The Man Machine

I imagine this process is like a crisis of faith for many people. You undertake hoping to find great music you've never heard of before or never given the attention it deserves, spoonfed by a guide you trust to know what you want better than you do. And so you set off with great expectation. You recognise a lot of names on the way, a melody you might have heard here and there over the years, but most of the albums you hear are right down the middle or slightly worse. You give them a 2 or 3 and move on, hoping the next one is the album you've been waiting for. When you do give an album a five star, it's because you know it already; you know the band, or even the album itself, well already and were quietly confident it would earn a 5 before you even hit play, but you think to yourself that elusive music you came here looking for is still out there, and you press on. Little speaks to you, perhaps a song here and there is worth revisiting, but what you came here for is still to be found. And then, there it is, something you've never listened to that's simply wonderful, that makes the 1 and 2 stars worth giving their day in court and the sea of okay 3 stars worth slogging through. You have been given your sign. The Man Machine is the sign for me. Like most people I knew Kraftwerk and I could name a few big songs like The Model and Autobahn, I knew the robot motif and could vaguely describe their sound, but I have never sought out or craved Kraftwerk before. This is the first five star I'm giving going to a band I wouldn't have predicted to get one. This album is just so much fun; the very modular and constant song design, every instrument sounding like it's covered in sci-fi chrome panelling, the almost-spoken words in many songs, the distortion in the sound. Superb theming and sound design backed up by beats that could only work and only come from a band like this. I can only imagine what it sounded like on release, when you didn't have access to such vast catalogues so easily. It must have sounded like this album came from another reality. Given The Man Machine is a relatively short album I even listened to the German album the following day as a point of comparison and to see if any songs suffered or benefitted from the language they were sung in (Neon Lights I think benefits from German but I like The Robots and The Model more in English) and I enjoyed that experience as much as the first less than 24 hours after first hearing the album. This is why we tackle this mammoth undertaking, for moments like this.

I can understand the impact it had at its time, but I would not listen again. Neon Lights is good, but i feel like it drags out for too long

Okay super cool I like the whole robotic Germain aspect and some of the sounds were cool as, just not consistent for my bland ears

I like the pop sounds on Computer World better than the offerings here, but long form songs like Neon Lights still sound amazing. When modern folks want "analog" electronics, these are the sounds they are after.

Simply one of the best electronica albums made. They did so much for establishing what would come later, and this, while brief, slaps very hard. Strong beats, clear themes, not too long, just a great listen.

Tof om naar te luisteren - hun meest gekende hits

Zalig om op te werken

4/5 https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/kraftwerk/die-mensch-maschine/ Like many Kraftwerk albums, it's fun, but remains too repetitive to stay interesting for a full album. I really like Kraftwerk, but in doses.

🤖 WE ARE THE ROBOTS 🤖 Kraftwerk sind ausgezeichnet. 5/5 Sterne

I wasn't sure what to expect here but it wasn't this. May have been revolutionary, but it is a little too simple for my taste. The grooves are okay, but it's not dance-able, not sing-able. I guess it's enjoyable enough for studying.

Meh

No please not more

I hate Kraftwerk. So irritating. I'll give it a 2 only because I'm told so often that they're influential that I suppose it must be true.

This is the sound I associate with Krautrock, for better or worse. It's pretty pleasant.

I understand that this album lead to the electronic music we know. And I like electronic music. But not one song on this album is going to be a song that I want to come back to, because there is so much better electronic music made afterwards. They are Germans also so they’re grandfathers may have been nazis

I really enjoyed this

I was familiar with Metropolis and The Model and like both of them. It is interesting to hear the beginning of electronic music, which at the time, was done with analog synths. This isn't an album that I'm going to jam to regularly, but if a Kraftwerk song comes on, I can listen to it. It's pleasant.

Bleh

I enjoyed this album. A little different than what I would choose to play in my day-to-day life, but it was fun, reminded me of Cool Math Games, and led me to imagine a fun little robot dancing in a secret agent cartoon from the 90s. I would give this album a 3/5.

Favorite track(s): Die Roboter, Spacelab, Das Model, Neonlicht, Die Mensch-Maschine Possibly one of the most secretly influential bands of all time. Few people will ever be able to say they ushered in a new age of music. Only to be heard in the original German. Heard before Previous rating: 9/10

Certainly a blueprint for future bands. This is 80s synth and a fine example, though it was in the late 70s and ahead of that wave. Could be released today.

Somehow

Poppig och melodiös. 3.5 av 5.

pretty chill industrialy and electric album, invented it basically lol

5: I will happily play this album anytime 4: I may occasionally play this album of my own free will 3: I will happily listen to this if someone plays it in the background 2: I will tolerate this if it is playing in the background 1: I will leave the room if someone plays this in the background

Yeaaa

def dated but i fw it. can't imagine how crazy it would've been to hear this in 1978. like imagine being an american who only listens to rock and folk, maybe a bit of jazz here and there and then you record store imports this and you hear Die Roboter for the first. sound dumb asf nowaday but that shit was probably mind blowing.

It's fine, like all kraftwerk I'd happily have it on in the background

I'll let it slide that the album is too short. 6 perfect songs, any one of the can work as a hit single. The music is foundational, a timeless album that pretty much establishes the importance of the connection of men and technology. Rarely an artist can give you an album as perfect as this.

Бля это угарная хуйня, но тогда это воспринималось как вау , а сейчас смешно

was actually surprisingly fun

Synth pop perfection

Several people remarked that this was their best album, and to the extent of my knowledge, I agree. It's better than Trans-Europe Express that I gave a very rare 1, better than the Kraftwerk-adjacent Neu! 75, which almost earned one, and it's better than Autobahn, which I've heard but I haven't reviewed for this project yet. I still don't like it. The sound is basic, the musicianship pedestrian to my ears. I acknowledge the influences and even hear them in albums I do like. I just don't like listening to the originals at all.

I’d started this off with an off-topic rave about their earlier album “Ralf und Florian,” which if you could find a copy easily would be my contribution to the user list. But that’s beside the point, because what I’m listening to here is “The Man Machine,” which came out 5 years later and is also pretty fun, with Kraftwerk’s usual simple melodies and layered electronic effects. I’ve always liked the tracks from this album that you hear more often on the radio, especially “Neon Lights,” which is well worth being nearly 9 minutes long with the way the melody keeps repeating again and again at the end. This whole thing is fun; German electronic weirdness for the win.

Good, obviously innovative for the time.

I am under the impression that there will be other Kraftwerk albums on this list. Sonically, this album was great, very cold and minimal and robotic, and you can see the influence on many acts today. It's got great melodic pieces and vocoder phrasing. I am in awe if the album was purely made on large analog synthesizers and large modules. I think this type of work that goes into an album should definitely be acknowledged. All in all, taking in the influence this band has passed down as well as the catchiness of it all, I am thinking somewhere in the high 3.6s - I'm rounding up to a 4/5

Roboticka pohodicka

Absolutely awful.

Perfect music for when 2 characters in a dystopian sci-fi world are having a strange neon drink at a loud club. Otherwise, awful.

I loved Robots and Spacelab but fell off the wagon over the next few songs. Could've been a 5, ends up being a rounded up 4.

This album is pure noise (complementary). It's fun in a way that I was not expecting from an album whose premise seems to hinge on the idea of being robots. Easy five-star album right here.

It's not terrible but I don't remember anything from it a few minutes after finishing it.

3.5

I really like this album a good bit but I think most of my appreciation is more of its placement in music history it's definitely to me almost like the last link before you get to synth pop. It's still more atmospheric and artsy , but it's also at times hooky. I can see where Andy Fletcher and David Ball would build in more pure pop realm from this album. (8.5) ★★★★

A classic of electronic music. 4 stars

I thought Trans-Europe Express was pretty good, but I couldn't get into this one. "The Model" was okay and "Neon Lights" had some moments despite being too long. Didn't like the synth sounds much. 2.5 stars.

Starts quite strong with the ‘blip bloop we are the robots’ song. And of course The Model is a total smash, eventually becoming a UK number one. And Spacelab’s got some cool cartoon sounds like Care Bears teleporting somewhere, probably space. The other 3 tracks here suffer in comparison on account of being insanely more repetitive. Daft Punk Around The World has got nothing on this. A mixed mensch-machine bag.

Gran álbum, no conocía nada de su sonido, pero me llevé una grata sorpresa. Álbum que volvería a escuchar varias veces sin ningún tipo de dudas.Groove y melodías imposibles de sacarse de la cabeza.

