Electronic Performers (The Man-machine - Kraftwerk)

Member Name: Hunting_Bears

Product:	The Man-machine - Kraftwerk
Date:	06/10/03 (193 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: incredible computer sounds, brilliant concept

Disadvantages: none

In a world where people such as Madonna are labelled ' musical geniuses' by over-imaginative post-modernist critics and boy band's win countless awards for their less than brilliant musical ability. I began to think about contenders for pop music 'genius' (if one has to use such a overused term), my list consisted of Jimi Hendrix, Brian Wilson, Joy Division and a German group with the unusual moniker of 'Kraftwerk'. Not only did this band make beautiful 'pop' music but invented synthesisers, electronic drums and sample machines because they were so ahead of their time that these things did not exist, out of pure experimentation they 'created' instruments and used them to make a unique 'German' sound.

Kraftwerk started as an avant-garde band in the late 1960's and early 1970's but the founding members Ralf Hutter and Florian Schnieder moved continually into the realms of pop. They scored a big hit with 'Autobahn' and have never looked back. Along with Schnieder and Hutter there were two percussionists: Wolfgang Flur and Karl Bartos.

Many have described Kraftwerk's sound as cold, robotic, futuristic and strange and I am sure they would not have it any other way. Kraftwerk's success lay in uniqueness; they were a German pop band, not something that was internationally popular back in the 1970's. The media dubbed them rather offensively as 'Krautrock'.

Their Albums:

Autobahn (1974)
Radioactivity (1975)
Trans-Europe Express (1977)
The Man Machine (1978)
Computer World (1981)
Electric Cafe (1986)
Tour de France Soundtracks* (2003)

My review will be of my personal favourite 'Kraftwerk' album 'Die Mensch Maschine' (to use its German title). Everything about this album is incredible, the pulsating rhythms, the cold but rather romantic lyrics, the brilliant percussion and wonderful synt
hesisers creating a soundscape so futuristic and beyond pop music that it is transcendent.

Not only is the album's music amazing but the actual artwork is too, gone is the Art-Deco 'Trans-Europe Express' look, 'Die Mensch Maschine' uses Soviet Constructivist art designs, also note the members of the band look to the east. I think it is the best album design for any of the 'Kraftwerk' albums.

1. The Robots (Hutter/Schnieder/Bartos)

The album opener is a stunning building slowly over six minutes with Ralf Hutter repeating "We are the Robots". The first sound we hear is a pulsating sound that I can't really describe. Once the drums kick in (yes they are drums) and the melody too, you will realise that the music you are listening to is not only a pop song but you can actually dance to it (though I would pay good money to see anybody dance to Kraftwerk in public). The rest of the lyrics are disguised with an electronic voice distorted. Another great thing about 'Kraftwerk' is how minimalist in terms of music they are. A lot of music is over-produced but 'Kraftwerk' are incredibly simplistic and yet sound so complex, this is a great achievement in my view.






2. Spacelab (Hutter/Bartos)

I love this song because it so futuristic, I imagine city lights, neon signs, masses of people and time-lapse photography. It is a quick tempo song with a beautiful melody over the fast percussion and sound effects. The only lyrics that are repeated is the lone word 'Spacelab' again Hutter's voice is distorted with what to me sounds like a mellotron. This is a beautiful song.


3. Metropolis (Hutter/Bartos)

Track three is based on Fritz Lang's landmark science fiction film 'Metropolis'. When you look at all the album titles and album artwork there is a feeling of a concept at work, modernism, the future a
nd the possibilities of pop music are explored with this album. 'Metropolis' builds slowly with synthesisers rising above each other and then the killer melody is unleashed. Listen to this song when your driving in a car and the environment, inside and out becomes alien and scary. This song conjures up the feeling that modern life is so alienating and spooky. I also love it when Ralf sings in a heavy German accent 'MEEEERTROPOLLISSS'.


4. The Model (Hutter/Bartos/Schult)

This was the hit single that kind of stands out on the album for two reasons, one is that it is short and the other because of the romantic lyrics courtesy of Emil Schult (sometime lyrical collaborator). I think everybody knows this song and being only 24 and introduced to 'Kraftwerk' through a television on the '100 Greatest Albums' on VH1 last year I had only very vague memories of the song. I could only ever remember the line 'She's a model' followed by the amazing drumbeat and light synthesiser melody.

5. Neon Lights (Hutter/Schnieder/Bartos)

'Neon Lights' is my personal favourite on the entire album. I love the romantic lyrics that suggest that the city despite being a place of alienation and monotony can actually be quite beautiful. Ralf sings; 'Neon lights, shimmering neon lights, and at the fall of night, this city's made of light'. It a rather easy going number and the longest song on the album clocking in at around eight minutes fifty-one seconds but the music is hypnotic and I think incredibly moving for a band dubbed so often as unfeeling robots.

6. The Man Machine (Hutter/Bartos)


The album closer is a harsh affair and sounds and feels cold but is a perfect tune to end the album with. It builds slowly but is not fast in tempo but rather layered. The lyrics are indecipherable and I can only make out the repeated phrase "The Man Machine, mach
ine, machine, machine, machine". With this album closer there is sense of looking to the future and seeing artificial intelligence and human beings merging together, the perfect synthesise of man and machine, which ties in with the constructivist movement. Russian film director Dziga Vertov said that 'A man and a film camera is the perfect meshing of man and machine" (paraphrased). I think 'Kraftwerk' had a similar idea when making this landmark album.


'Kraftwerk' imploded in 1991 when Wolfgang Flur and Karl Bartos left the band because Ralf and Florian were more obsessed with cycling than making music, leaving other bands to hijack and continue what 'Kraftwerk' had begun.

If you are interested in learning more about this 'genius' band then I highly recommend Wolfgang Flur's brilliant 'I Was A Robot'. A tell-all book that destroys the myth of 'Kraftwerk' but also reinforces what amazing music they created, even if they were portrayed as a bunch of cold mechanical human beings (in myth).

Summary: