Trans Europe Express

1051 - "Here's your juice box and orange slice. Thanks for coming."

Quirky, super-fun. Still sounds fresh and new!

Not sure what I am supposed to get out of that, but it wasn't enjoyment.

the only decent song was the first one. too many boops and beeps 2/5

Would not buy

I like electronic music, but Kraftwerk is normally too repetitive for me, which is the case for this album too. My favourite track on this album is Franz Schubert.

2/10 No lo escuche, son sonidos y dice "Trans Europe Express" nada mas

Listening to this brought to mind the stereotypical German who does everything efficiently, methodically and to numbers. A bit like the German guards in that Blackadder episode when he’s held prisoner by Prince Ludwig….. Ein, zwei…Halt! Jingle the keys: (keys jingle) Open the door! (door opens) Greetings to the prisoners: (they take one step in, and wave) Guten abend, Englander-scum! March to the table: Ein zwei, ein zwei, ein zwei…Halt! Food on the table: ein zwei! (they put down a loaf of bread and a sausage). Spit on the food: ein zwei! Insulting further gestures to the prisoners: ein zwei, ein zwei! (they do pelvic thrusts) So I’d listen to this whilst painting a wall with a paint roller to ensure I got the same shaped squares from top to bottom with the same amount of paint applied. But not one to listen to on a long train journey across Europe because it bloody well never gets to the end. 3/5 25/8/26

I like all classic era Kraftwerk albums equally. Mad respect for essentially pioneering electronic music.

Kraftwerk is one of the most original bands that have ever existed and they have been important inspiration to bands and artists from multiple genres. Maybe not their best album, but still always solid stuff!

#464 / 1089 Heard before? ❌ Revisit? ❌ Haven't really been a fan, thus never really listened to their albums in full. I listened, nothing stuck. To me this plays like a demo of something they're going to fill out later but forgot. It's not crap but 2/5 🤷‍♂️

This album resonated with my slightly more than the other one on the list. A little more industrial sounding, i could trace the electronic hertitage back from early Depeche Mode. Vocals still annoying though

Love how the synths sound on this one, released within a few months of Low could make a case this is peak-synth. Gorgeous opener which, like much of the album, reads as a paean to peak Pax-Europa. Then the nos to Bowie/Iggy/Station2Station which Bowie returned on V2-Schneider, at that point my head fell off and ended up in my lap Still prefer the Siouxsie Hall of Mirrors cover though.

Well, I’m glad there’s a song on this album named endless endless because that’s exactly how I felt about the tracks focused on the Trans Europe Express theme. Not my favourite of their work which I’ve heard. I guess this album is why I historically thought I didn’t like Kraftwerk.

Wow I loved this - going to go hang with it some more!

I like trains

One of those albums that I feel like I'm really supposed to like, but in reality I'm bored to tears by it. It's obvious how much influence this group had on future electronic music, but I just don't get a lot of enjoyment out of listening to it.

Bit of a soft spot for Kraftwerk. Was listening while driving long distance. Would not like to do it a night in case the trance turned into sleep. This fit the bill at the time. Too many 3’s recently so for this….

absolute ahh. never wanna hear again, terarria beats with random words being looped ontop of them. just pure agony to sit through... never again. frick u kraftwerk ur not cool.

I still haven’t worked out if one Kraftwerk is enough. 2.5

.-. _o______ _.._ | |______.-. ___|/== //| --_ \ /__________________\_ \ | // (o)(o) (o)(o) .-. _o______ _.._ | |______.-. ___|/== //| --_ \ /__________________\_ \ | // (o)(o) (o)(o) Indeed, this is true Art. __________________________ ______________________ Exquisite, even more so on headphones - for the delicacy is quite amazing. I think its the 3rd album by Kraftwerk here. Again, I chose to listen to the German version (first) for purity. Its very different in mood and flavour. Its not essential to listen to ALL the Kraftwerk albums, but hearing this one I appreciate how its so very different to the others. There is interesting commentary on the train experience, the offering and Europe and more deadpan about the sleek first class experience and efficiency of this business train - it was like the Concorde for rails. ________________________________________________________________ Notably Europe achieved something marvellous with the TEE train system, by 1974 it linked Paris to Copenhagen to Bari (right down at the hot heel of Italy). With cruising speeds of 160kmh (which in present day Australia still haven't been exceeded in 2026. It takes as longer by train Brisbane to Rockhampton or Sydney to Canberra than it takes to drive on the slow 110kmh roads. We also lack an Autobahn. .-. _o______ _.._ | |______.-. ___|/== //| --_ \ /__________________\_ \ | // (o)(o) (o)(o)

All synthpop is, in some way, a response to Kraftwerk; either embracing the cold "we are all robots" vibe (Gary Numan, for example) or reacting against with hyper-emotionalism (eg. Soft Cell or Depeche Mode). This a transitional album in Kratfwerk's move from the ambient, musique concrete approach typical of synth bands of the 70s (Tangerine Dream, et al.) towards an embrace of pop forms. There are catchy tunes and jaunty beats and plenty of hooks here. You certainly couldn't accuse Tangerine Dream of that. The influence was surprisingly widespread and deep. I mean, who would have predicted Kraftwerk would be so central to early 80s hip hop? You can find elements of Kraftwerk in almost all popular music these days. I listened to both the English and German versions today. Both extremely listenable. This is an unimpeachable classic. 5 bazillion stars.

Heard before?:❌️ Will listen again?:❌️ I don't get it. I mean I understand that they were something like the Beatles for Electronic music, laying a lot of foundations that artists even decades from now still profit off. But I just don't get how someone can just decide to turn Kraftwerk on without being told to

I mean, you have to respect it. Super nerdy synth music at it's finest. Also, in this modern day it's funny because its kind of become pretentious record shop music hasnt it?

Kraftwerk invented time dilation technology to fit a 2 hour track list into 40 minutes just for this album

100

The 70s era Electronica scene isn't really my bag as these bands necessarily pale in comparison to what later bands would be able to do with better technology. But Kraftwerk were amazingly influential, and this is one of their better and more accessible records.

Listening to Kraftwerk is like watching Pele play football. For it's time, it was amazing, but compare it today...it looks ridiculous. I can appreciate the historical value of this but nothing more. It got repetitive and boring really quick

Can't deny their importance to electronic music as a whole, but it's all moved on significantly, listening to this now it can sound simplistic, childlike and almost comedy in places. That being said some songs still hold up purely on the underlying song writing strength.

There’s one quote from the Wikipedia page that I quite enjoyed and I think sums up my feelings on this album pretty succinctly. “Kraftwerk went to railway bridges to listen to the sounds the train would actually produce. The group found the sound the train made was not danceable and changed it slightly.”

Utopian perfection.

Tää on kyllä hypnotisoivaa. Näiden biisien sanat on kanssa niin oudot ja simppelit, että se on taidetta. Tai onhan nää biisitkin niin outoja ja simppeleitä, että nää on taidetta. Jännittävä tunnelmallista pörinää. Moni kappaleista vaan toistaa samaa melodiaa. Kappaleet vaihtuu tässä jo saumatta. Parhaat: The Hall of Mirrors, Metal On Metal, Europe Endless

The only thing I ever heard is I think Autobahn. I understand the importance of Kraftwerk in the development of electronic music, but that is not my cup of tea. Cold repetitive sounds with some sparse lyrics en no emotions. Music for robots and I am not... The daily album playlist provided the english version and only after reading some other reviews I realized there is also a German version. "wir sind schaufensterpuppen" whatever.... I always select one track per album to add to my 1001album playlist but I have no clue what to add, maybe just the most short one.... 1 or 2 stars...

