Kraftwerk

Although they are nowhere near as well known as the other bands that could make this claim, Kraftwerk do have a stake as one of the most influential bands of all time, next to The Beatles, The Who, The Clash, etc, though they were influential in a much different way. They are the godfathers of electronic music, and you still hear traces of their "classic" period today despite it being nearly three decades old. They're certainly not the first to use the synthesizer, and many of their ideas had already been developed by other German groups (such as Cluster and Neu!), but they were one of the first (and most popular) groups to explore the idea of the fully-synthesized pop song, which eventually spun itself into all sorts of genres such as synthpop, techno, and even house. I suppose this kind of begs the question of "wouldn't we have this type of music even without them"? That's a valid point (and something you could easily ask about the Beatles as well) - I mean guys like Brian Eno and Haruomi Hosono were halfway there already, but let me point out that Kraftwerk remain one of the most heavily sampled bands of all time, even now. If the beats on "Autobahn" or "Trans-Europe Express" or "Numbers" sound familiar, that's why; they laid out the blueprint for modern electronic pop music, something that has changed surprisingly little in the last few decades.

So why listen to 'em now, when their synthesizers were so much more primitive and sounded roughly equivalent to Super Nintendo music? Well, once you get past the initial shock of "this is really dated", the music itself really does shine through. When these guys hit their stride, they put out an enviable run of classic singles (and albums) that still hold up, mostly thanks to the group's dedication to the best possible in sound quality and clarity. They do have a certain "classic" component to their work, and its incredible how well the albums suck you in despite sounding so old-fashioned. This is not just a debate of "old technology" vs. "new technology" - XTC didn't obsolete the Beatles any more than 808 State or Orbital obsoleted Kraftwerk. They’re still musicians and composers, even if they tried most of their careers to look and perform like robots. If you look at any of their album covers which actually show a photo of the band, you'd wonder if they were even human. They're known for their many concepts, but their ultimate one was the "man-machine", which manifested itself in many of their releases. But this isn't exactly Autechre or even Aphex Twin; their music can be danced to (stiffly, of course), is rife with melody, and ultimately is fairly accessible. It's not exactly "music by computers, for computers" as so many have written; this is definitely for humans. There's a surface coldness and sense of detachment behind the sound, but most of their melodies turn out to be surprisingly warm. Anyone who is interested in electronic music should at least pick up their better albums; even if you’re not big on their sound, they are very interesting from a historical perspective, and I feel as though albums like Trans-Europe Express are going to hold up decades after their imitators are forgotten.

Anyway, Kraftwerk began as Organisation, a short-lived jam band that released one album and split. Ralf Hutter and Florian Schneider transformed the group into Kraftwerk, who were a recklessly experimental and rapidly shifting group with an unstable lineup, at one time even including both members of Neu!. Things stabilized in the following years, and by 1975 the “classic” quartet of Ralf Hutter, Florian Schneider, Wolfgang Flur, and Karl Bartos had formed. Hutter played synths, while Schneider played flute, violin, and other assorted instruments during the early period. By the time Flur and Bartos joined, all four were basically on the keyboards, with Hutter as vocalist. As far as I know Flur and Bartos were responsible for most of the electronic percussion work, not only in performance but in actually building the instruments themselves. I credit Bartos with giving the group their final push into immortality, though of course I could be wrong. Hutter and Schneider were the primary songwriters, though Bartos gets a credit here and there. Flur left in 1987 and was replaced by Fritz Hilpert; later Bartos got tired of the group’s slow pace and left in 1991, replaced by Henning Schmitz. Schneider himself left the group in 2008, and in their sporadic live appearances was replaced by Stefan Pfaffe. In the end, this does not matter much since Kraftwerk has remained mostly dormant since 1986, mostly headlining festivals and very occasionally releasing new material.

Before we begin (finally), a few discography notes. All the releases through Autobahn were in German, which was fine since they were practically all instrumental anyway. On Radio-Activity they reached out to a broader audience by singing some lyrics in German and some in English (often the same lines in both languages). Starting with Trans-Europe Express, all their albums (up to 1991’s The Mix) were just released with separate English and German versions. Some singles would also be released in Spanish, French, or even Japanese. The lyrics are different, but nothing else has changed. I mention this because usually “alternate language” releases change up a few things and become collectors’ items, but I wouldn’t bother with these guys. Kraftwerk are actually quite notable in that they do not really have B-sides or unreleased tracks – their one (!) non-album track was released in 1999. So if you’re a collector, there is really not much to hunt down. Their B-sides tend to be either album tracks or alternate language versions. In a few cases there is a remix. Several “rare” tracks credited to Kraftwerk that show up on file-sharing services and fan bootlegs are pretty clearly not them. These guys are obnoxiously careful about what they release. In 2009, all Kraftwerk studio albums starting with Autobahn were released in a box set called The Catalogue. They sell those individually as well and for my money are the best sounding masters available. So on to the reviews:

