Mensch (album) explained

Mensch
Type:	Studio album
Artist:	Herbert Grönemeyer
Cover:	Mensch cover.jpg
Released:	30 August 2002
Length:	48:32
Producer:	Alex Silva, Herbert Grönemeyer
Prev Title:	Stand der Dinge
Prev Year:	2000
Next Title:	12
Next Year:	2007

Mensch, released in August 2002, is the 20th studio album by German rock/pop artist Herbert Grönemeyer. Mensch ("Human") is Grönemeyer's 11th full-length album of original compositions. It is the most successful German-language album to date.

Background

The title track "Mensch" became Grönemeyer's first number-one single in Germany. The mood of the album reflects the then recent death of his wife, Anna Henkel, and Wilhelm, one of his older brothers, both of cancer, within a week, and is rich with poetic imagery. The songs range from rock to ballads. The richness of the imagery and language, as well as the use of creative word play, can make the lyrics difficult to understand and interpret by listeners who are not fluent in German. In Mensch Grönemeyer reflects on his own humanity as it relates to feeling loss. The song "Der Weg" in particular focuses on memories of his wife and the love they shared, while the song "Unbewohnt" is dealing with the loneliness and depression he felt after his wife's death.

The full-length album was released in three versions:

• a copy-protected CD
• a 12" vinyl LP album
• a hybrid Super Audio CD, containing standard compact disc stereo, Super Audio CD high-resolution stereo, and Super Audio CD high-resolution multi-channel audio content.

The compact disc and the Super Audio CD (CD layer and high-resolution SACD stereo sections) contain a hidden track after about fifteen minutes of silence at the end of the last song. The album is entirely in German.

Mensch was a huge success in Germany, Austria and Switzerland and sold nearly 4 million copies, making it the best-selling German-language record of all time, also being certified with 21 x Gold in Germany.^[1]

Charts and certifications

Chart positions

Charts (2002)	Peak position	Year-end (2002)	Year-end (2003)	Year-end (2004)	Decade-end (2000–09)	All-time
Austria (Ö3 Austria Top 40)	1^[2]	2^[3]	3^[4]	69^[5]	6^[6]	20^[7]
Germany (Media Control Charts)	1^[8]	1^[9]	3^[10]			1^[11]
Netherlands (MegaCharts)	38^[12]
Switzerland (Schweizer Hitparade)	1^[13]	4^[14]	47^[15]			120^[16]

Singles

Year	Title	Chart positions			Certifications
		AT	CH	DE ^[17]
2002	"Mensch"	1	2	1	BVMI: Platinum^[18] IFPI CH: Gold^[19]
	"Der Weg"	14	35	12
2003	"Demo (Letzter Tag)"	53	—	36
	"Zum Meer"	—	—	81

See also

• List of best-selling albums in Germany

External links

• Mensch on Discogs
• CD-Kritik: Herbert Grönemeyer - Mensch rezensator.de

Notes and References

1. Web site: Highest Gold Platinum certifications . 24 July 2010 . International Federation of the Phonographic Industry . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110104050205/http://www.musikindustrie.de/fileadmin/piclib/presse/Dokumente_zum_Download/Gold_Platin_Hoechstverleihungen_Stand_100621.pdf . 4 January 2011 .
2. Web site: Austrian weekly albums chart . Ö3 Austria Top 40 . German . 9 September 2002 . 5 October 2012.
3. Web site: Austrian annual albums chart . Ö3 Austria Top 40 . German . 2002 . 5 October 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20141206170348/http://www.austriancharts.at/year.asp?id=2002&cat=a . 6 December 2014 .
4. Web site: Austrian annual albums chart . Ö3 Austria Top 40 . German . 2003 . 5 October 2012.
5. Web site: Austrian annual albums chart . Ö3 Austria Top 40 . German . 2004 . 5 October 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131231022618/http://www.austriancharts.at/year.asp?id=2004&cat=a . 31 December 2013 .
6. Web site: Austrian decennially albums chart . Ö3 Austria Top 40 . German . 2000–2009 . 5 October 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20110906025015/http://www.austriancharts.at/00er_album.asp . 6 September 2011 .
7. Web site: Austrian all-time albums chart . Ö3 Austria Top 40 . German . 5 October 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140727232343/http://www.austriancharts.at/bestall_a.asp . 27 July 2014 .
8. Web site: Chartverfolgung: Herbert Grönemeyer . Media Control Charts . German . 16 September 2002 . 5 October 2012.
9. Web site: German annual albums chart . Media Control Charts . Charts.de . German . 2002 . 5 October 2012.
10. Web site: German annual albums chart . Media Control Charts . Charts.de . German . 2003 . 5 October 2012.
11. Web site: Best-selling albums of all time in Germany . International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (Germany) . Musik Industrie . German . 5 October 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20120707075739/http://www.musikindustrie.de/fileadmin/piclib/presse/Dokumente_zum_Download/Gold_Platin_Hoechstverleihungen_Stand_100621.pdf . 7 July 2012 .
12. Web site: Dutch weekly albums chart . MegaCharts . Dutch . 1 February 2003 . 5 October 2012.
13. Web site: Swiss weekly albums chart . Schweizer Hitparade . German . 15 September 2002 . 5 October 2012.
14. Web site: Swiss annual albums chart . Schweizer Hitparade . German . 2002 . 5 October 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20131203113011/http://hitparade.ch/year.asp?key=2002 . 3 December 2013 .
15. Web site: Swiss annual albums chart . Schweizer Hitparade . German . 2003 . 5 October 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20040204154136/http://hitparade.ch/year.asp?key=2003 . 4 February 2004 .
16. Web site: Swiss all-time albums chart . Schweizer Hitparade . German . 5 October 2012.
17. Web site: Chartverfolgung: Herbert Grönemeyer . Media Control Charts . German . 5 October 2012.
18. Web site: German certification . Bundesverband Musikindustrie . German . 2002 . 5 October 2012.
19. Web site: Swiss certification . International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (Switzerland) . German . 2002 . 5 October 2012.