Trans Europe Express

What's not to love about Kraftwerk? Groundbreaking electronic music and German accents! I've been a fan since a very young age. The Siouxie and the Banshees version of "Hall of Mirrors" was an important moody college song, but sounds positively jaunty next to Kraftwerk's masterpiece of existential dread, which leads nicely to "Showroom Dummies." We are all showroom dummies; "we go into a club, and there we start to dance." I never had this album, but "Trans Europe Express" was on a Kraftwerk collection I had, and was always a favorite of mine with its funky train beat in the background and (retroactively) futuristic feel. On a sleek, high speed train of the future, speeding through the European landscape, I'm filled with ennui and angst under this façade I'm forced to wear. Timeless perfection.

Good job it wasn't the Trans UK Express or it would have been overpriced, delayed, busy and the toilets would have been horrible. AMIRIGHT?

OK, I wrote my first review below but was still listening to it when driving across town. In the space of a mile, I encountered some staggeringly entitled arsehole drivers. I found that it actually was the perfect soundtrack to staring the patriarchy in the face with a cold, dead, unblinking stare. It's just gone from 1 to 4 stars. ---‐------------------------------------------- Yes, I know, massively influential on the electronic music genre. But this is the musical equivalent of eating 6 crackers without water. Joyless, functional and boring. I couldn't finish it. One star.

Early electronica should always be celebrated. It’s the foundation for any synthesised music today. But this foundation has cracks...and their extremely repetitive and flakey. There is a solid compound in it’s mix yet nowhere near interesting enough to want to reapply once let alone over and over again. 1 Star!

Beep boop we are german and we like trains beep boop

What an interesting album. I can see why it is one of the most influential albums in modern music history. Electronica vibes

The track listing is 8 tracks, but in reality it's only 5. That's how coherent it is. It's an album that gets better with each minute as the anticipation keeps building but modifying their formula. Kraftwerk is by far the leader of the electronic world, and this is them at their peak. This record comes right before The Man-Machine and you can hear it with the lush bright synths despite the monochromatic cover. "Europe Endless" is a fantastic opener, so happy and bright like it's opening for a movie. It goes on for 10 minutes, but with the variation and atmospheric sound, it works well. Kraftwerk was brave for following a 10 minute song with an 8 minute song. "The Hall of Mirrors" takes a mysterious, eery turn and shows another side of the group. The spoken word is mesmerizing, and the simple repeated chorus is catchy. "Showroom Dummies" is our most intense song. It's catchy, cool, accessible, and fun. I love how cold and mechanical it sounds, really matches their robotic vibe. My favorite after the titular track. Then we get to the entree, the titular track is divided as a medley of three. The iconic glissando motif leads a minimalist beat. "Metal on Metal" pauses the motif but varies the beat in the most krautrock way possible, adding creepy atmospheric synths and industrial effects on top. "Abzug" smoothly returns to form but plays with variations. This ends with the climatic closer. "Franz Schubert" and "Endless Endless" are combined as our bright peaceful instrumental coda. It's a soothing and satisfying finale. Only complaint is they could have done more with their variations to make the tracks more engaging and warrant their runtimes, which could get tiring after several listens. But I'm fairly satisfied with what we get.

I LOVE KRAFTWERK. So cool, different, electronic, but not overwhelming or too much. Genius. I discovered them playing in Vintage Vinyl one day and had to ask an employee who it was and bought the CD.

2 Kraftwek albums in a row.... Wtf are you doing to me. These sound exactly the same. Like crap.

Solidly boring. I see that it was made in 1977 so this may have been foundational to the music that I DO like but... I do not want to listen to this ever again haha.

As an insufferably pretentious nerd I obviously think this is great

Kraftwerk really placed themselves on the avant-garde of the music of the future back then. Still sounds like the future today.

What a treat. These guys are the best at what they do. Hugely influential. The sound just envelopes you. Hard to believe this is 46 years old.

