Reviews (page 6 of 8)
Hyvää kuunneltavaa moottoritielle 👍 (Ei ehkä muualle)
I enjoyed it. It was weird. Not something I'd have picked out for myself. Reminds me of a movie scene where the main character is driving in the middle of the night with a purple sky and they're having a psychotic break.
Kraftwerk is a true pioneer of electronica/ambient and Autobahn was my introduction to them. I prefer their later work (Man Machine, Trans-Europe Express, Electric Cafe), in which they developed more energy and sonic exploration and has more of a dance/club vibe...but this first album should be heard, if for no other reason, for the classic track Autobahn. My favorite part of this album, though, was revealed after repeated listens and is Kometenmelodie 2....the more subdued track that precedes it (Kometenmelodie 1) creates a need for an emotional, musical release, which is delivered in part 2....particularly at the end....so stay with the track for that. Nice payoff. 3.8/5.0
Musical equivalent of motorways and architecture books.
Megaklassiker! Likevel: mest kult som en låt her og der, for musikkhistorisk relevans, enn kult å høre på i timevis. Elektronisk musikk har heldigvis beveget seg masse.
Annoying
La pochette est malade. L’année est importante. Y’a des trucs intéressants.
Even I can see how influential this is. The album grew on me as I went along with it. The chances I'll put this album on again one day are very slim though.
‘twas okay
I totally understand why this album is on the list, but it doesn't completely resonate with me. I'm sure the production was revolutionary for the time, but the world has caught up. Overall, not bad, probably revolutionary, but not something I would actively listen to again. Best Songs: Autobahn, Kometenmelodie 2, Morgenspaziergang Worst Songs: Kometenmelodie 1
Might have been groundbreaking at the time, but not all that amazing now
Er jo et sjukt album, på sin måte
Cool album, would give it a 3.5ish I think. I am sure it was groundbreaking in 1974
I do like Kraftwerk, but this is not my favorite. Still pleasant to listen to.
I’d go like 2.7 here. Autobahn was bangin but the others a bit too experimental for me. Definitely makes me want to listen to more kraftwerk though
A little on the fence on this one, which Like other Kraftwerk openings I heard a fair bit in my teens. I like the title track a lot, think it really does what it sets out to do, but the flip side never makes quite the impression.
This was very interesting. I might listen to it again.
Aware of but haven't owned this.
I prefer the other Kraftwerk stuff. Still very interesting.
A spacey electronic trip along Germany's famous highway and other locales.
Canciones demasiado largas
I'm sure it was extremely innovative in 1974.... Not so much now. Don't mind it though
Kraftwerk pain and simple
Auto ban från the server om du postar crubge
Fun fun fun on the Autobahn for 22 minutes.
Nice to get chance to go beyond the model. Wasn't what I was expecting. Kometenmelodie 2 was my fave
Had me dreaming of electric sheep
Not gonna lie I wasn’t expecting the first song to be 20 minutes.
This was interesting as a historical listen, but there were some really rudimentary electronic experimentation moments that maybe don’t hold up as well. Also much less exciting than Can
Listened Before? N This was a fun early electronic album! Even though it was released in the 70's, it has a distinct 80's sound to it. I liked it quite a bit. I broke down and added the title track to my playlist even though its 23 minutes long. Oh well. Added to library? N Songs added to playlist: Autobahn
Me gustaría entender más kraftwerk
Yeah, progressing right along the autobahns of the world of Tron, where all the cars run on solar energy and drive themselves. But I’m actually more interested in what’s going on off the road, beyond the ditches and in the vast, dark forests of metal leaves that cut like razors.
Je pense que beaucoup d'entre vous savent que je parle un allemand impeccable.
das futur auf musik
This is not nearly as good as the other Kraftwerk albums I’ve heard. That being said, it isn’t bad, just not great. Autobahn (song) is a classic…. 3/5
Satisfyingly steady. Not the experience it once was, much like driving along a motorway.
This record reminds me of the time I put the 12" single of Tour de France on and played it on the wrong speed. I was a good few minutes in before I noticed the error. Autobahn is influential. You can hear so much of what would come to fruition in the 80s with bands like Depeche Mode. As a cultural artifact, it's a 5, as an album that I'm listening to in 2022, a solid 3.
I am glad I listened to it, I think I kinda get it. I can hear how influential this is but this will not be in my regular rotation, but I did enjoy a large chunk of Autobahn but 22:47 ...you would think we should all like some slice of it.
Very underwhelming album. Love Kraftwerk but this album was very long and drawn out for what I was looking for.
Первый трек хорош, хоть и затянут. Остальное очень скучное...
It's a good album, has its place and was influential. Kraftwerk were pioneers of electronic music but when listening to them years later, it's hard to ignore that by 1974 the prog rock bands were also kicking the synths pretty hard and the proggies's music also had relevant lyrics. So I have to keep this in perspective. I plan to be in Germany in a couple of weeks and if I'm driving a Merc on the highways, I will definitely be playing this.
Pues quitando la absurdez de canción de Autobahn, el resto me ha gustado. Electronic popelectroacoustickosmische.
I liked all songs except the 20 minuter
not mine but fundamental
Not bad. Shoulda had more albums like this
Tolerable as background music
Mid
Pleasant, calm, hypnotic. Something I appreciate more than I truly "enjoy": it's fine, it just doesn't really do much for me. Favorite tracks: "Mitternacht", "Autobahn"
Not my favorite Kraftwerk album.
Альбом красивый. Запомнился в начале, не запомнился в конце. В итоге не сильно зацепил, но его оценил.
asså det är skumt
Love this especially Morgenspaziergang not keen on Kometenmelodie which does make up a lot of the album but Autobahn is SO FUN love that tune and I love Kraftwerk so I'm going middle for this album.
Struggling to rate this. It was mad and long and it was long and it was mad. But then again it was very inventive and I know how influential Kraftwerk were at the time and how much they pushed boundaries and explored new tech so I can see how it's a good album in that respect.
A little different than the other Kraftwerk albums on here. Glad I listened but it didn't really speak to me. Clearly too many Kraftwerk albums on this list.
Very rich and futuristic sounding electronic music that still sounds fresh today. However the songs are very minimalistic and the first song stretches over a whole 22 minutes, without much alteration as if to induce a trance like state. That turned me off a bit.
Not quite what I was expecting from my first Kraftwerk experience. This is way more atmospheric than I imagined it'd be. Nice
I swear this was an album previously b/c I've heard it before I think... or maybe it was a different Kraftwerk?
-a a a a autobahn
WTF
Pretty cool, and hard to believe this came out in 1974. You can hear echoes and influence from this in a lot of 80s music and house music. It's rather abstract, but a fun, chill listen.
Background music, for some sort of dull sci-fi movie. Influential on lots of artists I do like, but I didn't massively enjoy this. I'm torn between giving it 2 or 3, so will be generous!
Good, atmospheric, I liked this
Kinda repetitive but respect because this was in 1974.
It is certainly influential and inventive, trying out interesting concepts, as the Doppler effect passing sounds in Autobahn, as if cars on a highway, but 20 minutes of that grew stale really quick to me.
First listen out of the gate, it was fine. Though "automahban" kinda fizzled after awhile. Would listen to this again while I'm vacuuming my rugs or de-bearding my face. Would also consider listening while eating Carls Jr. After another go, it sounds like the raw to the Knight Rider theme song before Americans got to it. Which leads me to ponder any obvious links between Kraftwork, Knight Rider and Germany...? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uhNv4fc0knw
Autobahn started out well. The singing is bad, but thankfully minimal. The middle five minutes (8-13-ish minute mark) were bad too, but Autobahn does come back around. Overall I am impressed with the sound being that this album is from the Stone Age of electronic music. The end of Autbahn sounds a lot like Pink Floyd’s On The Run from Dark Side Of The Moon. At first I was pumped because I thought DSOTM came out in 1975. But alas DSOTM debuted in 1973, making it seem like a ripoff. I like all the other tracks, so this album gets to live solidly in pergatory. The Pink Floyd ripoff is offset by the trail blazing nature of the sound.
Los papás de Depeche Mode. Me imaginé a Martin Gore escuchando esto en loop obsesivamente. Muy flashero todo para el 74, pero por momentos necesitaba que terminara de una vez.
It’s like Bach programming a first-gen Atari set. Programmatic music with synths mimicking speeding cars … meh. The keys are kitschy as often as they’re catchy. Some weirdly wondrous moments (“Kometenmelodie 2” and closing track), plus obvious bonus points for originality, sure, but hasn’t aged that well. Has KW transcended previous under-ratedness and obscurity to become overhyped/overrated and, thus, underwhelming? Or is its reputation perfectly balanced with its aesthetic quality? 3.2 for 3.
I really hope we get the extended version of Autobahn. The spatial engineering on this was very interesting, even in my car sound was traveling from one side to the other, up close and far away. It would've probably been great in headphones. They were definitely trying to contact some extra terrestrials on their HAM radio. Favorite song - Mitternacht
I can respect the creativity and originality of this piece. This sounds like what people in the 80’s used in instructional videos to describe what the future will look like. Very impressive that this came out in the mid 70’s. And then after autobahn, the crew was just like “hey check out this crazy sound I learned how to make” and then put those crazy sounds on the album
The synth slaps but I'm just not really in the mood for Kraftwerk rn
The title track, and main suite of the album is great. Kometenmelodie 1 is super hard to listen to. Just grating. Kometenmelodie 2 is nice. Mitternacht and Morgenspaziergang are ambient and experimental. Not something I really feel like listening to. Overall, Side A is great. Side B is not at all my thing, but I can respect it.
aight
Not as great as some of Kraftwerk's pivotal work from later in the 70s, but this is them really on the cusp of nailing it. A v fun album
Elektronisk, konceptuelt, revolutionerende, tysk
Have only ever really heard Autobahn before, and even then only snippets really. I can imagine really liking this if I had heard this in my formative years.
Not hard to see why this is such a legendary album - to create such hypnotic electronic beats this long ago must have been mind blowing at the time, and I particularly like how long and progressive the title track is. simplistic yet layered synth work that slowly builds and falls. I can't say the rest of the album really stuck with me though, and even the title track felt somewhat sparse at points. I appreciate the influence a bit more than the music here.
Au-to-bahn! Das Titelstück ist ein Klassiker, ein großes Stück seiner Zeit. Kometenmelodie 2 ebenfalls. Rest geht so.
Synth and guitar chill
Maybe I just don't appreciate it, but I found it hard to pay much attention to a whole album of the same thing. I enjoyed the sound a little bit, but didn't see all that much to see in it.
Doesn't possess the same dystopian quality I liked about The Man-Machine and is instead a lot more experimental so doesn't quite hit the same heights.
You can see the influence of Can or even Tortoise here, but eventually you'll grow tired of 20 minute songs.
It's good
Music from other times. Cant understand when to listen it. Think about ambient music but not sure.
Yeah. I know it's classic, formative, etc, but 22min track to start? It just slipped into background mode, and I barely even noticed the change into the following tracks.
First "Electronic" album that I didn't hate. Not to say that I would ever listen to this again, but it wasn't bad. Good background music if your into such as you could basically just have the album loop over and over and never realize it. 3
Het mogen pioniers zijn in het genre, toch was dit album niet mijn smaak
Enjoyed this record. Very interesting use of synths. I generally like Kosmische Musik (and Bowie's Kosmische Musik influenced stuff from this period) though I don't listen to it that often and I don't gravitate to this style. This record is the progenitor of that sound. Definitely should be on this list.
A great album for its time, but it’s time was long ago?
This brings back fond memories of HBO's "Video Jukebox." A groundbreaking electronic album that still holds up pretty well nearly 50 years later.
Although as a certified NUMTOT, I am not "Fond of tha Autobahn" - which is what I assume the "lyrics" to this song are. I did like this song more than I thought. Even that only manages to get it a 3.5
No haiku today. Good German techno beat music. Listworthy = 👍
FAHN FAHN FAHN ON DA AUTOBAHN -neat early electronic track. everything after was fine.
This was strictly background for me, but it never intruded. I was kind of surprised at how pleasant it was? I have an impression of Kraftwerk being sort of industrial, but maybe I just didn't know what the hell I was talking about. This sounds like the background of Epcot Center and I don't mean that as an insult.
Man, if this album had just stopped after the first track then I’d be here saying it’s a 22 minute masterpiece. Instead, I’m sitting here thinking of car crash puns. Dang.
Enjoyed autobahn a lot the rest less so
I know it's monotonous on purpose, and it did conjure up being in the back of a car on a long trip, but that's just not that enjoyable. Impressive and inoffensive, but not that interesting.
Zeer vooruitstrevend voor de tijd, maar anno 2021 een wat moeilijke ‘luister’ voor me.
I think I get it ya know? This album is almost 50 years old, and for what that is worth it's extremely impressive. And while it's not really my taste at all, I can see how important it is for music. For my personal taste it isn't super high on that list, but I think it rates well over all.
I heard a record that was part-ambient, part-something-else, though of course Autobahn predates that classification system. Kraftwerk doesn't reach the heights of electronic-flesh synthesis they do on Man-Machine, but there are glimpses of human joy through the beats. This time through, I caught those more on the B-side than anywhere else. The title track remains important, just a bit sterile.
nice, repetative and edgy but nice
Genre defining album. Although it's aged a bit, it's still reasonably exciting listening. Unsure as to whether it's interesting enough to listen to again in the future.
cool, fun, quirky album. bet it was pretty. But still, wouldn't want to listen to it again any time soon.
Weird as all hell
3.8
Autobahn was an interesting listen, at first I was a little skeptical when I saw the length of the title track was over 22 minutes! Upon listening I would never have thought that the album was released in 1974, the sound is well ahead of it's time. It was quite a relaxing listen and really took you through a sonic journey. Best: Autobahn Worst: N/A
-Chill electronic music -I want it to pick up in intensity, but it isn't -I actually liked everything but the title track cuz it could go on my study playlist
I wasnt sure what was happening but I kinda liked it?
Based on the first track, I was going to give this album a 4. It seemed batshit but in a good way. I enjoyed the fact that track 1 was like an electronic version of a symphony in a way, with a similar structure. Sadly I didn't like the rest of the album as much, it seemed a little flat, but would be excited to hear more Kraftwerk records.
In conclusione: lo conoscevo chiaramente di nome ma non l'avevo mai ascoltato credo. E' un album che faccio fatica a giudicare secondo i criteri che ho usato fino ad ora. E' un album che risente del peso degli anni probabilmente più degli altri contemporanei per ovvi motivi, ma allo stesso tempo mi ha sorpreso il fatto che suona comunque molto sperimentale ancora oggi. Nonostante sia un album così storico ha un'identità molto forte che non mi sembra sia stata copiata tanto quanto altre cose di fama comparabile. Il fatto di aver usato degli strumenti elettronici quando erano praticamente una novità sembra avergli dato molta libertà espressiva e l'album suona a tratti forse un po' troppo sperimentazione fine a sé stessa, ma è difficile dare molto peso a questa cosa considerando le circostanze. Non so se me lo risentirei però sicuramente è stato un ascolto interessante e immagino che sentirlo nel 74 doveva essere abbastanza sconvolgente. La copertina pure mi sembra un minimalismo avanti coi tempi e potrebbe essere tranquillamente una copertina di oggi, l'ho trovata sicuramente rappresentativa dello spirito del gruppo. Per me è 3 abbondante.
Not something I'd normally choose to listen to, but an alright first track and I can see how it was revolutionary. 7.1/10
pretty interesting- a little sound heavy. felt less narrative and more noisey, but lighter songs like morgenspaziergang and kometenmelodie 2 stand out to me. they’re more classic song structure and build up/ variation
fav : kometenmelodie 2
Wow! Brought back memories of youth!
De lo que he escuchando del krautrock, es lo que más me has gustado. De verdad es bien experimental, pero es agradable (aunque a veces monótono). No es una joya, pero no es un mal álbum.
1973 unbelievable
Very odd music for the time. First ambient music?
I liked the album for a change but I’m not sure I’d choose to listen to it again ***
Hypnotic Germanic vibes
1st song was a bit on the short side.
I'm guessing the title track, running at 22:48, took up an entire album side. It gets a bit repetitive, but is actually pretty in places. Driving on the Autobahn must be much more relaxing than US Interstates. One must remember this is a pioneering work in synthpop, so if it doesn't sound as polished as later works, that is why.
Interesting but not something I'd put on all the time
Enjoyable, good background music and there’s nothing wrong with that
Weird sounds, not bad at all
A bit dated. The famous bits from 'Autobahn' are still enjoyable, otherwise a hard listen and difficult to keep focused on it.
No i pojawil sie wreszcie albumik, ktory zawsze mi chodzil gdzies po glowie, bo przeciez ulubiony material z lat 70 bowiego, ktory mial byc inspiracja dla trylogii berlinskiej, jak nazwa plyty wskazuje banda niemiecka, ale szczesliwie plyta praktycznie nie zawiera wokalu, jedynie minuta tytulowego autobahna posiada tekst, wiec nie katuje, wiec po przesluchu juz dokladnie widze ktora strone trylogii zainspirowal kraftwerk u bowiego, chodzi tutaj o ambientowe b sidy, jak na lowie i heroes, album laczy wlasnie ambientowe momenty z szybszym synthem, do ktorych dochodza elementy krautrocka, zwlaszcza na b sidzie, ktorego themem jest nocka, a jak nocka to niebo, a z niebem nocnym do kosmosu juz calkiem blisko, wiec taki kometenmelodien jest refleksja w takich wlasnie klimatach, jak bylo ogladanie nieba, to musi po nim nastac ranek i nim sie wlasnie plyta konczy, wiec jesli strona b to niebo, to strona a ktora zajmuje tytulowy autobahn traktuje o tym co na niemiecich autostradach sie wyprawia, wiec pojawiaja sie synthowe dzwieki ktore maja oddawac co sie dzieje na muzycznej autostradzie, jak na rok 74 to brzmi to strasznie futurystycznie, ale chyba wlasnie taki byl koncept kraaftwerkowcow tutaj, trudno tutaj cokolwiek dodawac na plejke, bo jak dla mnie jest to ambientowa muzyka, wiec calosc lub nic, zwlaszcza pierwsza strona ktora trwa 22 minuty, juz wiem czemu slyszy sie, ze tak bardzo influencyjny na scene popowa byl kraaftwerk
Otro disco de solo 4 temas y 42 minutos. No había miedo al espacio vacío en el vinilo. Me ha parecido tener poco contenido. En su época el uso de la electrónica bastaba para justificar este disco y mirando con esos ojos es muy interesante. Sin embargo, a día de hoy ese tipo de sonido está al alcance de todo el mundo.