Some cool tracks. You can really hear the influence this had on video game music and on more modern techno like daft punk! It does feel a bit dated now but a fun experience

Listens: 3 Standout Tracks: The Hall of Mirrors, Trans-Europe Express-->Metal on Metal-->Abzug Right so I seem to be working backwards on the hook in TEE/Metal on Metal/Abzug. First, many years ago, I saw the scene in Swordfish where Hugh Jackman and Halle Berry go to the club and the remix version of the hook in the above three songs is playing. Terrible movie. Anyway, the remix version of the song (or at least the hook) is playing and was used by Afrika Bambaata on Planet Rock, which I listened to several months ago (it's on the List). Finally, I've arrived at Kraftwerk, where the song and the hook, as far as I'm aware, originated from. The tune is just as funky both of the other times I've heard it. Beyond the titular song, the only other song I really liked was The Hall of Mirrors; specifically, the music itself. I could really do without any of the lyrics. In fact, I would give the album a higher score if it was just entirely instrumental. I really don't care for this. Again (as I've mentioned in my other Kraftwerk review), I recognize the importance of this band as a milestone for the electronica genre (and I guess to a lesser extent, music in the club scene), but I don't have to like it, and don't. It's way to retro-futurism. It reminds me of blue and pink neon, synthwave visuals, like Tron and fucking Weird Science. I'm just not terribly enthused with the idea that this passed for interesting music that people actually listened to.

то, чем вдохновлялись Depeche Mode и лстальные электронщики в начале 80-х. Неплохой альбом. Хотя я больше люблю Man-Machine

Couldn't get through a single track

I understand why this is significant, for the year this came out this is pretty awesome -- and it still holds up. I don't love it or anything, but it does the job.

On the second song and can already tell I don’t love this as much as The Man-Machine, which was my very first 5 star selection here. This has a different vibe and it’s fine, but I don’t feel as compelled to listen to every full song.

Mustn’t have been in the mood for this today. It just went on and on.

The album starts strong. The melodies are good, the sounds are pleasing, and it reminded me of video game music a lot, like Fez and Baba is You. But then you hit the Trans-Europa Express. And oh boy. At first it's quite nice. A bit repetitive, but the beat is good, and it doesn't really matter because there are other songs on the album, right? But it keeps going. The next track is just a continuation of the previous one, minus the lyrics and with industrial percussions added. And then it keeps going on, with the same repeated lyrics, and it goes on and on and on, the whole thing can't seem to shut the fuck up for almost 14 whole-ass minutes. It's not even bad. But even ice cream makes you puke if you eat too much. At the end I wanted to drill a hole in my brain.

I jizzed to this

Moyen

They really like trains.

Eh, there's some good stuff here but as an album this got bland for me. The best song was better used by being repackaged elsewhere (Afrika Bambaata's "Planet Rock"). Top tracks: "Trans-Europe Express," "Abzug"

Very weird. Some of it great. Some bad.

--Europe Endless...it's pleasant. solid background music --The Hall of Mirrors...foreboding atmosphere. I should play this track for trick or treaters at Halloween. --Showroom Dummies...again, it's fine as something in the background. But, as an active listener, there's not enough deviation in the material to be six minutes long --Trans-Europe Express...good beat. more of a headphone track than background music (complimentary) --Metal on Metal...of course the slickest beat on here is only two minutes long --Abzug..."Metal..." melds into this. unfortunately making them both feel like one overlong track --Franz Schubert...cool sound collage. this is "brighter" than preceding tracks, for lack of a better word. repetitive but somewhat invigorating --Endless Endless...short outro

Ummm not sure how to feel about this. A nice change of pace, but far from standout. I think The Man-Machine was more inventive and interesting, although Europe Endless was an excellent starting song for this. Maybe just a bit too repetitive for me Favorite Songs: Europe Endless, Trans-Europe Express

tre eller fyra kanske. Ganska bra men lite för enformigt. Hade säkert varit fett live ändå.

Slukade den både på engelska och tyska men det nådde inte fram riktigt. Blev tyvärr för uttråkad. Får en symbolisk 3a för att det europeiska järnvägssystemet förtjänar att hyllas och för titelspårets enorma inflytande

Vad i. Hade inte fattat att Kraftwerk är så här dåligt? Negativ chock.

Lyckades tajma hela plattan perfekt med löprundan. Pinigt. Lite väl keff i början men närapå religiös upplevelse i slutet. Stark trea.

This is a kind of weird blend of pretentious keyboard demos, frutiger aero, and the sort of music you would put on to get into the right headspace and do your makeup before you go out into the city of Berlin to go clubbing. Sometimes it's too long, sometimes it just feels like the same song repeating over and over, and sometimes it's so quirky and oddball that you can't help but be endeared. This is a weird album, even for me.

I didn’t have great focus when I listened to this. I could tell it was good though. I added “The Hall of Mirrors” to my playlist.

For those people who like to think that Autism was something that is a modern "issue" need to know this is an entire album about trains. It's a great album about trains too.

Fascinating, hypnotic electronic music, totally unbothered by any notion of pop song structure. Not something I'd reach for all the time, but an important precursor to later developments and just the thing if you're in the right mood.

Europe endless - 2 The hall of mirrors - 2 Showroom dummies - 2 Trans-europe express - 3 Metal on metal - 3 Abzug - 2 Franz schubert - 2 Endless endless - 2

What can I possibly say? Crucial. Foundational.

Sounded like a video game soundtrack half the time. Some of the songs kind of worked for me (Europe Endless) but most didn’t. I didn’t realize that the famous “Planet Rock” sample was from this album so that was as fun.

3.8 Where have I heard that synthloop on franz shubert before, its bugging me? Enjoyed the listen; everything flowed together but enough going on to keep it somewhat interesting. We got the man-machine earlier in the list, I probably rated that a touch low. this is maybe a touch high to make up for it

Holy fuck this is awful.

Just plain boring. I'm sure some avant garde nerds love to pull this out and wave around to show how in the know they are but...come on. It's soo monotonous. What's the label, industrial synth?

This really is an amazing album and the amount I appreciate it and enjoy it as a concept does not reflect the rating I am giving it. Kraftwerk is so cool and I really love their music. This is such a complete and thoughtful concept album. That said, it doesn't elevate on the individual song level that The Man Machine does for me. It becomes very monotonous and repetitive... kind of like a train. So cool though!

Beep boop I’m on da robot train!

I know everyone treats this like some holy grail of music, but man, it feels so pretentious to me. It’s basically just dudes standing stiffly behind synths, taking themselves way too seriously while playing "beep boop" over a repetitive train beat. Sitting through ten minutes of cold, joyless minimalism where they just robotically repeat the same lyrics feels less like a listen and more like a total chore. I get that it’s supposedly "high art," but a lot of it just sounds like a self-important art-school project that went on way too long. That said, as much as the robotic minimalism grates on me, I can't deny the impact. When the back half of the record hits that industrial, clattering vibe on "Metal On Metal" and "Abzug," you can actually hear the blueprint for modern dance music getting written in real-time. Hearing those looping, chant-like vocals on "Abzug," it's super obvious that this is exactly where Daft Punk got their whole "Around The World" vibe. So yeah, it’s an insufferably pretentious listen, but I guess I have to give them credit for basically inventing the future.

Très sympa vroum vroum l'Europe

Great sounds but not so great songs.

I hated this. I don't like electronic music. It was a lot of the same sounds over and over and same words spoken/sung? over and over. It was terrible.

Importante representante da música eletrônica, com seus temas melódicos e dramáticos, antes de o gênero se converter em música puramente dançante.

Some good tracks, but a few of the tracks blend together for me. Not bad, not great.

I'd rather be Kraftunemployed

It's not quite got the fun, fun, fun on the autobahn of their best work, in fact after a very solid opener, it's really quite foreboding. And of course, as it goes on it's just very repetitive indeed and you're basically waiting for it to finish.

Is interesting. The songs are long though, and tend to drone a bit.

No me interesa nada en absoluto

Had its moments but I preferred The Man Machine to this Kraftwerk album. The lead singers voice doesn't do it for me.

