''Rheingold'' is the 11th studio album by German heavy metal band Grave Digger. It is a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. So ...

based on

Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...

's ''

The Ring of the Nibelung (''The Ring of the Nibelung''), WWV 86, is a cycle of four German-language epic music dramas composed by Richard Wagner. The works are based loosely on characters from Germanic heroic legend, namely Norse legendary sagas and the ''Nibelunge ...

''. The album was released in 2003. Many lines of the lyrics are quoted or paraphrased from (an English translation of) Wagner. The music also has occasional references to Wagner, the most obvious one perhaps being the intro to the song "Dragon", which is the "Siegfried's Horn Call"

leitmotif A leitmotif or leitmotiv () is a "short, recurring musical phrase" associated with a particular person, place, or idea. It is closely related to the musical concepts of ''idée fixe'' or ''motto-theme''. The spelling ''leitmotif'' is an anglic ...

Track listing

All songs are composed and arranged by Boltendahl/Becker/Katzenburg/Schmidt; all lyrics by Boltendahl.

Album line-up

* Chris Boltendahl - vocals * Manni Schmidt - guitars * Jens Becker - bass * Stefan Arnold - drums * H.P. Katzenburg - keyboards {{Authority control Grave Digger (band) albums 2003 albums Concept albums Nuclear Blast albums