Interessant. J’ai prefere trNs world express, l’autre album de la liste. 3.25
Electrónica. Instrumental. A veces un poco machacona, pero bien en general.
Liked Morgenspaziergang the most
Whoa?!? There's a robot in my speakers! Very pleasant background music while working on other things.
I appreciate this album in a conceptual way, but if I'm honest with myself I don't get that much out of the experience w of listening to it. I think it's a pleasant listen, and kind of funny, but the idea of it holds more weight for me than the execution.
se eu for abduzida qd chegar nos ets vai tá tocando isso
Ahead of it's time, very electronic-y. 3.5 stars
Kraftwerk is echt wel een dingetje, goede wegluistermuziek
Way ahead of its time. Didn't know it was possible to do so much electronic music back in the early '70s.
A bit repetitive.
This is a noise album. It really isn't something I enjoyed. I read that their popular song Autobahn is a 22 minute song expressing a trip on the Autobahn. The album was compared to Tubular Bells but I loved that album. Thus just was too mechanical for me. This album was hard to focus on anything else with it's constantly moving melodies that feel a little like something I would have made at home on a 1980s Casio keyboard. I wonder in concert if these songs sound the same each time they play them? Morgenspaziergang is the best of the album. It is quiet and mostly calming. Birds chirping...water flowing. It feels Asian in places.
The song Autobahn has always had a very special place in my music hart. Nice to have heard the complete album. There has been a period in my life I was very much into al kinds of synthesizer music.
Is this Daftpunk?
cool eletronica experimental, repetitiva, mas nao tanto quanto techno dos anos 80-90
The album that got me into Kraftwerk, as much as I prefer their later works, I can see why peeps hold it up as Krautrock's greatest moment. Thing is, it's not Kraftwerk's greatest moment, as this was back when they were trying to be Eno or Neu!, as opposed to showing YMO, Jarre and all those who came later how electronic music ought to be done. If you're into it, that's fine, but there's a reaso why we know them more for Trains, Models, and Microprocessors. Final score: 63/100
Bom pra programar...
It was pleasant, had been wanting to listen to Kraftwerk for a while. Not sure I would buy the album but it wasn't a bad listen.
Nice water sounds made by the synths later on
Not as momentous as the last one but good background music for Hindi
Progzão muito bom
2.5/4
Its allright
I've heard this before but can only remember that it was the very early end of synth-driven (no pun lol) music. It's pretty primitive but has this real rich sound to it, like I remember old video games or movie music sounding like... maybe even how I imagined golden age sci fi "sounded" when I was a kid, haha. I'm guessing it's that Moog sound I'm describing there. It's pretty dated in 2021 so hard to honestly rate, but I'll give it a 3/5 for pleasantly reminding me of something I can't quite put my finger on. Not much music does that.
echt slaapverwekkend saai
Тільки тайтл-трек хороший. Все інше скіп. Оцінка: низька-середня 4
When you’ve got a twenty-something minute long mostly ambient electronic song with a total of less than ten words for lyrics in the can, you don’t need to waste any more of that hit-making magic on album tracks. Just cut four moody instrumentals that you can re-sell to B-picture fantasy movies to use in the background when the bad guy is introduced to fill up the second side of the album. That’s just music biz 101 baby. Sigh. Someone, somewhere is listening to the Supremes with a smile on their face, shaking their hips, while I long for the sweet release of das Sterben. Ach du lieber!
Futuristically hopeful, while also a little offputting and uncanny. Very cool though. Sounds like background music for a game set in futuristic city streets. Not really my thing but i can see the appeal. Appreciated the use of different sounds to create the atmosphere.
It's nice enough I guess....?? I quite like the diverse use of synths for different flavours... but just because it's influential doesn't mean it's worthy of special consideration. It's not offensive, but there's also nothing here to get a rise out of me, and a lot of the weird ambient tracks just add absolutely nothing of worth. On its own merits it's just mediocre. 2.5 rounded down.
repetitive and boring, I know that is the point but...
I didnt like this
Yet again bad background music
not for me!
nyyyooOoOoMm tstststs bonbon on ttstststststsss wooyoyoooooommm byoooOoOoOm
Sounds like a music project they came up with on the last day of the deadline and got an F
Esperava algo mais variado tbh
1. Autobahn (★★★⯨☆) -Muy "bonita", pero se me hizo eterna. 2. Kometenmelodie 1 (★★⯨☆☆) 3. Kometenmelodie 2 (★★⯨☆☆) 4. Mitternacht (★★★☆☆) 5. Morgenspaziergang (★★⯨☆☆) TOTAL = ★★⯨☆☆ (2,8) -Debería ser un 3, pero me pareció más un 2, así que le voy a poner 2 estrellas.
The Good: No speed-limits! The Bad: There’s always construction going on, slowing us down… The Ugly: The original album cover… I’ve driven the autobahn, many times, max speed that I reached probably 248 km/h, it was fun. One of the main things I realized about driving on the autobahn is that you need to pay attention, all the time… This album… this does not help paying attention. It is a snooze fest. It is dull… and it is EMD in it’s genesis… and I don’t like EMD. I am certain that this album has it’s merits… but the 20-minute opening track was enough for me to applaud reaching the end of the album knowing that I will never-ever play this album again. 2*
This early electronic stuff is tough to get through. But I did! That first track at 20 minutes was a slog…
Not my thing, but pretty cool to have come out in the 70s.
Best Song: Autobahn. This does have an alright, droning rhythm that feels well suited for driving (and subsequently falling asleep at the wheel). Worst Song: Mitternacht. This feels less like a song and more like background music from a bad movie. Overall: Alright, after three albums I think I can conclude that I don't really like Kraftwerk. Maybe they were influential, but I don't see the appeal. It seems to be music that motivated people to make much better music, so I suppose there's value in that.
Not my favored genre
It's ok.
This was a one and done album for me. The music was interesting, but it didn't really move me, so although I was glad to have heard it once, I really won't have to listen to it again.
I dont like this, it's a bit too robotic and Stoner dad vibes, the synths are solid but this isnt something i would ever revisit
It was ok but didn’t love it
no se canto
I’ve studied law in Germany. If anyone told me they’d listened to a 22 minutes of ‘wir fahren fahren fahren auf der Autobahn’, I would consider them legally insane. I suppose that includes myself now.
