The Man Machine

Repetitive but some songs were enjoyably repetitive

Which brought this music into the world, this man or that machine? This record doesn’t answer that question, but it does enjoy the back and forth, the digital cat-and-mouse. Listen to “The Robots” or “The Model,” where Kraftwerk successfully connect the first dots between Pop, Dance, and Alternative music. In many ways, they were more Punk than the Sex Pistols in their visionary, risk-taking approach. Keyboard-based music is everywhere and nowhere nowadays. We’ve had decades of Pop music since Kraftwerk came along and incorporated synthesizers, drum machines, vocoders, and processors into Pop song structures—it’s part of the landscape, the paint on the walls. We don’t notice it anymore because it absorbed us. The roadmap Kraftwerk drew isn’t a guide, it’s THE guide for every producer and DJ that came after them. There’s no Radiohead or LCD Soundsystem without Kraftwerk. There’s no Depeche Mode. There’s no Tame Impala. There’s no “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This)” or “West End Girls” or “Bizarre Love Triangle.” There’s no Daft Punk or Gorillaz or Björk or Massive Attack as we understand them. And all of Modern Hip-Hop is impossible without the kind of music Kraftwerk were pioneering.

interesting album. very futuristic and feels like out of an cyberpunk themed movie or game. Looking forward too more work in that lane!

A prelude to Daft Punk. The album was very easy to listen to. I will look into some of their other cuts.

4 für Das Model und Die Roboter

"The Man-Machine" by Kraftwerk: a classic case of musical Stockholm syndrome for me. Initially, it felt like being trapped in an elevator with a synthesizer enthusiast—interesting for the first minute but quickly turning into a "please, let me out" scenario. Yet, somehow, with time, the album grew on me, much like a quirky wallpaper you initially regret but come to love for its eccentric charm. Kraftwerk's robotic hymns and electronic landscapes turned from monotonous to mesmerizing, proving that even a digital heart can beat with a warm, infectious rhythm. It's not that the tracks became personal anthems—they didn't—but rather like those oddly specific ads that know you a little too well; you start to appreciate the craft behind them. Elevating "The Man-Machine" from a misunderstood machine's monologue to a 4/5 in my book, this album showcases how repeated listens can turn skepticism into admiration. It might not have the tracks on my all-time favorites playlist, but it's earned its spot in the "I get it now" section of my music library.

It's not music to me when people are simply manipulating synthesizers and other machinery in random, discordant ways.

Retro-futurist synth-pop. Successfully capturing the zeitgeist. 4

Almost goofy

Didn't know they had electonic music this far back. Not bad.

Thoughts before listening: Kraftwerk gets cited A LOT by music journalists as a forefather to a lot of modern music. In general I think I know what they sound like, but I've never sat down to listen to one of their albums. I'm expecting synth heavy instrumental music with a driving beat. Review: Well it's not all instrumental with a few songs having monotone almost robotic vocals. This sounds like a mixture of video game/sci Fi movie soundtrack music and early 80s European new wave like Thomas Dolby or Gary Numan. I'm sure Kraftwerk were a huge influence on both. Is it possible to understand an album's importance but also not really like it? That's what's happening here. I get that Kraftwerk were innovators, but I don't particularly enjoy the music they inspired. I will say that when their songs take on a more traditional pop form, it's a bit more enjoyable...songs like "The Model" and "Neon Lights" fall in this category. Still though, it's just not for me so I will give this 2-stars.

Interesting album that sounds like the foundation of electronic music

Not bad but really not for me. Electronic in general just can't hold my attention.

I listened in the original German, and so I wish I could give this 6 stars.

Way ahead of it's time

Liked it a lot better than the last inr

Weird, but good. But weird

Shows that electronica can have warmth and rhythm while still being alien as hell

Legal! Música eletrônica dos anos 70. Interessante! Imersivo. Um pouco parado.

Different, very trippy

Surprised this sounds so good after all these years.

4.5/5. Beep boop beep!

I fuck with it, pretty simple but high quality synth music for the 70s

very nice synths i think you kinda had to be there though…did not entirely retain its interestingness

Must have been dope for the people in the 70s

Very vibey, much German. I get the feeling that this was not my first time listening to this, but I can't for the life of me remember another time when I would listen to electronic music besides Daft Punk.

Gründungsväter des Elektropop und der elektronischen Tanzmusik, bezeichnen sich selbst als Audio Operator.

Cool mostly instrumental synthpop, "Neon Lights" "The Robots" and "Metropolis" all very cool, really dislisked vocals on "The Model". Similar soundtrack to the main theme and soundtrack for Stranger Things.

Not at all interested in this type of music.

70s German synthpop, laying the groundwork for 80s new wave & techno.