Organisation - Tone Float (1970)
Hutter and Schneider's first project, Organisation was basically an improv-based jam band that eventually morphed into the early Kraftwerk. There were five members, most of whom are credited with "percussion". Besides that, Hutter plays the organ and Schneider plays flute and violin, which are the only other consistent instruments on here. There is a bassist, but save for "Milk Rock" he doesn't really get used and stays down in the mix. And that's it - these guys could jam, but did so without a guitarist or a vocalist (although one is credited, he doesn't get any lines, you only kind of hear him yelling at the end of the record), which I guess makes them kind of unique. At least there's all flavors of percussion - triangles, cowbells, gongs, bongos, and a few instruments I can't really identify. It's not rough on the ears, just kind of formless - the first side spends ten minutes building itself into nothing, and by the time things finally start to roll it's nearly over. The second side has a couple of exciting pieces - "Milk Rock" has a rev-up bass line and some disorienting organ sounds, and "Rhythm Salad" is a four minute flurry of percussion. The bottom line is that they were probably trying to imitate Pink Floyd stuff like "Interstellar Overdrive" but just kind of wind up banging on their bongos and making their violins cry. It's an okay listen but the lack of structure, songwriting, and talent makes it something that you probably won't want to hear more than once. They sound a lot more like Amon Duul I then they do Kraftwerk. Had Hutter and Schneider not played on it, there is no way anyone would have remembered this album today. Somehow this wound up getting reissued in 1996, including a bonus track from 1971 - an 11 minute live jam on the TV show Beat Club. It eventually becomes quite intense and is the most exciting thing on here; although it's not listed who's on the track, the existence of a guitar player makes me believe that this is from the short-lived Kraftwerk/Neu! hybrid that was around in the summer of '71; for more check out the Bremen Radio 1971 bootleg.

Kraftwerk (1971)
More interesting than Tone Float, as parts of this actually seem composed rather than just made up as it goes along. There are four pieces this time, each their own separate idea, and one of them is hands down the best thing the early band ever recorded. "Ruckzuck" is a rhythmic and grooving jam, with Schneider frantically blowing in his flute while a catchy synth melody plays in the background. And there's even a manic, sped-up middle section to give the piece some depth - it keeps its intensity up all the way to the end. Unfortunately, the only time they really play like that again is on parts of "Stratovarius", a 12-minute piece that seems half-improvised. It begins with a bunch of distorted organ noises and eventually goes into a laid-back jam that stops intermittently for random violin scraping; it's decent but only picks up steam in the end, particularly during the last minute which is a great drum thrash groove. As for side two, there are a few points of interest - they attempt sort of a proto-ambient organ piece that's pleasant but nearly inaudible ("Megaherz"), and the parts in "Von Himmel Hoch" where the drums come in; it's great to hear Dinger play in a straight blues-rock jam style, though you have to withstand some aimless avant-garde noodling before you get there. So basically the album is a mix of great "band" parts where everyone grooves together, and atmospheric and somewhat boring "solo" parts where one guy makes distorted noise with an organ or violin for a couple minutes at a time. The unfortunate part is that many of those sections seem to just stumble along, searching for something interesting (such as the jet and exploding bomb noises on "Von Himmel Hoch") rather than actively trying to create something. All I can really say is that the presence of a good and more structured piece like "Ruckzuck" helps a lot since otherwise the album would come off as an avant-mess. It also helps that the album sounds very crisp, since these guys seem to be more interested in the idea of sound rather than music, of which they write very little. Their philosophy leaned more toward "roll the tape and see what happens". After all, just look at the drummer situation; a man named Andreas Hohmann recorded the two pieces on Side 1, but left to join another group, so they began recording Side 2 without a drummer ("Megaherz") until Dinger showed up. You almost wonder if they even did second takes. Just a word of caution - comparing it to their later albums is pointless, as this is not pop at all - it's daring and very experimental, and "Ruckzuck" is the only part of it that's accessible at all. But if you're a fan of more difficult and cerebral music, seek this out and turn it up.

Bremen Radio (1971)
This is a bootleg and I don't normally review those, but this one is special. The major sidelight to the early Kraftwerk story is that they once had both Klaus Dinger and Michael Rother as members, who would later split to form the groundbreaking band Neu!. For a brief period, Hutter quit the band, and the group existed as Dinger, Rother, and Schneider. Although these guys never recorded a studio album together, luckily a bootleg did surface, and it's a pretty good one. The sound of this group can be described as proto-Neu!, as it's mostly based on drums and guitar. However, Rother's style was a lot wilder back then; he's straight up playing heavy guitar riffs nearly the entire time. It's interesting to hear him play like this, as he adopted a much more low-key style for the rest of his career. As for the music itself; besides some noisemaking on "Heavy Metal Kids", it's basically one crazy guitar-based jam session, with Schneider playing buzzy synths and staying mostly in the background. The best part of it is a nearly 20-minute version of "Ruckzuck", which is slowed down and substitutes the chirpy synth melody for some great bluesy guitar riffs. There's such a good vibe to it that it's disappointing when it ends; there are two "false" endings, but you wind up wishing there were more. The rest is basically untitled jams, none of which really go places, but you do get to hear a lot of Dinger's intense drumming in the meantime. He didn't quite have the 'motorik' style worked out yet, but he's definitely capable of playing fast and reckless without losing the rhythm. Even though this was done before the first Neu! album, it's clear that this is basically the blueprint from which Dinger based his entire career. At the end, you do get to hear some electric violin ("K4"), though it could just be Rother playing his guitar with a bow; it sounds like a precursor to "Negativland". This is a pretty awesome recording, though the group really only had one setting, and I'm sure most of this was improvised. Still it's definitely worth tracking down, especially if you understandably dismissed pre-Autobahn Kraftwerk as "boring". In fairness, I do have to mention that Michael Rother is basically the star of this recording, and he was only in the group for about three months. This should be much more interesting to Neu! fans, as it essentially maps out their sound; Kraftwerk would never sound like this on record, and without Hutter it's really just Kraftwerk in name only.

