Its influence incalculable and its importance indeterminate, 1974’s Autobahn by Germany’s Kraftwerk established the foundation of electronic popular rock music. Pretty much considered a classic now, reviews were mixed upon its initial release. Many British artists churning out similar music in the late 70s and early 80s, and enjoying worldwide radio hits, cite Kraftwerk as the band that inspired them to adopt the genre. Autobahn is actually the fourth studio album by the group but the first to manifest a shift from experimental krautrock to a synthesizer and drum machine extravaganza of neatly-structured, rhythmic, melodic, accessible, and engaging songs. The title of the #1 hit at the time of Autobahn’s release – BTO’s “You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet” – seemed to herald the landscape change the album accomplished. Autobahn eventually made the Top 10 in the major music markets with the title track earning decent chart positions as well (in Canada, #5 and #12 respectively). #Kraftwerk #Autobahn #Kometenmelodie #CometMelody #Mitternacht #Midnight #Morgenspaziergang #MorningWalk #RalfHütter #FlorianSchneider #WolfgangFlür #KlausRöder #KonradPlank #EmilSchult #BarbaraNiemoller
01 / 11 / 74 44,4 km de Colonia a Düsseldorf #vinylcollection #vinylcollector #vinylrecords #kraftwerk #autobahn #klingklang #ralfhütter #florianschneider #klausröder #wolfgangflür #konradplank #emilschult #barbaraniemoller #philips #electronic #synth #popelectroacoustic #techno #kosmischemusik #future
RALF AND FLORIAN / KRAFTWERK _ Vertigo Records 1973 Album (UK edition) _ Kraftwerk’s first three albums have never been included in their official canon – 1974s Autobahn is regarded as the first ‘proper’ release. Florian Schneider even went on record calling Kraftwerk 1, Kraftwerk 2 and Ralf and Florian ‘archaeology’. None of these early releases made it to CD or had the privilege of a full re-release repackage, which is a shame as they’re a fascinating part of the bands’ musical beginnings. Ralf und Florian – the official German title – was written by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider with sessions engineered by the influential Konrad ‘Conny’ Plank. The album has a more polished feel compared with Kraftwerk 1&2 due to the use of more commercial and professional recording studios. Musically it’s not as rhythmically precise as their later work and is still quite loose, but you can hear the beginnings of their trademark machine voice – an early vocoder prototype – on Ananas Symphonie (Pineapple Symphony), while Tranzmusik and Kristallo point towards musical things to come. There’s a really great clip on YouTube of them performing Tranzmusik on a German TV show, accompanied by Wolfgang Flür on electronic drums sporting an impressive moustache. He would become a full-time member at the end of 1973 followed by Karl Bartos in 1975, completing the ‘classic’ Kraftwerk line-up. The cover for the UK edition differs from the German release with an (embossed) illustration of a circuit board replacing the Robert Franck portrait of the duo. The back cover image by Barbara Niemöller gives an insight to Kraftwerk’s bohemian facilities at the time, complete with egg boxed walls. Cover by Ralf und Florian. @jonryanjones _ #circlesintosquares #albumcoverart #vinylinspiration @kraftwerkofficial #kraftwerk #ralfhutter #florianschneider #1973 #klingklang #connyplank #wolfgangflur #barbaraniemoller #ralfandflorian #ralfundflorian