The man was machining alright very on brand for robotic techno music

Great Album

A milestone!

Fun electronic 80s robot music but i couldn't listen to an entire album of this

Listened to it without wven realizing it was from the 70's. Was probably the foundation of modern techno. It reminded me of Blue Man Group. Alright to listen to, a blast to game to. Especially a game like hotline miami or rocket league

Just learned where Neil Young got Trans from. Loved it! Neon Lights especially is a synth dream

Kraftwerk is a pioneer of the electronic music genre. While "The Man-Machine" is said to have incorporated more danceable rhythms, this album is an industrial doldrum. Mechanistic, dull, and over repetitious, this is not for everyone. Likely from the same vein, at least this is better than the Einstürzende Neubauten album.

Very goofy album. This is definitely an upper 3, maybe a low 4. Some of the songs were a little long but it was a fun listen.

Album Nr. 60 Eine Kult-Band der frühen, deutschen, elektronischen Musik. Sehr gutes Album, aber nicht perfekt.

Fine, techno-y, good for background music, goes on a bit too long per song for me. Personally not something I can enjoy very purely like "I wanna hear this".

Wow, fucking goed. Efteling meets daft punk. Of gewoon zweefteef festival haha

Meh.

Kraftwerk are too hyped up based on how influential they were, which is not to say I don't love them to bits, but rather that people constantly go into their music expecting their minds to be blown and that's very unlikely to happen. What's actually awesome about them is how weird and silly they were all while grooving super hard. I'm so glad they're still touring because I think it was seeing them live that made me just get it, these guys are so silly and German and I think that's so great

I like it! Poppy without losing its silly robot DNA.

Jokainen du - di - dhi - du "We are the robots" lauseen jälkeen ansaitsee tähden heh..

OMG ELEKTRON MENTIONED brooo Kraftwerk☝️☝️☝️ fun album! Enjoyed it. Good sounds

Very beep boopy. I’m not complaining though, this a fun record to listen to. Interesting how this was made in 1978. Fun early electronic instrumentals and lyrics all around, must have been weird listening to this back then. The (sometimes) robotic vocals add to the novelty of this album, I love it a lot. I can imagine the influence this had on later electronic musicians and groups. Fun album! Very good. The Robots, Man-Machine, and Neon Lights and all the other songs are amazing btw.

funky as fuck, but at times overly repetitive. i would listen to this doing manual labor

“I am a robot” aight good for you man -5/10

First I was hyped when I saw the length of the album. But I was less hyped when I saw the number of songs. But I was not discouraged. This seems like good study music but I was not feeling it. Songs were kind of boring and long.

There’s some good qualities here that are completely overpowered by the other moments that are utter rubbish. Can’t stand this 3/10

Loved this. Really wanna listen with my good headphones. Short and sweet and cool and out there but not in an annoying way. 8.5/10

7/10 - It was kind of all over the place but was super interesting throughout most of the pieces.

Pretty repetitive, some of it was ok though 4/10

Super interesting stuff. Enjoyed the first listen but I don’t know if there are any songs I’d come back to. Pretty crazy that it came out in the 70s 6.5/10

so good. great beats great jams

Great stuff! A very cool album and hard to imagine this hitting shops in the 70s when it was a pretty new sound. It’s basically what has evolved into Daft Punk but a bit more atmospheric rather than dance floor friendly. Definitely coming back to this one.

Very influential. From Bowie to Daft Punk. I might need a few more listens as I thought it was slightly dated. But it was interesting and I wouldn't be surprised if this grew on me.

ohhh jaaaa, velcome to ze clahhb!!!

aged well

Cool like early daft punk. Video game sounds like Pac-Man and technoy early sounds

Fine. A classic but it's somehow more dated than most things of the same era.

Moderat interessanter Elektro-pop. Ikonisch und wohl bekanntesten Lied ist "Model".

3.5

Kraftwerk is King

The extremely rare feeling that technological improvement has made a piece of music redundant.

Only really engaged with the well known one. Rest are ... quite clever but samey

Not at all for me, and to be honest I really don't see how other people are into this either. It sounds like a shitty soundtrack from a futuristic 80's movie. If that's your thing cool, but again it's not for me.

Just listenable but not terrible I guess

Simply brilliant. “The Model” and “Neon Lights” are standouts for me. I remember when Kraftwerk first came on the scene all those years ago. So many people didn’t know what to make of them then and from some reviews here, seems like some people still don’t. That’s unfortunate, because this music paved the way for so many bands; and not just 80s “new wave” bands, though that music owes a great debt to Kraftwerk. The pioneering electronic production involved in this music is responsible for so many of the techniques used in music studios today.

