Kraftwerk - Autobahn
» Published by szola on Sep 01, 2005
Label: Astralwerks records
Year: 1974
Format: CD
Kraftwerk emerged from the same German experimental music community of the late '60s which also spawned Can and Tangerine Dream primary members Florian Schneider and Ralf Hütter first met as classical music students at the Dusseldorf Conservatory, originally teaming in the group Organisation and issuing a 1970 album, Tone Float. Schneider and Hütter soon disbanded Organisation, rechristening themselves Kraftwerk (German for "power station"), beginning work on their own studio (later dubbed Kling Klang), and immersing their music in the fledgling world of minimalist electronics; their 1971 debut, titled simply Kraftwerk 1, offered a hint of their unique aesthetic in its earliest form, already implementing innovations including Schneider's attempts at designing homemade rhythm machines.
A series of lineup shifts followed, and at one point Hütter even left the group; however, by the release of 1972's Kraftwerk 2 he and Schneider were again working in tandem. Recorded without a live drummer, the album's rhythms relied solely on a drum machine, creating a distinctly robotic feel without precedent . In the beginning of the seventies the concept of purely technological music was utterly alien to most musicians, as well as listeners. Kraftwerk's first album to be issued in the U.S., but their third release, 1974's Autobahn was an international smash; an edited single version of the epic title track was a major hit at home and abroad, and in America the previously unknown group reached the upper rungs of the pop albums chart. Performed in large part on a Moog synthesizer, the distinct sound that became the trademark of the Kraftwerk sound, made clear overtures towards conventional pop structure and melody, establishing a permanent foothold for electronic music within the mainstream.
In 1975 Kraftwerk resurfaced with the album Radio-Activity which is a concept album exploring the theme of radio communication; indicative of the group's new global popularity, it was released in both German and English-language editions, the latter appearing early the following year. Train travel emerged as the subject of the 1977 realease Trans-Europe Express which marked an increased movement towards seeming musical mechanization; the line became even further blurred with the follow-up, 1978's aptly titled album The Man Machine, a work almost completely bereft of human touches. By this time, the members even publicly portrayed themselves as automatons, an image solidified by tracks like "We Are the Robots." Having reached the peak of their influence, however, the group disappeared from view, the first of many extended absences to follow; they did not return to action prior to their last full-lengthed album, the 1981's Computer World, which can be described as a meditation on the new global dominance of technology — a society their music long ago predicted and predated.
Although Kraftwerk's first three albums were groundbreaking in their own right Autobahn is where the group's hypnotic electro-pulse genuinely came into its own, and the album with which they broke into the mainstream. The main difference between Autobahn and its predecessors is how it develops an insistent, propulsive pulse which makes the repeated rhythms and riffs of the shimmering electronic keyboards and trance-like guitars all the more hypnotizing. The 22-minute title track, in a severely edited form, became an international hit single and remains the peak of the band's achievements — it encapsulates the band and why they are important within one track — but the rest of the album provides soundscapes equally as intriguing. The sheer length of the title trach Autobahn, with its 22 minutes long journey sweeps the listerner away. The constant drive of the tune, with its melodic electronic sound and mantra-like repetition of the short vocals is utterly hypnotising, and the rest of the album winds the listener down at a steady pace. After listening to the album one can get the feeling of only hearing one song with a very long outro. That is not to say that the only tune worthwhile is Autobahn, but listening to the album in one go Autobahn casts its mighty shadow over the whole album. Within Autobahn the roots of electro-funk, ambient, and synth-pop are all evident — it's a pioneering album, even if its electronic trances might not capture the attention of all listeners.
Listen and enjoy!