The Man Machine

Cutting edge and exploratory for its time, but it is a little repetitive

jakuzi gibi

6/10

Fun but monotone

Cool synth sounds. I can't say I would put it on to just listen to. I don't really know much about them, but was given some vinyl and in it was a copy of what apparently is their 3rd album titled "Ralph and Florian" - it sounds very different than this, less kitschy, more experimental. I think it's really cool and worth checking out.

5/10 12/21/25

3/5

Interesting because of its original context— captures how I imagine 1970s West Germany felt, while also feeling relevant in our AI age. Songs are all impressively constructed. My favourite song is The Model and I also liked Neon Lights— will listen to these two again.

So much robot synth, so very German. We are the rrrrrobots. It was ok overall, can really hear how this turned into 90s industrial , NiN etc.

This was ok and some of the songs had a good groove, I can't imagine listening to more than 30+ mins of this though. I gladly switched it up post album completion. I did find myself bouncing to the Robot opening song!

That is a fun album that I will probably not listen to again.

i dont really know how to classify it since its so different to everything else, however theres nothing in particular jumping out at me making especially good (or bad)

Over het algemeen vind ik dat al die herhaling en die electronische elementen de boodschap van dit album erg duidelijk maken en versterken. Ik vind het album hierdoor wel minder prettig om te luisteren. Waarschijnlijk is dit album niet voor herhaling vatbaar, maar ik ben wel blij dat ik het geluisterd heb.

The Model

the robots: i like the techno noises…very funky. intro a biiit too long for me

Cyberpunk Elevator Music

This is firmly Not For Me but I understand why other people vibe with it.

Immaculate synth vibes. Can hear its influences throughout so much music. All in all perhaps a touch pedestrian

Good listen!

meh

I like beens and boops sorry

Kind of fun

Very excited for this one. I am familiar with Kraftwerk, of course, but have never done a deep dive. It's easy to hear how Kraftwerk basically invented one of the most important building blocks for bands in the 80's and beyond. The textures, tones and rhythms are undeniable and hypnotic. The songwriting is obviously not paramount here (even if there's a certain charm to the stilted 'robot in love' vocals on the poppier songs), and though perhaps I would enjoy this album more were it to be augmented by additional, more organic or varied, instrumentation, I respect the laser focus of this obviously trailblazing work. Favorite song: the extended outro of 'Neon Lights'

bought The Model as a single when I was a kid - great tune. Some other good tunes on this, but they were never really my cup of tea. A bit light in sound.

Futuristic space sounds Spacelab kinda alright with slower space vibes

Already listened

Probably really innovative at the time. Overall I liked it.

Ah yes, a classic album for the classic music listener. Both ahead of it's time and left in the past at the same time. 5 Time Before Timelands out of 10 Lizard Wizards

133/1089 seeing that this came out in 1978 is kinda wild, it sounds very ahead of it’s time and it has some moments i really like and if it was fine-tuned a bit more to be like those moments it’d be an easy 4 stars. it really sounds like it could have been the soundtrack to a metroid or similar game. However, it plods a little too much for me, often the songs don’t seem to have a clear progression or intention and end up being the same string of beeps and boops repeated for too long. I do wish that the link on the album page of this generator would take you to the original German version because I’d have listened to that one if it had occurred to me that the link might not prioritise the original language faves: Metropolis, The Model 65/100

Much better than the previous album, “Trans Europe Express.” More variety, more depth and much more attention to melodies.

Enjoyable and really modern sounding for the 70s

Got better as the album progressed--just suffer through We Are the Robots. Still, not their best.

Pretty good, especially the last two.

7/10 Favourite: Die Roboter Least Favourite: Die Mensch-Machine

3

It was alright, there was some nice little melodies dotted around. Obviously the singing is a bit of an issue but I guess that's Kraftwerk for you. I would say bands inspired by Kraftwek are much more enjoyable to listen to than the band themselves.

It had some intriguing sounds, and was overall a nice album. "The Model" was definitely my favorite song. It was good to listen to once, but it felt like it took a lot of effort and I don't see myself reaching for it again.

Definitely before their time and revolutionary for edm. Not my type of music though

I get it but i don't want it if you get me

In a lot of ways, Kraftwerk are everything I’m not a fan of, with their too-long songs, which can be repetitive and instrumentally heavy. However, I’ve always liked “The Robots” and “The Model”, and the rest I didn’t really mind listening to. It helps that they kept the album to six songs - any more would have been like overkill, given the length of the tracks. While this sort of music generally is not my thing, it is clear that Kraftwerk are the masters of the genre.

- Excited to see a recommended Kraftwerk album because I’d never gotten into them despite liking melodic electronic music. All that to say, I am not a robot. - Appreciate that they paved the way for the genre. - While there are interesting melodic ideas, almost all the songs are too long and the extra length doesn’t really evolve/add new ideas. A lot of it feels like dudes playing with their synths, but I admit, it grew on me. - The Model is a banger. Neon Lights is also good, just wish it was half as long. Also liking Metropolis - the call back to “the Robots" is a nice touch, but that song was so long, I enjoyed it more here. I like that the album is thematic and definitely a reference to the movie. - Enjoy the German version more than the English one.

Good.

robotic!

This album is heaps of fun for the sound and era. It’s got a whimsical optimistic sound to it, like an awkward teenager dancing. I rate it, good vibe.

It's getting 3 stars purely because I love Numan, Ultravox, Visage etc. etc. but I am glad this is a short album. The Model hits every time though, and I can really appreciate how mad this album must've sounded in 1978

Way before its time. Funky bleep bloop pre techno!

3.0 - Ok

I liked this but i could never see myself putting it on again. So that’s my metro for the 3 stars.

When they hit, they hit.