Today I learned that Kraftwerk is responsible for one of my favorite Flight of the Conchords bits; the opening track of this album is "We are the Robots", so that's pretty dope. This is not my type of music at all, but I can't deny that it's well done for what it is. Solid orchestration with some innovative (for the time) sounds.

Sorry just this is just boring

Sucky

Really enjoyable album, such a great piece of history. I had only heard Neon Lights before and liked it before but in the context of the album it is even better. Love to see something that has influenced so many of my own modern favorites. Top tier album without the history or what it means to music as a whole.

Timeless

Stylistically speaking, 1978's The Man Machine could be seen as the sequel to its predecessor, Trans Europe Express. From its fluid synthesizer melodies to its disco-informed electronic beats and Vocoder-assisted robot voices, it's the ultimate example of Kraftwerk's pioneering work with electronics. From "The Robots" to the title track, the band continued to underline their technophile aesthetic and image, perhaps even more succinctly than before. And for as many overtures to pop accessibility as they'd made on previous albums, tunes like "Neon Lights" and "The Model" were the most overtly pop-oriented tracks they'd created up to that time, with the latter becoming an international hit that went all the way to No. 1 in the U.K.

Hated it. DNF. Do not recommend.

Robot Rock

Only thing noteworthy about this to me is that it was released in the 70s. Boring version of Toejam and Earl sounding music.

This was not unpleasant, but utterly unmemorable. Nothing really stood out to me but as a fan of electronic music I appreciated their founding and vision of what electronic music could be.

Mixed, strange, getting closer

I do own Autobahn and know the track The Model but I don't think I had heard the rest of this album before. I do like it, while I won't be listening to it every day or even every month I will be once or twice a year. Several Kraftwerk albums added to favorites.

Really cool. Like an OG Daftpunk/Chromeo. Very synth-y and electronic.

Can’t give this one less than ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️, and I’m not even that into electronic music. They’re the blueprint for so much that came after but more than that, the album rocks. Give me more robot German sounds every o day.

I have no clue what this is. Wait, this is really cool. I feel like I'm playing a retro video game or something. This is super fun to listen to so far. This album started off strong but it's starting to go downhill a bit for me. Finishing strong with the final track though. 4/5 This was a pleasant surprise.

Cool and pretty easy to listen to just not super memorable

Excellent

More like 2.5 tbh.

Favourite tracks: robots; the model; man machine; neon lights

German Tomorrowland ambient music

Too reminiscent of Daft Punk for my taste (of which I hate per Grant)

proto - daft punk-y

Early electronic music, feels like daft punk got some inspiration from this

Hypnotic, bordering on repetitive but CAN'T STOP LISTENING!

The robots - it sounds like it was cool and wild in the 70s, not so much now. A little too repetitive, but maybe fun to dance to. Space lab - I liked the first half, then it lost me a bit. Cool synth work tho! Metropolis - probably my fav so far - really cool intro and decent development. The model - pretty simplistic Neon lights - it definitely sounded like neon lights! But it went on a bit long. Great music for a trip The man machine - great backbeat/ostinato. Didn’t go to anywhere interesting, but very vibey.

Right from the first notes, I can tell this is not my thing. Trying to keep my mind open, I found that the weirdness of the first track kind of felt good until the morphed vocals started in - then I was out of it for the rest of the song. I enjoyed Metropolis more than other tracks, but little in this album interested me.

What an interesting one! I don't think I would put it in the rotation but it is mostly because there are now better options. Back in 1978 this must have sounded insane. I wouldn't flinch if this were a soundtrack on a throwback style video game that came out this year. Track reactions: 1 - It was actually pretty catchy but quite repetitive. Kind of funny. 2 - Sounds like chiptunes a bit in the beginning. I mean... it is pretty generic but it did feel like flying through space. 3 - Another tune that's pretty simple and repetitive but I had zero desire to skip it. We have our first lyrics! They didn't add much. 4 - This one is pretty goofy. I could see it being very meme-worthy in kind of a good way. 5 - For a long song, this one kept my attention for quite a while without me getting tired of the repetition. 6 - Another decent track. Repetitive. Sounds like it should be in a video game.

Precisely my kind of goofy ass electronic weirdo shit. Not too weird, not too normal

Strange one. Electronic music is not my most natural genre, but this one was among the easiest I've listened to. Some of it was that it was short, some of it was that there weren't a million layers, and some was that it felt self-awarely tongue in cheek. I'm probably not coming back to the well on this one a ton, but I'll be relatively happy when it shows up on shuffle.

Robots

Definitely some interesting sonic landscapes, and clearly can see how much of what will come started here (thinking of you, Daft Punk amongst many others), but can’t say I’ll revisit often.

