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This is one of my all-time favorite albums. The proto-New Wave, vaguely early industrial rock and Euro-obsessed robotic nature of the entire album intrigues me. From the beginning notes of “Europe Endless” to the machine-like stomps and crunches of “Metal on Metal,” this is a great headphones album.
The sonic landscapes and textures are perfectly constructed things of beauty. The repetition and bloops sound like nothing a human could have possibly constructed – they’re repeated too perfectly and segue too smoothly into new and richer sounds. Quite a few of the songs are instrumental only. The best of the instrumental tracks is the harmonious and gorgeous “Franz Schubert.” It borrows elements from “Europe Endless” and “Trans-Europe Express,” but contains its own repeated set of tingling keyboard notes which can only be described as classical music played by a computer. Which says nothing of the practically inhuman and cyborg-like vocals. If a speak-and-spell could record an album, a better reference for today’s kids – the speech function on your Mac, this is what the vocal tracks would have sounded like. Spacious and airy or deep and troubling depending on how the vocal tricks were needed. This is perfect midnight listening if synth-pop fills your heart with joy and electronic music has always intrigued you.
This stuff wasn’t just weird and wonderful for the time period, this stuff was hugely influential. With their minimalist approach (yes, minimalist) to creating robotic and electronic based music, Kraftwerk blew the door wide open for the army of New Wavers who came with synth-orientated singles and robo-posturing. More than that, before there was a Daft Punk, and their entire Euro-disco/eletroclash/club scene, there was Kraftwerk. DOWNLOAD: “Europe Endless”