Not bad but a little out there for me

Not fully my vibe, but I appreciate it for what it is :)

Holy shit this was so epic. Based off what I’ve seen about this band, they may be even more influential to electronic music than zeppelin was to heavy rock. Genuinely crazy how ahead of its time this record sounds. You could tell me this came out in any year ever and I’d not bat an eye. But the 70’s bro? And better yet, one of my favorite years of all time. What’s so unique here is while it sounds hella synthetic, it STILL captures some sort of warmth. It’s not sterile. There’s heart in it, it feels romantic, there’s melody, etc. which is what I find lacking in the 80’s onwards with similar music. Somebody should’ve got these guys with John Carpenter.

I never did the work to listen to Kraftwerk how upsetting these guys are awesome. You can hear the influence head to toe here daft punk obviously but all of edm and even like tame impala. It’s so jam packed with artistic expression that I am so surprised. The synth really makes you feel the difference between the lyrics and the vocoder. This is actually just daft punk inspiration. We are the robots come on. I love this and it’s so short yet it doesn’t feel like they left anything on the table. This is a painting in motion of what the future looked like in 1978. I even hear some new wave in here too, this era really felt exploratory in the best way.

Genius.

It was very very weird. Did not like it whatsoever

Cover designed by Karl Klefisch with band member Ralf Hütter inspired by Russian Suprematism and Constructivism, specifically the work of artist El Lissitzky. Great all round

Not as good as the autobahn

Kraftwerk continues to wow me. Not something I could listen to all the time, but I very much enjoyed it.

A funky electronic feel - track 1, The Robots, stood out most to me. Now I'm looking forward to getting the CD.

This isn't bad, nor is it great. Not memorable, nor something I'd like to re-visit.

Honestly some of the most transfixing electronica that I've had on this list so far. It reminds me a lot of the Phaedra album that was on here a while back, except this was a little more uptempo and fun. It was pretty spectacular though, even if it doesn't really tread any new ground for the Kraftwerk guys. Favorites: Spacelab, Metropolis, Neon Lights

The craftmanship was definitely good and I some songs where genuinely nice to listen to. However I don't think this style of electronica is something I enjoy because a lot of the more repetitive tracks got really grating for me.

First time I've listened to a Kraftwerk album in full, and I had a good time. I like the way they use different sounds, and it really sets them apart from other electronica music.

I did not enjoy this. Some of the electronic noises used are pretty shrill which I didn't like. And the repetitive lyrics are not my jam.

I get it it's innovative. It's also tedious.

5/20 sous daft punk

fucking amazing and probably one of the most influential albums of the time. i saw kraftwerk in 2025 and it was genuinely like being transported to another planet. i do think vocally they are quite boring but i guess that's the point and also they're hard carried by everything else

I didn't know AI existed back in 1978. Oh, I'm supposed to call it SI now.

These tracks have aged so gracefully I was actually shocked by how old the album is. The sound would perfectly fit into a modern cyberpunk setting, a fact that is massively helped by the often monotone yet insightful lyrics. It comes as no surprise that this is the grandfather of electronic music and a testament to artists that were ahead of their time. The sound is seemingly simple yet deeply atmospheric and layered, allowing for a supreme listening experience even for those unfamiliar with the genre. The songs are not just machine but not just man either; the album perfectly evokes its own title, especially in the final title track. Ironically, the only fault I can find with the album is that it is too short but brevity is the soul if wit, as the saying goes. Best songs are The Model and The Man Machine. 9/10, an ageless classic.

Really enjoyed this. Favorite tracks: The Model, Metropolis, The Robots

Wasn’t overly thrilled by this, but was ok

Most of these songs are going to be stuck in my head, but not in a good way. Likes: Das Modell

Would've been a 3 but "the model" just blew me away. Almost had a full on eargasm when the synths came on so it gets a 4

Favourite songs: The Model and The Robots

Monday, 28 September, 2026 Killer album! Watch out for the robots!

exactly what you think, German techno where they say 'i'm a robot' a hundred times then the song ends, very enjoyable

One of the issues with this list is that some of the albums that were super influential to end up being kind of boring. In the 50 years since this album came out, it's been done better a thousand times, but this was the first and therefore most important. But it mostly sounds like loading screens from games that came out 25 years after this album came out and 23 years ago

It's like a less talented German version of Daft Punk.

One of the most bland and forgettable electronic albums here, it was very repetitive and a boring listen in my opinion. Not offensive or bad, just kinda boring.

das beep boop

I wouldn’t have been into this at all just a couple years ago. Dig it now.

It got repetitive at times, and that one song had no need to be 9 minutes long. But overall, I liked it.