Sounds like someone dicking around on a keyboard. Almost ten minutes of this shit on the first song. Guh. Like is the fact they say "Europe. Endless." Over and over and play the same shit over and over for 10 fucking minutes supposed to be ironic? Or is it supposed to be a stab at coloratura? Europe is endless and so is this fucking song. I don't find this groundbreaking in anyway. It's sophomoric if you we're to ask me. Pedantic even. I'm not taking the right drugs. I've just seen there's a song called endless. I can't wait...

Groundbreaking and classic. And still fun electronica! If you are a) reading this review, b) like electronic music and c) are not familiar with Kraftwerk, please look them up and research what they are about. It's understandable from today's position to think this sounds "simple", but it was not from 1977's technology. Many of these sounds you hear and know from keyboards today were created mechanically (analog wires and electricity) by these people. If you just don't like the music or this genre, be well and I hope you enjoy the rest of the 1001 list!

The 1st song had me smiling & I never looked back. All other electro-pop bands owe their existence to Kraftwerk This is a great lp to start the day No boring filler, every song stands on its own Now excuse me infeel the need to catch a train

This is the Kraftwerk I've been waiting for. Just the right amount of weird forward-thinking energy without getting too much. Great, catchy songs. A fantastic medley on the back half. This was just what the doctor ordered.

It is such a great album and love the early electronics and rhythms, along with the German flair in Kraftwerk's vocals. Listening to this made me want to catch a train in the middle of the night in the city. A very essential listen. Trans Europe Express to Abzug was perfection and its chant felt like a powerful mantra. Have to say though, the German version was better and in partitcular, so were the live versions of Hall of Mirrors and Showroom Dummies in 1981. Fun Fact: Dr Dre playing a live version of Metal on Metal at the beginning of Defiant Ones effectively prescribed me to Kraftwerk and this album.

One of the coolest albums ever. German version >> English version. Electronic ingenuity. 9-10/10 1. Trans Europa Express 2. Spiegelsaal 3. Schaufensterpuppen

The track Franz Schubert is what plays when you ascend to heaven

Dope. Never heard. Really enjoy

I like trains.

Trans Europe Express This was the first Kraftwerk album I bought on CD, I’m not sure why I chose this one over The Man Machine, maybe as I already liked the song Trans-Europe Express. Anyhow I love this album, it’s the perfect step from the coolly electronic and not quite fully formed Autobahn to the (slightly) more humanistic Man Machine. The opening track feels like an adapted for sunday train travel Autobahn, evoking similar feelings of movement and passing through but with a more soothing and meditative ambiance, especially when the choral vocals come in. Hall of Mirrors and Showroom Dummies I have always found really creepy, but in a good way, I love the concept of the showroom dummies breaking out of their windows and going to a nightclub. Trans-Europe Express (and Abzug) are a slightly punchier version of Europe Endless, the train rhythm and slightly sinister hook is great and I love the matter of fact, detached description of travelling from Paris to Dusseldorf and meeting David Bowie and Iggy Pop. Franz Schubert is a really lovely bubbling melody, crossing into the Endless Endless refrain, feeling like a nice satisfying sit down after a long train journey, before it all starts again. As always with Karftwerk, they are incredible at locating you in a mood and place based purely on repeating electronic rhythms and minimalist melodies. How they create such an immersive and mesmerising sound from seemingly so little is amazing really, and I love how on here many of the refrains and motifs repeat, adding to the slightly hypnotic feel of the whole thing. Fantastic album, an easy 5. 🚆🚆🚆🚆🚆 Playlist submission: Europe Endless

I've never listened to Kraftwerk before, and that's a shame, because they influenced so many bands that I love. I was really excited to see this come up today, and I expect that I'll really enjoy it. As I expected, I really enjoyed this album. The thing that surprised me the most is the range of emotions that Kraftwerk was able to evoke with a sound that's fairly minimalist. From the nostalgia of "Europe Endless", to the sarcasm of "Showroom Dummies," this album is broad in sound and mood. "Europe Endless" was easily my favorite track on the album. I loved its bright tones and the way that more layers were added to the sound as the song progressed. The first three tracks on side B of the album were great too, and I loved the way the rhythms sounded like a train chugging along. This album was really brilliant from start to finish, and I loved how unique it was. I'm really excited to review the other two Kraftwerk albums on this list.

Trans Europe Express doesn't feel quite as (German) goofy and upbeat to me as Autobahn, and is a little less out there, so I don't like it quite as much. But I would have rated Autobahn six stars if I could. I love these guys.

Masterpiece of synthpop/progressive electronic. It's almost unbelievable how Kraftwerk can create strong and powerful tracks while being so minimalists at the same time. The beats, the tones, the groove, the sounds... I'm all in for a 5 stars rating.

They are from my hometown, 7 stars

Highly influential and no wonder. A move away from the previous "Autobahn" incarnation of Kraftwerk - in fact, this was the third style the group created. Wonderful stuff.

This album is a minimalist masterpiece. Its use of sequencing was revolutionary for its time and it remains a listenable, hypnotic album and stands as one of Kraftwerk’s best. I love how the songs take their time and build slowly. Some reviews have had issues with the repetitive nature of the album, but I find that the repetition demands attention and falls into a satisfying and transfixing groove.

A favorite of mine. Just a great album to put on. Even in the background.

Think I’ve gotta go 5 here. It’s just so well executed and influential. Not something I’d reach for every day but I’ve heard this a couple times now and I think it keeps getting better. Europe Endless and the title track are bomb.

TRANS EUROPE EXPRESS

Not my favourite Kraftwerk album, but still pretty amazing for 1977. You can hear how this would be so influential on the artists following in the wake of Punk. And that's before we get to Planet Rock. I also think the humour of Kraftwerk tends to be overlooked,. I love that the title track has only seven lines of lyrics and the traditional and classical music references here do make me smile. Great tunes, great fun - inspirational.

These guys really just woke up and decided to blueprint the next 25 years of music. Amazing.

Sounds like video game music at the start of the first track. Album is very chill and I normally hate electronic. Love it.

I loved quite a lot about this listen. It brought forth the electronic sounds of the '80s while having been released in 1977. This is really one of those pioneering albums. It was perfect for working to, because the leitmotifs were just repetitive enough to settle me into a groove without growing boring. Catchy, well-crafted music that isn't just one of the best as what it does -- it wrote the book. This is a 4.5er to me, and it was hard to decide which way I'd swing it. I'm feeling generous today.

I’m a little concerned how I’ve gone my whole life and never heard of this album or band. The first few electronic beats and I was loving this album. Great concept with the concept of the Trans Europe Express and the chugging beats! Album seems timeless to me as I thought it was a recent album and was shocked to find out it came out almost 50 years ago! A quick google search and I really think they should use the original album cover…classic. Anyway was a joy to listen, something about the beats are almost zen like & trance inducing.

You'll think I'm weird for this, but I listen to Trans Europe Express a lot when I'm working. There's something about it that keeps me focused. My personal work habits aside, this is a perfect album in a lot of ways, and the influence and power of Kraftwerk can never be overstated. They never got enough credit for what they did, but Kraftwerk in general and this album in particular are directly responsible for so much of what we hear in all kinds of music going forward, even to this day. Not only that, but it's also such a beautifully made album. Gorgeous music that runs the gambit from elegant and ethereal to coldly authoritative and trancelike, even menacing at times. The songs are minimalist, but subtly layered in a way that allows you to really hear and appreciate every tone. It's stunning how an almost 50 year old album can still sound so innovative. All the stars for this one. Fave Songs (All songs, from most to least favorite): Impossible to rank. All these songs are perfect. Europe Endless, Franz Schubert, Showroom Dummies, Trans-Europe Express/Metal on Metal/Abzug, Endless Endless, The Hall of Mirrors

So simple and engaging. I'm sure it's a sheep in wolf's clothing.

Electronic music classic. Hall of Mirrors.

