Album: Trans-Europe Express
Artist: Kraftwerk
Born: Düsseldorf, Germany
Released: March 1977
Genre: Electropop
Influenced: Depeche Mode, Human League, OMD, New Order, Madonna, Daft Punk
Two things that pop music wasn't doing in the mid-70s was making songs about transportation and putting synths and drum machines front and centre of the mix. In this way, and others, Kraftwerk were electronic music innovators, first coming to fame in the UK in 1974 with Autobahn, an album featuring a 22min song that captures the sensation of driving on the open road. By the time of Trans-Europe Express' release, Kraftwerk had dropped non-electronic instruments like guitars and violins from their sound altogether, marking them out from their krautrock peers and bringing them closer to punk and new wave (with its minimalist, tightly syncopated rhythms). German director Fritz Lang had explored similar futuristic territory in the 1920s with Metropolis, but whereas that was a nightmarish urban vision, Kraftwerk bring a positivity and sense of humour to their outlook. One thing I love about Europe is train travel, and the album's title track encapsulates that sense of endless possibility when exploring the continent ("rendez-vous on Champs-Élysées", "in Vienna we sit in a late night café"). Some people may find the endless repetition of train noise and robotic vocals tedious, but there's something undeniably mesmerising about the sound and those haunting synths add a sense of drama. Trans-Europe Express would be given a new life in the 80s as a sample on influential hip hop track, Planet Rock, while the album also birthed a new electropop genre in the UK, with the likes of Gary Numan and the Human League all owing Kraftwerk a huge debt.
On opening track Europe Endless, arguably the most catchy tune on the record, the spacious motorik beat is the clearest sign of Kraftwerk's krautrock roots, though the band had changed personnel and sound beyond measure since its formation in 1970. This album isn't all about cold, dehumanised sounds, with Hall Of Mirrors and Showroom Dummies injecting some warmth and humour, the latter with its stunning melody and attempt to downplay the band's robotic image (a cliché emphasised by some members of the music press who portrayed the Germans as cold and efficient). The industrial interlude of Metal on Metal and the synthesised string section on Franz Schubert are both lovely and show that Kraftwerk could switch seamlessly between the mechanical and the emotional. Without wanting to sound like I'm getting too carried away, Kraftwerk can now be seen as precursors to the digital age, their albums exploring the various modes of communication (radio, computers, transport) that underpin the modern world. They created a new musical language and it sounded pretty cool.
P.S. Here are some notable electronic music progenitors, including Giorgio Moroder (brains behind one-hit wonders Chicory Tip and many more successful ventures):
And where it all began, the 1960s Dr Who theme tune:
Two things that pop music wasn't doing in the mid-70s was making songs about transportation and putting synths and drum machines front and centre of the mix. In this way, and others, Kraftwerk were electronic music innovators, first coming to fame in the UK in 1974 with Autobahn, an album featuring a 22min song that captures the sensation of driving on the open road. By the time of Trans-Europe Express' release, Kraftwerk had dropped non-electronic instruments like guitars and violins from their sound altogether, marking them out from their krautrock peers and bringing them closer to punk and new wave (with its minimalist, tightly syncopated rhythms). German director Fritz Lang had explored similar futuristic territory in the 1920s with Metropolis, but whereas that was a nightmarish urban vision, Kraftwerk bring a positivity and sense of humour to their outlook. One thing I love about Europe is train travel, and the album's title track encapsulates that sense of endless possibility when exploring the continent ("rendez-vous on Champs-Élysées", "in Vienna we sit in a late night café"). Some people may find the endless repetition of train noise and robotic vocals tedious, but there's something undeniably mesmerising about the sound and those haunting synths add a sense of drama. Trans-Europe Express would be given a new life in the 80s as a sample on influential hip hop track, Planet Rock, while the album also birthed a new electropop genre in the UK, with the likes of Gary Numan and the Human League all owing Kraftwerk a huge debt.
On opening track Europe Endless, arguably the most catchy tune on the record, the spacious motorik beat is the clearest sign of Kraftwerk's krautrock roots, though the band had changed personnel and sound beyond measure since its formation in 1970. This album isn't all about cold, dehumanised sounds, with Hall Of Mirrors and Showroom Dummies injecting some warmth and humour, the latter with its stunning melody and attempt to downplay the band's robotic image (a cliché emphasised by some members of the music press who portrayed the Germans as cold and efficient). The industrial interlude of Metal on Metal and the synthesised string section on Franz Schubert are both lovely and show that Kraftwerk could switch seamlessly between the mechanical and the emotional. Without wanting to sound like I'm getting too carried away, Kraftwerk can now be seen as precursors to the digital age, their albums exploring the various modes of communication (radio, computers, transport) that underpin the modern world. They created a new musical language and it sounded pretty cool.
P.S. Here are some notable electronic music progenitors, including Giorgio Moroder (brains behind one-hit wonders Chicory Tip and many more successful ventures):
And where it all began, the 1960s Dr Who theme tune:
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