I’m sure it was innovative at the time. Just a bit repetitive

Loved this! I ended up listening to it 3 times on the bounce. When you think if what was around at the time, I think this album is genius. Might just listen to it again.

I had to keep on reminding myself that this was 1978. 1978!! I would have been 11 at the time, yet remember how fresh and new it sounded. Futuristic, generational, yet it felt "right". Trail-blazing excellence.

Ok, this album was cool. And when the robots begin their takeover of earth, I hope they come out marching to the 1st track.

Fantastic album start to finish. Some of the most recognizable Kraftwerk songs. There is a reason this is a must listen.

I had to keep this in context. This was 1970, back before everything popular was digital music. This was pioneering and inspired new worlds of production that’s everywhere now.

Accessible electronic synth music from Kraftwerk. Robots and Model are my favorites, but the whole album is great.

Loved this! Not usually my thing but recently got into more recent Tangerine Dream albums so not surprising that this ticked the box too.

💖 spacelab 🗣️ 9️⃣

It's interesting. I might have to try it again. Will I listen to again: 50%

Klassiker, aber in Deutsch war es mindestens so gut. Jugenderinnerungen mit The Model und The Robots.

Absolutes Highlight der Popgeschichte. Zeitlos!

Естественно за 50 лет от революционности и звука будущего здесь ничего не осталось, но даже сейчас этот альбом слушается как милая попытка в цифровой минимализм, например. Лучшая песня - Spacelab.

de kraf är twerking.. hur kan det finnas ett sådant konceptalbum att varje låtnamn upprepas hundra gånger och plim plom proto-techno pumpar i bakgrunden, vad är formeln och varför FUNGERAR det SÅ JÄVLA BRA... det låter inte modernt kl. allt, otroligt arkaisk musik. lätt respekt killar och dålig godkännandestämpel...

Perfect. Hard to believe when this was released.

Listened Before? N Robot voice synth pop? Cool! 6-9 minute songs? Not so much. I didn't hate it, and it was early on the synth stuff (1979) but nothing I'll come back to. Added to Library? N Songs added to playlist: The Model

Hadn’t heard Kraftwerk before, but quite enjoyed it.

It’s very different, but it’s not horrible. I’ve had much worse offerings on this list.

Fan of some of the songs. Enjoy the vibes.

Initially I thought I was going to really hate this album but I actually quite enjoyed it. I was not a fan of the first song but the later ones were good

Actually a really fun album, enjoyed throughout. Crazy how you can hear the influence the album had on subsequent music. Love the beeps and boops. Will listen again

Really cool to see how many artists they've obviously influenced. Although the sound feels a bit old, less dated than other albums from the 70s and definitely has passages that feel new and fresh which is quite remarkable.

Not for me

they made electronic music human, HOW CAN ENJOY THIS MORE THAN I ALREADY DO.

Admittedly a little avant-garde for my taste but I could appreciate how influential this album was to Alt Rock in the '80s, particularly Depeche Mode. Thompson Twins "Lay Your Hands on Me" drew inspiration from "Spacelab."

"We are the robots"

Only 36 minutes and it’s still far too long

ohne Worte

A major leap forward for stiff-ass German computer nerd jamzzz.

Do I have to? Sigh. More techno. I’m jaded by yesterday’s jackhammer. Here we go. Ohhh. Music? Real music? So. It was ok and it was funny. It was early techno, which meant musicians were playing with new sounds and ideas. It was the grandparents of yesterday’s screaming baby on a plane, once again proving that in every family there is a dumpster fire. What yesterday and day before taught me…save my 1 stars when I need to use a zero star.

Electro, Techno, synthesis, etc. I think if I saw them on stage, I would enjoy their performance/ music more.

Kraftwerk probably had more influence on the direction of music than the Beatles. Listening back though, it's sort of like playing Goldeneye or another seminal old video game: you have to admit technology has moved on and improved

Who thought this was a good idea?

Some really nice background music, but also some really repetitive to the point of being annoying

Synth heaven. This album is a cacophony of electronic sounds that just work so well together. It’s a shame that this album is short, but it definitely makes the most out of the run time. On a side note, it is INSANE that this 1977.

Unique and unmatched - even in English.

Not my genre but it’s interesting that the titles literally match the sound. Not sure if hip-hop sampled from this or dissembled from hip-hop but the last song is a staple. Also heard a millisecond of a snippet of that Nicki Minaj, dungeon, dragon song.

Loved it, the synth sounds are all amazing. Lyrics and singing aren’t always great, but in all fairness, English isn’t their first language, and in an odd way it kind of added to the charm.

sssssssspaaaaaaaaccccccee laaaaaaab

J: 3; N: 4 Fav: The Model

Transhumanism doesn't always work out this is one case that fails to hold up over time.

innovators for sure and inspiration for years of sound. Fits with tech/syfy of the time. But i hope this type of techno pop does not return.

