Description

The theory that a band makes all it's best music in the first decade is clearly disproven. The decade ushered in here covers the bulk of The Catalogue : in ten years, Kraftwerk provided "Trans Europe Express", "Man Machine", "Computer World", and "Electric Cafe" : grand records that sealed their immense importance. It starts with the undulating, gentle melody of "Europe Endless", and ends late on "Franz Schubert" which is the same song, replayed and transformed slowly, an evolving sound painting with production that sounds, even now, precise and contemporary with little sway towards the productionmore… trends of the era. "Trans Europe Express" came out the same summer as The Sex Pistols debut - and has aged better. The only concession Kraftwerk ever made to their popularity was the sly "Hall Of Mirrors", which dealt with the gap between the reality and the image - and, correctly, was followed by the darkly comic "Showroom Dummies". The latter has recently been revitalised in the concert arena, the four anonymous musicians in shilouette as the screens around them present the wrestling of identity and the dehumanisation of objectification. In the vinyl age, there was a clear division between sides, and nowhere is this more evident than the side-long portion of "Trans Europe Express" which evolved, beat by beat and tone by tone, into the sound collage of "Abzug", "Metal On Metal", and the closing "Franz Schubert" where the material has come full circle to reprise the opening song. There is a wonderfully dry reference to Iggy Pop and David Bowie, a driving melody, and the rhythm section that launched a thousand Planet Rock's. Overall, "Trans Europe Express" is Kraftwerk's first masterpiece in a near-immaculate run and it is a glory to hear this again.

The remaster is clear and a definite improvement on previous CD issues. I am unconvinced by the historical revisionism of the cover art of this edition.

Tracks

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Info:

Category:

Music > Albums

Case Type:

CD

Release Type:

Retail

Comments:

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Cover Info:

Title:

Kraftwerk - Trans-Europe Express (2009) Retail CD

Part:

Front

Dimensions:

1899 x 1711 px

Size:

225 KB

Downloads:

104 (0 today)

Uploaded:

Report a Problem Wrong Cover Duplicate Image Bad Quality Wrong Info

14/11/10 by stsk

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