Kind of underwhelming, honestly. Being released just before "Die Mensch-Maschine", an album that I love for its futurist, poppy and spacey sound, I was hoping for this album to have a very similar sound to these aesthetics that I like so much, but it doesn't, or at least not at the same level. My main problem with this record is how repetitive it is. Kraftwerk is not stranger to repetitions, being a primordial element in their music, even in earlier projects such as "Autobahn", which I scored positively three reviews ago. So while I think they do it well overall, in this case I find it to be a bit too tedious in some parts, specially in the three songs section formed by "Trans-Europe Express", "Metal on Metal" and "Abzug". Thankfully, not matter how repetitive it is, I still like this album for its interesting futuristic sounds, its very textured synths and its catchy aspects. The first three songs are the best example of doing something very effective and easy to listen to with these elements, despite being some of the longest cuts. I liked how inviting and fun "Europe Endless" is, how haunting and cold "The Hall of Mirrors" is, and how in between of being mysterious and fun "Showroom Dummies" is. Then comes the mentioned part I don't like as much, yet I appreciate how well connected the three songs are. Regardless of having some elements in common, like melodies and base, all three of them are not hard to tell apart from each other, specially "Metal on Metal" incorporating clanks of some metallic elements I can't recognize. Finally, the album ends with the two minimalist songs "Franz Schubert" and "Endless Endless". Just like the previous part, these two song are also connected by the same melody that sounds beautiful and nice, but it isn't as memorable as the first ones, and it is basically the only thing they offer. So in the end, I think it is a good album. I am definitely a bit disappointed compared to the other two releases I've heard from them, but still has that particular sound of them that I do enjoy. Before ending the review, I want to mention how great the album cover of the 2009 remaster is. The minimalist train design looks super clean and represents the album incredibly well. Possibly the thing I like the most about the whole record, which feels shameful to admit...

ehhhhhh, it was okay as noise, but most songs got repetitive too quickly, dragging on too long

Ganz cool, aber irgendwie manchmal nervig. Aber hat was

Fun but weird. Weird that I would listen again

Early electronica. Kind of retro cool, and surely groundbreaking. Probably for sure deserves to be on this list. On the other hand, I'll probably never listen to this again. I like electronic but this just sounds too outdated. 3/5.

Per ongeluk was ik Trans Europe Express op shuffle aan het luisteren. Het zou verboden moeten worden. Nu maakt dat bij Kraftwerk mogelijk niet zo veel uit. Alle nummers hebben hun eigen opbouw en sfeer alsof je onderdeel bent van een langzaam op stoom rakende machine. Geen waanzinnig grootse roken machien, maar een simpele soepel draaiende apparaat. Als er ooit een apparaat zou bestaan die meer energie op zou wekken dan deze verbruikt, dan zou deze tegelijkertijd nummers van Kraftwerk afspelen denk ik. Het concept van een Trans Europe Express is bijzonder en perse heel sexy. Maar het gaat bij Kraftwerk natuurlijk om het geluid dan de boodschap lijkt me. 7/10

Not for me (in the same way Daft Punk is not for me)

This gets a guilty 5 stars from me. It's so charming in an oinky-sploinky, plinky-plonky, hokey kind of way

naja. spannend, aber naja

hätten lieber mal die Ärzte inkludieren sollen das ist die deutsche rep? :,) bin eh kein techno girl, finds schnell langweilig

i wonder if this was the inspiration for starlight express… anyway good album sounded good but the lyrics are way way too repetitive i got so sick of hall of mirrors and showroom dummies

I paused my album-listening walk to chat with a gentleman in a parking garage about lowrider cruises, Boulder City sun farms, and government payrates in the state of Nevada. Going into Trans-Europe Express, the only Kraftwerk song I knew particularly well was The Model, so I was surprised at just how bright and uplifting the album started. Eventually, the songs would start to dip back into that darker industrial sound, but the contrast between the two vibes, and the slow progression from one to the other, keeps this album incredibly compelling. On a first listen, I thought the first few songs felt a little too light and monotonous, but the final stretch of the album made me retroactively appreciate the beginning more for how well it lays the groundwork for the rest of the album's sonic arc. The whole album has such an interesting progression, as if it's one 45-minute suite of degradation, growing darker and heavier as it chugs along. The only song I still don't quite click with is Hall of Mirrors, which still feels a little threadbare and just kept reminding me of other songs I wanted to listen to more ( specifically Cinderella by Model/Actriz). This is such a conceptually interesting and entertaining work, but it mostly leaves me excited to hear another project from Kraftwerk feel more connected to in totality. Highlights: Europe Endless, Showroom Dummies, Trans-Europe Express, Metal On Metal, Abzug, Franz Schubert, Endless Endless

2.5

When they sing about robots: cool. When they sing about a train: not cool.

Songs are a little hit or miss. But that drum machine sound... hits the spot. I've listened some years ago but it turned out better than remembered. I think I'll give 4 for now. Maybe I'll bring it down to 3 later

Snoozefest of an album.

This is my 2nd Kraftwerk album since I started 6 weeks ago. I can appreciate this bands place in music history as pioneers, but I think just one of their albums would have sufficed.

As I said on a previous Kraftwerk album. Gotta love the early german techno. Also, is it just me or was a lot of this music used in Final Fantasy 6?

This is garbage. Nothing was good about this and it just went on and on. Some ideas were good at times, but then they just kept going. Actual Rating.... .5 Liked Songs: "Europe Endless" and "Franz Schubert" had moments I guess

yeah I'll come back to this

German voiced background music for 80s fantasy or dark sci fi. Ugh.

Not too bad - quite hypnotic - just not something I’d choose to listen to

5 / 10

This is just the same as most Kraftwerk album, some cool shit but it's all way too similar with not enough variation

There’s just something magical about this that I can’t explain

Can usually rate an album by how much I have to skip it based on it annoying me. This barely scrapes a 2

I’m sorry but I hated it. I’m not sure what I’m missing here, or if I’m supposed to be evaluating this based on its novelty at the time - but this was ass. It was boring. This was some shit I coulda made on my grandma’s electric piano in 5th grade.

Rating this album is like going to a museum and rating an axe from the Bronze Age. How do we even begin? This thing is a relic, so I'm only going off influence and importance here, despite the fact that I felt myself nodding along and enjoying the record in a lot of spots. This thing is foundational to modern electronic music. And even if we're rating off pure importance here, I still think the songwriting here is excellent. Hall of Mirrors really stands out. Had a nice time listening to it, and I think that's enough to give it a 5 for something that was breaking ground in such a huge way. side note: I thought it was really cool that they talked about meeting David Bowie and Iggy Pop. The cross pollination that was going on in this era. Imagining these guys, Bowie, Iggy, and Miles Davis in the same room is wild.

where the trains at I'm a sucker for arpeggios and subtle complexity within repetition, so y'all already know I love that opening track. "Europe Endless" is up there in the electronic music canon and earns the nearly-10-minute run time. the opening portion of "Hall of Mirrors" feels like a primary inspiration for Aphex Twin's ambient work in the best way, until the vocals kick in. and then the vocals are the primary drag on the following 20 minutes of music. I've always felt that the song "Trans-Europe Express" could use 20% of the vocals and shave off 30% of the run time and be incredible. "Hall of Mirrors" could lose the vocals entirely and would be greatly improved. whenever I've put this record on in the past, those elements, in addition to the overwhelming sense of stiff German physicality, usually have me reaching for the next record. that stiffness now makes me appreciate electronic musicians later on using the technology to make people dance and create groove. I'm glad to revisit what comes after "Trans-Europe Express" on the LP, because the run from "Metal on Metal" through the end is great. they bring back some of the more appealing motifs and rhythms from earlier tracks, and those moments are great -- the songs don't wear out their welcome, and the vocals aren't as prominent. you can hear more of the future influence on techno and industrial music in the 2nd half of this LP, both in the way sound is manipulated and in the sounds of machinery translated into the basis of rhythm. I'm giving this a 4 in spite of the grueling 20-minute span in there based on the strength of what bookends it. I much prefer their album "Autobahn" and am excited to spin that one again.