Not quite as good as TRANS EIROPE EXPEESS. But still good! TBH I wouldn’t like listen to this outside of some very specific circumstances so it’s feeling more 3.5 to me. But this is me being overly harsh cuz I’ve been handing out 4s like crazy.

Would’ve loved this with crazier drums

So cool, so ahead of it's time. When I saw today's album was by Kraftwerk, knowing they were a German electro-group, I sighed. However, I enjoyed this album a lot more than I was expecting to. Easy to listen to, very futuristic-sounding, which is impressive considering it's 1978 release. I look forward to hearing more from these guys. A solid 3.5/5

Enjoyable

I liked it, the repetition IS the point. The Model is kinda creepy. I kinda like fewer words in their songs.

Despite the pretty dated sound palette, a lot of Kraftwerk's music from the '70s has something kind of timeless about it. I think some of their earlier stuff has managed to age well in particular. The Man Machine does wear its age a *little*, but it has an excuse. This was sort of a break-out for Kraftwerk, and has proven to be *very* influential. The Man Machine adapts their earlier experiments with electronic music and synthesizer melodies into a collection of pop songs, ready for the dancefloor, or even the radio. It's the sound of a band growing comfortable within their sound, and pushing admirably into a new frontier. And I'll say, in its own weird, robotic way, this thing grooves. I don't know what this even means really, but the music here makes me want to dance like a funky little puppet. On side one, The Robots, Spacelab, and Metropolis are all true blue dance music. And we kick off side two with The Model, which is a *real* pop song, it is everything great about Kraftwerk, jammed into a digestible 3-ish minutes. We have like two or three *infectious* synth-lines across this song. It manages to perfectly convey both the glamour of the song's protagonist, and the satirical bitterness with which she is presented (check out Big Black's fascinating cover of this song too, it *really* works).After this, Neon Lights is not necessarily a favorite of mine, but it's undeniably impressive. And we close with the title track, which *is* a favorite of mine. Something weird I noticed while listening is how much the synth tones remind me of (specifically) Sega Genesis music. I'd say this is a good thing, generally; besides, this predates that by like 15 years, so this was still unquestionably ahead of its time. I maybe appreciate this more than I enjoy listening to it, but this *is* a good album, with some timeless tracks, and synth tones that still manage to conjure up a certain image of the future.

i can appreciate the fact that this came out in the late 70s and the impact it may have had on music going forward, but in a vacuum, this was a rough one for me to get through. sonically, sure, it sounds cool. it sounds futuristic (for its time), and the process of actually creating it was probably pretty interesting, but god damn is it boring. i'd probably never go back to this one.

I've never heard of this album or artist, released the year I was born. The first track repeats, "we are the robots," when only now (47 years later) I'm being served digital ads for in-home robots that will wash my dishes. To say Kraftwerk was ahead of its time, is an understatement. Pleased to learn this is primarily where the contemporary electronic, low-fi type jams I enjoy today, originated with these German artists. Not sure I could listen to this again, though.

Not bad, don’t need to listen to again.

crazy style

Groundbreaking, but not great.

No sé muy bien qué pensar de este álbum. Por un lado aprecio la calidad sonora, el álbum está muy bien grabado y producido. Además tiene una buena selección de sonidos electrónicos y un trabajo interesante sobre la voz "robótica" que seguramente ha de haber sido sorprendente para su época. Pero por otro lado el minimalismo y la repetición de la música roza con la monotonía aburrida. Además de que no termino por descifrar cual es la energía que prentede movilizar con la música. No es lo suficientemente enérgico como para invitarme al baile, tampoco lo demasiado ambiental como para relajarme, ni psicodélico como para viajar mentalmente en la escucha. Siento que termina siendo más una apreciación y curiosidad histórica y de producción musical que una experiencia musical en sí misma que aprecie.

Tough to dislike 70’s electronica that starts with a track heralding the areival of the future - we are the robots. Love the line we are programed to do anything you want us to foloowes by a minor chord sounding ‘we are the robots’. Quite menacing. This fills me with nostalgia for early video games, lasers, time travel, everything we thought the future could be both good and bad. But without the (oftwn endless and therefore meaningless) build up and drop beat type texture of later electronic music and remixes i do winder of this one will be a difficult listen all the way to the end. Track 2 and i think not. Synth and beat pointing the way for alt-symth pop bands of the 80’s like New Order. Stripped back, subtle, not ovwr layered. Theres a lot to like here. Considering this was late 70’s and third album i think its ahead of its time and harks back to early elwctronica that if you were amartwr than me could probably trace back through Jean Jaques Perrey, to Clara Rockmore and her theremin. I think i’d prefer a YMO album to this but then it probably depends on whether i am in a happy modd (YMO) or fewling a bit dystopian (KW). Some great writing here - shes a model and shes looking good, i want to take her home thats understood. Hilarious. Drags a bit at the second to end track but there are worse albums than this. Prefer their previous album Trans-Europe Express.

Un disco que suena como un perfecto soundtrack para una película con mucho cuero negro. Me pinta la imagen de una noche en un club underground, Alemania aun dividida, encontrar un sótano oscuro con luces blancas que iluminan las caras cada cierto tiempo haciendo que se desfiguren y pierdan sentido. Un disco que predomina lo oscuro, moderno, gotico, synth donde Metropolis funciona como puente para The Model esa canción famosa que sobrevivió de este disco y se posiciono en el mundo moderno, muy buena para bailar. Un disco verdaderamente cautivante

Pretty nice, early synth music

Definitely better than Trans Europe Express (glad we listened to that one first). Obviously the lyrics aren't much to dive in to, but it's a fair deal more melodic and there are actual hooks. Would make great music for an alien invasion.