What more can be said about an album that like Sgt Pepper or Pet Sounds virtually nothing is left to say. Two notes from the relisten here: their melancholy beauty is even more pronounced in a Brexit Britain listening to this love song to Europe. And the transition from Trance Europe Express to Metal on Metal is an awesome drop.

I loved this album when I first heard it, back in 1979, because all of my favourite artists; OMD, Human League, Ultravox, Gary Numan, cited Kraftwerk as a major influence. I still love this album.

Diese verrückten Deutschen sind wieder dabei, ja. Sie lieben die Synthesizer-Musik und sie lieben das gesprochene Wort über Euro Rail und Mirrors so sehr. Bringt mich dazu, mit meinen Händen vor meinem Gesicht abstrakt zu tanzen.

"Trans-Europe Express" is the sixth studio album by German band Kraftwerk. This album was a move away from their Krautrock style of improvised instrumentals to more melodic electronic music. The melodies certainly carry the day in many of these songs. Sequenced rhythms, minimalism and manipulated vocals are also incorporated. Yep, we've covered most of it. The themes include the European rail service, glorification of Europe and disparities between reality and appearance. There was and is very high critical praise for this album: "Timeless, retro and contemporary" and "The modern electronic birth certificate." A high pitch sequencer/keyboard melody begins the album and song "Europe Endless." A happy song. A man's voice and a manipulated man's voice. An ode to Europe...parks, hotels and palaces. "The Hall of Mirrors" has an eerie echoing beat and melody. This song is frightening. Deadpan vocals with a heavy German accent. I hear many a video game soundtrack and noises. It's autobiographical with how stars look at themselves in the mirrors...loathing, self-obsessive. Eins, zwei, drei with a Ramones ode and were off with another creepy song in "Showroom Dummies." A little more dance with the beat. Paranoid lyrics as they compare themselves to mannequins from the point of view of a mannequin. The famous dramatic melody keys begin "Trans-Eurpe Express." The hypnotic repetitive snare-drum beat noise. The robotic repeating of the song title. Hey, a shout out to David Bowie and Iggy Pop at the end. Bowie was a fan. The song is about the modern European railway system. The next two songs, ""Metal on Metal" and ""Abzug" are basically extended codes for "Trans-Europe Express." Keep a good thing going. "Franz Schubert" is an instrumental with repetitive keys. More grandiose with an orchestral background. The album ends with "Endless, Endless" and a manipulated voice repeating endless. I guess you might fall into two categories with this album: either there is not a wasted moment or rather this entire album is a wasted moment. I'm a huge fan. That "Trans-Europe Express" melody will be in my head for the rest of the day. There is no doubt as to the influence of this album in electronic music, other musicians, video games and probably a lot more. This sounded as good today as when I first heard it years ago.

Liked this one a lot more; slowly building songs, somewhat repetitive but intricately great

It’s like the most innovative novelty record .

Als deutsche Musik noch cool war

Great album about J K Rowling's least favourite train

Repetition, but make it beautiful and captivating. I really enjoyed this record.

Beep boo beep beep…

I respect the influence. Not something I'll listen to often.

Beep boop

Kraftwerk opens this album with sparkly electronic synths reminiscent of 8-bit games that would later be invented years after its release. A display of their visionary status in the 1970s music industry milieu, 'Trans-Europe Express' (album) implements simple beats and minimal production that is perhaps more contemporary and innovative at the time. Despite this, Kraftwerk fundamentally misses the target - static and uniform composition that manages to revel only in its past glory, of being first to experiment with the digital medium.

Beep boop, Europe express. Beep boop

Might have enjoyed that one more if I had been high on crack But I wasn't. So... 2 ⭐️

Beep boop beep boop

This has to be one of the most abysmally boring albums I've ever heard. The fact that it's early electronica does not excuse them creating a mildly intriguing sound and then proceeding to do absolutely nothing interesting with it for several minutes at a time.

Noooo! Synthpop... This was the most painful listen so far. Ja ja ja, mach schnell mit der art things, huh? I must get back to Dancecentrum in Struttgart in time to see Kraftwerk.