Really like the bookends on this album. The middle is very dull. I listened to this album a few times and I liked the middle less each time. I think it’s because the first time I listened I was expecting it to go somewhere more interesting, but it just never really did. “Franz Schubert” reminded me a lot of this song “Schopenhauer’s Garden” by Mark Barrott. Check that song out if you liked the first and last songs.

i like trains

Okay so we like the train a lot. It was fine, felt like a train ride, but not a great one but a fine one.

Now's the time on Sprockets when we dance! This was perfectly pleasant but got a little repetitive for my liking.

Very 80s techno, but fun to have on the phones during the work hours.

Its not 100% my thing but a propper classic, my favourite kraftwerk. FF7 vibes

Powerful

I'll listen to it if I wanted to sleep.

3.5

Proto-trance? Locomotive EDM? Not sure, but it’s an enjoyable entry and feels innovative for the time. I am not well versed enough to know how the full impact of this coming out when it did but it seems to have done something new and different. The songs are very slow to develop and they don’t really vary too much from start to finish. There’s catchy elements and I can sort of nod along to it as a concept but by the end it’s a bit wearing. I did enjoy the later tracks Franz Schubert and Endless Endless that had a different feel to the more beat-driven, metronomic elements in the earlier tracks. All in decent but significance not enough to boost it beyond a 3.

It's like the shock of a party you were dragged too that you could not drink at and then unexpectedly enjoyed.   It usually sucks watching drunk people while you get tired and bored.  Not this.  No drugs required to mong your head off. Not as good as The Man Machine but this onion is the same sauce.  Simple but layered.  I would love to have met these lunatics as it was the 70s and black and white TVs existed and computers the size of rooms.  This is brilliant.

I don't mind a bit of Kraftwerk but this seemed very slow, repetitive and quite basic. I guess when it first came out, it was still fairly revolutionary, but I am so used to hearing much more complex electronic music that this seems very primitive. This wouldn't be my Kraftwerk album of choice.

It might have been groundbreaking at some point, but I don’t think it aged really well.

3.5

mmmm robots

Kraftwerk is like listening to a game on pong.

The most impressive part of this is that Casio keyboards with all the presets you hear here didn’t come out until the year after they made this. I’m sure it was innovative then but it hasn’t aged wonderfully.

Beautiful album. I can't believe this is 1977. True pioneers

Diese Platte hat mich nicht gelangweilt. 4 Sterne.

Zeer veel herhaling... Ook veel samples gehoord die elders gebruikt zijn...

Geen vrolijke maar zeer goeie plaat

90s electronica continues to not do it for me

Surprisingly, I actually liked this one - not sure why but I’m guessing it’s because of its influences on 80s new wave bands. I kept hearing themes that showed in later music.

I can see how this has influenced so many things I love but it does get quite repetitive.

I don’t have any particular opinion about this album.

Europe Endless 3.3 The Hall of Mirrors 3 Showroom Dummies 3.2 Trans-Europe Express 2.7 Metal on Metal 2.4 Abzug 2.6 Franz Schubert 2.4 Endless Endless 2.6 Score: 2.775

Nope

I really tried with this album, but for the just part of sounded like someone hitting a keyboard in their bedroom

The repeated phrases got on my nerves, but there was also something hypnotic and relaxing about the music. Mixed feelings on this one.

2.5 Not my thing, most of the songs were far too long and very repetitive

I always struggle with this band because I understand they're influential and all of that but listening to an entire album is a tedious struggle. To me it's like listening to an electronic Grateful Dead record. I don't like the Grateful Dead.

I love it. TRANS EUROPA EXPRESS

Stop trying to make Kraftwerk happen!

I'd categorise this as suffering the same fate as Commodore 64 Music - if you grew up with it, you'll defend it endlessly, but low chance of trying to engage someone (like me) who doesnt have the nostalgic value to work with.

First song was cool, then didn’t bother with the rest

really enjoyed the high points, the darker ones I didn't enjoy

6/10 - Really cool sounds but ultimately didn't stick with me. It was really cool to see the album go through different movements however! Fav Tracks: Europe Endless Heard before? ---–- ❌ Saved a Song? ----- ❌ Saved Album? --–-- ❌ Will Listen Again? -- ❌ Album Cover -------Looks like a golf club

These guys are masters of their art, but this list does not need more than 1 Kraftwerk album. Their influence is profound, but that influence resulted in a lot of soulless and not great music. A 2.

Influence for bands i love. Better than the other Kraftwerk album I've had on the list

I can absolutely respect these guys for being pioneers of electronic music and laying the groundwork for countless artists who followed. Their influence is impossible to deny. That said, this album feels like it's missing depth. The ideas are interesting from a historical perspective, but as a listening experience there's just not much here for me. The vocals sound dated, and both the singing and the beats are so repetitive that the album starts to feel one-dimensional after a while. I understand why Trans-Europe Express is considered important, and I can hear its DNA in everything from synth-pop to techno and hip-hop. But influence and enjoyment aren't always the same thing. For me, this is one of those albums that's easier to appreciate than it is to actually sit down and listen to.

Awful

I really enjoyed this album. Techno German late 70s, what is not to love! 7.75/10 Top song Franz Schubert

Good

Doesn't hold up as well as The Man Machine. 3/5.

Juu ei oo mulle.

While I really appreciate the minimalism and the 8bit esthetic (though it wasn't called 8bit in 1977) I am a bit puzzled by the voices. Nevertheless a visionary album. And also trains are cool. Favorite Songs: Europe Endless ; Trans Europe Express

It's like Devo if they were boring, and sucked. I like prog amd I like electric, but this is my least favorite version of either. This is NO Jean-Michel Jarre. Its like the German Daft Punk, which is to say its terrible.

Just... nonsense slop. It was painful to get through but it was alright to listen to I guess.

6.5/10

Sullen robots are not my thing

This is really a 3 but it earns an extra star for gaining my respect

Synth pop pioneers explore the future of music with their vision

Likely an influence for some bands I like (thinking LCD Soundsystem) but I am not sure I really get this band.

Im sure it was important when it came out, but to me this is a great example of why not all art needs to survive. Just let this rudimentary work die and blossom into all the electro stuff that came afterwards. It’s like why I don’t listen to the Big Booper when I can listen to Zeppelin.

Computers. Music. Now they are intertwined like lines of code. Back when this album came out, this was cutting edge and futuristic. This is NOT EDM, there is no "Dancing" here. It's electronic music with the focus on electronic.

I found this an interesting listen. Would have made an excellent deep study/focus soundtrack. Will revisit when the time is right.

I realize that Kraftwerk is considered an enormously influential band - probably quite rightly so - but in my opinion, their achievement lies less in producing great albums and more in exploring new territory and experimenting. I think it’s excusable that their musical vision sometimes falls by the wayside in the process. However, there’s no need to listen to the albums today - it was enough for me to know the name Kraftwerk and recognize that they were important pioneers of electronic music. The albums sound exactly as one would expect based on this description: song ideas on the level of ringtones, monotonous arrangements, and string sections that are commendable in concept but completely botched. That was the case with “Man Machine,” and “Trans Europe Express” is no different in this regard. More suited for a music history freak show than for a best-of list!

3.14

Alternatingly dark and uplifting. Somber and joyous. Mesmerizing, a constant motion via repetition held at a steady pace. Synthetic, robotic, exploratory. The darkest element is the naive faith in technology the album exhibits, the playful probing of the human-droid boundary as almost pure possibility doesn't foresee the descent of the surveillance nightmare.

Too electronic, tedious and repetitive. As I skipped through this album there were times I couldn't even tell I was on a new song because it sounded so much like the one I just skipped ahead on.

It was interesting and I can see where it is hugely influential on modern music but at the same time it wasn't all that great of a listen.