Aber auch nur weil die deutsch sind

Krach

Inspired A LOT of great music , but too chill

Surprisingly not bad

Fitting for Oktoberfest kick-off day lol Anything vaguely progressive electronic-related is going to be a huge hit for me. I had listened to this many times growing up as my dad is a big fan. So many great tracks. Their usage of the synthesizers is never corny- always super melodic and artistic yet still danceable. The influence permeating from the sound here is so widespread and undeniable. Think about what popular music sounded like for the next 10 years! "Das Model" is my favorite, but "Metropolis" is also killer. All great songs present here. "Man Machine" sounds like a rap instrumental- so funky and ahead-of-its-time.

this caught me at a very anti robot time of my life

Not for me

Needs a five for The Model alone, eh

Huge fan of all things electronic, EDM, and techno. Never took the initiative to go back to the groundbreaking sounds of Kraftwerk. Loved this album. My friend Allen also made me keep a black leather jacket for listening to Kraftwerk and now I’m wearing the jacket as I listen to this!

I've listened to both the English and the German versions of "The Man-Machine", so I get the full experience. The German version is slightly better: "Die Roboter" sounds more natural than "The Robots". My favourite track from "The Man-Machine" is "The Model", one of the tracks that got me into Kraftwerk. None of the songs were duds on either version of the album. What a great start to the week, 4 stars for "The Man-Machine".

Ohne Text wäre es eine 5

Kult

Weird bleep bloop robot noises. I’ve other Kraftwerk that is much much better than this one.

Pretty awesome, love the old electronic sound

This was a new one for me, I liked it but would go best for me in a mix, not one song after another

Really enjoyed this one. Kraftwerk always impressed me.

(Strong 7/10) If you're a fan of video game soundtracks and/or Toby Fox's music I think you'll find a lot to like about this. Given it's rather primitive approach to synthpop, it's surprisingly immersive. Every track has this stiff and robotic feel to it at times, but depending on the setting the tracks can also feel incredibly futuristic and lush. My biggest gripe with the overall presentation is the vocals. I would almost rather not have them at all if I am being honest. It doesn't help that I had to listen to the english version because I couldn't do the German one on streaming for some reason. Apart from "The Model" all the lyrics do is state the name of the track very robotically, in a way that's kind of silly and takes me out of the music. If it was in German for me I do not think I would mind it as much, but eh it's something I could've done without to be frank. Even still, this album and their many other records are all incredibly influential for a reason, pioneering the first steps into electronic music and it's eventual fusion into pop. Daft Punk wouldn't exist if it weren't for Kraftwerk and I definitely think classic game soundtracks for the Nintendo and Sega for instance wouldn't be what they are if it weren't for albums like this. Worth checking out!

An album 15+ years before its time.

It's no secret that the horn symbolized the first half of 20th century music, as the electric guitar symbolized the second half. In this new millennium, synthesized sound has (so far) set the standard. This being the case, I think it's safe for me to make the claim that along with Sgt. Pepper, The Man-Machine is probably one of the most influential albums in the history of popular music. Inside it you can hear the basic DNA of so much 21st century pop and EDM -- the rhythmic automation, the technological optimism, the streamlined vibrancy that dictates the ultramodern ideals of sculpting current mainstream sound. Aside from its obvious importance, The Man-Machine is a gem. Stripped back to basic electronic functionality, with childlike passions for technology, it’s a lovable dance record of audial blueprints and instruction booklets on how to make a beat, make a melody, and glue them together in a way that not only sounds nice, but makes you want to move. And this inclination to dance hits no matter who you are. Seriously, I just watched a documentary that included footage of young African-Americans in the Detroit metro back in the early 80s, cutting some serious rugs to a live performance of "The Robots". Believe it, Kraftwerk's likability far transcends their strict, reserved tributes to human enhancement. I think this is due to the fact that deep within, there's a passionate glow to the album. Despite bleepish button-push mechanics, each track shows the slightest sentient exuberance for the subject at hand. “The Robots” grooves with firm prescription. “Spacelab” flies with innocent airiness. “Metropolis” fluctuates between urban tenacity and toxicity. “Neon Lights” dapples and twinkles like a star map. All throughout, a cold vocoder voice recites post-industrial musings like a book title written on the top of every page of a book, as an impartial reminder of the automated world Kraftwerk’s proposed. There are no fine details to be found in the album’s simplicity, but the overall layout of the future is clear. Let’s face it, man. Let's drop the bold statements and fully admit that The Man-Machine if anything, is pretty fucking cute. Honestly, I think that’s the main reason why I’m attracted to it; it’s like a puppy dog in a spacesuit.