The same year the world said goodbye to its favourite pop band, The Beatles, a band called Kraftwerk, from Germany, released its debut self-titled album, followed a few years later by their breakthrough record Autobahn. This album’s title track – a 22+ minute electronic opener – begins with a dark, otherworldly, synthesised voice that repeats the title in an almost menacing way. The contrast with ‘Let It Be’ could not be more stark. Though you could argue that electronic music had earlier progenitors than Kraftwerk, there is no doubt that their 1974 release ushered in a new era and set the wheels in motion for electronic music’s development over the following decades.
That’s why, when founding member Florian Schneider passed away from cancer in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, the tributes flooded in from far and wide. There is a reason critics have called Kraftwerk the second most influential pop group of all time, second only to The Fab Four. Much like The Beatles, Kraftwerk a) had four members, b) always pushed production boundaries in the studio, and c) broke acres of new musical ground in a very short space of time.
Starting out as an experimental rock group, the band was part of Germany’s burgeoning ‘krautrock’ scene, which, through music and art, sought to forge a new cultural identity following the Second World War. They quickly embraced technology as part of their setup, often hand-making their own drum pads, samplers and other electronic instruments. But Schneider and co’s background as classically trained musicians didn’t go to waste; the group took orchestral music, combined it with their love of rock and pop, and channelled them through computers.
The result was a cutting-edge style of music that, thanks to its timeless pop hooks, managed to sound both futuristic and strangely familiar, resulting in the popularisation of electronic music from the late 1970s into the ‘80s. While the guitar-obsessed British music press initially rejected Kraftwerk, declaring “keep the robots out of music,” there were plenty of musicians taking note. David Bowie, whose affinity for space-themed glam rock wasn’t too dissimilar, channelled the ‘machine rock’ sound on his Low album.
Hip-hop legend Afrika Bambaataa sampled them on ‘Planet Rock’ , forever adjusting the DNA of hip-hop in the process. And Gary Numan’s ‘Are Friends Electric?’ was pure Kraftwerk, paving the way for a slew of synth-based new wave bands like The Human League and Depeche Mode. 1. Ruckzuck [1970] It is not that widely known that when they formed in Dusseldorf in 1970, the classically trained musicians of Kraftwerk (meaning “power plant”) used traditional instruments. ‘Ruckzuck’ , the first track on their debut album, uses guitars, organ, violin and drums.
Although Hütter plays the main riff on a flute, it sounds slightly synthetic, while the driving, repetitive rhythms are prototechno. This earlier Kraftwerk material was rediscovered and mined for ideas by experimental ‘90s electronic acts, such as Bjork and Aphex Twin. 2. Autobahn [1974] Kraftwerk’s breakthrough track would’ve sounded totally alien to your average music listener back in 1974.
Moog bass lines, phased synths and the use of vocoder all add to the futuristic feel, but the band combines the tech with traditional instrumentation (guitar and flute) to recreate the feeling of freedom you get when flying down the motorway with the wind whizzing past. The band themselves described it as “the sound of cars singing” . You’d be forgiven for mistaking the song’s repeated phrase “fun, fun, fun on the autobahn” as a cheeky homage to The Beach Boys, but “fun” is actually the German word “fahren” (driving).
3. Radioactivity [1976] One of the group’s darkest compositions, it’s easy to imagine ‘Radioactivity’ sound-tracking a future apocalypse: synthesised percussion recreates the churn of factory pipes, random bleeps are computers malfunctioning, while the ominous, almost choirlike drone presides over the destruction from above. In many ways, it’s all very techno. Genreblurring New York group Scissor Sisters took the main hook and laid it over a house beat for their 2010 electro track ‘Something Like This’ .
4. Trans- Europe Express [1977] With a chugging beat, ominous synth blasts and vocoder vocals, this 7-minute track is an ode to technology and trans-continental travel (both part of Kraftwerk’s dream for a global post-war utopia). While the taut, detached music seems about as far from the loose, funky beats of hip-hop as you can get, that didn’t stop hip-hop pioneer Afrika Bambaataa sampling ‘Trans-Europe Express’ in his hugely influential 1982 single ‘Planet Rock’ - a bona fide hip-hop classic.