My anticipation for this one was mixed. I've been loving almost everything from the late 70s, but my last "kraut rock" albums was horrible. Still, Kraftwerk is a household name, so I was excited to finally give them a lesson. A few songs in and this is definitely weird, not in a bad way, but weirder than I expected. There are some interesting and cool grooves going and they're definitely a vibe. The lyrics are about as basic as they come and that was probably my biggest turn-off about this album. I get it, German dudes singing in English with a limited vocabulary but it made for a lot of repetition. Speaking of being repetitive, pretty much all the songs went on with the same rhythm or melody for too long and I'd lose interest and be ready for the next song. The whole thing went by in a breeze, though, and I didn't really tire of the whole kraut rock vibe. By the way, I never expected kraut rock to basically be early electronic music, but after two "quintessential" albums in the genre, it's clear that's what it is. I don't know why but I always assumed it was actual rock music, you know, with guitars and drums. Maybe it's just the name.

Still insanely fresh, great synth album!

Stylistically, Kraftwerk’s The Man-Machine reminds me of the minimalist synth-heavy film scores of the late 1970s and 1980s by John Carpenter (Escape from New York, Christine) and Tangerine Dream (Sorcerer, Thief). What sets it apart is the group’s distinctive use of their eccentric Very-German-Accent vocals—singing or chanting the track titles. Beyond that, the album turned out to be far more enjoyable than I expected.

What you expect from Kraftwerk. Nothing new or exciting here.

'We are the robots' sounds like something a fifth-grader could've made, no offense but the repetition is just hm. 'Metropolis' has a nice beat which I could see myself playing in the background fx while reading, as it is simultaneously soothing and tense. 'model' is also good, except for the one long shrilling note at the end

I’m surprised to not enjoy Kraftwerk more than I have, it’s my first of theirs - very cool sound and undoubtedly new, unique and progressive at the time. But to me the songs largely don’t go anywhere and do very little to move me. The mid section gets closest but the first two tracks didn’t engender me to the mood well enough at all. A solid but surprised 3/5 for me 🤖

I grew up playing video games so I love this shit

It's German Techno.

pretty neato from a historical perspective, glad we figured out to make the bass way better though

This what Mr. Krabs was listening into his office going “beep boop boo boo bop”

Listened to this while on a coach driving very slowly out of Heathrow airport and you know, it kind of worked. This is a 3.5 for me.

Not bad, but functions more as background music or a soundtrack.

The track “The Man-Machine” is a jam. A little torn on the vocals throughout the album, however.

Super!

Robotic to a fault, get that it was groundbreaking at the time but don't think it's as enjoyable to listen to now as it was back in the 70s.

Interessante d+ esse estilo de música eletrônica. CVJ Aria.

Varieert van vervelend tot Gedateerd schattig

Not enough flangers. I love the experimentation, thank you for progressing electronic music forward towards what we have now. Enjoyment on this as listener is a pretty solid 3 and historically this is probably a 4.

wild

meh

Again - another time in which I wish I had the ability to give half stars. I’d give this one a 3.5 without hesitation if possible. Solid album. Easy listen. Don’t think I’d really go back to it however.

I enjoyed this one more than their album, Trans Europe Express, that I previously had. I still don’t love their style, but this was way more interesting.

Not as esoteric as Varese, but Kraftwerk is a pop group. They are pretty esoteric given their genre. This is a great album of a bunch of nerds tinkering with synths like the the Mjnimoog and ARP odyssey. Tonality in most of the pieces helps make it more accessible.

I like this project. Early electronica was super cool and certainly revolutionary for the time. I will have to deep dive more of these albums. 6/10

Fine if not enjoyable

A pretty good album, definitely better than Audubon was. Three out of five, it’s catchy enough.

Better than the last one

This band is still playing shows?? Their first album was 1974 🤯that's wild. I would have had my mind blown listening to them in the 70s before electronic music was a thing. But it's 2025. Still dancable thou! Paging all therobots in particular. Spacelab I've heard in movies before.. iconic now

Fun, enjoyable, easy listening

Enjoyable electronica

A pioneer album for much of the 80s sound. The Man Manchine is an enjoyable experience for those who enjoy electronic and synth pop music and want to know where its origins lie.

Not my favorite of theirs but a good album nonetheless, favorites were The Robots and The Man Machine

I can see the influence on artists like daft punk but too repetitive for me. Second half is better than the first

Cool old school synths. Good listen, nice melodic tunes that takes you back in time.

I kinda liked this. It's a bit more "fun" than I'm used to for the krautrock genre.

Fun

I get that for its time this was revolutionary and the “groundwerk” for a lot of modern music methodologies, but halfway through listening to this album I felt like I was at work watching the clock at 4pm on a Friday before a long weekend.

Whilst this was a good album and likely more revolutionary at the time of release it felt somewhat basic in the context of more modern music

For some reason, like seeing 8 songs, 35 minutes. Tidy. Not too familiar with Kraftwerk songs although know the name well. Pretty much what I was expecting with ‘Robots’ a fitting intro to the band/album Feels pretty innovative and original for 70/80s. Felt a touch repetitive once you get the gist/sound but a welcome familiarity in ‘The Model’. Felt quintessentially German - efficient in what it does and delivers what it says. Nice enough. Nothing special. (3.5)

Interesting. Can see how this likely influenced electronic music.

I suppose this is a pioneering album in a genre I don't like. It's fine for a club but does nothing when you just listen to it.

That's not my taste in music - But ok - It's a milestone in electronic music

Not much to say, other than it’s Kraftwerk at their best. A lot more instant and catchier than Trans Europe Express and Autobahn (the only other records of theirs I’ve heard), and just fun throughout.

3/5

A really solid album. Cold robotic lyrics with sweeping synths and drums. You can really hear the influence on later stuff like Daft Punk.

