Autobahn (Kraftwerk, 1974)

This long track of more than 22 minutes is no doubt one of the best achievements in Kraftwerk's career. The electronic rythms and many keyboard effects re-create the sounds of a car travelling along a motorway (that's the meaning of the German word "Autobahn") and the monotone vocals add a hypnotic touch to the song. But you can also come across acoustic instruments like flute and guitar, almost indistinct in that electronic hammering, and depicting the loser human side of high tech world.

 

There are several different cover arts for "Autobahn". I like this one.

This dark, overpowering side of the industrial civilisation is also evident in the compulsive lyrics Wir fahren fahren fahren auf der Autobahn ("We drive, drive, drive on the motorway"), something like a pointless, foolish worry we all share in modern life. In spite of this rather depressing side, Autobahn charms me each time I listen to it, and I think I'll go on travelling on that musical motorway of theirs the rest of my life.

Neonlicht / Neon Lights (Kraftwerk, 1978)

Another melancholy post-industrial track by Kraftwerk I'm adding to this blog. I love the decadent mood of this song, its winding slow time and its passionless, almost indolent vocals. The instrumental section is excellent and perfectly fits into the crepuscular atmosphere of the lyrics iterating: "Neon Lights / Shimmering neon lights / And at the fall of night / This city's made of light".

 

The original vinyl 12" single was whitish in daylight...

 

...and phosphorescent green in the dark.

 

The hypnotic sung theme is supported by a slowly pulsing electronic background, until the synth solo comes in. This song was also released as a single b-side (with "The Model") and lately as a stand alone 12" single. And, of course, a luminous vinyl was employed. If you like retro moods and stylish electronics, well, this is for you.

Ohm Sweet Ohm (Kraftwerk, 1975)

Taken from the album "Radio-Activity" - "Radio-Aktivität" was its original German title - this track is another specimen of the melancholy mood of Kraftwerk, that special nostalgy that grows up among electric wires and concrete buildings. As the album develops the double concept of radio and nuclear energy, Ohm seems a very good name for that and the "Home Sweet Home" joke is also a good close for the LP.

A reassuring, old fashioned picture, isn't it?

The first part of the song is pure electronic, with a distorted voice work, something weird and even scary in the line of previous tracks like "The voice of The Energy" or "Uranium", while the second section is a sweet, instrumental melody. But that's not all: this melody loop accelerates, changing once again the mood of the song, progressively wiping out the nostalgic atmosphere and bringing back the artificial, electronic album concept. Beautiful and strange, I daresday.

Trans-Europa Express / Metal auf Metal (Kraftwerk, 1977)

Also known with their English titles "Trans-Europe Express" and "Metal on Metal", these two linked songs (a suite, in fact) are among the most known tracks from Kraftwerk, the German band who so strongly contributed to define electronic music domain. Retro and romantic, full of rail and train effects, this music explores the smoky journeys of European travellers of the roaring twenties and builds up a fading grey picture that perfectly matches with the most updated electronics of the '70s.

The German single including the first part of the suite.

Old and new merge in a soft and hypnotic sound and you just have to close your eyes to see stylish men and elegant women crowding the platforms of an Art Nouveau station and passing through the gates leading to a Parisian boulevard. Really, it's hardly believable how distorted vocals and futuristic effects get old fashioned and melodic... and even the reference in the lyrics to David Bowie and Iggy Pop sounds like a genuine Weimar Germany era announcement. These were just a few reasons to include this suite in my blog.

Kometenmelodie 1 / 2 (Kraftwerk, 1974)

For sure, this is an electronic music track of prog interest. Not only its structure is complex and carefully articulated, but the two different parts form a 12 minute coherent suite reminiscent of a synphonic two-parts composition, not so far from many romantic opera preludes. This instrumental track is inspired by the comet Kohoutek, discovered in 1973 and rapidly becoming an event during 1974. In fact, a 1973 early demo-quality single of Kometenmelodie part 2 was actually titled Kohoutek-Kometenmelodie, while an edited version of Kometenmelodie part 2 was released as a single immediatly after the album release.

The cover of the early version of Kometenmelodie, released in 1973.

The first part of the song describes the long, dark, silent journey of the comet through the far and cold regions of the Solar System and the mood here is morn and arcane, on a very slow and almost lugubrious tempo. Then, part 2 introduces the brighter and spectacular passage near the Sunk, with a tempo acceleration and a melodic, pyrotechnical variation of the main theme. Prog or not, this is great.

Computer Love / Computerliebe (Kraftwerk, 1981)

Another long disputed question: are Kraftwerk a prog band? Once again, I don't know. For sure, this track contains may typically prog features, such as highly creative keyboard sounds, tempo and mood changes (yes, Kraftwerk did so more often than you think) and a very good melody coming in several variations. As the band only employed electronic instruments, you won't fine here the most usual rock highlights: no guitar solos, nor physical drumming here.

How could we forget these guys...

 

...or this single version of the song?

 

That said,  no one before or after them took such an advantage of vocal filters, special audio effects, drum programming and so on, turning each song into a musical adventure... and this is exactly what prog is meant to be. And I like this song in particular for its romantic rendering of electronic music... am I too smoochy?