Kraftwerk 2 (1972)
There's more grey area surrounding this album than any other Kraftwerk release; Dinger and Rother left to form Neu!, and Hutter himself even took half a year off, nearly splitting the band in the process. As it turned out, none of the touring members stuck, so in the end, this album was just Hutter and Schneider and their vast array of electronic gadgets. With both Dinger and Hohmann out of the picture, there are no drummers (Hutter would later be quoted as saying "no drummer wanted to work with us!"), and absent Rother there is not a real guitarist, although Schneider picks up the instrument to deliver some tone-deaf plucking anyway. Most of the first side is taken up by "Klingklang", a pleasant and aimless synth melody with a drum machine shuffle in the background. It's tedious, especially since the piece does not particularly go anywhere. Rather, it just spins around in circles as Schneider plays some gentle flute lines over the top. The only real variation you get at all is a studio effect that makes it sound as though the record is speeding up and slowing down in parts; it's a neat post-production effect that wouldn't really work on any other type of music, and it's fairly radical for 1972. Otherwise, it is fairly notable in that it is a precursor to "Autobahn", only without any of the stuff that made "Autobahn" work over an entire side of an LP. Nothing changes until about the ten-minute mark; after that there's a slow section and a fast section, but it's not too exciting if you've heard the previous album already. Sadly, it will have to do - all I can say about the rest of the album is that it contains very little actual music, with some sections being literally nothing but synthesized breath or harmonica noises for minutes at a time ("Atem", "Harmonika"). The rest sounds like Schneider changing the strings of his guitar and trying to figure out how to play it. "Wellenlange" is 9 minutes of this nonsense, while "Spule 4" is merely the nearly inaudible noise of jangling strings. It's almost as if someone just hit the record button in the studio while the group was screwing around and decided to release it. I've heard of minimalism and I've heard of avant-garde, but this is minimalism to the point of having no actual ideas. This was very close to getting a one star rating, but "Klingklang" should be of interest to fans of early electronic music. It may be boring, but it at least sounds good in the background, as it's blatantly inoffensive and easy to tap your foot to. I cannot for the life of me figure out what the rest of the album is about; it's so ignorable and undermixed that it's easy to forget that it's even playing. Chaos never sounded this dull.

Ralf and Florian (1973)
This is quite a middling release - you can see the direction they'd eventually take on Autobahn, but it's not as good as that album nor is it as relentlessly experimental as their previous albums. This is a synthesizer album alright, with only a few real instruments - there's an awful lot of flute ("Tongebirge", "Heimatklange") here in addition to a little bit of piano. But the music here is a lot more sketch-based than song-based; you can tell they are improvising a lot of this, and none of the compositions go anywhere. Even the 14-minute closer "Ananas Symphonie" is basically just a bunch of bent Hawaiian guitar notes over synthesized waves of noise, and while it's very pretty, there's no payoff and it sounds like it was just done in a single take (just like their previous material). Ultimately what makes this album easy to ignore is that they're not yet as clever as Harmonia or any of their component parts, so despite a few neat ideas such as an acidic synth line acting like a wah-wah guitar ("Kristallo") or a jam on what sounds like a music box melody ("Tanzmusik"), this is mostly forgettable. The good thing is that it's generally melodic, and not irritating the way the last three releases were, so it works well in any situation in which you do not have to pay much attention to it. It's more about simple pleasures anyway, which are abundant ("Heimatklange" is gorgeous). So what you get is basically a second-rate Apollo crossed with a second-rate Zuckerzeit; it's easy to like, but in the end the most entertaining thing about is the cover photo.

Autobahn (1974)
This is where Kraftwerk finally got it together, and the result the first of many classic albums the band would end up producing. The difference between this and their previous albums is that the music actually goes somewhere rather than just running around in circles. While most experimental bands at the time were concerned with conjuring up spacey or psychadelic visions, Kraftwerk writes music about real life. The side-long title track begins with an engine revving up; the song is literally about driving your car on the highway on a breezy summer afternoon. In the course of 23 minutes, there are three "chorus" sections and three "instrumental" sections in which the group sounds like a traditional jam band with electronic instruments. The difference between this and stuff like "Klingklang" is that it builds over the course of the song and does not repeat itself often; even the chorus sections change up subtle details and get bigger each time. Unlike most sidelongs, this one never really stops moving or meanders; this was the beginning of their robotic, industrial, and nearly entirely synthesized sound. The real attraction is that there's always something melodic going on; this time it's not all about the effects pedals, though those do show up as well. Behind that there is a pretty standard motorik rhythm (first pioneered by ex-Kraftwerkers Dinger and Rother), making it one of the first songs to use a metronomic and pulsating beat. The result of all this is a sidelong which does not feel overlong despite only having a few distinct ideas. But what does the other side sound like? Not unlike Ralf & Florian, though it's a little darker. It's filled mostly by the two part "Kometenmelodie", which is decent if not exactly a selling point. The first part is a brooding, spacey ambient piece that does not elicit much excitement, but the second part soon inexplicably turns it into a 50's style boppy riff with synthesizers. That's at least interesting; if nothing else it sounds pretty funny. "Mitternacht" ("Midnight") is nothing but dark ambient with synths, but it's short and easy to ignore. The final track, "Morgenspaziergang" ("Morning Walk") is the most interesting - it's filled with synthesized birds and babbling brook noises, and features a gorgeous and sparse flute/piano melody. It almost sounds like something Haruomi Hosono would have made in the late 70's or early 80's, and that's never a bad thing. But in the end the second side is pretty ignorable and is neither as significant nor enjoyable as the first. But it's a good album, and a very important one in the development of electronic music, as there never really had been a totally synthesized pop song until "Autobahn" came around.