Not for me

Their music is sort of a...ugh...techno pop

A classic and always an enjoyable listen. They walked where a lot of my favourite music could run and i will always repect that. Its not somethimg i listen to regularly as i feel this was done better, later, bybother people ans its a bit sparse and basic for my tastes. 3.5 rounded up because they are culturally important

Listening to this album as a teenager made me feel like the coolest guy around. While I am no longer as cool as I thought I was then, this album still is.

Kraftwerk is not a band I thought I would like to be honest. But it's albums like this that make me more than happy to be wrong. Not only is it chill, brilliant, and entrancing, it's very obviously way ahead of it's time. This is something I will definitely be coming back to.

I didn't love it, but I appreciate it for what it is. Probably won't listen again.

Liked this.

Second album après 'Autobahn' que j'avais plutôt apprécié (noté 3/5). Ce nouvel album propose des morceaux plus courts (pas de morceau de 20 mn cette fois) et plus accrocheurs, plus mélodiques. Je trouve toujours dommage de ne pas avoir fait le choix de morceaux purement instrumentaux, le chant n'apporte pas grand chose. Mais globalement je trouve l'accompagnement plus réussi que dans le précédent. Il va rejoindre ma collection ! =>4/5

points for inventing synth pop

I had never heard of the band Kraftwerk but once I listened to it I can see how the band influenced a lot of big hits. Great album!

Stand-out tracks: Hall of Mirrors, Abzug This certainly is music, I'm just not sure why 7-9 minute loops are so highly appraised. I guess I could call techincally call these beats since they repeat for the entirety of the tracks and basically replace the drums, but they rarely don't change, even repeating in multiple tracks. Like Abzug is just a shorter, slightly different version of Trans-Europe Express. And why does the opening track need to be so long, in fact why are all of them so long despite being basically the same thing throughout with minor variations. The vibe of the album is cool, but I can't help feel that it is all kind of cheap, giving you basically half the amount of content for double the time since it all repeats so much. Just a big letdown honestly.

Highlights: Europa Endlos, Spiegelsaal, Trans-Europa Express, Abzug I found the first half to be more interesting than the second. As the record progresses, the songs become more repetitive and the lyrics get less and less important. The opening song really does sound like a soundtrack to a ride where the singer is also commenting on a bunch of stuff he sees both in nature and urban settings. It also has this very optimistic sound to it, as if the singer had just begun his travel and as if it's early morning and he's still interested in his surroundings before the travel becomes dull. Trans-Europa Express and Abzug have this repeating beat that sound like the noise that the train makes on the tracks. It nicely depicts the monotony of the ride that becomes all too apparent after an hour or two. Spiegelsaal and Schaufensterpuppen stood out as tracks not related to the travel theme, but they don't differ too much. However if you ignore the travel aspect and look at it as just rambling about technology, monotony and society as most of their records are, then they fit in perfectly. Is it a masterpiece? Nah, but I did like it.

I thoroughly enjoyed The Man Machine when it appeared elsewhere on the list. This one - not so much. Very very repetitive and lacking in the catchy hooks. Annoyingly bad in places.

I love David Bowie and Talking Heads. So I was hoping to enjoy this, but I just couldn’t get into it. Glad I tried

Very difficult to review. I understand how important and influential this album is, but it's not something that I'd ever want to sit down and listen to.

Not my jam but I love German accents so much. They really like trains

Beep boop

Extremely relaxing

I like some of the sounds, but the album as a whole sucks. "Just because you can doesn't mean you should" kept popping in my head through this listen. I won't be taking this train again...

Meh… middle of the road. Rounding down due to the 3 tracks on the back end with a nearly identical synthetic backbeat. 2.5/5

I will never be able to rate these guys lower than a 3 based on influence alone. While I prefer some of their other albums, this one had an interesting effect. I appreciate the repetitive feel and use of minimalism here that interestingly never got boring while sending the listener on their own journey. Which I guess is the point. In the end we are all just showroom dummies on our own endless train ride.

No thanks. 1.75

I listened to this album when it showed up on Apple Music's top 100 albums of all time... gave it 3* and sticking with that rating. A little boring buy hard to deny the impact on electronic and hip hop. 2.5/5

Fun album. Something different and fresh for me

I really liked this album. I will for sure listen to more in the future.

Ich weiß um die Bedeutung von Kraftwerk für die Elektronische Musik. Aber heute kann man das irgendwie nicht mehr hören.

Must listen electronic album. Kraftwerk's best.

So many albums before I got one by Kraftwerk...now it feels like every other album is by them. The 70s musical robot voice ranks behind Frampton, Daft Punk and Roger Troutman. I bet Vangelis loves these guys. Of course they had a collaborative album in the late 80s. There are not words for how dumb this music is. The length of the songs basically goes down as the album goes on which is good when you realize you still have 6 songs to go off an 8 song album. It's Planet Rock! I hate that song too. Name drop some famous people, that's a neat trick. Metal on Metal is Trent Reznor's favorite song, dark, synthesizers, metal on metal noises. Abzug brings the Planet Rock melody from the title track back. I bet Madonna was listening to this song exclusively when she did the song Music. This album uses the phrase "Trans-Europe Express" too many times. It makes PM Dawn's Paper Dolls seem like an exercise in restraint by comparison. This was better than The Man Machine.

By times somewhat stark and menacing, others joyous and playful. I've heard this is perfect accompaniment to long train rides through Europe. I'd buy that. Franz Schubert is a flat out gorgeous piece, and Endless Endless the perfect coda.

ALRIGHT I FUCKING GET IT EUROPE IS ENDLESS PLEASE STOP THIS TORTURE

Weirdly alluring.

Excellent

Europe Endless (así comienza el disco), que es como iba a llamarse es un paso desde el Krautrock hacia el tecno, en el bien sentido. Parte de la culpa la tiene el secuenciador Synthanorma. También es el paso de su identidad más germana (Autobahn) hacia una claramente europeísta. De cuando los franceses ganaban el Tour de France por esas carreteras que veíamos en las teles. No solo Bowie tomaba nota, sino que Jean-Michel Jarre les cogió todo lo que pudo. Afrika Bambaataa lo hizo pero de otro modo mucho más respetable. Pues nada, tomen sus asientos y preparsense a viajar. Como todos los discos de Kraftwerk, imprescindible.

As someone who studied music tech and had to listen to Kraftwerk and their influences like a nerd, I don't think this album ever wore out its welcome, and it definitely doesn't 15 years later. Yes it's clunky, yes it's proto everything you've ever heard electronically, and yes it is beep boop music to the nth degree, but by god those synth melodies are still amazing. The most humanistic robot music ever created, AI could learn a few things from these. Actually, lets not. Some things are best left in the human mind.

Cool! First Kraftwerk album. I've heard the name of this band being passed around before, and I like the name of their Autobahn album - it's just a satisfying word to pronounce. Anyways, I don't know what genre these guys belong to and I'm kind of stumped as to what this album could be when going off of the cover. This kind of minimalist, symbol-heavy cover is something I traditionally associate with electronic music, but electronic seems a little early for the year of release. Granted, Neu were putting out albums with an electronic sound around the time of this album, so I think I might be onto something. An electronic album it is. Hmm, strange. This is one of those albums which sounds drastically better now that I'm playing it back on shuffle as I finish writing this review. At first, I wasn't moved by how primitive the synths sounded, how minimal the compositions were and how subdued the vocal style was, but it's clicking quite nicely now. The rigid, methodical structure of these songs is engrossing once you're able to get into their unique sense of rhythm and tempo. It all comes together like craftwork, if I'm allowed to get the saying completely wrong. The status of this album as an early electronic release makes it charming in its own distinctive way. I can't say I've heard an album with this kind of dark and strange, yet ultimately glamorous sound. The obtuse, funky synths which underscore this album are generally the highlight through their ability to pair with the equally abstract vocal melodies. The other, more flittering electronic sounds are also matched with this album quite well, making up the more glamorous and interesting aspects of the album. I'm not sure if I'm getting this mental image because of or despite the album cover, but if this album were a material it would be a sleek, cold, smooth, reflective, black metal surface. One of the better materials an album could be, if you asked me. Only deep and insightful criticisms are contained in my reviews. Book time. The album is "...a streamlined celebration of Europe's romantic past and shimmering future." Bowie was notably a fan of Kraftwerk, with the ambient stretch of "Heroes" being his tribute to the band. Kraftwerk reciprocated by namedropping both Bowie and Iggy Pop on the title track. That only appears to be on the English version of the song, however. The album was innovative and has been influential in post-punk. "Metal on Metal" has been influential in hip-hop, electronic and industrial music. Afrika Bambaataa sampled the album on his Planet Rock album. I don't need to check Wikipedia on this occasion. This album has been quite surprising in how far its influence has stretched. I cosign this inclusion.