Not my thing but still sounds surprisingly fresh and modern, highlighting how far ahead of their time Kraftwerk were at the time of release. 3.5⭐️

Insufrible para mí porque definitivamente no es mi tipo de música. Le doy más de lo que creo porque me da la sensación de que es uno de los pioneros del synth de los 80. Esto le suma mucho más que cualquier banger que pudiera tener. Nota: 3/5

Good listen. I can hear two very different artists influenced by this one: Janelle Monae's The Arch Android and Flight of the Conchords "The Distant Future."

Favorite: Neon Lights listened to the English version first The Robots (Die Roboter) - This is fine, I enjoy it for what it is but it could definitely use a little bit more. The progression is a little bit slow for what I like Spacelab - I like this better than the previous song. I like the synth and the feeling of space definitely comes across in the music Metropolis - Another one that's fine but nothing special The Model (Das Model)- Good enough. One of the better songs. It has more substance and changes than other ones. Being shorter likely helps it too. Neon Lights (neonlicht)- I like the start of this one a lot. The energy keeps going through the whole 8 minute song The Man Machine (Die Mensch-Maschine)- Another one that's fine, very similar to the first song on the album

Pretty cool that this was released so early. that being said, this was just ok for me

Very strange, felt like an alien listening to this, neon lights was probably my favourite.

3.5

Definitely can tell how they influenced so many artists. Could listen to as background music, but I enjoy the newer artists more.

Feel I had to be high to enjoy

The model is a great track, but I found the rest a bit samey - not my thing - don’t really get it

Meh.

I’m indifferent to this album. My main takeaway is that it gave futuristic vibes, which I think was on track with their intended theme of the album.

A solid album that feels like it gets 60-70% there on each track. Unfortunately, that hollowness does get a bit distracting. It’s very hard for an electronic album like this to blow my mind when I’ve heard the best works of the best artists that came thereafter. They’re clearly the originator in the genre DNA, but still… gotta rate an album on the album.

The core concept of this album is about the mechanization of human activity, but the application of this idea to the music itself renders a lot of it lifeless or inert. The electronic percussion, for example, serves as little more than a metronome. This is not to say that the songs themslves aren't good (for the most part), as is evidenced by the superior versions of the *Man-Machine* tracks that appear on *The Mix* and *Minimum-Maximum* (especially the transcendent version of "Neon Lights" on the latter) but the deliberately flattened performances on this record often don't make for engaging listening.

From the seventies!!!!! And not even their first album!!! Sounds great some really good riffs and the Model is an eternal banger but I can't lie the others go on just that bit too repetetive for too long. Good mood music but idk that I'd ever choose to listen to the full album for its own sake.

I enjoy the occasional sound scape, but a whole album was a little much.

Enjoyed it more than I thought I would

Solid album. Pretty futuristic for its time and I can appreciate how they influenced some of the more modern techno sounds in later years.

not my style

Surprised me how much I enjoyed this, but not the sort of album I would be likely to return to

I know - without them.. so many wouldn't have emerged from their influence (thankyou KW if your existence guaranteed Radiohead's..) but 50yrs on this now sounds SO DATED and 9min of innovative but monotonous synth pop no thanks. Not one lyric on the whole album - I was bored after 90sec

This is great. It’s fun to hear what technology sounded like back then. How we have evolved. I think?

It's impossible to separate these songs from their use as samples in seminal tracks at the dawn of hip hop - both directly and indirectly. That aside - a fun listen to revisit and remember what the future used to look like. 3.5 stars.

If Tony Montana moved to Berlin in Scarface 2, this would be the soundtrack.

Fine for what it is. 2.6

Electronica isn't my thing but this album is a bit more inventive and less repetitive than many I have heard. It's also a Kraftwerk album that strays into pop and dance which is probably why it influenced many bands and to some extent the shortly lived new romantic era here in the UK. Pretty good lift music I suppose 3/5.

Eh, really not my jam.

Without looking it up I can tell English is not their first language. Repeating “We are the Robots” and “Spacelab” over and over again in their eastern block accent was hysterical to listen to. I did not think I would like this but I love it. I don’t know if I’ll listen to it again or even remember it a month from now, but it was a great.

Daft Punk before Daft Punk existed. Despite the 3 stars, I was actually pleasantly surprised by how much I liked this. The robot gimmick does wear thin though.

Definitely influential. As soon as I started listening, it was the 80s couldn’t believe this album was 70s.

Their music inspired so many artists. Classic Kraftwerk.

Groovy Daft punk predecessors ig

Still sounds fresh nearly 50 years later but gets repetitive

The influence this album had on early rap was monumental. I appreciate that but it’s not album I would listen to again.

this album is weird because it's objectively very good but it just doesn't really make me feel anything. maybe it's because, while this was insanely ahead of its time when it was released, in the current day i've heard so much similar music that it doesn't really give me anything new. it's also a bit too robotic for my tastes. however, I do have to respect it for being as objectively excellent as it is. just not my personal taste. beep boop blorp favorite song: "spacelab" simply due to how catchy that synth riff is overall: 6/10. one point for every song (this is basically an EP lmao)

An interesting look into the precursor to a new genre. While it's nothing to write home about now, the first thing I thought about when I heard it was "this is just proto daft punk", and for that I'm really glad this exists.

Probably not something I’d ever listen to again, but it was kinda a fun time (the robot voice in the first song annoyed me tho)

These German dudes were fucking around with synths in 1977 and truly ended up in the future - a lot of this sounds like electronic music from much later that I enjoy now. Now that's cool and all, but the listening experience here is just ok. I didn't totally vibe with the robot voice.

Hmmm. I appreciate their game, and listening to this in 1978 would have blown me to pieces, but I think this is an album best enjoyed in small doses and not 40 minutes at a time.