Songs too long. Got bored listening to them. Eh. German though which is kinda cool. No lyrics. Feels more like a jam sesh than anything. Would recommend to andrew, not really for me tho
I know this is the foundation to every 80’s dance tune that I love. But… ugh.
Yeah, it's Kraftwerk. I like their later albums a little better.
Didn’t hate this, but I can’t say I was that into it either. It just felt kind of underwhelming most of the time, like I was waiting for something to really grab me and it never really did. The first track threw me off. It sounds kind of goofy, which I’m guessing is intentional, but I just couldn’t really take it seriously. It made it harder to get into the rest of the album because it didn’t pull me in the way I hoped. I liked the second half more but even then nothing really stuck with me. It’s not a bad album at all, and I can appreciate that it was probably pretty innovative when it came out. You can hear how it might’ve influenced a lot of stuff later on. But listening to it now, it just didn’t fully land for me, and I did get a bit bored at times. Overall, it’s one of those albums I respect more than I actually enjoyed.
bleep bloop bleep bloop
Tbh I enjoyed the second half of this album, but I can’t give a good score to an album that starts with 22 minutes of that
Lyssnade inte ordentligt men säger nja till det här
I somewhat enjoyed the goofiness of the first song. I couldn't really take it seriously even though the rest of the album went in a completely different direction. It was alright. The other songs might have been good but none of them were memorable to me in any form or capacity I didn't connect to any of it but it also wasn't predominantly bad. It just wasn't good either. Maybe it's not my cup of tea. Until that changes we will just continue to "Fahr'n auf der Autobahn". My favorite song here was "Autobahn".
I felt like the aliens were coming for me. It's not bad just not my taste.
I like some Kraftwerk, but really could not get into this one.
The opening track was a slog and the rest of the album wasn't too much better. Enjoyed The Man-Machine more than this one.
I can't say I enjoyed it particularly, but I listened to it and I'm not offended, which is more than I can say about other albums, so it gets a 2
1.5
easily my least favorite of the kraftwerk albums on the list.
Boring as hell
Didn’t like the album. Just old techno misic
Made a wrong turn.
Undoubtedly innovative and historically important. However most of kraftwerks output is a little bit knowing. This collection of songs is ok but electronic music as a whole is a bit like a lolly ice. Temporarily satisfying then a bit irritating
super experimental
ok ? long mais pok
2.5
Electronic Ambient Album from Germany
‘Autobahn’ was a good track; others were kinda just ‘meh.’
A bit more ambient than The Man-Machine, and consequently less satisfying for me as a listener. Groundbreaking to be sure, but not the Kraftwerk album I'd personally choose to listen to.
All vibes. I didn't really care for it.
Not my thing but appreciate it for what it is
22 minutes of autobahn was overkill and I was braindead before the end of it. A 3 minute version is fine. All of the tracks would have been ok if they didnt drone on for so long. They should be short and sweet. Bill Bailey did it better. Best thing about this album was it wasnt Jean Michel Jarre
I get there's an atmosphere, but it's just a bit crap. Why does this need 4 men in a line to make it? It's 45 minutes of fannying about with a keyboard and a sound effects machine. I must be missing something.
I've listened to a lot of electronic music over the years, but for some reason I've never got into Kraftwerk. Electronic music has to start somewhere I guess, but the music sounds too rudimentary and the lyrics are too silly for me to really like. Maybe I'm too steeped in how music is now that I fail to appreciate its beginnings, but in any case, I'll pass.
Hasn’t aged amazingly
Out of 400 or so of the 1001 albums this is the third Kraftwerk one to come up. C’mon already.
Sometimes, I thank Robert Dimery for putting me on, but bro does whatever to revert it. I think it’s fine to die without hearing this one! A passable 2, based on it's history I guess
No. 120 Kind of mesmerizing but it felt more like background music.
When you put a 22 minute song on an album, it better be good. For 1974, I think this was different. It was unique and new! But now it's stale and repetitive. Sounds like early AI music, which is stunning considering how far away AI was ... :D
I listened to it a couple of times in the past. Always enjoyed the title track. The rest is pretty meh, maybe apart from the closing song. It's cool to witness how much electronic music has evolved, but I don't think Autobahn stood the test of time.
I appreciate it but it's just not my vibe
Oh man... I think this is one where I can easily see the influence it's had on the world and on music since it's release, being one of the early truly electronic albums, but it did not resonate with me at ALL. It truly was a painful listen for the majority of it's runtime. "Autobahn" the title track, no less, has absolutely no business being 22 minutes long with the lackadaisical pacing it has. Maybe this was more enticing in another time, when these sounds were new, but I was tired and bored of the listen by the time the track ended. The album, at the very least, gets slightly better following it. The two part "Kometenmelodie" and "Mitternacht" both have a sort of primal early ambient soundtrack feel that makes me see the appeal a lot more- it isn't hard to trace the line from this album to later ambient works- and made me think every so slightly of C418's "Minecraft - Volume Alpha" or soundtracks from some of the Zachtronics programming games in it's general tone and theme. Still, it's hard to recover from the start of the album. Favorite Track: "Mitternacht" Least Favorite Track: "Autobahn" Fahren, fahren fahren, auf der Autobahn: Nein, ich kann nicht heute.
Honestly, I always preferred the krautrock side of Neu! and their other stuff, but Autobahn feels smoother and more fluid than I remembered. It works surprisingly well both as ambient background and as something you can actively sit with, and it doesn’t feel as cold to me as it did back then. I can totally admit how important this record is, and it’s way easier for me to connect with now than when I was younger, but it still doesn’t go that much further for me. The flute parts, the more organic side of the album, actually feel weirdly complex once you get past the slightly toy-keyboard, Bontempi vibe.
Long ass music
Kometenmelodie 2 //
Would be fine is smaller doses as a soundtrack
Okay, started off being quite glad to have more of an education on Kraftwerk, but now, with this 3rd album, I’m kinda done. My education has taught me that I don’t like them. Just don’t connect well with synths and basic drum machines. A kind of unskilled A-level music project. 22 mins for an opening track is a lot of nerve! Honestly like some kids have just found a copy of Cubase. Yeh, like the others, kinda bored by this. Nothing too skilled or engaging. Pretty flat and basic. Yeh, this has now passed into the frustrating category. I’m done (2.5)
Cmon bruh
Fick dich, Autobahn.