This was more of a vibe than most electronic music is to me. However, the thing that was not unlike most electronic music was that it was still strictly relegated to the background for me. It just can't interest me enough to do any more

Jakoś tak przeleciało w tle. Na pewno nie jest nieprzyjemne. Bip bop

Surprisingly decent for german robots. 3 bleep bloops out of 5.

Revolutionary. Cant believe this came out in 1978!

bunyi-bunyian dari masa depan

Not a fan of this album. I was initially excited going into this listen because I know how influential Kraftwerk are, but damn I feel like this album is stuck in its era. It does not age well with the rest of the electronic landscape. It sounds like music from an 80s nerd sci-fi B movie. I was able to hear glimpses of inspired artist, but this was a tough listen overall. The last song The Man Machine was maybe the only kinda standout. The Model stands out in a bad way for me.

Repetitive

Kinda cool and funky -Danny

It's a perfectly fine album, I just got a bit bored by it, and in any other context than 1001 Albums it'd be a 3/5.

Geniale Band, geniale Musik. Eine Meisterstück, dieses Album

Kraftwerk had a brilliant run of albums in the 70s. Thus is one of them. Way ahead of its time and beautiful.

Just so

7.1/10

Pretty poggers

Without Kraftwerk there would be no EDM.

Kraftwerk has some good stuff, but not really in this album

Techno trash

Not my cup of tea, but I recognize and appreciate the talent and inventiveness and creativity.

Painfully bad

⭐️⭐️baby electronica! I am betting AI could really improve the album dealing with Robots 🤖 and spacelab jams. If you are into it (EDM)- this would be a fun throwback. Tracks are LONG, some lyrics but the electronicia is the main. IMO it’s just ok - I enjoyed Herbie in the 80’s- but since this was before him, he must have been inspired by this band.

Im a robot

Jaa, Kraftwerk. Die wahren Elektropioniere. Natürlich habe ich mir das bahnbrechende Album im deutschen Original angehört. Und daher gibt es auch einen deutschen Komentar. Großartig.

intro tickles my brain. can see how this would have blown peoples minds in the 70s. it still holds up but would not listen to any of these songs again.

C’est une sacrée vibe, Kraftwerk font bien à manger

Boring to me now, but I can see how it would be revolutionary when it originally came out.

Clean simple songs in terms of not having much layered on, but fun to listen to for something techno-y

Techno music, perhaps nice background but not for me.

When this came out it must have been earth shattering, I can see the influences that a lot of modern electric music has taken from this album. Today however it's just alright.

Fun to hear! I've never listed to this band or these songs. Had to listen twice because i needed better speakers.

Flight of the Conchords meets a dystopian 2024.

Super strange album. Listening to a man repeatedly intone "We are the robots" in a German accent for four minutes is certainly a new experience. Still. Not bad.

"The Model" is the standout. 3.5 stars rounded up.

Not my style at all, hard to make it through!

A classic which basically started electronic music. It sounds so futuristic and so hard to believe it’s from 1978

A bit too languid

sick!

Not my type of music.

I can absolutely see the appeal with this, and can fully understand how exciting it would have been when released… But it just didn’t push the right buttons for me (LOLZO WHAT A ZINGER! Buttons…geddit? Cos they use synths…aye? Oh well, just me) and therefore I’ll stick it with a good three stars.

Better than the Europe express one

60

I don't really have much to say about this one, just a fun, groovy album with lots of cool electronic and robotic themes. And it's always cool to listen to things in German since I am currently learning the language

Ehhh. It’s alright. Probably influential for the time but not my thing.

I really love the rhythms of the music. It's different, but intriguing and wonderful to listen to. I would like to know the words. I do drum circles in schools and these pieces would be great to teach the rhythms and drum with the music, but I must be sure they're appropriate for kids. Thanks.

Ross Geller with a keyboard vibes

way too repetitive for me, not interesting.

I can appreciate how innovative this must have been in 1978. But I hate it. It sounds like a less shitty version of songs I used to play on my electronic Casio keyboard. I never need to listen to this again.

The first track I liked — did LCD Soundsystem sample this for Get Innocuous? The rest was pretty repetitive, although Track 5, Neon Lights was enjoyable. Not quite my cup of tea, despite the possible connection to LCD Soundsystem. At least it’s an album I haven’t listened to in the past few weeks — unlike Hendrix and Portishead.

I was fully prepared for this to be boring—just because something was innovative 45 years ago doesn’t mean it holds up—but I really enjoyed it. The last two tracks were standouts for me.