Good techno album. Not what I was in the mood for though.

downloaded to fuck it up on my ddj

Ohne Frage legendär und stilprägend für Generationen. Über die lange Albumstrecke trägt es mich nicht immer.

great early electronic, kinda repetitive

Sommige nummers wat vaag, maar over het algemeen nice.

pretty repetitive, not my cup of tea, nevertheless must have been a phenomenon in the late 70's

I can see how this really influenced 80s music. Seems really slow by today's standards but all in all I liked it

80's time machine

Good tunes thank you

German daft punk Very simple, but good

This record was pretty groovy. I usually don't like synthpop, but this one surprised me. The good tracks were really good. The other tracks were just meh, but not that bad either. Favourite Track(s): The Robots, The Model Least Favourite Track(s): Spacelab

fun

Interesting 70s techno/syth. I liked it.

It’s like the beginning of electronic music.

Very few people know that up until Kraftwerk met Houmous & Chutney they were a classical strings band. They were heavily linked with Nigel Kennedy until Len Houmous showed them his skills with electronic instruments. You can still hear that classical influence if you listen closely! 3.0 5/6 Neon Lights

This album simply can't be listened to without considering the context of the piece. I can only imagine what people thought when it came out. Especially the more experimentally inclined people. Personally for my music taste it is overly repetitive. However there are some really interesting moments in the beats. It may sound like a parody album to our modern ears. But I appreciate their innovation.

Deep respect for the absolute innovation of these guys. Building their own instruments, creating space-age beats unlike anything else going on, and laying foundational tracks for the development of hip hop and EDM. I also saw them live recently (in 2025,) which was a spellbinding show. The issue is how these tunes sound as an album, 50 years on. While the plinks and chugs are enjoyable, the songs are weighed down by simplicity and repetition. A perhaps regretful 3 from me as a listening experience.

Nothing quite like them I guess... Can't say I'm a fan though.

I know how influential Kraftwerk is on many artists that I love, and what they’re doing here with electronic instruments in 1978 is ground breaking, but it’s not an album I’m putting in my regular rotation.

The year is 1978. You are backpacking across Europe after graduating and have made your way to Berlin. You stumble upon a club playing something you’ve never heard before but it makes you feel like dancing. The beat fills your body and you begin to move. Halfway through the set you do a line in the bathroom. Now you are one with the strange but melodic electronic sounds as you dance the night away. You might buy as synthesizer when you get back to the US. That’s this album

I liked about half of it got uninteresting at points but pretty fun

3.5* 80%

Cool aesthetic just not my style

Solid 3.5 stars

Cool electronic album, was not expecting it. Sounded awesome. Though the songs were a bit on the long side for their repetitiveness. Can we get half stars on here? I already hate the five-star rating with a passion as it is, let alone without the half-star option.

Enjoyed this a lot more than I expected to

This was obviously very influential for a lot of bands. It’s interesting, but a bit repetitive and boring. Good background music. Makes me want to listen to Tubeway Army.

I respect this / the influences on other music I can hear, but not sure I’ll relisten to it.

I can absolutely see how this basically inspired most of the sound in the 80s. Great variety of electronic beats. It won't stick with me but I thrilled to have heard it.

When this started, I thought I would hate it and I actually didn’t? Would I seek this out in the future, no, but I did vibe with “Robots” and some of the more instrumental tracks. Solid album, three stars. Happy I listened.

This one was better than the other albums by them.

Would get a 2 but it is impressive for it’s time

I appreciate what Kraftwerk did paving the way for electronic music but I’ve listened to 2/3 albums by them now and they really do not float my boat

Well…this was…very…German. I think I heard this album on a variety of Sci-Fi films in the early ‘80s, like Tron and Flash Gordon. This is one of those revolutionary ‘history’ albums as I can hear their influence in so much Synth pop from New Wave and the birth of EDM as we know it today. Just listening to Space Lab I could Oakenfold, Enigma and Depeche Mode. I don’t know if this is a modern go to, but I respect the roots.

This must have been mind blowing in 1978, like the future had arrived.

I was pop locking like a prime cholo

I know it's a remaster but production Is really good for its time

I enjoyed it for what it is, a little homogenous but fun. They walked so daft punk could run

Good album and ages so well, although did find it hard to concentrate on it sometimes as it’s a bit repetitive

ok i know that i should love Kraftwerk since they're pretty much THE electronic act in terms of paving the way, but i just don't really get this album. i love both the heady idm and the dancy Chicago House that they would influence, though. it sounds nice at least. an album more appreciable than enjoyable for me deserves to be one of the 1001? absolutely

Nur The Model gut

One of the better Kraftwerk albums I've heard.

Honestly. It wasn't bad. I'd say it was good even. It's definitely showing it's age, but its got a lot of charm to it. Some songs do sound like they come from a shifty bootleg of mega man called kilo Tucker or something, but ultimately not bad.

Is good! I found myself getting more into the more gradual parts like Neon Lights, has a very nice spacy feel to get into. I think I prefer TEE but I do still enjoy this. Is also one I feel that has a shadow cast on it from all the music it inspired afterward. It does sound like I'm playing some 90s European point-and-click game at times.

I’m normally not a big electronic music fan. I happened to listen to this one with headphones and it was a completely different experience. The engineering on this is incredible. Still not something I’ll listen to regularly, but I can appreciate the art.

A little goes a long way

Robot music

Like Autobahn, between 3 and 4…

Appreciate their legacy, not a music expression I’ve ever enjoyed. 3 ⭐️ for the innovation and introducing the style.

I liked it. Must have been fairly groundbreaking at the time. Highlight was the track that Coldplay sampled

I'm not a big bleeps & bloops guy, but the man machines found a way to make them sound pretty decent here.

