Erdling (album)
| Earthling | ||||
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| Studio album by Wirtz | ||||
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Publication |
October 23, 2009 |
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| Label (s) | Wirtz music | |||
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Format (s) |
CD, download |
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Title (number) |
15th |
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running time |
60:00 |
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| occupation |
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Matthias Hoffmann |
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Erdling is the second solo album by German rock musician Daniel Wirtz . It was released on October 23, 2009 via his music label Wirtz Musik .
History of origin
Daniel Wirtz came up with the album title Erdling , which he also tattooed on his chest because, in his opinion, his debut album was very self-centered and this album should be about the responsibility that humans as inhabitants of our planet have for themselves and other people Has. Furthermore, he wanted to use the album title to express his incomprehension that there are always major conflicts between humans as the most highly developed species on this planet, which do not occur with any other species. He said about the meaning of the album title:
“This time I wanted a headline that describes what it is about. There was Erdling the buzzword for me. Everything related to living on this planet, what responsibility you have towards yourself and others. What are we? Why are we the way we are? Etc. That’s the same for me. Let's put it this way, if I've smoked a sports cigarette too much, then I come to the funnel every now and then to think about why there are all these arguments, all this hate in the world? Just because someone has a different skin color, believes in something else. As a person, why do you keep getting into your hair? There is no such thing in any other species. You will never see an anthill self-destruct. Everything is in harmony with itself, its surroundings, nature. Only the most highly developed being plays the virus and breaks everything. Accordingly, I simply identify with what belongs to the planet and accordingly try to share the responsibility that everything works. You can't just break everything just to have a little more fun yourself. On the other hand, there is also the aspect of the word Earthling that people seem to have been kidnapped by aliens and experiments were carried out on them. So I thought if I was kidnapped ... "
Wirtz sees the album as a continuation of the first album without repetitions and compares it with the second part of a film.
Immediately after the previous tour, Wirtz began working on the Erdling album . As with the previous album, he described the work on the album as therapy. He also said that the second album was the hardest in a career and that the pressure he put on himself while working on the album was very great. This was due to the fact that he only had one year to work on the album, during which concerts were played, the concerts of the subsequent tour had to be booked in advance and because he wanted to surpass his previous album. Wirtz described his life and work on the album as a “roller coaster ride” because he sometimes doubted his recordings, but found them again a few days later and because he was thinking about his financial future at the time. While the lyrics of the previous album 11 Witnesses were written before the music, they were written for Erdling to the music, whereby Wirtz tried to put the emotions of the songs into texts. From his point of view, the album is "harder and darker" than the previous album.
Regarding the way in which the lyrics for the album were written, Wirtz said:
“They arise under different circumstances. With some you really work four to five weeks to two or three months and sometimes write 19 versions until the 20th fits. Others arise when you let your melancholy run free, pop in a good bottle of red wine and write down what you have in your head. So there are relatively different ways in which the respective texts come about. Some also emerged very soberly, where you tried to see things really clearly and to recognize or analyze them. But in the end, writing is the most difficult task of all for me. In German it is "cheesy" very quickly or sounds like Schlager. And accordingly I have to turn and turn it 100 times until I finally have this one sentence that sounds very fresh and kitsch-free. "
Regarding the most difficult aspect of the text, he said:
“The difficult thing is, what I also found with the second record, not to describe, but to write from the point. That you really get to the core. You want z. B. that people think it's a red cloth without saying 'red' themselves. Everyone should think afterwards, it is red, without you having said anything about colors, the feeling has to come. Hitting that point was difficult. Sometimes I wrote 14, 15 different texts for a song, which actually, if you read them, would be killer texts, but not exactly. "
Cover design
On the cover picture you can see an artistic representation of Daniel Wirtz as an embryo with all his tattoos. It should symbolize that Wirtz regards his albums as his "children" and that they are very close to his heart. The embryo was created as a 3D model by a friend of Wirtz. The booklet contains close-ups of the depicted embryo from different angles.