Mom.... I'm scared.... Yeah, not for me. Its either indistiguishable or giving me anxiety LOL hard pass for me. not my style of music. 1.5 for me

This sounds so much like a Tony Banks film soundtrack. I love it. It likely won't be the last album of theirs I listen to.

crazy voor die tijd maar heel repetitive

Toch wel goed hoor poahhhh. Ik kan er wel van genieten. Toch drie sterren

Goed, Het is vooral heel origineel. Ik zou het niet zomaar opzetten.

It was good. Not super interesting by modern standards, although I respect how revolutionary it was at the end.

Nah.

Enjoyed “The Robots” and “Neon Lights.”

not for me.

There are probably many ideal scenarios to listen to Kraftwerk’s “The Man Machine”, and my latest one was on my morning commute this week. Mid-January, temperature at a steely cold 0, sharing a packed Underground train with my fellow nameless worker droids, all enslaved by the machines in our pockets. Kraftwerk’s future has arrived. By 1978’s standards, “The Man Machine” must have only sounded like the future to the most perceptive of listeners: most probably thought “what’s all this nonsense?” and then got on with their day. Now we’re in 2024, and Kraftwerk’s influence and pioneering approach to music has become more and more bleedin’ obvious with every passing year. It isn’t too much an overstatement to suggest “The Man Machine”, and a handful of albums around it, birthed an entire genre of electronics: someone had to do it first, but this album did it brilliantly. Through a series of synth leads, pads, sequencers, vocoders and electronic drums (there are no acoustic sounds on here at all), Kraftwerk create a compelling and sinister landscape, which somehow retains a danceable energy. The production still sounds overwhelmingly clean and crisp without feeling dated whatsoever, despite the fact my girlfriend thought I was listening to the Crash Bandicoot soundtrack when I had “The Robots” on. Most of the lyrics are delivered with minimal expression, frequently through a vocoder, so they mostly just become an extra layer in a soundscape. The only song with conventional verses, sung through, is “The Model”, which takes the danceable energy to the max: it was a single and has become Kraftwerk’s best known song in the UK. It does help to make the album a good deal more palatable, breaking up the more indulgent sonic experiments. Two of my other favourite tracks are “Spacelab” and “Neon Lights”, doing so much with very little variation and managing to feel vast, expansive, thrilling, human and alien at once. If there are any weak points at all, it’s the title track coming at the end, which doesn’t really build on anything we’ve heard before: perhaps the record’s shtick is already wearing a little thin by then. It follows that I’m not a big fan of a lot of what Kraftwerk influenced, including techno, house or 90’s EDM (I’m still hoping this list will change my mind, but it hasn’t happened yet). Still, I can’t deny the importance or influence of this album… and at 35 minutes, the ideas feel infinitely more digestible and never outstay their welcome.

Quite short but certainly an interesting listen. I knew that the roots of present day electronic music came from this period, but I wouldn’t have expected it to have aged so well. The album’s theme of robots and computers probably helps the sound feel modern. Didn’t have any expectations but was pleasantly surprised.

Was ok. Had loose Daft Punk vibes but nothing amazing

Magnificent

Boring, uninspiring. First two albums are strikeouts

Not my cup of tea

Quite good

Nope

Demasiado conceptual

Didn’t really care for it but I’m also not a fan of this genre in general so that’s probably why.

Can hear their influence on so many things to follow but just this is so very not for me

I kinda remembered this as being better.

I've only ever really been exposed to Kraftwerk briefly, but I do enjoy electronic music so have always enjoyed their music. I thoroughly enjoyed this album, and listened to it back-to-back. I will listen to it again. As an added bonus,. it reminded me of the Bill Bailey Kraftwerk homage and I watched that a few times and laughed my head off as usual.

A true blind spot in my listening is electronic music. I mostly dislike it. Something here sorta worked for me big time. Pulsing beats and interesting composition lead the way for the best electronic album I’ve been suggested thus far.

Kraftwerk walked so Daft could run. Fun

Deutsche Texte Version: Die Mensch Maschine

Meilenstein

1. the robotz - 0 2. zpacelab - 0 3. metropoliz - 0 4. the model - 0 5. neon lightz - 0 6. the man machine - 0

Absolutely. I enjoyed every part of this record. I've heard this album before. But I really got it this time. Classic.

Nice

i liked it at first but it got repetitive very quickly but after reading up on the band and seeing the context that they are some of the godfathers of electronic music while i personally wont be returning i will bump it up 1 star for the pedigree but for my personal listening experience i would give it 2 stars without the bonus but a 5 star for respect because it must've been crazy listening to that in 1978

Not even 20 albums into this project, and I have by second Kraftwerk album. This is truly amazing stuff for 1978.