Concert Classics (1975, released 1998)
This is an "authorized bootleg" of Kraftwerk shortly after the release of Autobahn, when the band was undergoing a pretty major transition. This was released by EMI but I hardly think the band had anything to do with it - the packaging is shoddy and half of the tracklist is wrong. It’s a pleasant but ultimately forgettable release that probably won't be interesting to anyone but a diehard, but let's have a look anyway. There are only four songs here, so I'll name them all - "Kometenmelodie", "Autobahn", "Klingklang", and "Tanzmusik". The band's sound is reduced to the synthesizer, a tinny sounding electronic drum (which literally sounds like someone banging on a box with foil on it), a xylophone, and an ominous synthesized wind noise that runs over nearly the entire album. You may want to pick this up to hear "Autobahn" performed in its full, 20+ minute glory, but let me assure you that it does not really amount to anything other than "original, minus the studio effects". The only real point of interest is "Klingklang", which is almost a new tune as it does not really follow the original, instead using the xylophone as the lead instrument. Some copies have it listed as "Morgenspaziergang" despite Ralf clearly introducing it as "Klingklang". The result adds a melody or two and winds up sounding something like a 10-minute version the music that you would hear on Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood when he went to "The Land of Make-Believe". Still, it's not bad and is occasionally mesmerizing. But that is essentially the only kind of music you get with this set - the thin-sounding drum noise is mostly in the background and there is no bass. The cover lists four members behind what looks like a game-show set; Flur has joined the band by now but not Bartos - the 4th member is someone named Klaus Roeder who is listed as being on guitar and violin. But you never hear either of those instruments, and if not for the cover you would never know there were actually more than three people on stage. This is a good sounding bootleg, probably because it appears to be a soundboard recording, but not everything goes smoothly. After the end of "Autobahn" one of the electronic drums breaks; later on, I think Wolfgang falls asleep during one of the songs. You may fall asleep too, but don't worry - it's soothing, generally mild and a little innovative. While they had their charms, the truth is that early Kraftwerk was really not very good, and this really does not amount to more than an interesting document for collectors.

Radioactivity (1975)
Another step forward, inching a little closer to their classic sound. This is a concept album, but the concept is a loose one - the idea of radiation appears on the title track, with the rest being about the different components and functions of a radio transmitter. So it's about radioactivity, but also radio activities. Maybe Kraftwerk were just having a laugh - "Ohm Sweet Ohm" is a double, or even triple pun, depending how you look at it. If you don’t think this is a particularly good subject to base an entire album on, you’d be about half-right. The album naturally has a bit of coldness and an ominous feel, and spends a lot of time on its "linking" tracks, which are usually found sound or experimentation with radio equipment. As for the song material, it's generally decent, but they aren't up to the level of Trans-Europe Express quite yet. The only single was the title track, which seems like it's meant to be a follow-up to "Autobahn", but despite a great hook it's too joyless and slow-moving to really fit that bill. But the two other songs on the first side are excellent - "Radioland" is a sparse slow-burner, but it's atmospheric and creepy, and uses enough sound effects to capture your attention through six minutes. You can imagine Radiohead taking a big cue from this song when they made Kid A. But "Airwaves" gets my vote for the best track - it's energetic, fun, and the catchiest thing on the album, making use of the album's concept in an entertaining way (sonically and lyrically). The idea of Kraftwerk doing surf-rock may be off-putting, but this is a lot better done than "Kometenmelodie 2", and it turns out to have quite a bit of replay value. On a similar note, there's "Antenna", an echoey pop song with a catchy vocal melody that’s not only sonically interesting but also a lot of fun to listen to. Otherwise, the remaining musical selections are instrumental and atmospheric, in ways that are both calming (“Ohm Sweet Ohm”) and spacey (“Transistor”). They experiment a lot with frequency noises, which generally work better when they have some kind of backing (just like how "Radio Stars" doesn't). A few of the linking tracks do use vocoder ("The Voice of Energy"), which is interesting as it marks the first of its many appearances on Kraftwerk albums. The standout instrument on this album is the use of the Orchestron, which adds choir and orchestra noises to many of the album's tracks, giving them a more epic and unsettling feel; otherwise, most of the synthesizers just sound like modified radio equipment. In the end, it's the concept that really tilts this album an extra half of a star, as I must admit that from a sonic perspective this album is quite clever, especially as it invokes a strange sense of nostalgia. Also, unlike the other Kraftwerk albums, you cannot find the best tracks on any compilations. It’s a hard one to love, but worth seeking out.

Trans-Europe Express (1977)
Visions of technopop did not quite exist in the mid-70's, but Kraftwerk were making baby steps towards the idea. With Trans-Europe Express, everything was broken wide open - in the rotating synth blips that back the nearly 10-minute opener "Europe Endless", you can hear the beginning of a genre. It's a celebration; all major chords and bright textures, with a dinky and propulsive beat that never changes. But this isn't quite motorik or Krautrock. This isn't even disco. It's a shimmering, bright pop song that uses nothing but a fake drum and layers of synthesizers piled on top of each other. With this album Kraftwerk put the melodies and the beats right up front, making this their first one that you could actually dance to. Maybe it has something to do with the forward-thinking Karl Bartos being integrated as a full-time member, or maybe it has to do with a newfound sense of national optimism. Either way, much of this material is both first-rate and revolutionary. The title track is not only full of hooks, but also features a chugging and complex beat that's been sampled hundreds of times since. The theme is about riding on the Trans-Europe Express itself, full of train noises and effects that make it sound as though you are passing in and out of tunnels. Most impressive of all this is the industrial symphony that begins the second part of the title track, "Metal on Metal". As for the rest, there is a more paranoid theme running throughout the first side, with a haunting and sparse meditation on the fakeness of people ("Hall of Mirrors", similar to "Radioland" but not quite as good), and a nervous but more danceable song on the same topic ("Showroom Dummies", which was released as a single). If you're looking for something with a little more warmth, the last two tracks ("Franz Schubert"/"Endless Endless") are genuinely pretty, using synth backing with the Orchestron up front, resulting in something both calming and beautiful, as if they were trying to lull you to sleep or put you in a trance. They combine for only about five minutes, but you feel they could go on much longer. If you're a perceptive listener, you may notice that both the synth and the orchestral melody are very similar to the ones used on "Europe Endless", so there is some thematic unity. If you're perceptive and cynical, you may notice that essentially this album boils down to only two "good" ideas - "Trans-Europe Express/Metal on Metal/Abzug" and "Europe Endless/Franz Schubert/Endless Endless", plus a couple of ideas on side one which are not as remarkable. That's basically the reason why this didn't score higher, but still it's an absolute classic whose influence extended to technopop (do we get Depeche Mode/New Order/OMD/Ultravox without it?), hip-hop (Grandmaster Flash and Afrika Baambataa were both huge fans, with the latter famously sampling the title track on the revolutionary "Planet Rock"), and a dozen other genres. Fantastic (and hilarious) cover photo as well. Start here if anywhere with the group.

