Autobahn

The title track is one of Kraftwerk's greatest achievements... a twenty-two minute-long piece of music that manages to capture the lulled ambience of a long motorway trip (from the sense of freedom as you hit the open-stretch, to the endless possibilities suggested by the road laid out in front, with the swirl of landscapes blurred on either side, the buzz of passing motorists and the eventual frustration of a last minute jam all adding to the overall sense of confusion), all wrapped up in a propulsive swirl of evocative instrumental flourishes, disarming production effects, chanted vocals, and an approach to pop music not a million miles away from the Beach Boys!! At twenty-two minutes it's not nearly long enough, with the different breaks, movements and mid-song stretches drawing us in and holding us entranced by the sheer enormity and imagination of their sound and style, whilst further demonstrating, once and for all, that Kraftwerk are one of those life-changing, era-defining bands that have managed to invent their own brand of pop music, whilst, simultaneously, re-inventing and perhaps even straddling a number of other, more disparate musical genres, from electronic or progressive rock, to dance, hip-hop, post punk and pop.

The rest of the album, no matter how great, can only pale in comparison with the lulled ambience of the opening track... with Kometenmelodie 1 offering us something more dense and menacing than the joyous pop of Autobahn, with gloomy synthesisers and an ominous swell of distortion creating a dark sense of dissonance, which is eventually undercut by the more pop-like sound of Kometenmelodie 2. The fact that the song Autobahn is followed by two songs essentially titled "comet melody", which in turn will segue into songs called Midnight (Mitternacht) and Morning Walk (Morgenspaziergang), perhaps imply that the concept behind the album goes deeper than the simple notion of driving on the motorway, perhaps suggesting the idea of escape (from where exactly?), with the dark and foreboding Kometenmelodie 1 giving way to the bright and breezy Kometenmelodie 2, before luring us into those lush and dreamy closers (the metaphorical escape complete: sanctuary found in a blissed-out pop utopia!!).

Autobahn is a fascinating album... an ornate and esoteric collection of music that shows Kraftwerk mixing joyous pop sophistication with propulsive experiments in the field of all things "electronic". It still sounds fantastic too, with the studio built electronic equipment still sounding incredible - even when compared to more recent electronic albums that were created digitally - and while the electro-pop bands that were influenced by Kraftwerk - such as Depeche Mode, New Order, Duran Duran, Gary Numan, Ultravox, etc - now sound dated and cheap, the work of Kraftwerk still sounds absolutely peerless. Autobahn is a bold and really quite ground-breaking record, one that managed to push the envelope in terms of electronic music, and led Kraftwerk into a transitional phase from that early, more progressive sound, into the more enchanting pop sound of Trans-Europe Express, The Man Machine and Computer World.


30 Years on, and it still sounds great.   September 3, 2005
14 out of 16 found this review helpful

The year was 1974 and a saturday afternoon. I went to see a friend of mine, and he told me that he had just brought a new album by a band called Kraftwerk. I had never heard off them, so he was keen to tell me that the band were German, and the title track was called Autobahn and was all about a car journey. Well, I thought he had banged his head. He told me, that I had to listen to it. So we went into his parents lounge, and listened to the whole album. I was 100% hooked and just had to own a copy, so 30 minuates later I had brought a copy.

Today the music would be I suppose classed as trance, and it would give some of the modern day music a run for it's money, back in the 70's it was light years in front of anything. Would I recommend it? ABSOLUTELY. I still have my vinyl copy and of course a copy on cd, I still listen to the album at least once a week. Every time I listen to the album the memories come flooding back and of course new ones are logged, and that Saturday afternoon all those years ago is not that far away. This album has been a very good friend to me for 30ish years, it's always been there. It sounds as good today as it did back in the 70's, quite simply one of the best albums in the history of music. I can't recommend this album enough, all I'll say is, if you like music it's a must album for any music collection.


Like a Fine Wine - it improves with age ......!!   August 14, 2005
Mr. A. R. Banyer (Gt. Yarmouth , UK)
12 out of 12 found this review helpful

I remember a time when every Party I went to had to have this album (alongside Rubycon , Phaedra , Oxygene etc...)

It was a great album then , but a Milestone now.(2005)

Released at the time of "Album Bands" who were less interested in the singles charts ( Staying Power as opposed to 1 hit wonders). This has to be the Ultimate KW "Theme" Album .

For younger listeners they may have forgotten that you used to have to actually flip an album to hear the 2nd side. So the title track (whole 1st side of the album) is totally absorbing whether as Ambient Background Music , or on headphones "UP LOUD".

Not a Pop album , more like a Vintage wine for connosieurs , and as superb today as it was 20 years ago , if not better.


What a trip!   March 17, 2004
Aj Viljoen (Kuwait)
7 out of 14 found this review helpful

Boy, did this album take me back!

I owned a vinyl copy when I was at school, but someone liberated me of its ownership (I live in South Africa) many years ago. So I bought it again recently, and in flooded the memories! What an experience! Why only four stars? Because I want more!