Rammstein logo embossed on the front. It also had a second CD with the following live tracks: "Ich will" – 3:57 "Links 2 3 4" – 4:54 "Sonne" – 4:42 "Spieluhr" – 5:27 The Japanese edition had "Halleluja" as a hidden track, found after "Nebel" (there is a two-minute intermission of silence). The track was later included in the Resident Evil soundtrack, but does not appear in the film. The limited edition had a second CD with just one track, "Halleluja", and a CD-ROM area featuring the "Sonne" video. There is a spelling error on the back album track listing: it is listed as "Hallelujah" but the bonus CD itself has the song listed as "Halleluja", which is the correct spelling. A 12" vinyl version and a MC version were released, with the same track list (Side A = 1–6; B = 7–11) The Limited Tour Edition was also released as a double cassette set, with the second cassette containing the live tracks (Side A = 1–2; B = 3–4). The Turkish cassette release of the album fades all songs out at 3:44.

Note: Some copies that have "Halleluja" as a hidden track can not be played for unknown reasons. On 3 April 2010 Rammstein posted a video with an official translation of "Halleluja" on their Facebook page, "in light of recent events".

Personnel Rammstein Till Lindemann – vocals Richard Kruspe – lead guitar Paul Landers – rhythm guitar Christian Lorenz – keyboards Oliver Riedel – bass Christoph Schneider – drums

Guest musicians Bobo – background vocals on "Nebel" Khira Li Lindemann – additional vocals on "Spielhur" Olsen Involtini – string arrangements on "Mein Herz brennt", "Mutter" and "Nebel" Orchestra parts by the Deutsches Filmorchester Babelsberg, conducted by Gunter Joseck Samples on "Sonne" courtesy of Spectrasonic's "Symphony of Voices"

Production Jacob Hellner – production Rammstein – production Ulf Kruckenberg – engineer Dirk Rudolph – sleeve design Daniel & Geo Fuchs – photography

Charts

Weekly charts +Weekly chart performance for Mutter Chart (2001) PeakpositionEurope (European Top 100 Albums) 2Spanish Albums (AFYVE)9 +2023 weekly chart performance for Mutter Chart (2023) Peakposition Lithuanian Albums (AGATA) 3 +2025 weekly chart performance for Mutter Chart (2025) Peakposition +2026 weekly chart performance for Mutter Chart (2026) Peakposition Portuguese Streaming Albums (AFP) 197

Year-end charts Chart (2001) PositionAustrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)13Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)21Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)54Europe (European Top 100 Albums)38German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)3Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)37

Chart (2002) PositionDutch Albums (Album Top 100)57

Chart (2019) PositionBelgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)124

Chart (2021) PositionBelgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)193

Chart (2022) Position Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) 73 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) 106 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) 83

Chart (2023) Position Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) 73 Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) 117 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) 82

Chart (2024) Position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) 105 German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) 87

Chart (2025) Position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) 168

Certifications

References