The first song written for this album was "Rammstein", which was also the first song ever written by the band. The last song to be written was most likely "Asche zu Asche" since it wasn't played at their concerts in 1994, unlike all the other songs. A few songs were written in English before they were translated into German. There are also nine songs known from that era that did not make it onto the album:
"Jeder lacht"
Unknown instrumental song
"Schwarzes Glas"
"Wilder Wein"
"Alter Mann"
"Feuerräder"
"Tier"
"Tiefer gelegt"
"Sadist"
Artwork
The original cover caused controversy when it was originally revealed. It shows the band topless and sweaty. The press said Rammstein depicted themselves in this image as "Herrenmenschen". Guitarist Kruspe said: "Das ist völliger Quatsch, das ist einfach nur ein Foto". Till Lindemann added, that it was a quick shot on a parking lot somewhere in Berlin. North American versions had a different cover, consisting of the band members' faces from the inside of the original booklet, placed side-by-side. Rammstein's first commercial logo was made for Herzeleid by Dirk Rudolph. This variation uses a thinner "T" character than what is used in later logos.
Release
Herzeleid was released on CD in many countries; The US and Canadian versions had alternative front covers, and were released by Slash Records, but still retained the same songs as on the German version. XIII Bis Records in France released Herzeleid on CD, as well as most of Rammstein's releases before 1999.
Some editions of the Herzeleid CD were censored. Some copies had the words "Schulhof" and "töten" beeped out during Weisses Fleisch, and other versions had these words removed from the CD's lyric booklet, but not from the song itself.
South Korean CDs excluded the song Das alte Leid from the tracklist and booklet, although the track is still on the CD.
Countries such as South Korea, Poland, Germany and the US produced commercial cassettes for the album. European countries received cassettes featuring the original cover, but US cassettes featured the different cover that they also used on CDs.
A very scarce number of German CDs were released with stickers to promote Rammstein's concert on 27 September 1996 slotted in the back of the case, in front of the insert artwork.
A Motor Music pre-release cassette of the album was issued; there are two different variations of this tape, but the only difference is the appearance of the eszett character used in the title of Weisses Fleisch.
The only time Herzeleid has ever been released on vinyl is on the XXI boxset, and the subsequently released individual LPs from said boxset.
Reception and legacy
In 2005, Herzeleid was ranked number 303 in Rock Hard magazine's book of "The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time".
Track listing
Personnel
Writing, performance and production credits are adapted from the album liner notes. ;Rammstein