Track list
| # | title | length |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | In free fall | 3:39 |
| 2 | Stories without a winner | 3:32 |
| 3 | Another star | 3:58 |
| 4th | The enemy in my head | 3:20 |
| 5 | My name | 3:36 |
| 6th | let me go | 4:03 |
| 7th | Miles away | 4:11 |
| 8th | shards | 6:15 |
| 9 | Free | 4:33 |
| 10 | LMAA | 3:27 |
| 11 | Ball head & one in mind | 4:10 |
| 12 | Do you see me | 3:42 |
| 13 | Nada Brahma | 4:30 |
| 14th | Goodbye | 3:03 |
| 15th | Overkill | 4:01 |
Background information on individual songs
In free fall
According to Wirtz, in free fall represents a link between the previous album 11 Zeugen and Erdling , because it takes up the aspect that the previous album was like self-therapy for Wirtz, but the text also “shows the way” for the rest of the album. The song was one of the first on the album to be completed and to which Wirtz was able to orient himself again and again and to conclude with the previous album.
Another star
In the song Wirtz takes up the same situation as in the song Mon Amour from the previous album 11 Witnesses , only with the difference that Wirtz views the incidents with a “healthy distance”. In the song Wirtz asks why he has humbled himself for a woman in his past, which is in the line: "I wonder how deep my sun was when I met you, that a dwarf like you cast shadows for so long" is expressed. He cannot understand it and seeks the explanation in the fact that the feelings blocked his thinking back then.
The enemy in my head
In the song Daniel Wirtz describes phases of depression he has experienced himself , which restrict his rational perception, and nighttime awakening triggered by fears. He uses the song in such situations to remind himself that his thinking and perception are affected in these situations.
My name
The song is about Wirtz wanting to “leave traces” with his music and leave something behind that can still be heard after he's already dead. In his opinion, not being forgotten is something that all people want.
Miles away
The motivation for the song was that Wirtz is of the opinion that mankind, although it is the most developed species on earth, does not live in harmony with one another and the environment and is the "virus" of the world, while animals are in harmony with one another live together with the environment. In the song Wirtz tries to illustrate this through several examples about humanity.
shards
Wirtz changed the words "fooling" and "shit" for the version on his 2014 album Unplugged to "deny". Wirtz said that if he had thought of it at the time, he would have used “deny” for the original version, as it would better fit the statement.
Free
Wirtz wrote the song for days when he thinks things wouldn't work right in Germany, as a reminder that the personal freedom he has in Germany is not a given in every country in the world. He said about the meaning of the song:
“Is a song that I wrote for myself. It's a memory to me I don't know about you, but I often have days when I think: “Man, Germany totally sucks!”. You just can't handle the front and back. Everything makes no sense at all. In such moments I think outside the box and look at other fates. In China I would definitely be publicly executed for a record like Earthling. There are definitely cool guys in Iraq who would definitely want to make a metal band, but they are not allowed to. And in Africa the only thing that is as loud as a kick drum is a mine that a kid just stepped on. If you keep that in mind, you are actually pretty cool here in comparison. If you just have to go to the doc for a moment, everything works fine here in Germany. And for all those who just can't do that, I remember it for them. "
LMAA
The song is Wirtz's reaction to negative contributions or rejections from radio stations or magazines that he received. The stanzas consist of quotations from such reviews. The refrain is Wirtz's response to the radio stations and magazines concerned. He complained that he had received comments on his debut album from 11 witnesses that had nothing to do with constructive criticism. He said about it:
“Sometimes there were really just comments like: 'Hey, man, dude, I don't know you' or 'Hey, he's anti-social!' When I hear that, I just think to myself, 'Do you know me? Have you ever sat at a table with me? '. It just annoys you because the press, which writes these things and is committed to reviewing records, has not even bothered to deal with the disc at all. If I go up and say: 'I just don't feel like it!', Then I have probably chosen the wrong job and should just think about doing something else. But these people, who say something like that, must in my opinion simply have some personal problems, for example because the old woman is stressed at home or the mother is annoying. Then there is the "Wirtz" on the table and some promoter wants to tell you that this is really awesome shit. I can understand that with a guy like this, the record review is a bit harder than with someone who had a good day, had wonderful sex or his girlfriend made him breakfast. "
Ball head & one in mind
The song deals with the subject of suicide and is dedicated to Karsten Hoffmann, who was a very good friend of Daniel Wirtz and who had committed suicide. Wirtz dedicated the song to him because nobody would have known what he had done for him, and Wirtz would like Karsten Hoffmann not to be forgotten.