10 Essential Kraftwerk Tracks 67HOME CINEMA Of course, these new forms of electronic music – including hip-hop and synth-pop – played a big part in the emergence of electronic dance music, as DJs and producers in the club scene sought to amplify the grooves of disco using the beats and technologies pioneered by Kraftwerk. Perhaps the strongest example is ‘Home Computer’ , which shows a clear similarity to the early Detroit techno sound.
The rest, as they say, is history. As pop music has evolved into connected world, the group also prophesied a digital world in which there were positives (‘Home Computer’) but also negative aspects, such as data surveillance (‘Computer World’). Now, as we come to rely more and more on technology, spending increasing amounts of time behind smartphone and laptop screens, Kraftwerk's vision of an interconnected world seems all that more prescient. sub-genres of sub-genres of subgenres, the influence of Florian Schneider and Kraftwerk on the modern musical landscape is plain to see – from New Order’s dance-infused post-punk to the vocoder vocals of Daft Punk and right up to the glistening synthpop of Chvrches.
Not to forget the pulsing, ever-present techno beats that emanate from clubs across the world each weekend. Through the futurism of their music and their belief in a more 5. Showroom Dummies [1977] A tongue-in-cheek riposte to the early critics who berated their electronic sound and detached stage performance style, ‘Showroom Dummies’ displayed Kraftwerk’s dark sense of humour. With a steady, repetitive beat and tinkering synth melodies, the eerie track tells the story of mannequins who come to life, smash the glass to escape their ‘showroom’ and walk through the city, eventually finding a club, where they start to dance.
6. The Model [1978 - Reissued 1981] Catchy as hell and ahead of its time, 1978’s ‘The Model’ became a surprise UK number-one after being re-released in 1982 at the height of the Kraftwerk-inspired synth-pop boom. British groups like the Human League and OMD adored the group’s combination of classic pop hooks with new electronic sounds, of which ‘The Model’ is a prime example. Lyrically, the track explores the feeling of disconnection brought on by modern media, as the singer obsesses over a woman he has never met – a model he sees on the cover of a magazine.
7. Metropolis (1978) This 1978 track shows an obvious resemblance to the sound of that other electronic music pioneer, Georgio Moroder, whose song with Donna Summer, ‘I Feel Love’ , came out a year before ‘Metropolis’ . Both were influential, but where Moroder’s pulsing synths speed up as love takes hold, ‘Metropolis’ holds its tempo to reflect the repetition and urban uniformity of city life. The influence of this track – and indeed the whole Man Machine album – was felt by emerging synth-pop artists including Gary Numan, Depeche Mode, Ultravox and OMD.
8. The Robots [1978] Though its repeated lyrical hook – “We are the robots” – sounds a bit child-like and kitsch by today’s standards, it’s hard to listen to the musical elements of ‘The Robots’ and not marvel at how ahead of their time they sounded. Samples of these riffs and sound effects made their way into the clubs of the ‘90s thanks to dance producers like Rob Tissera and Fatboy Slim. Also notable is the prominent use of vocoder vocals, without which it’s hard to imagine Daft Punk’s ‘Around the World’ , Imogen Heap’s ‘Hide & Seek’ or more recent auto-tune crooners like Akon or Future.
9. Computer Love [1981] Dancey but delicate, perfectly formed tracks like this are the reason Rolling Stone placed Kraftwerk’s Computer World in its top ten EDM albums of all time in 2012. ‘Computer Love’ is probably the group’s most successful UK release and sounds just as fresh today. The song reached new audiences when its shimmering melody was lifted by Coldplay for their hit single ‘Talk’ from 2005’s X&Y album. Interestingly, the lyrics (“I call this number, call this number, for a data date”) describe dating over the phone – not a far cry from Tinder and the smartphone dating world of today.
10. Home Computer [1981] “I program my home computer, beam myself into the future,” sang Kraftwerk on this 1981 single, when the idea of family laptops was still the stuff of science fiction. While some tracks on the Computer World album touched on darker elements of emerging technology, this one takes a more positive, playful view. Along with the funk music of George Clinton, the taut grooves of electronic tracks like ‘Home Computer’ were a huge influence on the Detroit techno scene, with Detroitbased electronic group Cybotron sampling this track for their 1983 electro classic ‘Clear’ .