Tedious, sterile and joyless. I really don't understand the appeal of this music - except maybe as a background, ambient sound. Felt a lot longer than 43 minutes.

not good bad

I don’t care for electronic music.

This one was challenging to listen to the whole album. Grinds a bit on the outside of my brain.

I like synth. I even like some Kraftwerk. But this album is so repetitive and boring that it was pretty hard to get through. There's a set of 3 songs that are actually the same song. Rough.

Really could not get through it. Understand why it was foundational for its time but unsure if it translates to anything interesting today. Did find out the melody from the title track was used in a Bollywood movie which was funny.

A little more in the way of vocals than the previous Kraftwerks album, still DEFINITELY not my thing though.

1977 German techno sounds interesting just by the title, but honestly it's feckin boring. Couldn't finish

I fucking hate Kraftwerk!!! We’ve had 3 too many Kraftwerk albums

Weak sauce

Didn’t listen but I’m still going to rate it 1 just cuz

Awesome electronic record. Equal parts weird and beautiful. Some of the progenitors of electronic/synth music and it is crazy how well it still holds up.

Very nice album, really enjoyed it. Love the electronic sound of it, its so creative.

L’album qui te fait aimer les trains, l’Europe, et le St-Hubert Express! C’est vraiment une vibe; vient pas pour danser. D’ailleurs, être en mouvement améliore drastiquement l’expérience d’écoute, je recommande une activité sur roue pour imiter le doux roulement d’un TGV sur… une pochette magnétique?

Krautrock at its finest

It's soooo goooood! Every song on this is great. It is also very cohesive as an album! The vibes are great, I would be willing to listen to a lot of this on its own, just good stuff.

Heard it before and love it

Inject this beautiful minimalism straight into my veins; I like everything on this one, start to finish.

Kraftwerk has the coolest album covers. The repetition, the mechanicalness it just works so well. These are the kind of beep and boops that I vibe with. Everything flows together so well here too. I wish to be on a train across Europe.

Love a bit of Kraftwerk. Europe Endless is the best track on here, but they're all good.

I like trains.

Absolute pioneers of a genre, Kraftwerk at their best, wonderful masterpiece :-)

Classic!

Masterclass in electronica

A marvellousm album. It's a measure of its excellence that it still sounds like the future, fifty years after its release. I understand the hate that some give it, it can seem mechanical and repetitive on first listen, but I hear the gentle melodies along with the insistent rhythm. The trach Trans Europe Express is clearly a stand-out, but Europe Endless is its equal, and shown Kraftwek in a slightly playful mood.

Absolutely remarkable stuff. Gets you in a trance, no fancy drops, harmonies or rythmic structure. Pure electronic vibes

An amazing marriage of (subdued) pop melodies and sequenced electronic sounds and rhythms, this groundbreaking record sounds as fresh as it did as it was originally released.

I'm a big Kraftwerk fan, but never really got into this album...until 1001 Albums prompted me to listen to it, and I became addicted. It is easily one of their best 3 albums (along with Man Machine and Computer World). Some might find it cheeky in the sense that it is only really 4 tracks, but it does a lot with them and one of them (TEE) invented a genre.

Good

This is really lovely.

Turns out I like German Electro music and this might be the best example of it on this list

