Kraftwerk - Man Machine
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Music CD Cover
Artist: KraftwerkEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1995-09-26
Music Label: Emd Int'l
Soundtracks:
- The Robots
- Spacelab
- Metropolis
- The Model
- Neon Lights
- The Man-Machine
Free Music Notes for Man Machine
Free Music Review: "Run toward the NEON LIGHT, Carol-Ann!"
Hit: 5 Stars
If some well-meaning sadist were to pin me in a corner and demand to know what my favorite Kraftwerk album of all time was, I would pause for about 5 seconds, and finally sigh, MAN-MACHINE. This would almost be as difficult as asking me what my favorite abum would be by the likes of Tangerine Dream...Vangelis...Jonn Serrie...Jean-Michel Jarre...Pink Floyd...YES...Genesis...PFM...Constance Demby...Michael Stearns...ELP...King Crimson...Jade Warrior...and on and on. But...I can recall when this album was released and immediately being hooked. Not by the dance beats, necessarily (although we were in the heyday of disco back then, and I was eating up the latest releases by Donna Summer [for Giorgio Moroder & Harald Faltermeyer's electronics] and underground club bands like Voyage), but by the damn-near HUMAN-NESS of the tracks. It's like the boys were trying to meld 2 distinct universes together: the steely, cold, mechanical landscapes explored on TRANS-EUROPE EXPRESS, and the warm, engaging washes of electronic keyboards on the likes of tracks like "Morgenspaziergang" and "Ananas Symphonie"(<--one of my all-time favorite tracks of theirs, from RALF & FLORIAN). Let their be no doubt: For those who, like me, absolutely love the allure of electronic dance music on a dance floor crammed full of fun-loving warm bodies being bathed in shimmering strobes and pulsating colored spotlights, this is the album to play, start to finish. The first 3 tracks give strong hints of the techno/rave craze to come. The last 3, though (which made up side 2 of the LP) are the ones that really took me. "The Model" was probably their strongest bid for Top 40 fame, and if I recall correctly, in some locales, they succeeded. The song is very radio-friendly and infectious, in spite of their insipid lyrics (and let's call a spade a spade: Kraftwerk will never be remembered for their heavy, meaningful lyrics...but hey, who cares? This is not Joni Mitchell/Michael Franks/Duncan Sheik territory we're in here.). The next 2 tracks, "Neon Lights" and the title track are the ones I love most, and especially "Neon Lights." Clocking in at 9 minutes, this is, hands-down, the most pleasant, enchanting, and ultimately WONDROUS dance song Kraftwerk has ever done, IMO. When I d.j. at dances from time to time, I love to drag this track out just to see how people react to it...invariably someone will come up to me and ask, "Who IS this?" in a nice way. I cannot give this song enough praise...when it breaks into the crystal-clear, glimmering synth break at the close of the vocal section, the jam session that follows is simply delightful. If Kraftwerk were ever to do another live album, my fantasy would be to hear them do an extended version of this, maybe the length of the original "Autobahn," allowing for all possible electronic improvisation on it. Wouldn't that be great? And finally, the hypnotic groove of the title track with the finely-crafted vocoder singing is simply a masterpiece in itself. Should anyone wonder what a good album would be to start out with, were he/she curious about Kraftwerk, this album would get my recommendation in a heartbeat. Getting to see the boys in Lincoln, Nebraska back in 1975 when they were on tour with Pavlov's Dog was a treat for the eyes and ears I will never forget. I just hope they will remain with us as long as humanly possible and accept the gratitude and love of us, their legion of fans, for all these years of incredible music they've shared with us. A final request to all German electronic music fans: If anyone knows where a CD of Fuhrs & Frohling's AMMERLAND is available, please Email me.
Man Machine Poster
Import pressing of their 1978 album that features the same 6 tracks as their out of print US version. EMI.The album on which Kraftwerk got serious about their legacy of fusing human flesh and the technology it has inspired into an indistinguishable whole, Man-Machine also ironically embodies some of the band's most endearing contradictions. The case is stated up front with the techno classic "The Robots." The journey continues to worlds both utopian ("Spacelab") and dystopian ("Metropolis"). Then it segues into a bona fide, hook-laden dance track ("The Model," perhaps inspired by the club success that Kraftwerk's previous album, Trans-Europe Express, experienced at the hands of enterprising early mixmaster DJs). There's also a downright sentimental cityscape, "Neon Lights." But lest anyone think that Schneider, Hutter, and company are too human, they wrap up the proceedings with the robotic dance-groove of the title track, inspiring dizzy listeners to ponder: Kraftwerk--men or machines? --Jerry McCulley
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