I didn’t know I would like Kraftwerk this much. It was especially fun to work on a computer while listening. If you like this, I can’t recommend FWY! enough. Check out the track HWY 101

cool - wie in meiner Jugend

Perfekt bleep-bleep.

Mah-sheen! Mah-sheen! ! Mah-sheen!

we are the robots

Großartiges Album. Deutsche Version gehört. Perfekt für eine Bahnfahrt.

I like it more than I was expecting to. It quite easily manages to mingle in backgrounds while still be interesting. It has intricate layers much like Sigur ros, but with a totally different and unique sound. It’s motivating and even a little danceable.

fucking amazing probably a 5 in the distant future, but a 4 after first listen

Robot music!

I don't really favour synth music, I think this is clearly influential but I can't see myself ever wanting to listen to this over something more sophisticated in the same genre and style.

One of my fav albums of all time!!

amazing. still modern (...almost)

I like it, but I don’t think I fully get it. Can definitely tell this was ahead of its time, and has influenced so many bands from new wave to electronic to the EDM of today (including one of my all time favorites, LCD Soundsystem), but as a standalone effort I don’t get that much enjoyment from listening to this. I view this in the same way I view early rap albums, I understand their importance in laying the foundation for the genre, but they don’t hold up well given the passage of time.

Electronic music.

I remember seeing the music video for "the robots" playing somewhere and it was bumping. Before some show maybe? I love the big lebowski so once I understood that "Autobahn" was just a reference to kraftwerk I got the aesthetic a lot more. Regardless of these reviews being mini rambles/logs of my life, all the tracks set up these great long hypnotizing builds. They all, when played back to back, have maybe a slightly too similar aesthetic but they're all so good at hooking you in. The model being their most popular single. The Robots being the best beat. Spacelab having my favorite synths and neon lights being the pretty track. A good one by a good band.

Not my favorite. It has the beginnings of a Divo banger and then doesn't go anywhere. It never builds and never truly caught my attention.

This was almost a 3 but not quite there. Not sure I’d choose to listen to this. Maybe one or two songs. 2.75

Very pleasant and retro. Though it gets tiresome after a while. Small doses in a playlist would be enjoyable

Natürlich die deutsche Version gehört. Zu technisch, zu kalt.

Wow. It's genuinely difficult to imagine this being created in 1978. It still feel fresh 40+ years later. I'm not a huge fan of electronic music, but this was a banger. Really cool tunes to throw on in the background while coding. Standout tracks: The Robots, Neon Lights, The Man Machine

5/5

This album is what I imagine mixing the Revenge of the Nerds, Stranger Things, SNES RPGs, and Halloween soundtracks would sound. This type of sound has become so easy to make it's easy to forget the effort put into this in its time.

I remember not liking their other album when I had it two years ago, but I was probably more close-minded back then. I liked this one a lot. It sounds like a shimmering diamond. Torn between 4 and 5.

Weird and stupid, but weirdly and stupidly enjoyable. I only knew The Model prior to this listen, but to be fair, all the other songs sounded pretty similar to it. It was very good working music, which isn't always a total compliment, as it means it didn't really demand too much attention. One thing I would say about this record is that it's very easy to imagine The Mighty Boosh guys performing this during the episode where they get really into Crunk music. Again, this isn't totally a compliment. Ultimately, there are lots of pros and cons to this, and (weirdly and stupidly) it ends up with an extremely average score.

Веома занимљиво. The Model сам чуо раније, та ми се веома допада, то је хит. Реално је албум неких 7/10

I'm going to sound like someone who has no idea what they're talking about now, because I don't, but is this really that ahead of its time? I mean, it's pretty decent techno, and was huge for its time, I understand that, but there were other electronic artists at the same time who made songs that I feel captured this up and coming sound better and fuller. I often see the argument "this is crazy for 1978," but Giorgio Moroder had already made multiple tracks that were electronic powerhouses, and artists like Phaedra, while not rocking the house, were showing off the world of ambient along with Brian Eno. So, this album is just an awkward middle ground that doesn't appease either part of my brain. It is pretty decent, as I said, but I would never see myself thinking this is the pinnacle of 70s electronic. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go listen to No. 1 in Heaven.

Not for me

Favorite Songs: The model (I think I like the German version even more) Obviously a good album and a fun listen, definitely one of the albums where I wish I would've experienced the impact it had at the time.

It blows my mind that this music was recorded in the late 70's.

I like this a lot more than I thought I would. Best electronica album I probably ever listened to. Wunderbar!

techno just isnt my fav in general, but it was decent study music

Can’t imagine anyone listening to this seriously. Some nice sounds that are reminiscent of retro video games.