9/10

Masterpiece

2nd Kraftwerk album in 5 days.

Knew I loved the title track but hasn’t had realized it’s basically broken into three songs. Showroom Dummies just as good

🤖

Cold, robotic and expresionless.This have enough for communicate intense with minimum effort.

Atari, of music.

I guess this was the very beginning of electronic music effects, so these people just slammed a whole bunch of effects. The music side of things is overall not too bad, it's okay having this in the background, but it's just a bit meh.

Didn’t listen to fully so my review won’t be great but I wasn’t a fan

4⭐️/5 05.21.2026

It's a classic. For my money I think The Man-Machine is the better album but that is splitting hairs. This is the sound of the future from way back when. You can hear the DNA of Kraftwerk in a lot of music that came afterward. That has been covered extensively elsewhere and by greater authority than me, but all that you need to know is that you will be moving like a robot by the end of this record. Embrace the robot!

I may have been a bit too harsh on Trans Europa Express the last time I heard it over 3 years ago now. Now that my musical tastebuds seem to have settled I think it is time to give this a proper re-review to see if I was missing out on anything the first time around. Trans Europa Express may be one of Kraftwerk's more repetitive pieces as this whole album feels like 1 big song broken up into 8 individual pieces. I don't mind how this album is split up but it does make breaking this album down into the individual tracks to enjoy a lot harder than I would have liked it to be. Don't get me wrong I thought this was good, but not much else. Autobahn does the repetitive style much more effectively and doesn't split up the track into unnecessary pieces. I did enjoy Trans Europa Express more than my first go around, but I am not overly into it even still...

Oddly enjoyed this, incredibly repetitive though it was, much like a real train journey

(Heard the German version of the album.) You can immediately hear how influential this album was. 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘌𝘶𝘳𝘰𝘱𝘢 𝘌𝘹𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 has that cold, mechanical precision Kraftwerk are known for, but there’s also something strangely elegant about it. Even decades later, it still sounds futuristic in places. For a while, I was close to giving this a 4/5. The atmosphere is incredibly strong, and when the album locks into a groove, it really works. But the second half becomes a bit too repetitive for me, to the point where the minimalism starts losing its effect. Still a fascinating record, just not one that completely holds my attention from start to finish.

7/10 It bears repeating how influential and pioneering Kraftwerk’s music has been to vast amounts of music that followed them. Across their discography, they laid the groundwork for electronic dance music, hip-hop, synth-pop and more. Trans-Europe Express saw them introduce sequencers for the first time, freeing them from having to manually play each of their parts and allowing them to create more complex, metronomic and hypnotic patterns around which they could develop their sound. The fact that they had to have the sequencer they used for this record custom built shows how innovative and boundary pushing they were being with synthesised music. Of course, there was plenty of synth music before them, with Wendy Carlos’ work being of particular note, but Kraftwerk were really the first to lean so hard and intentionally into the deliberately electronic sounding and robotic side of the technology and push it towards mainstream audiences. This album is in places hypnotic, insistent, atmospheric and cinematic, and you can hear clear echoes of this work in the work of countless musicians that would follow, from Joy Division to Aphex Twin. The stark, foreboding vibe in various places is both oppressive and engaging and the hypnotic nature of the rhythmic elements (both tonal and percussive) suck you in and pull you along as you get lost in the shifting waves of synthesis. For an almost 50 year old electronic music album, there were relatively few times where it sounded particularly dated, which only emphasises the skills of the band, and the production was crisp and deep, really creating an engaging listening experience throughout. For me, I actually slightly prefer the work they produced on Man-Machine, the follow up to this record, which further refined their sequencer use and added a slightly more pop music twist to their sound. But this record has its own charms and, while I did find that there were certain bits that dragged on a little too much, I generally had an excellent time with it. Europe Endless - This is a slow burn, but the evolution of the various parts over time really work. They manage to somehow introduce just an edge of organic, human feel into the groove. I think some of it is down to how they’ve used accents within the arpeggiations and some of the synth parts that are performed rather than sequenced. It’s quite hypnotic and, as background music I was far less into this than when I actually gave it closer attention. It’s über German, but that works so well with the vibe of the piece that it only enhances it for me. You could complain that it’s a bit too long, but I think you might lose some of the hypnotic nature of it by trimming it down too much. The Hall Of Mirrors - The ascending synth tones in the intro here are great. When things progress, it’s so stark and darkly atmospheric. The chorus reminds me an awful lot of Joy Division, obviously far more synth focused, but the vibe and tone of it are very similar. Apparently Ian Curtis would always listen to this record before performing, so it was obviously a massive influence on them. This is so stretched out and sparse, but has more of that hypnotic insistency to it that it’s hard not to get sucked into the mechanically overbearing nature of the atmosphere. This is really good stuff. Showroom Dummies - I feel like this, as a more traditionally song structured piece, doesn’t quite deliver quite as well as they would on Man-Machine with more synth-pop efforts. It’s still decent, but it’s perhaps a touch too sparse to connect quite as well as that later work. When things roam a bit through the middle instrumental section, I get a bit more sucked into it, because there’s a bit more musical interest and development. The vocal parts just don’t quite connect as well and get a little repetitive without managing to deliver the same hypnotic control as the earlier tracks. Trans-Europe Express - This brings us back into that hypnotic, insistent, and engaging rhythmic vibe. The slow phase and delay on the drums is super tasty and the soundscaping of the different lines works really well to pull your depth of focus forward and backwards across the orchestration. The careful, restrained sequencing of it all is really well balanced and it still has a bit of a creepy vibe due to the choices of melody and the relative lack of significant harmonic content, except to really emphasise certain sections. Another solid track. Metal On Metal - This is more or less a further movement of the previous track. Again, there’s a touch of Joy Division about it and more than a hint of Einstürzende Neubauten too. It’s rhythmically cool and creates an incredibly engaging and threatening atmosphere, especially the final detuned chord sweep that takes us straight into… Abzug - The third movement of the piece. I like the ascending synth chords that they use, but this is very much a return to what we were getting on the track Trans-Europe Express, including a return to the vocals. When the build of the different parts happens later in the piece, there’s extra depth and atmosphere brought in and the slightly creepy, overbearing vibe returns. It’s pretty cool, but I do wonder if the general concept of this suite of tracks has been dragged on a tad too long, over the course of three tracks. Franz Schubert - The arpeggiated synth line here is really lovely. The slightly odd pulsing of the pads and melodies below gives this a warm and slightly crumbling tone that allows your attention to wander nicely across the work. The arpeggiated line gives everything a centre, while the other parts have a bit more of an unfocused, roaming quality. I think the amount of rhythm that’s present in this track despite the complete lack of drums is incredibly well done. Another excellent track. Endless Endless - And that track runs us nicely into a return to where we began. It’s more of a coda than a track in its own right, but it’s still good. It’s obviously intentional, but it does perfectly run back to the start and you could easily run this album on repeat without ever really noticing where it should start or end, which is a pretty fun way to construct an album.

If every song were like that first track it would be an easy 5 for me. They’re not, but they are still solid.

I have loved Kraftwerk since their beginning. This album does not disappoint!