It was fine. Standout song: komemenmelodie 2
Two Kraftwerk albums in a month is more than I can handle. Oh brother these guys stink
Favorite songs: Autobahn (parts), Kometenmelodie 2 Autobahn was redundant at times for me... Like a monotonous drive.
The first song was a bit harder to get trough because it was quite long. I thought I was used to longer song because I listen to Ethel Cain and so on but no I was not ready hehe. But I never really listen to album like this one before so it was interesting
this is unfortunately not for me and I like instrumental albums LOL. the songs being interrupted by high pitched laser beams just makes it a hard listen. I'm sure this is fun to enjoy a live performance of tho
Not as good as the Astro Bot soundtrack. An interesting 22 minute long track that I will never listen to again in my life
Liked most of it
Weird and annoying but a guilty pleasure
I listened in the car and enjoyed the first track. Second didnt do much for me and the rest more of the same. Top quality album cover though 👌
Partridge aside, this was a bit rubbish. The 21 minute opener is a real gate keeper
didn’t catch me
Side one is quite strong and almost a complete work. The other tracks are only okay. Didn't quite work as an album.
I get its significance but I can't stand it.
Wir fahr'n fahr'n fahr'n auf der Autobahn
Proto-rock is the blues, proto-R&B is gospel, proto-HipHop is jazz, photo-country is hard times and heartache, proto-electronica is the sound your calculator would make if you pushed the buttons with a bit of rhythm. One of the musical styles that doesn’t need to revisit its roots
Pan knob needs a writing credit.
Autobahn vraiment longue et plate…
It’s not really my thing but some of it was fine as background music. Occasionally there were noises that were actively unpleasant to listen to which I could’ve done without. But other than those parts it was fine to listen to while I was working. I wouldn’t put it on deliberately though. Fav song: Kometenmelodie 2 Least fav: Morgenspaziergang
Monotonous
Ok, they're very same-y
Bored the whole time, why is this album on this list?
AUTOBAHN
when I say I don't like most electronic music, kraftwerk is one of the bands I'm leaving space for with that "most," but this is pretty different from their stuff that i'm familiar with and like. i do still like this when it's a little more melodic but a lot of this feels very drone/ambient and while i can appreciate how innovative that was and how influential it has been, that's also flat out my least favorite kind of music. big ups to the boys and this isn't a bad album by any stretch of the imagination, and undoubtedly influential, but at the end of the day not for me
3/10
This is decent. The titular track and last track stand out.
I mean really. What do you say about 22 minutes of fun, fun, fun on the autobahn. Goes through all the stages - a little bit enjoyable, the fun wears off, delirium sets in, delirium wears off, abject despair, missing it when it's gone. Is that the point? The rest of the album is much nicer, but also has much less to say for itself. A confusing listen.
This one is so influential and I have a lot of great memories listening to it in 8th grade German class, but it’s still a decently challenging album to just sit down and listen to.
this site giving me kraftwerk two days in a row is diabolical. i somehow managed to enjoy this even less than the man-machine. like i mentioned for the man-machine, i can appreciate the sound of this album for its time, but i was praying for it to be done by the end of the third track.
Monotonous. Gets boring quickly.
Experimental and progressive synth pop style. The album had 5 or 6 songs but initial song was 22 minutes, which was 20 minutes too long. quirky just not something I’d revisit
I really didn't like the first song at all, the one just called Autobahn that is like half an hour long, and figured I wouldn't like the rest of this but actually after that song is over it picks up and sounds cool. But it's hard for me to say I really like an album that sounds like call center hold music for half an hour, even if it's influential and important. 2/5 for the A-side, 3/5 for the B-side
Vai niin. Oli aika tylsä ja mielestäni liian elektroninen, vaikka välillä olikin kivoja melodioita. Luulin aluksi että biisi vaihtui jo mutta sitten kuuluikin yhtäkkiä 'autobahn' ja tätä kesti ikuisuuden. Loppu albumi meni kuiten aika nopeesti ohi jee.
Plane ride home from Puerto Rico. Just didn’t really grab me.
Kinds cool but not for 22 minutes
I have tons of respect for this considering the decade and how influential it must have been. But realistically I would never listen to it again.
This will be forever equated with gym class when I was 11 and we all had to compose a dance to the short, single version of Autobahn. There were a few moments when I enjoyed the melody of a couple of tracks. But the rest was as monotonous as hell.
I've never gotten this or understood its popularity.
Ei ollut tämä Kraftwerkin eka levy tuttu, ja näköjään syystä. Ei vielä ihan lähde jamit nousuun tästä. Kometenmelodie 2 oli ainoa kappale jossa oli jotain meininkiä.
Álbum bem experimental, não é ruim, mas a primeira música não foi bem construída parece trilha de sonora de filme sobre como seria no futuro com os carros voadores & trilha sonora de fliperama
Listen, i appreciate electronica. And I don't mind Kraftwerk. But this is not something I'm really ever going to ever choose to listen to.
Ik ben ervan overtuigd dat dit een zeer belangrijk album was indertijd, maar ik heb het nooit helemaal gehad voor Kraftwerk. Ik zou dit 5 sterren kunnen geven wegens invloedrijk, maar ik ga het toch recenseren volgens mijn eigen smaak, en meer dan een 2 gaat het toch niet worden. Sorry aan alle 50-jarigen!