Beep boop

For me highlight of all their releases. Full marks for die Roboter! (-: Saw them live 3 times, twice in small concert hall and once at big festival ( with 3D glasses) concerts to remember& cherish.

It's cozy and cool at the same time. Most of the album sounds like a soundtrack to an old sci-fi movie. "The Model" is a catchy pop song, but it stands out thanks to the signature stripped-down electronic sound. "Neon Lights" is also a vibe.

Fun. Weird. Probably pretty simplistic. We are the robots is catchy and the next one is almost baroque or renaissancy in melody.

La modernidad desde 1978 se veía muy analógica

Really cool and catchy.

Pretty interesting sound.

The best

Interesting. I understand Kraftwerk is considered pretty influential. Not my favorite.

10/10 nobody was doin it like fuckin Kraftwerk

I had never heard of this album before. It was quite a struggle to get through. Definitely not my type of music, too repetitive with some unpleasant sounds throughout. I love lyricism, which is definitely missing.

I can’t believe I haven’t listened to Kraftwerk before this. The influences of their music on some of my all time favorite bands is unmistakable. The vocal parts of the tracks sound rather crude at this point but I still think they benefit from having them. Other than that though the album is sublime.

Good album. Definitely more background listening than the last few days, I definitely zoned out a bit.

Comments: Favorite tracks: Neon Lights Rating: 2/5

Hørte den på tysk. Måske er jeg biased fordi jeg ved det er Kraftwerk, men hold fa kæft det er fedt. Ikke meget til electronica men den her plade spiller bare! Hørte den to gange i træk

Kind of fun to hear one of Daft Punk’s predecessors at work and see how they shaped the landscape of electronic music. Not my favorite for everyday listening though.

The originals! Easy 5

Pretty boring and repetitive.

Als dit niet zo'n status had dan had ik 't al na 1 minuut afgezet. Hoe dan ook, eigenlijk gewoon kut, maar voor die tijd vast baanbrekend!

Dit doet me terugdenken aan mijn synthesizer periode. Cool!

Tja, het is nog altijd overduidelijk Kraftwerk. En ik vind er nog steeds overduidelijk niet veel aan.

It’s not my type of music but I can appreciate the style of it and it’s is a kinda enjoyable.

gammelt elektronisk, konceptuelt, holder stadig

Crawled so daft punk could walk

Way more fahn than the Autobahn

Well it was marginally better than the last Kraftwerk album we had to listen to. I could at least see myself playing this in the background as I worked.

It's been so long since I listened to Kraftwerk that I'd forgotten how groundbreaking their was/is. To think that this was their seventh album!

Do you remember Uli? He’s a musician. He used to have a group, Autobahn. They released one album in the 70’s

øøøh nej, 1001albumsgenerator dot com, jeg har ikke tænkt mig at høre The Man Machine, jeg har tænkt mig at høre Die Mensch Maschine. Elsker den her plade SÅ meget. Bedste Kraftwerk plade.

Kraftwerk er sgu meget fedt. Den her plade har nok nogle af de sange jeg har hørt mest med dem, men så er der også bare de andre som bare bliver glemt.

great album, takes some of the concept album feel and just leans into a concept band. Not a top listen, but definitely appreciated.

Instead of experiencing something cold and repetitive, I ended up experiencing the very opposite. This album gave me some serious chills and succeeds in feeling very warm and thoughtful. It's also very compact (the nearly nine minute Neon Lights seems much shorter.) Maybe a little dated, but there's no doubting the impact and influence and definitely sounds impressive coming from '78. My overall scope of Kraftwerk's discography is very limited, so I will want to visit their previous albums.

Good. Sunday morning chill listening perhaps

Sehr gut.

4.25

I love this shit. LCD Soundsystem took tremendous inspiration from this album for their 45:33 record. Didn’t know just how much until listening.

I've heard the name Kraftwerk for years, but never gave anything a listen. This is pretty much what I expected it to sound like, but am amazed it's from the 70s. 3.5/5

It’s definitely the roots to daft punk. So I cleansed by listening to “Around the World” 5 times

Meh. It was okay. The vocals really take away from the groovy electronic music. 3/5 for the entire album.

Uniek en heel herkenbaar

I wasn't a big fan.

very cool songs for/about/by german robots. this sound would have absolutely blown my mind if i were alive and had heard it in 1978. each song felt really unique and interesting, and i enjoyed what each of them brought to the table. will listen again. favorites: basically everything. metropolis was the weakest track in my opinion

立体感

Not really my thing, but not bad. I can see how this would have been influential to the artists of the time. There's definitely new wave roots in here.

Excellent. Kraftwerk are synth pioneers & largely responsible all synth genres that followed. I especially like The Model, and the rest is classic modular. 5 stars.

I get this is influential but boy getting through it is a slog