The Man-Machine (1978)
The concept of a "man-machine" certainly fits these guys well; they've worked hard throughout the last four years to pare their music down to its most mechanical and driving elements, and this album is as close to machine-like perfection as they ever got. The synthesizers are slicker, the beats are crisper and have more kick, and the songwriting is basically flawless - four out of the six tracks here became singles (and remained live staples throughout the group's entire career). "The Model" was so ahead of its time that it became a hit four years after it was released. Just as people say that Led Zeppelin’s debut was the beginning of the 70’s even though it was released in the 60’s, this is the first “80’s” album even though that decade was two years away. Needless to say, this is an album about the future and the integration of man and machine. At times, it sounds heartless and overbearing, but Kraftwerk does not exactly envision a cold and oppressive Orwellian-type future. Yes, the synths are not as warm as they were on Trans-Europe Express, and the vocals are mostly emotionless, but this is still a great listen. As the robo-voice says on the first song - "We are programmed just to do/Anything you want us to." So while "The Robots" has a very thick sci-fi vibe to it, it invites you to move. It doesn't lend itself to any dances that are not The Robot, but it's nearly impossible to not at least move in your seat while it's playing. And the rest of the album is really no different - it may be stiff and rigid, but it's got a certain amount of funk to it. I can almost understand why Afrika Bambaataa was surprised to find these guys weren't black. As for the actual songs, after "The Robots", the best material is all on side 2, which is simply inscrutable - "The Model", "Neon Lights", and "The Man-Machine". "The Model" is a straight-up pop song; it doesn't have a chorus, but there is a catchy melody (and counter-melody) and several verses, plus it only clocks in at about 3 minutes. It's a classic in its own right, and I can't even imagine the impression this song made on guys like Gary Numan and John Foxx. The lyrics are certainly worth pondering (did the narrator sleep with the model? Or is the "model" just another man-machine who only turns on when she is in front of a camera?). But "Neon Lights" is the spotlight for me; basking in warm textures, major chords, and a star-gazing vocal, it's both beautiful and catchy, and the extended 'jam' sequence that begins when the bass line kicks in at 3:30 is my favorite part of the entire Kraftwerk catalogue. It's a drug trip without the drugs - shimmering, driving, and evocative. And these guys are supposed to be soulless!? As for the title track, it's an addictive, proto-trance dirge that may be the most forward-looking thing on the album. There's no resolution, which I suppose was intended - it's static as hell, but the melody and hypnotizing vocal lines are good enough that it doesn't really matter. So Side 2 is better than Side 1, which has its own charms - neither "Spacelab" nor "Metropolis" are particularly remarkable, but they have good textures and fit the album’s concept well. If they had more going for them, this album would probably rank five stars. Still, I find it hard to find fault with an album as forward-thinking and gripping as this one - while the once-revolutionary sounds are now dated, the songwriting will stand the test of time. I can’t imagine any fan of electronic music not enjoying this on some level. Highly recommended.

Computer World (1981)
This is the birth of techno music; this album has not only been heavily sampled since its release, but also had many of its ideas manifested into several different types of music. Listen to “Numbers” – how many times have you heard that beat before? There is a somewhat dark theme here; the computer controls time, people, business, travel, and maybe even your personal life. Even the band members themselves appear to be trapped inside the computer (judging by the cover). But there’s no tension or visions of doom, as Kraftwerk believes that it truly is just more fun to compute. “Pocket Calculator” is all about that – “I am adding/and subtracting/I’m controlling/and composing”. It’s about fascination with electronics; by programming your home computer, you can beam yourself into the future, and if you press down a little key, you get a little melody. It’s full of playful blips and bloops, and one track even uses a Speak n’ Spell. The whole thing is kind of dinky, but it’s still a pretty great album, as this is melodically strong, and the lightweight, dance-heavy atmosphere is a lot of fun. Basically, this album boils down to four distinct tracks, and they’re all classic – “Computer World 1/Numbers/Computer World 2”, “Pocket Calculator”, “Computer Love”, and “Home Computer/It’s More Fun to Compute”. In particular, the addictive and dorky “Pocket Calculator” is the catchiest and has the best groove, and “Computer Love” is the one that resonates the most, with a galloping beat and several beautiful keyboard melodies that recall “Neon Lights”. But they’re all good in their own way; the title track is practically an anthem, and “Home Computer” is a propulsive and ominous jam. My only complaint is that “It’s More Fun to Compute” is unnecessary and ends the album on a weird note, as it’s kind of a self-remix. Still, at the end of the day, you can see Computer World’s fingerprints all over the last three decades of dance music, so let’s give credit where credit is due. All of this material is significant in some way, and anyone who takes electronic music seriously needs a copy.

