Best Kraftwerk Album

Is this one of the few ILM album polls in which every choice got at least one vote?

Weird that so few like Autobahn.

exactly what i was thinking just now

Geir, it sort of baffles me that you like Kraftwerk. Where do they fit into your criteria?!

robot solidarity

Well, they are very melodic. Except maybe for 'Numbers'. I wonder if Geir likes that one.

Yeah, I love side 2 of Autobahn. Lots of melody, including two inspired by comets.

Has anybody heard 2 Live Crew's classic "Drop The Bomb" with the dope Trans Europe Express sample? I've been meaning to flip that with the original for ages now.

Geir, it sort of baffles me that you like Kraftwerk. Where do they fit into your criteria?!

-- jonathan - stl, Thursday, 3 April 2008 01:16 (4 hours ago) Link

srsly? they are very melodic!

oops, i didn't read moley

so baffled by the decision to play one of the four us tour dates in the suburban "club" in my dear STPL/MPLS hometown, but i'm not complaining

Geir, it sort of baffles me that you like Kraftwerk.

Well, they use lots of synths. And only very occasionally are they non-melodic. It's not like I am a fan of pre-"Autubahn"-Kraftwerk, mind you.

I would have seen you as more of a Trans Europe Express guy, Geir.

"Metal On Metal" is hardly my kind of thing.

but "Franz Schubert" must be

Isn't "Franz Schubert" mainly just a reprise of "Europe Endless"? I like "Europe Endless", but "The Man Machine" is closer to 80s synthpop stylistically.

i like the first two albums, but i can't understand someone who would choose either as their favorite compared to any of the others

I'd be interested to hear the three supporters of Electric Cafe explain their choice. To me, that's the indefensible choice. The Mix amazingly manages to sound very dated in its efforts to modernize their older songs, but as it functions as an introduction to Kraftwerk for many people (and then sucks so bad that said people never manage to move onto their original material - almost happened to me), I could see why someone could vote for it. The first three albums (1, 2 and R&F) are all brilliant in their own way as well. Actually, I've been listening to 1 and 2 more than any of the others recently.

But Electric Cafe?

I love the telephone song

i love that demo version of Technopop thats floating around on the internets - the arpeggio bit at the end is classic Kraftwerk and the exactly the sort of thing thats missing from Electric Cafe.

I love that demo. It sounds more like their mid-seventies stuff than Computer World, it's got their new equipment but they also took their Orchestron back out of the closet so it sounds just as much like 'Radioactivity', and then that arpeggio at the end might as well be from Man Machine

I hope the original 1984 version of the album turns up someday

Vako Orchestron Optical Disc Playback Sampler aka Pea Hix plays KW demos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXJJ2Ek4bmQ&feature=related

'Radioactivity' & Popul Vuh's 'Aguirre' = Orchestron choir wins over Mellotron choir

i think the mix still sounds dope, possibly because those versions are still generally the ones they do on their recent live DVD that my son is obsessed with watching.

I don't get Trans Europe Express. Don't know why, it just sounds a bit long and slow and boring. It makes me think of a train that got stuck in a siding rather than a whizzy fast thing.

"I don't get Trans Europe Express. Don't know why, it just sounds a bit long and slow and boring.

-- the next grozart"

i <3 ILM.

I regret saying Computer World way upthread. The only reason I said that was because "Computer Love" was my favourite song of theirs. But I think "Electric Cafe" is their best album. Maybe you just had to be there to hear what that sounded like when it came out, I dunno. But "The Telephone Call" is the second best Kraftwerk song I think.

I bought "Electric Cafe" on the day of release and I was disappointed with it then - it already sounded dated. As I've said elsewhere, it just sounded like they were paging through presets on their DX7. Side one was such a let down, but side two was far better. "The Telephone Call" is a superb song though.

"Telephone Call" would be more universally regarded as one of Kraftwerk's finest if it weren't for the drumbeat. The sounds used for the BD/SD combo just don't work. They sounds lazy, along with the rhythm itself. Everything floating above the beat is awesome though, I'll give you that.

Surprised Computer World ranked so highly here. Always found this album a bit...silly? Relatively speaking, of course.

Anyone heard the vinyl reissues? I saw them at the shop today and had to stop myself from buying them all. I'll almost definitely go back and buy TMM and TEE. They also had Autobahn and Radio-Activity, both of which I like / don't love. But the reissues look might fine so I still sorta want them all.

I know what you mean about CW. I didn't rate it as highly as TMM or TEE on first hearing and like you I thought stuff like "by pressing down a special key it plays a little melody" wasn't really worthy of them. But it's grown on me a lot b/c it's probably their shiniest and most melodic effort, not to mention how visionary it is. I still wouldn't rate it above TMM but when I saw the Catalogue run last year I pounced on tickets for the CW evening.

Computer Love has one of their best melodies though.

Radioactivity is by far my favourite of the Kraftwerk albums.

I thought stuff like "by pressing down a special key it plays a little melody" wasn't really worthy of them

"Turn the dial with your hand
Till you find the shortwave band"

"We now switch the radio on, out of the speaker it rings out..We're driving down the motorway!"

Also CW is the album where Karl Bartos really comes into his own as a tunesmith, most of the melodies on that album are his. There was some discussion of this matter on the "favourite member of Kraftwerk" thread, it seems to me that Bartos' departure had a lot to do w/the project stalling after Electric Café

stuff like "by pressing down a special key it plays a little melody" wasn't really worthy of them

Not worthy in what way?

Computer Love is probably their best but it feels quite unrelenting to me - there's something a bit creepy about the whole vibe (that really takes over on the last two tracks) that prevents me from playing it too often. I would probably have voted Man Machine

I see what you mean, CW was my first Kraftwerk album and I was astonished at how lightweight and dinky it was for a band that was spoken of in such reverential tones. That said I listened to it a lot because it was catchy and funny, nowadays I recognize it as the classic it really is, and can see exactly how it got #1 here, though TE-E and Man-Machine are of course also pretty legit

Not worthy in what way?

Just b/c it sounds a bit twee and childish. "Turn the dial with your hand..." doesn't have that same tone of tweeness.

Anyone cares to stand up for Electric Café/Technopop? Always felt that one was unjustly dismissed. "Telefone Call" is all time in my book.

Never liked it much until I heard that live version of "Musique Non Stop" on Minimum-Maximum which quite frankly rules. I just think that style of music was really outdated/unhip at some point in time, relistening to it now it's a pretty neat album, even if for once they sound slightly behind the curve.

Yeah experiencing "Musique Non Stop" live during the Min/Max tour was quite a revelation.

Like the album apart from "Sex Object", which I think has some sort of sampled slap bass on it, ugh. First side is great, haters begone.

Also CW is the album where Karl Bartos really comes into his own as a tunesmith, most of the melodies on that album are his.

Citation?

Citation?

David Buckley's Kraftwerk Publikation goes into this.

Interesting. I have Publikation but haven't read it yet.

Don't know if someone said this already but there's a new kraftwerk doc just starting on bbc4 right now

In the uk obv

Too much Paul Morley so far.

Digging all the footage of German kids losing their minds.

Repeated at 01:30 for you TiVo just.

Don't bother. Only half-watching etc. so

Morley: "The Beatles influence stuff like Elton John unlike our Kraftwerk guys"

Some other idiot: "They will be our Bach"

20 mins there is footage of Coldplay.

Bin.

My partner was watching it next door could hear Tago-Mago Damo through the open door, also heard the fucking Morlester:( so didn't investigate.