Do you see me
The song is a love song and for Wirtz an attempt at a positive song on the album. In an interview in September 2013, Wirtz said that up to that point it was the happiest song he had written. Wirtz likes to play the song live because more and more people in every city see him, even though he doesn't know where they come from. The song belongs to these people.
Nada Brahma
In the song Wirtz deals with the philosophy from India , for which there is also a form of meditation , and which says that the world (Brahma) consists of sound (Nada) because he likes this idea. Wirtz said about the meaning of the song:
“The world is sound somehow. I stumbled across this sentence on the internet. It says that everything consists of sound, and that even every atom vibrates. Accordingly, with my music I am almost very close to what everything is. And maybe music is also the key to grabbing people, meeting them, just the soul of everything good and bad. With the lyrics you ultimately say that everything is sound and everything goes into sound and that we will all see each other again at some point, between Hendrix and Nirvana in Nada Brahma. "
Goodbye
Farewell was originally a bonus song for iTunes , which was added to this album as a bonus track due to the high demand from fans for the song at live concerts and the number of views on YouTube .
Overkill
Overkill was originally a B-side on the single for the song Keine Angst from the previous album 11 Witnesses . Since only about 400 to 500 copies of the single were sold, and because of fan demand for the song, Daniel Wirtz decided to add it to this album as a bonus track.
Commercial win
Erdling rose to number 44 in the German album charts on November 6, 2009, before leaving a week later. On June 19, 2015, the album returned to the charts at number 97 and two weeks later, on July 3, 2015, it reached its highest position at number 30. It was able to stay in the German charts for a total of eleven weeks. On July 3, 2015, the album entered the Austrian album charts at number 56 and stayed there for a total of two weeks. The album entered the Swiss charts at number 63 on June 28, 2015, before leaving the charts a week later.
reception
| Professional reviews | |
|---|---|
| Reviews | |
| source | rating |
| According to |
 
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| Rock hard |
 
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| Metal hammer |
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| Pressure Magazine |
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| CDStarts |
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Erdling received good reviews from the trade press.
Mike Borrink from the music magazine Rock Hard rated the album in November 2009 in issue no. 270 with seven out of ten possible points. He wrote about the album:
“When the name Sub7even is mentioned, many toenails still pucker today. The sound of the band around four former Rage members seemed too kitschy, too shallow and too constructed to many fans at the beginning of their careers. Thanks to the collaboration with head uncle Stephan Weidner , they recently worked their way back a few rough edges, but now only singer Daniel Wirtz seems really authentic on his two solo albums. 'Erdling' scolds the successor of '11 Zeugen '(2007), on which the Frankfurter by choice once again offers a mixture of rock, grunge and crude personal German texts (they don't seem upright, artificial or fake). At times it sounds like a somewhat harder version of Selig (with not that nasty Onkelz lyrics) and is therefore miles away from bands like Silbermond , the Hosen and the Doctors . "
Matthias Mineur from the music magazine Metal Hammer rated the album on November 1st, 2009 with six out of seven possible points. He wrote about the album:
“At the peak of Sub7even, Daniel Wirtz was the perfect son-in-law: smart face, fashionable hairstyle, well-groomed appearance, fine demeanor. Today, almost seven years later, the man with his tattooed body, daring beard and long mane seems to prefer the company of Slayer rather than enriching grandma and grandfather's Sunday coffee drinking. But: Wirtz has become a guy, a man with a distinctive charisma and his own musical identity. With his second solo disc ERDLING, Wirtz presents another great rock / alternative rock album with which Chris Cornell ( Soundgarden / Audioslave ) would surely delight the whole world. There are several absolute killer tracks on ERDLING, above all the two over-numbers 'Anderer Stern' and 'The enemy in my head'. "
trip
In November and December 2009 Wirtz played a tour for the album with 17 concerts. The tour was extended by ten more concerts in February and March 2010. The tour had a total of around 10,000 visitors. On March 26, 2010, a live DVD of the concert in the Batschkapp in Frankfurt was released.