Nippon Numbers (1981)
Another bootleg, so maybe just skip this review. But it's one of the few with decent sound quality that's actually recorded during the group's prime years, so it may be worth seeking out. Nowadays they have a reputation for doing very little during their live shows, so you may be surprised to see that in their prime they were actually kind of lively. Check out their videos from 1981 on YouTube - the band members actually dance to their own music and occassionally laugh at themselves; what they're doing is both mesmerizing and hilarious. And unlike their later shows, they actually had to play their keyboards and their little homemade electronic devices. It's not a revelation, but you do get to hear slightly different (and faster) versions of some of their songs and a lot of keyboard jamming. As for the material, much of it is from Computer World, yet somehow "Pocket Calculator" does not appear. Perhaps they played it before the recording started - it suddenly cuts in halfway through "Numbers". Still, all these songs are classic in their own right so it's hard to complain. They do play "Autobahn" in its entirety, adding in a double-speed beat that runs throughout, giving it a hyperactive feel; Hutter even near scat-sings about travelling by airplane for a while. "Showroom Dummies" and "It's More Fun to Compute" are also played with an accelerated tempo; the latter is done at a fevered pace, and is jammed out without its main melody for so long that it's practically a new song. The sound quality is pretty good, and I suspect this was a soundboard recording. I find this kind of thing interesting - Kraftwerk always worked hard to minimize their faults, but at this point they couldn't automate enough to appear perfect, so they just concentrate on delivering a good and energetic live show. They basically succeed, so grab this bootleg should you come across it.

Tour de France (1983)
Originally a lead single release to promote the upcoming Techno Pop album, it wound up a standalone single for a great while as Hutter suffered a serious bike crash that left him in a coma. The song itself is a pretty great single; it’s punctuated by sharp percussion and heavy breathing rhythms, along with a few early breakbeats and even a bit of slap bass. Some of this sounds like a bad sign, but for this track it works quite well. They re-recorded this for 2003’s Tour de France Soundtracks album, so don’t spend too much time tracking this down. There are multiple versions of this single, both in 7” and 12” form, with the B-side being one of two remixes, one of which was farmed out to Francois Kevorkian. I think the 1999 “enhanced” version collects the two remixes.

Electric Café (1986)
Discography note: This album originally had a working title of Techno Pop, but was shelved in 1983 following Hutter’s bike accident. In the 2009 box set, this album was switched back to its working title, with the 8-minute “Telephone Call” being broken down into its single edit plus B-side “House Phone”, which is an instrumental remix. As far as I can tell this is the one instance of Kraftwerk actually messing around with their discography. Hopefully this helps avoid any confusion…

The year is 1986 and the landscape of electronic music is changing. Popular music was beginning to integrate the sounds that Kraftwerk had introduced years prior. Production values were getting slicker and sterilized, as synthpop was getting big, and more and more huge acts (Madonna and Michael Jackson, among others) were getting bigger using mechanical drumbeats and synth-heavy backing. Even Huey Lewis was getting in on the action. This all left Kraftwerk in the dust, and it's no coincidence that they soon released their first album in which they could be classified as followers rather than as leaders. Not that the technology isn’t slightly more advanced here (particularly in the robotic vocals, which seem completely computerized now), but for the most part, this is pure electronic dance music, as catchy and dated as anything else from the era. It’s also quite disposable; the album’s concept is literally about dancing and the music itself, which just concedes that they couldn’t think of anything else. So what does it sound like? I guess the group itself says it best - "synthetic electronic sounds/industrial rhythms all around". And very little else. It starts off with robotic beatboxing, which is both intriguing and hilarious, before launching into "Techno Pop", a lengthy piece with a few hooks and a danceable beat, but no real structure. We get a lot of this all over the album - there's a lot of breakdowns and jamming throughout, which basically keep the tunes going in circles for much of their duration. The result is an entire side dedicated to a pretty simple melody and backbeat, and though “Musique Non Stop” works well on its own, by the time it arrives you wish they’d move on already. Side two is better - "The Telephone Call" is a catchy synthpop gem with Karl Bartos on vocals, who actually sings it rather than just un-emote over everything. This time, the song turns into a great and lengthy "phone-related noise" jam, with hooks made out of dial tones, ring tones, and the voice of the operator herself. If nothing else it's a pretty worthy successor to "Pocket Calculator". There's also "Sex Object", which may be the most bizarre item in the Kraftwerk catalogue - the music itself uses a goofy synthesized violin lead, and the subject of the lyrics (delivered as deadpan as a doornail) is the band themselves! Is this a misguided attempt to hit the mainstream, or just a wicked sense of humor? I must admit it does get stuck in your head. Closing this all out is the title track, which is catchy and a little creepy, ending the album on a similar note as the last one. It’s actually quite good, but let’s face it, the ceiling is not very high for this type of music; this was their first completely digital release and it shows. While the synths do sound crisp, they’re completely faceless and devoid of emotion. They do simulate strings and a number of vocal effects, but there’s a cheap and plastic quality to it that’s a long way removed from “Franz Schubert”. It’s as hollow as the 3-D wireframe models in the “Musique Non Stop” video, but it turns out to be fun regardless. It’s disposable in a good way; thin but plenty enjoyable, particularly side 2. This might rank higher had they just thrown out “Techno Pop” and closed out the first side with “Tour de France” instead.

As a side note this is the last album with Flur and Bartos as full time members. Flur quit in '87; Bartos apparently helped work on The Mix but was not credited. They were replaced by Fritz Hilpert and Henning Schmitz (their long time sound engineer), though I can't really discern what they contributed (if anything).