1. German music. I love German music. 2. who cares about the English version of the album if there's the original German version always available for you? so a track-by-track breakdown. "Europa Endlos"("Europe Endless"): based on a four note motif, this is the ultimate "music to play while you are driving through the countryside". "Spiegalsaal"("Hall of Mirrors"): this song is again based on repeated motifs, but creates an errie atmosphere with the arrangements. "Schaufensterpuppen" ("Showroom Dummies"): The sound sounds as mechanical as ever, maybe its because erm... it's a criticize on commercialism. i like the deadpan delivery. "Trans-Europa Express" ("Trans-Eurpoe Express): It's not a "music to play when you are on a train" song, although the beat resembles the clanking of the train wheels on tracks and also a military march. the vocals are processed through a vocoder while chanting the title, and also used natrually during other parts of the song. it almost feel dangerous, not as calming and lighthearted like the group's earlier work "Autobahn". "Metall Auf Metall" (Metal on Metal) and "Abzug" continues as a refrain but adds more metallic clanking as mentioned in the title. Almost industrial-flavoured. Proto- Einstürzende Neubauten. Germans. As the sound of the train wheezes by, we enter the final two tracks. "Franz Schubert". a tribute to the late classical composer, and to a degree, it has that romantism tint to the music, but it's still nothing like the rest of the album. Then in a circle, there's "Endlos Endlos" (Endless Endless), a short reprise of "Europa Endlos", as the music fades away. So in two words: Truly Revolutionary. Even if there's pioneers in the genre like Wendy Carlos, these pioneers couldn't make this album. 5/5.

Kraftwerk somehow manage to feel simultaneously of the past and of the future. Or to put it another way they evoke an enthralling past vision of the future. Alternatively, they have a futuristic (and Futuristic!) view of the future in what is now the past. With that context, a few albino-looking mutter-fuckers tapping some buttons on a synth, takes on a world of significance. This is a refinement of their sound to be as efficient as possible, true to Germanic form. And it's been instrumental in kick-starting hip-hop to boot. I can understand why the Kraftwerk purist may see Man Machine as a backwards step, but that remains the perfect marriage of industrial synth and melody for me. Nevertheless, this has got to be a funf.

Gear: Hifiman Arya Artwork: 🔳🚅🤍 Production (2009 Remaster): 🎧😘🤌 Music: 🔌💻🎶🔁🌍💥 Rating: 🚂🚃🚃🚃🚃/5

70s synth-pop from the Germans

The album that launched a thousand techno careers… beautiful and fragile electronica. If pointilism had a musical form, this is it

Amazing and beautiful

A true masterpiece. With no Kraftwerk, there would be no Duran Duran, NIN, Gary Neuman and so many more...

Fantastic album

Stoked to have this one pop up today. Amazing classic that's worth coming back to again and again.

On this journey, I already enjoyed The Man Machine from Kraftwerk, and it is no surprise that I adored the preceding record. Trans Europe Express is an album that saw the group further depart from their krautrock beginnings and dive into melodic electronic compositions while taking inspiration from the Weimar era folk music they grew up with. From the get-go on "Europe Endless", we are treated with glistening synthesizer lines from Ralf Hütter, mixed-in vocoder echoes from Florian Schneider, and the accented electronic percussion from Karl Bantos and Wolfgang Flür that balance each other out into a well-oiled machine. The meaningful repetition paves the way for the synths to oscillate and find new playful motifs. It doesn't take long for this album to get dark, as "The Hall of Mirrors" begins with a rather haunting synth line leading to the spare beat and piano, as Ralf gives a chilling deadpan delivery about one's hollow reflections. It serves as a nice thematical transition into "Showroom Dummies", where the hollowness illicit this feeling as if the people were store mannequins wanting to break out of their department store window to go out, dance, and live. That sentiment is captured excellently with the bouncy yet haunting melody as the vocoder echoes in the background. Then we get to the title track, as the beat bounces along with a melodic chugging that does feel like going on a futuristic train. Considering this song has gotten sampled a lot in hip-hop over the years, it's no wonder this is one of Kraftwerk's biggest hits. But we're not even done yet, as the beat continues in the transition to "Metal on Metal" with the clanging of metal pans, to the tinny keyboard line of "Abzug" as the tension of the train ride builds, before the train stops. At this point, the destination has been reached, with the welcome of a beautifully complex melody played on an analog sequencer on "Franz Schubert" with the vocoder modulating in the background. The album closes with a reprise of "Europe Endless" called "Endless Endless", bringing the experience full circle. Trans Europe Express was an excellent journey all the way through, striking a balance of catchiness and quirkiness that Kraftwerk mastered at this point in their career. I can see how this would be a very influential record across multiple genres.

Love it