Product Description

THE MAN-MACHINE and its predecessor, 1977's TRANS-EUROPE EXPRESS, deserve their exalted position in the pantheon of modern music, if only for their importance in shaping the future development of hip-hop and dance music. The concept behindThe Man-Machine took Kraftwerk's mechanistic vision of humanity to its logical extreme, but the music within captured the group at their most engagingly melodic. Instantly memorable, "The Model" reached number 1 in the UK singles chart three years later, and proved to be a direct inspiration for the wave of gloomy electronic bands that quickly followed. However, none of them ever came close to grasping the subtle human touch that lay behind Kraftwerk's faceless exterior.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #69670 in Music
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

Customer Reviews

A CLASSIC CD THAT PLACES MODERN DANCE MUSIC TO SHAME
If you want something decent to listen to this is it.

Faithless fans may have thought that the sun shone when they heard tracks like Drifting Away but this CD WAS RECORDED IN 1978 when a Pentium chip wasnt even in production or possibly not even on the drawing board at Intel.

Which makes this CD still refreshing.

The shuttle hadnt reached the lauch pad at Cape Canaveral yet Spacelab almost is as symbolic - its clockwork beat adds to the imagination.

The space age theme continues in Metropolis.

The Model was a hit for Kraftwerk and has been released as a single several times over the years. Its theme based around the windows of Hamburgs 'model' district.

Neon Lights was always one of my favourite tracks and centres around the Northern Lights experience - the orchestral work in this track is masterful

Which leaves Man Machine another clockwork theme backing track is brilliant and brings this cracking CD to a finale

Buy this CD its worth it and the fact that it is still is as refreshing as 23 years ago proves that it has stood the test of time.

How many modern acts will be able to bost this claim in twenty years time????.

An album from the year 2000 released in 1978!
The Man Machine has to be, for me, Kraftwerk's crowning glory. A listen to this album twenty four years after its first release confirms that the 'electric quartet' from Dusseldorf were thinking years ahead of other groups when this album was conceived. Tracks such as 'Spacelab', and 'The Model' sound like they would not be out of place in a modern dance club, such is their musical brilliance. My favourite track has to be 'Neon Lights'. I first heard it late one night when I was at Hendon Police College, in my room overlooking north London at 'the fall of night', when the city really did look 'made of light'. Incredible. The cover is a masterpiece of high camp, which with the superb music, makes the album stand out amongst the other releases of 1978. Recommended without doubt!

The complex simplicity!
When you listen to this record, you should remember that it was created and released in 1978. At that time there was no MIDI, no samplers with the quality of our time and no digital electronic music equipment to speak of. What you had of electronic was complicated and difficult to adjust. Your sequencers was mostly experimental and limited in scope.

Enter Kraftwerk! With great determinism the group thought in the same minimalistic patterns that can be found in the Ravel Bolero and the Bach fugas. The precision - OVERprecision - is used to compose music of a very simple nature, like the German hit-music at that time (for instance, "The Model" is a moody and slow variation of some Bayern-like tunes - all you miss is the brass section!).

Kraftwerk is playing with the idea of being "computers". They want us to think that this is the music machines make. But they cannot hide the humanity - the music is funny, in all of its simplicity.

The music that this group made and is making should be regarded as important. And add to that: It is damn good!