The Mix (1991)
This is not a new album but rather a "greatest hits"-type album of re-recorded Kraftwerk tunes. Needless to say, music technology changed an awful lot since Kraftwerk had hit their creative stride, and the musical landscape of the 90's was starting to let in bands like Orbital and Front 242 who essentially continued where Kraftwerk left off. So while The Mix seems an awful lot like a cash in and an attempt to get Kraftwerk played on a 90's dance floor, they've really earned the right to do it. The Mix collects 8 Kraftwerk Klassics (through 11 tracks) and looks at them through an early-90's lens - meaning they're basically the same songs but with a louder bass drum. A few of the tracks get significant facelifts - "The Robots" is warmer and more danceable, adding in a few extra hooks, and "Pocket Calculator" is completely re-done in a more techno-heavy style and even gets sung in Japanese ("Dentaku"). Some of the edits are for length - "Autobahn" is now 9 1/2 minutes, which is fine, adding a neat "group harmony" section with a ton of computer vocals. They also edited together "Boing Boom Tschak" and "Musique Non Stop" for the album's final track, and it turns out it really does work when kept to a managable length. That's definitely an improvement, and "Radioactivity" finally gets the sprucing up it always deserved, giving it a full-on dancefloor remix. I guess it's up to you which one you prefer; the facelift does take some of the emotion out of the material ("Computer Love"), and I figure that in twenty years this will probably be seen as more dated than the original albums. Plus, some of the tunes hardly seem to have changed at all ("Trans-Europe Express"). Still, this was a pretty good buy for a Kraftwerk fan until 2005's Minimum-Maximum live set came along, which essentially included all this material in this form anyway. I guess you could say it's now obsolete unless you really want to hear their kind of lukewarm take on "Computer Love", the only song which doesn't appear there. I imagine this was frustrating to those remaining Kraftwerk fans still holding out for new material, since not only are there no new songs, but there wouldn't be any for a long time.

Expo 2000 (1999)
This is a one-off single that was commissioned for the Hannover Expo 2000 convention. I guess the idea was that they paid a pretty hefty sum for Kraftwerk to write a short jingle, which was eventually written into a full piece. It's a decent single that features a bunch of computerized voices in different languages, which I suppose is nothing really new. It does sound fairly modern though. It probably wouldn't be notable if it weren't for the fact that it's their first "new" composition in about 13 years.

Tour de France Soundtracks (2003)
Once you get over the shock of Kraftwerk coming out of the metalwork to release an album of mostly-new material (their first in 17 years!), you will realize that they have essentially made a concept album about riding your bike. The bike is an interesting concept because it is an actual "man-machine", but don’t forget they already explored this concept in a single 20 years back, which not only simulated the physical experience of marathon biking, but also the constant sense of propulsion and progress. For this album, however, they choose to highlight the monotony of marathon racing, which is not just an uninteresting concept but also seems destined to produce a lot of boredom. Kraftwerk have always done well at simulating certain experiences in their music; "Autobahn" and "Trans-Europe Express" are testaments to that. To my legs, biking several miles is fun at first, but when tiredness sets in, you try to get into sort of a groove where you are just trying to focus on going forward while maintaining an equilibrium with your body that allows you to manage the senses of fatigue and discomfort through the endorphins that exercise naturally produces. The music on this album is kind of like that. It is propulsive and mechanical, focused yet predictable. And just like marathon racing, it is exhausting. In fact, the first five tracks are all part of one lengthy composition. There is a kick drum, a couple of lush synth melodies, and some vocodered frog-like vocals in French. Each of the three "Etape" sections are slightly different, but it's not exactly like how "Autobahn" reveals new things throughout its entire length, and the hooks are nowhere near as good. Instead, it only makes you wonder if the disc got stuck on repeat. By the time it's over, you're too exhausted to want to listen to the rest of the album.

From a sonic perspective, this is fairly interesting. While the beats have not changed much, they have updated their keyboards to deep-sounding metallic tones that would feel at home on a Kompakt release. It feels like 21st Century music. In particular, the swirling breakdown on "Chrono" is great, but it just launches into a reprise of the same tune as the preceding three tracks. That being said, there are two pretty great pieces; "Vitamin" spins tuneful metallic noise over a catchy bass line, and is the only piece on here that lives up to the Kraftwerk classics of old. The other one actually is one of those classics, a re-recorded "Tour de France" that updates the sound of their '83 single but otherwise keeps nearly everything the same. It's probably the best track on the album, and the fact that it had a co-write from Karl Bartos may be telling. Coincidentally (or not), those are the only two tracks that do not feature the horrible robo-frog vocals. Otherwise, the only thing to focus on is the sonic texture, since the songwriting is practically non-existent; "Aero Dynamik" and "La Forme" are based off of two-note melodies, while "Electrkokardiogramm" barely has one at all. The problem is that they sabotage themselves by allowing everything to run too long, particularly by adding in unnecessary 'coda' tracks that literally do nothing but extend the tedium ("Titanium"). I guess that's the CD age for you. Keep in mind most technopop artists (those who do not stay dormant for nearly two decades) had already gotten the "overlong CD release that would never get authorized as a double vinyl" album out of their systems by now. It's not even really that long (around 60 minutes), but it would be pretty easy to trim a good third of it without losing anything. After all, there are really only six different songs on this thing, so each individual idea averages about ten minutes. It’s nothing like the interesting and tuneful long jams that pushed songs like “The Telephone Call” and “Computer Love” to extended lengths; just a lot of copy-and-paste. By the time the remake of the 1983 "Tour de France" comes on, it's easy to see what most of this album is missing - emotions, hooks, and the ability to bring a piece to its conclusion. There is a neat atmosphere, and the sound is often stunning - but I get the feeling that listening to it while not working out is a waste of time. Let's see what they can do in another 17 years.