Ik heb veel geleerd over de trans europe express

Been meaning to familiarize myself with Kraftwerk for a while. The first half was very spare and repetitive. Wasn’t sure I was going to like the album. Then the title track hit and for the rest of the album it sounded a lot more like what I expected, much more like the electronic music I’m familiar with.

Kraftwerk's bleeps, bloops, and robotic rhythms perfectly captures the sensation of riding a train. Incredibly consistent release from these electronic music pioneers.

++: Spiegelsaal, Schaufensterpuppen, Metall auf Metall, Abzug, Franz Schubert, Endlos Endlos +: Europa Endlos, Trans Europa Express 8,5/10

A bit repetitive and droll. 2.5, but likely won’t return to this one

I didn’t like the first one I had to listen to. I didn’t like this one either.

I I know this album was put up by pioneers of the genre and was an important release the no doubt influenced musicians through to today, but just wasn’t my jam. It didnt feel memorable and felt like I was listening to the same sounds over and over by the end

I’m by no means the biggest fan of electronic music, in fact it’s my lowest rated genre, but I quite liked this one. In saying that it’s highly unlikely I will ever listen to it again. Top Track - Franz Schubert

i boarded the T.E.E!! and it was quite a ride! only being familiar with electro music thru daft punk, this was an extremely different kind of listen -- kraftwerk were pioneers in the genre, and it's very easy to see why. even with the rather sparse production, the bleepy bloopy synths got stuck in my head right away! my only dislike is the lyrical side, a lot of repetitive lyrics and songs that stretched on for upwards of almost 10 minutes, which i guess this early kind of electro was best listened to at The Club (and probably while dancing and or on some kind of substance) still an extremely interesting peak into music history! i'm glad this came up on the generator, i probably would have never reached for it otherwise! highlights: trans-europe express, showroom dummies, europe endless

Good stuff by the Godfathers of Electronic music! 4.25/5

How many Kraftwerk albums do I have to endure? As every other, it's background music at best - feels like they clicked a button on a keyboard and left for lunch.

Fine

Best Song: Franz Schubert. Short and relatively inoffensive. Worst Song: Showroom Dummies. Goddamn the backing bloops in this album were annoying. Overall: Mostly kind of obnoxious. Slowly cycling beats, over which a man repeats some just absolutely inane nonsense. The only difference from one track to the next is which specific notes the robot makes, and what new random thing the man will mutter.

Not for me :)

big fan of this. OGs of beep boop music

It felt endless less less

Definitely liked this more than the first listen. I think it is reluctantly groovy, and not nearly as droning as I remember it being. I still just have no relevant vibe to place this in. Like sure if I was on a train going across Germany this would be the first album I play. But anything short of that? I’ve got no reason to turn to this

Can't touch it. Closer to a 6 than a 4.

Joni Mitchell’s Blue for robots

Comparing this to The Man Machine, I just didn't enjoy it nearly as much. It felt more slow and repetitive, and I don't see myself returning to this album.

I do enjoy at bit of Kraftwerk. Generally prefer the non vocal tracks as the vocals are a little tired and cliched now. Strong 4 but not a 5 as do not feel any of the tracks really connect with me.

It's nearly 50 year old and influenced many. Still a decent listen, does not sound dated.

interesting but it got repetitive imo.

I understand the importance of Kraftwerk, but this probably isn't something I'm going to put on again out of a desire to listen to it.

I love Kraftwerk, so this was an easy listen. Not my favorite of their albums but enjoyable.

#935. I once met a girl years ago that introduced herself as "Molly, like the drug, but spelled with a Y." And all I could do is think to myself good golly, miss Molly, how in fact do *you* think the drug is spelled? Mollie? Molle? Molleigh? I don't know why I still remember this 4 minute interaction years later, but sometimes I'm afraid I'll never be able to forget her, like I'm cursed with this memory. When I'm old and my brain is riddled with dementia and I can't remember what my grandchildren's names are or what street I live on, I will still remember Molly like the drug, but with a Y. I don't know where I was going with this, except maybe to say that this type of music is best paired with drugs. Good drugs. Preferably drugs good enough that they make you forget how to spell. 3/5: Molly

Crazy this was made like 50 years ago -does not mean it’s a masterpiece. It laid great foundations tho, just for that reason a 2

Eh. Probably does well in Berlin, but again, not really an EDM guy. Not a terrible listen, also not a double listen.

Not good. These songs were so boring and repetitive.

In 1977, miraculously using twinkling synths to create a place of pastoral calm from a future we still haven't reached. I could ride this train forever. The only hitch is 8 minutes of Hall of Mirrors. They could have nailed it in 2.

One of my favorite descriptions of Kraftwerk — it might’ve been from a hip-hop documentary — came from someone who talked about the group’s buttoned-up appearance and demeanor, like a collection of office workers. “They were so unfunky, they were funky,” the person said. That’s what I love about this release is its juxtaposition of opposites: it wrings an incredible amount of feeling, nuance and soul from frigid and seemingly dispassionate minimalism, with negative space doing as much work as the preprogrammed beats and loops. The synth refrain on the title track is worth its weight in gold. I knew it as an electro staple from some of the weirder corners of local Detroit radio before I ever knew of a group called Kraftwerk.

I love this record, and I love most kraftwerk records but do they need three on the list? I'm not sure what you get from this record that you don't already get from Man Machine.

Pretty good. Some tracks I had not heard before, but all unmistakably Kraftwerk.

ground breaking, special

BEAUTIFUL!!!!

Loved some parts, bored to tears at others.

Played it a couple of times. Rhythmic and cool

God kill me

must be in a very obscure mood to enjoy this album, and i fear i wasn’t in it.

The Kraftwek thing - metronomik beats, gradually progressing electronic music and unemotive vocals - is pretty ubiquitous now. You have to remind yourself it wasn’t once and Kraftwerk are a key reason that it’s now commonplace. Listening again I was struck that despite being innovators they were also amongst the best electronics bands ever.

🤩🤩🤩

This is like if the talking heads were better 3.5

I guess when I think about Kraftwerk, I think about how antithetical their entire artistic ethos is to American sensibility. The Singularly Voiced Songwriter, The Virtuoso, The Rock God. I love how they are able to extract so much groove out of their instruments while keeping the music feeling cold and robotic. In the electronic music that they helped pioneer, Kraftwerk saw a way out of these rigid ways of thinking, instead seeking the rigidity of a machine, of a train track, the freedom of going where the tracks take you, and letting go in the time between departure and destination. When I think about Kraftwerk, I don't really think about the bone that the chimp threw, or that big space ship in the sky, and or the horrific destructive powers of HAL. I don't think about the marked off watering hole, the primitive thirst, and the circumstantial greed that led the clever little chimp to pick it up in the first place. I just think about where it is I'm going to. I think about how time drags me along. When I think about Kraftwerk, I think about how egoless the music is. The facade never cracks. Nobody takes a solo, there are no lyrics that stand out and shake you to your core. Everything is placed exactly where you want it to be, songs arranged like a doll house from 2152. Yet it is in their deficiency of individuality that they create something profoundly human. Kraftwerk imagines a humanity that is not driven by pride or emotion or even driven at all. All I do is think about all the people I've forged connections with because of technology, and all the beauties, man-made or natural, that I've seen because of the freedom technology has offered us. Though try as I may, when I think about Kraftwerk, I think about myself. I think about the repetitive ways in which I move my muscles, the way I pose. I think about how lifeless I become when I submit myself to the eye of the beholder. This album is really their first to touch on themes of celebrity and the vapidness of living fashionably, themes they'd later expand upon it with The Model on their next album, but I think the tracks Showroom Dummies and The Hall of Mirrors stand out to me on TEE for being particularly self-aware. Look at these dudes from Dusseldorf, putting on makeup and wearing matching outfits. They have very little sex appeal, yet it entrances the audience all the same. Kraftwerk could've been the world's most gimmicky electronic band of the 70s, and it is a gimmick that more and more artists fell into year after year following Kraftwerk's inception. But they never were a gimmick because they didn't see their instruments as gimmicks; they saw them as tools. They discovered new uses for them, modified them to fit their needs, pushed them to their absolute limit, all in the name of creating a world that is as equally orderly and harmonious as it is beautiful. When I think about Kraftwerk, I feel an unshakeable optimism about technology and how we are constantly evolving alongside it, as it evolves from our endless approach. That relationship, to me, is what it means to be human. Life is timeless. Life is timeless.