I don’t get it
I liked lil bits of Autobahn but, just like the road, it's long bro. Rest was meh
Bon bon bon mita auto bon
Nous sommes en 1974, j'ai quatre ans et pendant que je découvre les joies du bac à sable, quatre Allemands en costumes cravates sont en train de paver l'autoroute du futur musical avec des machines qui, aujourd'hui, auraient du mal à faire tourner un jeu Game Boy. Le morceau-titre, "Autobahn", 22 minutes au compteur. Vingt-deux putains de minutes ! Nous promet un voyage sur l'autoroute, et c'est exactement ce qu'on a car ce morceau est un concept, une installation sonore. Les mecs n'ont pas voulu écrire un tube, ils ont voulu te mettre sur l'autoroute. Et de ce point de vue, c'est une réussite totale. C'est minimaliste, répétitif jusqu'à la nausée, mais ça a une cohérence folle. C'est l'anti-rock par excellence, pas de solo de guitare, pas de refrain qui explose, juste le bruit du moteur qui démarre, le clignotant, le "Fahren, fahren, fahren auf der Autobahn" qui s'incruste dans le cerveau comme un refrain de comptine pour enfants autistes. C'est audacieux, presque arrogant. Et c'est ça, la "différence". Ça ne ressemble à rien de ce qui se faisait à l'époque. C'est une porte qui s'ouvre sur un autre monde. Un monde un peu chiant, c'est vrai car on attend qu'il se passe quelque chose, une sortie de route, un accident, un autostoppeur flippant, n'importe quoi ! Mais non, il ne se passe rien. C'est l'Allemagne où tout est propre, ordonné, sans surprise. La fameuse rigueur teutonne appliquée à la musique. Et pourtant... pourtant, il faut être juste. Remettons-nous dans le contexte, en 1974, la musique électronique, c'est de la science-fiction. C'est de la musique de laboratoire, pour des intellectuels en blouse blanche. Les mecs de Kraftwerk, eux, débarquent et disent : "On va faire de la pop avec ça". Ils prennent des machines conçues pour imiter des instruments existants et ils décident de leur faire chanter le bruit du monde moderne. Une bagnole, une autoroute. C'est d'une banalité confondante et en même temps, d'une audace folle. On sent bien l'influence des Beach Boys, ce "Fun, Fun, Fun" transposé dans la brume de la Ruhr. Mais là où les Californiens chantaient les filles et le soleil, Kraftwerk chante le bitume et le progrès. C'est clinique, froid, déshumanisé. On est à des années-lumière du chaos jouissif d'un "Leave Home" des Chemical Brothers ou de la moiteur paranoïaque d'un Tricky. Et quand on a grandi avec le "big beat", les rythmiques syncopées et les basses qui vous décollent les plombages, "Autobahn" peut sonner désespérément plat. La face B, avec ses "Kometenmelodie" 1 et 2, "Mitternacht" et "Morgenspaziergang", est une autre paire de manches. On quitte l'asphalte pour un voyage plus cosmique, plus étrange. "Mitternacht" ("Minuit") est presque angoissante, avec ses violons synthétiques qui pleurent dans la nuit. C'est là qu'on se dit qu'il y a autre chose derrière la façade lisse. On sent une mélancolie, un truc pas net sous le capot. Et puis "Morgenspaziergang" ("Promenade matinale"), avec sa flûte bucolique et ses bruits de nature synthétiques, c'est presque une blague. On imagine nos quatre androïdes en train de s'émerveiller devant un oiseau en plastique. C'est d'un kitsch absolu, mais un kitsch qui a du sens. Alors, pourquoi ce disque est-il dans cette foutue bible des "1001 albums" ? Parce que sans lui, pas de synth-pop. Pas de Depeche Mode, pas de New Order. Parce que sans lui, David Bowie n'aurait peut-être pas enregistré sa trilogie berlinoise. Parce que sans lui, l'electro, la techno et toute la clique n'auraient pas eu la même gueule. Afrika Bambaataa, en samplant "Trans-Europe Express" pour son "Planet Rock", a fait le lien entre Düsseldorf et le Bronx, créant au passage le hip-hop electro. C'est ça, le poids d'"Autobahn". C'est un putain de monolithe. Est-ce que c'est chiant ? Objectivement, pour un type comme moi qui aime quand ça grince, quand ça dérape, oui, une bonne partie de l'album est une épreuve d'endurance. C'est trop propre, trop poli, trop... allemand, dans le cliché le plus total. On est loin de l'électro "bien barré" que j'affectionne. Mais nier son importance historique, ce serait comme dire que le blues du Delta, c'est juste un vieux mec qui gratte une guitare désaccordée. C'est vrai, mais c'est aussi la base de tout ce qui a suivi. Ma note final après écoute est de 2 sur 5. Le premier point, c'est pour l'importance historique, indéniable. Le deuxième, c'est pour le courage et l'originalité radicale. C'est pour avoir osé être "chiant" à une époque où tout le monde voulait être "fun". C'est pour avoir créé une esthétique à partir de rien, ou presque.
Just reinforcement that I dislike listening to most electronic music
meio meh
po eu genuinamente entendo a importância e tal mas achei mto chato pqp
Felt like an experimental 70s album with no really drive. Just some noise 80% of the time. Not memorable.
"We can’t stop it, we can’t slow it down!" Roadside Picnic, The Strugatsky Brothers Anton Bruckner famously disowned two of his first three symphonies - one dismissed outright as ungiltig (“invalid”). Brahms, too, withheld early efforts. Kraftwerk made a similar move: their first three albums have never been reissued, the band choosing instead to pretend their story begins with Autobahn. It is a shame. While their earliest work remains little more than legend, the bootleg of Ralf und Florian shows a group still exploratory but already closing in on themselves. Autobahn is really cut from the same cloth. Like Ralf und Florian, it was produced by Conny Plank and still carries the incense of krautrock’s hippie aesthetic - flutes, synthesisers, drifting soundscapes. The difference is focus. Here Kraftwerk commit to programme music: compositions that mirror the modern world, an approach that would define them album after album. For all the band’s later reputation as mechanical and remote, Autobahn is surprisingly human. The 22-minute title track may be as long as a traffic jam, but at least it moves. What saves it is a sense of lightness and wonder: the imagined scenery flashing by, the bright detours, the generosity of spirit that keeps monotony from becoming despair. Once we are off the motorway, things get looser. Kometenmelodien 1 drifts uncertainly; it is never clear whether we are watching the comet or inside it. Its sequel is leaner, more charming, with a buoyant optimism that speaks of 1970s West Germany at its most hopeful. The album closes on Morgenspaziergang: after a night of stargazing, the car is abandoned for a morning walk. Birds chirp, brooks babble - though all conjured electronically, save for a lone flute that might just belong to Pan himself. For all the talk of Kraftwerk as robots, this is an album that ends not with machines but with nature, however reimagined. Kraftwerk’s motorway vision invites comparison to Roadside Picnic, the Strugatsky brothers’ 1972 novel that later inspired Tarkovsky’s Stalker. Both works emerged from opposite sides of the Iron Curtain, yet they circle around similar questions: how do human beings inhabit landscapes reshaped by technology, and how do we navigate the uncanny in the everyday? Where the Strugatskys’ Zone is unsettling, hazardous, a place where the familiar turns strange, Kraftwerk’s Autobahn offers a counterpoint. The road becomes a site of wonder rather than dread, its repetitions tempered by optimism, its artificial soundscape suffused with warmth. Kraftwerk would go on to make sharper, more disciplined music. Yet the humanity closing Autobahn - the warmth of the Plank years - is essential to understanding their trajectory. Later they would present themselves as Die Mensch-Maschine, men as machines. Here, at least, they remain men. But specifically German men. In that sense, their disavowal of early albums resembles Bruckner’s own self-pruning: both sought to define what was truly representative of their art. But where Bruckner’s legacy points upward to spires of faith, Kraftwerk’s looks to motorway pylons and music that is programme-driven, worldly, and resolutely modern. 