Minimum-Maximum (2005)
Few live shows have evolved to the extent of Kraftwerk's; while once known for the ridiculous amounts of cables that had to be dragged to each venue, their current stage show is fairly simple. It's four members standing in front of their laptops which share a platform with a built-in two-octave keyboard. Where they once danced like stiff robots while they played their homemade instruments, they now stand at their perch and appear to hardly move or even play anything at all. In fact, most audience members were not even aware that these guys had keyboards. This is not exciting if you came to watch the band, but the real point of interest is the huge video screen that plays behind the band members, with videos that sync up perfectly to the music (of course). I have the concurrent DVD and even saw their 2008 show in Milwaukee; as entertaining as the videos are, you come for the music. This is a double live album that document's the group's 2004-2005 tour, and it's excellent. The music mostly draws from two albums: The Mix and Tour de France Soundtracks, with some old material that was not on The Mix done in a similar style. While I wasn't wild about either of those, here things are a bit different. There is a clarity and power to the sound that was just not possible in 1991. If you have a good system, you can listen as the vocoder rattles the speakers and appears to bounce off the walls. The synthesizers do not change much, but have a thickness to them that the studio recordings did not. While the group does not really jam out much, they do occassionally add a few new effects to the funkier parts, and you get the feeling that they are still mixing things a little. The result is a live set that goes from highlight to highlight, something that has a "live" feel despite knowing that the band members themselves are doing very little (in fact, "The Robots" is performed entirely by actual robots).

There are several neat things about this release. One is that the set switches from venue to venue on every song, but mixed in a way that it's nearly undetectable. They segue "Pocket Calculator" into "Dentaku" so seamlessly that you would never know the location of the recording switched from Moscow to Tokyo until you hear the Japanese fans singing along. But all the crowds are great; the highly appreciative audiences make this recording seem bigger, and the terrific acoustics amplify it further. Another neat thing is that the new stuff does not suck, and in some cases actually turns out really well. It turns out that "Aerodynamik" is pretty neat when it doesn't have a three-minute coda, and the "Tour de France Etape" tracks are incredible with an increased tempo (playing only 10 minutes worth rather than 19 helps a lot too). "Expo 2000" turns into "Planet Der Visionen"; the same tune but with a big kick and even a club-inspired hi-hat rhythm. It turns out the new stuff sounds great when you can actually dance to it. Perhaps the highlight of the set is an incredible breakbeat-infested version of "Musique Nonstop" - really! I realize that Kraftwerk are pretty old-school; hell, they are the oldest electronic group out there right now - but I saw them play to a mostly-younger crowd and they absolutely killed it. They're not ready to give up the crown yet.

Appendix: Kraftwerk tributes

Expect this section to fill up slowly - given the nature of their material, it really isn't too hard to interpret the group's material in a different light, and given their iconic status it's no surprise that there's like, a billion tribute albums out there. Here are some of the ones I've heard:

Musique Non Stop: A Tribute to Kraftwerk (1998)
This tribute album is filled entirely with Japanese artists, specifically those that were in the technopop scene of the early 90's or before. The legendary but little-known Hikashu does two tracks - "The Model" and "Radioactivity"; neither are great, but you do get to hear their overdramatic vocals on both. I was surprised how many recognizable names there were for me - Buffalo Daughter, Melt Banana, Takkyu Ishino (of Denki Groove), and two ex-members of P-Model. For the most part, it's quite good, and like most Kraftwerk tributes, there are always a few who go out of their way to attempt something different - Melt Banana's "Showroom Dummies" is just a minute of punk, Zeni Geva's "Sex Object" is nearly metal (!), and there are some obscurities like "Tanzmusik" and "Atem/Harmonika" (which sounds nothing like either, maybe borrowing a piece of "Kometenmelodie 1" along the way). The best parts are the one that use more traditional Japanese instrumentation - "Dentaku (Tsukuba Mix)" sounds entirely organic, but it's done in such a stiff and mechanical way that it still resembles the original. The ending track is a combination of "Europe Endless", "Franz Schubert", and "Neon Lights" that's full of orchestrated Japanese instruments, and the effect is astounding. Otherwise, I do like Ishino's fast-paced trance-like mix of "It's More Fun to Compute", which sounds a lot like every other remix he's ever done (and not a whole lot like the original). Overall I would say this is one of the better Kraftwerk tributes, as most of the tracks are entertaining on some level, rather than just a few (as most of these go).

VA - 8-Bit Operators (2007)
There's a ton of Kraftwerk tribute albums on the market, but this may be the most intriguing one - it's the music of Kraftwerk as performed using almost exclusively the sound of the NES. Anyone who was born in the 80's or late 70's has got to be nostalgic for these kinds of sounds, which lived and died with the 8-bit console. I have my own reservations about "chiptune" (and yes, this is an actual genre) - it's usually fun, sometimes good but only occasionally great. It's tough to make this stuff come off as more than just a gimmick, and this album really is no exception. There's some great stuff in the beginning - the nearly polyrhythmic take on "Pocket Calculator" is as melodic and hooky as the original, and they manage to make "Computer Love" sound as haunting and desperate as it should. It's pretty hit-or-miss afterwards, with a ridiculous vocal line managing to ruin "Showroom Dummies", and funk guitar (the only non-chiptune instrument on the album besides vocals) muddying up the could-have-been-okay cover of "Radioactivity". It's fun to see a backwards-looking tribute to a forward-looking group, but I don't exactly see this racking up a huge play count on my iPod - the essence of the group is rarely tapped into, and most of these covers seem to do little to capture what made the originals great ("Trans-Europe Express", "It's More Fun to Compute"). Plus, the closing track seriously features some of the most horrible rapping I've ever heard (gwEm and Counter Reset's "Man-Machine", which also clumsily pays tribute to Scooter's "Hyper Hyper). Still, it's really not bad as a whole, and can definitely provide a lot of enjoyment on the first few listens - it was nice to see a few forgotten Ralf & Florian tracks pop up ("Kristallo", "Tanzmusik"), and some of it is a blast if you can ignore how impossibly campy it sounds (Bit Shifter's ridiculously upbeat version of "Antenna"). I guess you’ll already know whether or not you want an 8-bit version of Kraftwerk classics without needing a review, but don’t think the uniformity in sound changes the hit-or-miss nature of practically all tribute albums.