More like a background music for 90s video game than something to enjoy listening. Interesting list entry never the less... 2/5, but extra star for innovation since it was made in 1978

Great historic significance and very innovative for its time. However, it’s extremely repetitive and a lot of the tracks just don’t have very interesting beats/melodies. While not unlistenable today, it has obviously been outshined by its contemporaries.

Pretty fun electronic album, the sound design is incredible especially when you consider the release date. Vocals are a touch awkward at times and let a couple of the songs down, such as the opener, which wears thin pretty quickly. Metropolis or Neon Lights are the standout tracks. The album doesn’t overstay its welcome and doesn’t waste any time feeling like the completion of a clear and concise vision. That being said it’s not really something that I’ll be coming back to at the moment, it didn’t really scratch any particular itch for me. Although I can appreciate its cutting edge sound and well crafted songs. 3/5

Not quite as cool as I had hoped

Daft Punk vibes. I read that Kraftwerk killed it at Coachella this year

It was fun. Surely great for its time when it was made.

I could see this going hard back in the day. Overall, solid early synth stuff. Good clean tones.

Is it repetitive, yes. Is it interesting, yes. Did I enjoy it? Sure. Forward thinking for 1978, sounds right at home as a video game soundtrack or late night drive. I enjoyed hearing this and linking it to modern Electronic music that has obvs taken inspiration from Kraftwerk.

Kaum zu glauben, dass das von 1978 ist 😳 Wirklich „ahead of it‘s time“ wenn man bedenkt, wie viele Elemente daraus heute noch zu finden sind. Gleich noch Tour de France angehört

Kind of grew on me. But not really my cup of tea. They seem like they were the pioneers of this sound and daft punk came along and did it better. So I feel like maybe that's why. Like If my kids watched the Chris Pratt jurassic park movies and then watched the original they don't appreciate it as much as I did when I was younger.

Great pioneers of electronic music

I don't know. Didn't know how to feel about this. Didn't hate it but didn't feel anything for it either.

The trappings of this album are still prevalent in electronic music to this day. A great listen when performing mindless repetitive tasks. Very fun.

Norm

Maybe I was a bit harsh on my last Kraftwerk rating. The first one I had was a '77 album. This one 78' I should keep that in mind when listening to it because this was a pretty novel sound at the time. This pre dates Daft Punk in the world of synth music. And they're German! ;) 3 stars.

Ну это гораздо лучше чем Autobahn, за это и лайк

I am definitely not a euro synth-pop new wave aficionado but this was better than I thought it would be.

This has been the hardest album so far for me to rate. Because, like, I did like it. But I don’t know if I would ever listen to it again at the same time. I can imagine no circumstances where I would sit down and think, hey I should listen to some Kraftwerk. And the more I spent listening to this album the more I was enjoying it, but at the end of it I’m still sitting here with no intention of ever looking back at it. So, 3 stars I guess?

It's not bad, but it's no Trans-Europe Express. "Neon Lights" definitely goes on longer than feels necessary.

Inspired horror movie soundtracks for years.

На цьому каналі, огляди на електронну музику з'являються доволі не часто. І насправді це не дивно, адже розглядати сучасну електронну музику у розрізі альбому, як цілісного твору, часто не є можливим - формат та культура споживання подібної музики є зовсім іншою, ну... принаймні зараз. Але так було не завжди, у епоху коли рок музика панувала у музичному просторі, першопрохідці у світі "компьютерного звучання", також слідували їх традиції випускати цілісні та концептуальні монументальні роботи. І кого, якщо не Kraftwerk, назвати найяскравішим прикладом цього підходу. Музику Kraftwerk до Die Mensch-Maschine, у розрізі тогочасної музики, навіть важко назвати музикою як такою. Це здебільшого був доволі мінімалістичний набір мелодій, які німці намагалися "витиснути" із тогочасних синтезаторів та секвенсорів. Фактично уся творчість Kraftwerk до цього альбому - це чистий звуковий експеримент, дослідження можливостей того що може дати їм техніка, та чи можна із цього зробити музику, яка б також вважалася мистецтвом. Тож те що Kraftwerk робили тоді було і залишається далеко не для кожного вуха. Та і будемо чесні, у порівнянні із сучасною електронною музикою, навіть мінімалістичною, у технічному плані - Kraftwerk просто не витримують конкуренції. Але якщо брати до уваги не тільки на форму, але і концепцію - творчість Kraftwerk є значно цікавішою та глибшою. І те, що теми які вони досліджували підуть далеко за межи електронної музики, та будуть надихати музикантів в абсолютно різних жанрах (привіт Radiohead) - тому доказ. Чому ж я відокремлюю Die Mensch-Maschine від усієї попередньої творчості гурту? Справа у тому, що саме на цьому альбомі, межа між їх ранньою творчістю та більш сучасною електронною музикою починає зникати. В цілях зробити свою творчість більш доступною та більш зрозумілою для широкого загалу, гурт почав робити більш ритмічну та майже танцювальну музику, що стане предтечею для майбутнього синтвейву. І що цікаво, вони це також зробили не просто так. Цим рухом вони фактично розмивають межу між людською та комп'ютерною музикою, демонструючи, що тепер це не музика "від машин для машин", а музика від "машин для людей". Та і взагалі, під сумнім ставиться саме поняття межі між "людиною" та "машиною". Цей альбом став справжнім маніфестом раціоналізму, навіть його обкладинка представлена у стилі радянського конструктивізму у всій його "чіткій практичній потворності", і наслідки якого ми можемо легко побачити, якщо подивимося на старі будівлі на лівому березі Київа. Саме через цю його відразну естетику, я і не люблю цей альбом, і часом, мені його навіть трохи огидно слухати. Але при цьому, не визнати його важливість та вплив на увесь музичний світ, я не можу - монументальна робота з якою точно варто ознайомитися, хоча б для розуміння референсів у сучасній музиці.