first two tracks are absolutely the highlights for me. abzug feels kinda pointless

barrett's gonna be really annoying™️. baller pick though. they'll be playing this once they get the trans people coventry-witz trains up and running. that said. thank you guys for walking so i could run to put OTT on the master. even along with the progenitor "primitivism" thing the songs are peak. gary numan and you lot share melodic sensibilities. and i like having electric friends. hall of mirrors is an all timer. i never realized kraftwerk could get so no wave-y. big fan of the lead filter/pitch knob getting turned all ways about when they get to the "distorted" line. i love how every song has a point where i realize the lyrics are satirical/symbolic. hi planet rock sample + that one missy elliot song (not really it just reminded me of it). in the same way the human league's atari to the rest of the 80s' super nintendo (to paraphrase/bungle another todd in the shadows quote) this would be the pdp-11. i like how the second half is all variations on melodies from the album track. all in all. coo. 4.2-4.5.

Yea, no thanks.

Very German and electronic.

This sounds like music Gene Belcher writes on Bob's Burgers. My favorite part was when the guy said "We are showroom dummies" 600 times in a row.

1.25 - I can’t believe this is what Kraftwerk sounds like. My excitement to listen to this dropped real quick.

Repetitive. Probably relaxing if I listen to it more. Opening track is gorgeous

Sci fi techno music

It was different, I enjoyed it. Faves were Endless and Franz.

Apart from some embarrassment from never having listened to a whole Kraftwerk album before, it was actually great to hear this after 45+ years as a fan of many of the bands they influenced. I could hear Bowie, Numan, Human League, Depeche Mode, etc etc (and more unexpectedly, although it shouldn't have been a surprise, LCD Soundsystem) all getting their inspiration here. And many more. Unsurprisingly, I loved it. I wish I'd had this when I was about 12; I'd have gone full nerd, working out all the little repeating melodies and motifs on the piano. There's something about a synth - it grabbed me from the first time I heard one, and I still love the sound now.

Banger, c'est hyper planant avec des sonorités qu'on a pas trop l'habitude d'entendre, bon album pour travailler ou pour écouter dans son canapé à fond en kiffant le chill

Bah non.

C'était bizarre mais je pense que c'est établi maintenant que j'aime pas Kraftwerk

I really enjoy electronic, but I've only heard a handful of Kraftwerk and this was pretty good. Very innovative for the time with some really catchy synth lines.

Just because an album is influential does not mean it is an enjoyable listen

A very important album. Not something I’d listen to often, but I don’t mind when I do.

Interesting.

This is the way I like my 70's German techno. Not a bad listen. Musically, a lot of it still holds up.

3+1 for meeting notability guidelines.

Could not manage

Good.

It's another solid Kraftwerk album. 4/5

Some interesting moments, but Franz Schubert is especially a shimmering song to me. A nicer, much dreamier place to be than most of the songs

Trans Europe Express was sampled/interpolated for the song Plant Rock which became an electro- hiphop masterpiece. That alone means that Kraftwerk were cool. This album is interesting but not amazingly groundbreaking. I enjoyed it overall.

Pretty nice early synthpop, however it is very repetitive.

It is amazing to me to think that this album will turn 50 next year. It is so far ahead of its time and a foundation that so many artists have built from. That alone would mean that it has earned its spot in this list. More than that though, this was really good to listen to

Rating: 4.6/5 Short Review: Cold, precise, and hypnotically minimal. Feels mechanical on the surface but oddly human underneath. Not emotional in a traditional way, but it gets under your skin slowly. Favorite Track: “Trans-Europe Express.” That rhythm just locks in and never lets go. It’s simple, but it feels like movement itself.

Full Album Thoughts: Album Rating: 3.9 (A) The System. Is Down. The System. Is Down. Look, do we fault foundational works for being a little structurally bare? Yes absolutely. But I also happen to enjoy this exact minimalist style. We have come a long way from here to Ninajirachi, but both can be enjoyable. Track Thoughts "Europe Endless" ("Europa Endlos") A Refined and Elegant, Elegance and Decadence. You know how I complain about long songs that are too repetitive? The difference is this is designed to be trance like. It builds. Its evokes a sense of precise, articulate, exact, purposefulness. "The Hall of Mirrors" ("Spiegelsaal") A+ Metroid and or Zelda Dungeon music. The pacing footsteps as percussion are touch. The actual singing is perfunctory, but not actively grating. I really like the composition of the various parts, they weave in and out hypnotically. I prefer the minor key, foreboding sound. "Showroom Dummies" ("Schaufensterpuppen") B Something about this feels like a Keyboard Demosong in the way the previous ones did not? I think it may be that the different parts are repeating the same sort of melody/percussion without much variation? Or maybe I just associate that Vocal Synth with "look at this weird instrument we have on here" shorthand. "Trans-Europe Express" ("Trans Europa Express") B Okay calm down there FF6 title screen (which is unfair because this album predates that by like 30 years). This somehow makes me more comfortable with my terrible drum track programming skills and also envious that I am 50 years too late for this to be considered acceptable. "Metal on Metal" ("Metall auf Metall") B- I thought this was still part of the Trans Europe Express, but I guess the metal clanking was Metal on Metal, go figure XD. I mean, say what you will, this suite of songs are coherent if not jump out of your seat worthy. "Abzug[a]" B+ OH THAT IS WHERE HYDROGEN BY M.O.O.N. ON THE HOTLINE MIAMI SOUNDTRACK GETS IT FROM! This is the big climax and you can feel it. Well, if you can call this somewhat moody laid-back trance a Climax. "Franz Schubert" A+ The variety is nice again, we are back into something more jubilant like the opener of the album. There is like, an actual melody that gets developed. "Endless Endless" ("Endlos Endlos") D- This is a Coda. it is not a song.

a nice retro look into the infancy of electronic music. But overall pretty bland and no memorable tunes to me. Some depeche mode vibes here. I expected more maudlin.

Album #76: Trans Europe Express - Kraftwerk Genre (W): Electronic, synth-pop, experimental pop, avant-garde Singles: Trans-Europe Express, Showroom Dummies I have listened to this album once before. Thoughts?: The songs have great melodies, but they drag on for a bit too long for me. Very repetitive. Favorite songs: Europe Endless, Showroom Dummies, Trans-Europe Express, Abzug,

this album settled the electronic sound for ppl that’d come after like daft punk. it’s literally a train atmosphere late at night, sounds repetitive on the best way possible. it was a fun listen, but it’s not my cup of tea

A better ferroequinologistic love letter has likely not been made.

Weird to have kraftwerk on back to back days. I prefer their 1978 offering to this one, but this is still good.

найс, вайбово, сохранил.

LOOK, I'm sure Kraftwerk are the best at what they do. I'm sure they've had a huge influence on a lot of music. But I don't wanna listen to it. I saw them live at Bestival and the most interesting part for me was the robots that played the first bit of the set. Otherwise, 'nicht für mich'.

Feels very sparse now, but impressive for the time.

Crazy to think that we probably don't have hip hop as we know it without these guys.

I liked most of these songs. Want to listen again.

I like their unique sound, haven't really listened to german music before, but the music i have listened, i feel like they have a lot of instrumental aspects in their music. First non english album so far. I liked them, but i dont think id add them to my playlist, the songs are abit too long to my liking, but i think i could enjoy them as a cd or vinyl more

My eleven year old son said while listening to this "It would be good video game music. Also I think I like all of Kraftwerk." I totally agree young man. I've been fortunate enough to see Kraftwerk and they are living legends.