First part of the tour
November 8, 2009: Ludwigsburg - Rockfabrik
November 9, 2009: Ludwigshafen am Rhein - dasHaus
November 11, 2009: Hamburg - Evil & Dangerous
November 12, 2009: Lübeck - Rider's Cafe
November 14, 2009: Berlin - Columbia Club
November 15, 2009: Leipzig - Moritzbastei
November 17, 2009: Munich - Culture Center Backstage
November 18, 2009: Nuremberg - Hirsch
November 20, 2009: Augsburg - canteen
November 21, 2009: Dresden - Beatpol
November 23, 2009: Frankfurt am Main - Batschkapp
November 24, 2009: Cologne - Stollwerck
November 25, 2009: Bochum - Matrix
November 27, 2009: Bielefeld - Kamp
November 28, 2009: Ahlen - shoe factory
November 29, 2009: Hanover - Music Center
December 1, 2009: Losheim - railway hall
Second part of the tour
February 27, 2010: Nordhorn - Barn
March 1, 2010: Aschaffenburg - Colos Hall
March 3, 2010: Dortmund - FZW
March 5, 2010 Stuttgart - Tube
March 6, 2010: Chemnitz - Talschock
March 7, 2010: Magdeburg - fire station
March 10, 2010: Rostock - MAU Club
March 11, 2010: Bremen - Tower
March 12, 2010: Jena - F-House
March 14, 2010: Braunschweig - Meiers Music Hall
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c d e Michael Edele: "This is the death knell for Universal!" On: laut.de. November 27, 2009. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
- ↑ a b c d e f Interview with Daniel Wirtz ( Memento of the original from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. On: hardharderheavy.de. November 16, 2009. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
- ↑ a b c d e f g h i j Interview with Daniel Wirtz - An Earthling on the Way to Enlightenment On: pressure-magazine.de. September 8, 2013. Retrieved August 8, 2015
- ↑ a b c d Interview with Daniel Wirt on: terrorverlag.com. July 7, 2009. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
- ↑ a b Interview with Daniel Wirtz on: punkrocknews.de. November 19, 2009. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
- ↑ Michael Edele: "I am absolutely for GEMA!" On: laut.de. April 1, 2014. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
- ↑ Wirtz discography on: daniel-wirtz.com. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
- ↑ H. Scharff: Interview with Daniel Wirtz on: gestromt.de. March 21, 2010. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
- ↑ Chart sources: DE AT CH
- ↑ a b Michael Edele: Album review: Erdling Auf: laut.de. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
- ↑ a b c d Mike Borrink: Album review: Erdling On: rockhard.de. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
- ↑ a b c d Matthias Mineur: Album review: Erdlling On: metal-hammer.de. November 1, 2009. Retrieved August 6, 2015.
- ↑ a b Marcus Berg: Album review: Erdling On: pressure-magazine.de. September 8, 2013. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
- ↑ a b Albert Ranner: Album review: Erdling Auf: cdstartsde. Retrieved August 8, 2015.
- ↑ Wirtz new album and tour ( page no longer available , search in web archives ) Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. On: metal.de. October 8, 2009. Retrieved August 10, 2015.
- ↑ WIRTZ - "Erdling-Tour 2010" On: festivalhopper.de. January 16, 2010. Retrieved August 10, 2015
- ↑ Discography on: wirtzmusik.de. Retrieved August 29, 2015.