=The Beatles

good

"The Robots" reminds me of Endhiran by AR Rahman. Favorite track: the robots other picks: space lab, models, man-machine

Подозреваю, что для 1978 года - это было ооооооочень странная музыка, хотя лично я ассоциирую её с мелодиями, которые слышала в старых советских фантастических фильмах. Альбом короткий, но полноценный, это мне тоже понравилось.

Spennende, tidlig ute for sin tid, gøy at Jacob hadde hørt om det fra før

The Man-Machine ist das siebte Studioalbum der deutschen Band Kraftwerk und erschien 1978. Die Aufnahmen fanden im bandeigenen Kling Klang Studio in Düsseldorf statt, das zur damaligen Zeit technisch fortschrittlich ausgerüstet war und eine präzise Kontrolle über den Klang ermöglichte. Kraftwerk, bestehend aus den deutschen Musikern Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider sowie Karl Bartos und Wolfgang Flür, entwickelte auf diesem Album ihren charakteristischen elektronischen Stil weiter. Das Album ist sowohl in einer deutschen als auch in einer englischen Fassung erschienen. Es bewegt sich im Spannungsfeld von elektronischer Popmusik, Synthpop und frühen Elementen des Techno. Die Arrangements sind minimalistisch gehalten, wobei klare rhythmische Strukturen, wiederholende Motive und der gezielte Einsatz elektronischer Klänge das musikalische Gesamtbild bestimmen. Hervorzuheben sind Stücke wie „The Robots“ und „The Model“. Erstgenannter Titel zeichnet sich durch seinen mechanischen Rhythmus und den Einsatz verfremdeter Stimmen aus, was das Konzept von Mensch und Maschine musikalisch umsetzt. „The Model“ wurde einige Jahre später in der englischen Version auch kommerziell erfolgreich und gilt als einer der bekanntesten Titel der Band. Auch der Titelsong „The Man-Machine“ bringt das übergeordnete Thema des Albums – die Verschmelzung von Technologie und Mensch – klar zur Geltung. Inhaltlich greift das Album Themen wie Automatisierung, Künstlichkeit und urbane Moderne auf. Dabei bleibt die Sprache nüchtern, fast dokumentarisch, was durch die bewusst eingesetzte Kühle der elektronischen Instrumente verstärkt wird. Im Gesamteindruck wirkt The Man-Machine durchdacht und stilistisch geschlossen. Die Kombination aus technischer Präzision, reduziertem Klangbild und thematischer Klarheit macht es zu einem prägenden Werk innerhalb der elektronischen Musik. Es zeigt Kraftwerk in einer Phase, in der sie ihre Ästhetik klar formuliert und konsequent umgesetzt haben – ohne Überladung, aber mit nachhaltiger Wirkung.

3.5 Stars

Well, I now know where Daft Punk got their sound from. This feels like a slower carbon copy of the synth from Daft Punk. They were the real pioneers!

Sounds like robots.

This gets a bit self-parodic, especially in the opener ("We are the robots," repeated ad nauseum over Kraftwerk's most bleep-bloop palette, is exactly how The Simpsons would have done it (and it is a little surprising that they never did it, given how easy a target Kraftwork would have been — simpsonsarchive.com lists only the Germans-buy-the-powerplant-episode and a throwaway line in "The Curse of the Flying Hellfish" as making only passing reference to the band — but perhaps this is precisely because Kraftwerk had already by this point adequately skewered themselves with the release of The Man Machine)). All that to say, this is still a good album that just feels a tad trite after the great successive triumphs of Autobahn and Trans Europe Express. Perhaps der komputermann cyborgs have compiled too close to the sun.

I thought this was gonna be lame before starting it but it started out pretty lit. I liked the sound but songs ran a little long for me. Dropped off a bit towards the end bit started out strong 5/10

Seeds of Daft Punk here - nice to have on in the background as I got some stuff done around the house

Musically, it's fine, not especially interesting in the context of 2025. It's inclusion on this list is only because of it's historical importance, which makes me wonder if this is just a list of important albums, rather than a list of albums that remain great after their cultural moment has passed.

Cute but not for me. Not fascinated by robots. Or synth.

Classic early electronic city music

This is better than I thought it would be after the opening track. These guys seem like total weirdos but I like it.

Favorite Track: The Model

The model is a banger

Beep beep boop badadaaaa

Akin to synthwave, lot of melodies interwoven with pretty cool rhythms. Great instrumentation for 1978 but, however relatively boring and limited. Also 6 minutes of "WE ARE THE ROBOTS" over and over and over in the opening track was cool for the sci-fi era but it was so abrasive and frankly annoying. 3 stars on principal, cool groovy proto electronic music. Daft punk had to get inspired by somebody.

Still trying to find my favorite Kraftwerk album. This isn't it.

3.5 stars

Sounds like the ground work to all of New Wave and everything Daft Punk has ever done

Really enjoyed Neon Lights and the title track The Man Machine, but the whole album actually hit the spot today!

Super strange and super repetitive. But not an unpleasant listen. Some tracks (We Are The Robots, The Model) were actually quite catchy. I will not listen to the whole album again in its entirety, though.

There's a string of Kraftwerk albums that are like, foundational texts of all synthpop, and this is probably the synthiest of them, but it's also the one I like the least. It's still great to put on when you need to get into a certain headspace, though.

It as good as I thought it would’ve been, felt a little bland but had some spices come in and go, but too short at that rate to be interesting

It's pretty solid

Groundbreaking. Influential. Not for me.

Liked it, not enough to revisit though

I remember when Autobahn first came out in 1974 and how strange it sounded then. This is my first time hearing this particular album and it’s oddly pleasant in the modern context, which surprised me.