2.5 _Duke of York: My lord, most humbly on my knee I beg the leading of the vaward. Henry V: Take it, brave York._ Henry V (Act 4, scene 3) Being first is everything. You’re a winner before you even start. You are verifiably brave, so you’re automatically a hero. Shakespeare doesn’t record how well the Duke of York actually fought, but in any case it wasn’t well enough to not be one of the 29 Englishmen that contrived to get killed at Agincourt while the French were getting pwned to the tune of 10,000 dead. Kraftwerk, I understand, are ideally evaluated in the light of other people’s artistic achievements; posterity is looking at the whole battle and the important thing is that David Bowie, prominent among the victorious, defeated the French. I respect that analysis but, at the same time, I listened to Autobahn today for the first time and I can’t help recording that in my view Kraftwerk did not fight particularly well. First off, Kraftwerk’s efforts seem to have done little for the recorder. Morgenspaziergang comes off like a rewrite of the Forest Murmurs/Waldvogel scene from Siegfried for a school project - a terrific idea for which I would certainly award the students involved a top grade. I am not sure it connects meaningfully with the rest of Autobahn, but I did like it. That said - I am miffed that apparently the credits (or at least the English credits) for this album have the instrument recorded as ‘flute’. People don’t recognise the sound of a recorder when it’s played well, poor maligned little instrument. Despised in the classroom. Erased from pop history. Much of the rest of the album is a driving hazard. I listened in the car and honestly wasn’t far off pulling over. The synths, soft-edged and absorbingly grainy, have a somnolent effect. Snoozen, snoozen, snoozen auf der Autobahn. It’s an impressive track all the same although perhaps in the end embodying a cold and monumental character despite the glimpses of humour over the 20 minutes. This is what I thought Kraftwerk sounded like and it is easy to respect. I found Kometenmelodie 2 harder to respect. There is a sense of the band cosying up to the listener here in the tracks conventional chord progressions and even-phrased chirpiness. It sounds dated. It sounds a bit silly to be honest. All the same - it certainly isn’t difficult to listen to (assuming you aren’t driving), but like the title track, it is surely impossible to really love and return to. And isn’t that one of the chief risks you take when you claim the prize of the leading of the vaward? We thank Kraftwerk for their sacrifice. R.I.P Duke of York. “Heroes”. 2/5
It’s fine. Not in the mood today which will hurt my rating for it. Actually I don’t think I could have been listening to a more inappropriate album for the mood I’m in. Sorry kraftwerk, it’s probably not you.
2.1
Fun, Fun, Fun on the autobahn So many familiar hooks / samples Techno before Techno Tough listen after autobahn
I have heard of them, people (radio 6) talk about them a lot. So I thought I might like them more, seemed a bit naf to me.
the kind of music your straight white friend puts on while you're smoking. He keeps promising you it gets better. Okay, Dan Savage.
It is acceptable... for elevator music or something. Not sure how this influenced anyone though.
Would try this again, but didn't feel it today.
1. autobahn - 0 2. kome - 1 3. melodie - 1.5 4. mitter - 1.5 5. morgen - 2
I get why they’re influential, but just not my thing.
This album sounds like a soundtrack to a 1970s sci-fi movie. I don’t hate it, but I don’t love it.
2/5
Meio meh
I didn't hate this or anything. It wasn't unpleasant to listen to. It just wasn't very fun. This just sounded like a low-budget 80s movie soundtrack.
i appreciate that they were very influential, but this album was a snooze fest. redundant and boring.
Not my thing, Herr Goof
2 sterne
Opening with a 22-minute title track that doesn’t really go anywhere is... a choice I would not have made. While this is supposed to be groundbreaking, it tends to meander without much payoff.
I can appreciate this but I would never seek it out. I was bored and the songs can be too long. 2.49/5
I was surprised by how much I liked the other Kraftwerk album on this list, Transeurope Express, and subsequently surprised by how little I liked this one.
Absolutely boring
Incredibly groundbreaking, influential, and boring as hell.
Early electronic/techno. A lot of experimenting with sounds. Interesting but not really listenable.
I get their place in electronic music history but I didn’t need another Kraftwerk album to prove to me that they had a mediocre sound
I’ve tried listening to this ‘classic’ before. It just doesn’t really work for me I’m afraid
There was some decent stuff in here, and I really liked the third track. The issue? The 23 minute opening that is boring as shit, and took forever to get through. 3/10
There were parts I liked but a large part where I was not having fun on the autobahn
point6.
- I feel like this might be a strange one. my spidey senses are telling me - this song is 20 minutes long. like driving on the autobahn? - some great musicality of the synth that i like. the periodic chanting i just don’t like that much. - this song gets a 2 - can feel this as a precursor to alt j (16 mins into autobahn is giving tessellate in my butt) - this sounds like something that “changed the trajectory of music forever” but the thing is i don’t think i particularly am getting it. - this second song is physically painful to listen to - mitternacht sounds like you’re getting chased in a dungeon. - ok this last song is equally painful to listen to at the beginning - it tapers out into pan flute there were parts that were cool. mostly it was hard to listen to.
Mercifully shorter this time; still plagued with juvenile, singsong writing and what feel like amateur, exploratory musical accompaniments. "Wir fahren fahren fahren auf der Autobahn" is the first real lyric of this record. you have to be kidding me
Slow and repetitive
22:47 of background soft 70s synthesizer music. That's just for the first "song". It bothered me less that I would have guessed. 4/10
I simply do not prefer it.