Kraftwerk is an electronic music band that originated in Germany. Original members, Ralf Hutter and Florian Schneider, created Kraftwerk in 1970. This band is credited with being the sole pioneer of electronic music. The original line up of Kraftwerk consisted of four unique men, Ralf Hutter, Florian Schneider, Wolfgang Flur, and Karl Bartos. All members of Kraftwerk played electronic instruments such as synthesizers and drum machines. The band recorded and produced their music at Kling Klang Studio on Germany, which was located in a large warehouse with lots of open space. The band would usually center every album on a topic, and each song would consist of catchy melodies with repetitive rhythms.
Kraftwerk has released a total of 12 albums in their musical career. Between 1974 and 1981, five of the twelve albums were released. These albums were, Autobahn (1974), Radio-Activity (1975), Trans-Europe Express (1977), The Man Machine (1978), and Computer World (1981). The first of the five, Autobahn was a huge success both in European countries and the United States. This record had a twenty-minute long song taking up the entire front side of the record. The album was picked up by a radio station in Chicago and broadcasted its way to fame in the United States. All of the Kraftwerk albums from 74’ to 81’ were each centered on a unique topic. Autobahn in 74’ was about automobile travel on the Autobahn, and Radio-Activity was about radio and nuclear activity. Trans-Europe Express was a flop upon the initial release. It took some time before the album was appreciated and received higher rankings. Kraftwerk was a very unique band in both style and music. Kraftwerk would perform at shows live wearing suits looking very professional. Their style was a trademark of their group. A characteristic of the band was that they would always center their albums on a central theme for each. With the use of a single topic per album, the band was able to portray a musical story about each theme. A unique characteristic of Kraftwerk was their musical composition. The band used only electronic instruments such as synthesizers and drum machines, and even would sometimes use custom designed vocoders to process vocals. Their trademark song structure utilized simple repetitive rhythms, and catchy melodies.
This band struck me as very unique. They are not at all what I would have imagined had started pop music and electronic music. However, I did enjoy listening to them. As a professional I would say that the mix of the band was also unique in that it seemed to be the first time that all processed electronic instruments were used along with vocals. Kraftwerk definitely has a sound un-heard in any other band. I liked their electronic instruments and would absolutely put some of the bands songs on my personal iPod.
Pat,
ReplyDeleteYour statement, “this band is credited with being the sole pioneer of electronic music” in the first paragraph is spot on. Kraftwerk was extremely influential in their genre, and would go on to influence hundreds of artists with their stylistic electronic albums. Their first international hit Autobahn was like you said, “a huge success both in European countries and the United States”. Autobahn is what created the image of Kraftwerk early on, with the central theme of road-travel, going on to influence the central themes of every other album they created. I also really liked reading your paragraph on what you personally thought of the album on a technical side. The last two paragraphs were especially insightful and fun to read. Overall, you wrote a great post!
Sammy