We are the robots. We are the robots. We are the robots. This was actually a really cool album and probably the most enjoyable electronic album so far. Favorites: The Robots, The Model

Electric music isn't my favorite, but this was okay I guess. 3/5

Скорее всего в то время это слышалось как некий новый футуристичный звук, все эти синтезаторно-электронные пиц пиу и прочее. Сейчас это звучит как электронное старье из 70-80х

This was a go to back in the day for mashups. Did one with Jeru the Damaja’s Wrath of the Math that turned out really cool.

Typical Kraftwek. Totally listenable, but probably not going to seek it out.

Boop.

Endearing? Grew on me but a little odd at first lol.

Not bebop, but beep boop beep. At times sonically interesting and at others pure tedium

I dont know what to think really its like okay and i see that its a special album bit it kinda feels boring

Good listen.

Very cinematic sounding (from 70s / 80s movies). Not as weird as I expected from the description.

Movie soundtrack

Definitivamente no me encuentro en la demografía de este género musical, aún así pude disfrutar de algunas canciones y se valora su precedente en la música electrónica

Скучное однообразное говно электронное. Очень похоже на Найт пипл

I like Kraftwerk, had a couple of their albums. They were WAY ahead of their time! Good listen!

Fine

Beep. "We are the robots." This one was a bit trippy. I hadn't heard a lot of this before (save for "The Model") but I can see why this was such an influence for all the electronic music that followed. Very cool stuff, but I doubt it'll end up in my heavy rotation. Boop. As an aside, I played The Robots for Harriet. She was not impressed. :P

It's very futuristic, and I like the vibes. However, I wouldn't say this is my favorite, mostly due to the lack of lyrics. It feels like I'm listening to the EPCOT Documentary by Defunctland. But the sounds are decent and have a nice flow. The album feels repeated. The best song is The Man Machine. Banger stick track on that one.

Look.... I don't hate it. It reminds of the beats that Thilo and Andi (Kleo) drop. Though I doubt I'll ever listen to it again.

Not my style, but good

# Album Name: The man Machine # Artist: Kraftwerk # Rating: 3/5 # Comments: I did not enjoy the last kraftwerk album i recieved so this was a slightly better experience. You can see how these guys are well ahead of their time. And i get that, but a full album is a bit too much for me. Thankfully half the album is filled with some good tunes - robots, spacelab and model. The other half if so so. I'd probably give it a 3.5 if i could # Top Tunes: robots, spacelab and model # Would I listen to it again? Only robots, spacelab and model.

3.4. The vocals seem pretty corny nowadays. I did like the instrumentation throughout. Cant listen to this and not shout out The Big Lebowski

3/5

The world we're currently living in is not the future Kraftwerk promised us. Can we please find the world where we live in this future utopia?

Paradigm changer. I owned the album (from Aunt Judy). Not regular listening, but interesting.

This was a pretty cool album. I think in some ways it seems a little hokey today, but I think that's because these guys created the style that later became so popular. It's amazing that they were pioneering these sounds and this style in 78. It's amazing to see what they were able to produce, and engineer, and cool to see how society and music has built upon their creations to get to where we are today.

Hey kid, I'm a computer. Stop all the downloading. I get it, they were first. That doesn't mean they were the best. I found this hard to get into but it's funny to think of them with big synthesizers moving around cords in order to get the right beep bop bopes.

Suffers the same fait as many foundational albums. There’s some all time great music here but as a whole it’s a little underwhelming

I can see why this album was influencial at the time, but I don't think it has aged especially well with the likes of Daft Punk taking this genre and effectively mastering it. This by comparison sounds a bit bare bones, not bad though

Not bad

Bueno

sonic the hedgehog 3 for the sega genesis

Elektronische Musik, Klassiker, The Model kennt man

It’s what I’ve come to expect from Kraftwerk. Favorite song: Spacelab Least favorite song: The Robots

Amazing - and playful, weird and almost arrogant. This is the type of electronic music I like; the old stuff

beep boop beep that was amusing

As much as I wanted to get into this album, I was unable to do so. It’s just not my cup of tea for listening pleasure. For some reason I didn’t warm to it and found it kind of dull. I have to acknowledge the importance on later artists so for that reason my rating is 3-stars. https://open.substack.com/pub/richcain/p/project-1001-the-man-machine-by-kraftwerk?r=4ztyq&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true

Interesting.

Very interesting. First time hearing this classic album.

OGs of electronic music for sure, not bad

Не люблю электронщину, но для электронщины очень круто)

Get out of here kraft punk! JK, this is pretty good and sounds like an earlier evolution of Daft Punk

This is like proto-Daft Punk. Not the best things I've ever heard, but can see how this would be pretty revolutionary for 1978.

I love how clearly Nobuo Uematsu was inspired by Kraftwerk!

"But if I never heard this or any other Kraftwerk music again, I'd be alright." Me. Yesterday. In my review of yesterday's album "Trans Europe Express" by, you guessed it, Kraftwerk. Sigh This one is better I guess. As I said yesterday, Kraftwerk definitely grew in terms of the depth, cohesiveness, and complexity of their sound. Songs take on more definite forms with each album. The direction is clearer. The different elements of their sound come together better. The evolution of sound is clear from album-to-album. That makes this the most listenable of their records I've had. That isn't to say the other two weren't listenable - they were. But this one comes together in a way that really makes it feel like they're at the top of their game as a group. And I can appreciate that. Does that move the needle enough for me to give them more than three stars? No. This still ultimately isn't my thing, and that's alright. Happy to have listened, ready for something new. Three stars. Standout Tracks: Spacelab, Metropolis, Neon Lights

If you like Kraftwerk you’ll like this I guess?

Finds no schwierig zum sege. Het meega geili teil und es paar woni so mässig find. Natürlich extrem de ziit voruus und so aber schaffts für mich nöd ganz uf e vieri.

Sprockets! 3/5