The Man Machine

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.

more like mid machine

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

I was going to write this album off as "shprokets", but I ended up kind of liking it, especially the first track: The Robots. There are aspects of this sound that repeat in other bands I like, e.g. Air (which Spotify played right after this album ended).

More interesting as an archeological relic than actual songs. Barely squeaks across the line to 3 stars.

Oddly enough, this brought albums like Buddy Holly and Solomon Burke to mind - where I'm aware this was wildly ahead of its time, but struggle to be blown away in 2024 when this kind of music can be found in any futuristic (or, at this point, retro-futuristic) kind of media (kept thinking of Knight Rider listening to 'Metropolis'). Not bad, but nothing I think I'd come back to.

Kraftwerk really keyed it in for #7, refining their sound into the base of electronic music. Wild to think that this came out in 1978, it sounds like the "Hackerman" songs in 80's and 90's movies, in a good way

Mij kan dit keyboardgepingel al met al niet veel boeien. Alsof er iemand een potje Tetris zit te spelen. Het zal grensverleggend zijn geweest en anderen ideeën hebben gegeven, maar vraag niet van mij dat m'n hartje er sneller van moet kloppen.

Highlights are very cool. Favorite Song: Spacelab Least Favorite Song: Neon Lights

Not my cup of tea but I see the meaning of this milestone

A strong 3

tfw there is a spacelab

Fine. A bit nerdy

I think I appreciated it more than I enjoyed it. Maybe it just wore out its welcome, but the first half seemed stronger.

An album of two halves, 'The Man Machine' starts off with eccentric electronic grooves before descending into tedium through the back half. I didn't really dig the robot voice featuring early on but couldn't deny 'The Robots' is a catchy piece of techno. Similarly worming its way into my ears was 'Spacelab', a tranquil elevator music meets trance rave anthem that reminded me very fondly of Electric Light Orchestra. Unfortunately, the wheels start to fall off not long after 'Spacelab' concludes. 'Neon Lights', in particular, is nearly 9 minutes long. This in itself is no problem but the long build-up reaches a crescendo around the 5 minute mark and then spends the better part of 4 minutes just petering out. It doesn't hold the listener's attention nor introduce anything new, save for some digital sounding "woah-oh-ohs". 'The Model' is comparatively brief at under 4 minutes but to my ears doesn't mesh all that well with what came before or what was to come. Overall this is still a fairly enjoyable listen and a piece of music that had no shortage of influence on both synth-pop and more broadly speaking, electronic music. Overall Score: 6.3/10

It's clear why it's a classic, doesn't make for a particularly riveting listen in this day and age though.

Nice album. While the sound is consistent, I liked that the music was arranged in 6 songs instead of a dozen monotonous sequences. Other artists have copied this electronic style of music but Kraftwerk presents in a truly interesting,unique way.

This turned out to be a really fun and interesting listen. 36 minute run time is perfect.

Pretty good krautrock. Not as good as NEU, but competent, well produced and easy to listen to. Very good to have on in the background while working.

Kraftwerk is a band I like, but after three plays, this album wasn't up to their best. The best track here is 'The Model', and the rest seems a bit like filler.

Lush and pretty early synth pop music. B

Revolutionary electronic but gets boring sometimes. Trans Europe express us the better albums of theirs 7.8/10

Great sound

Anothwr band I know I’m supposed to love and who are supposed to be so influential but their albums too often slip into the background. Maybe that’s the point- they are supposed to be hypnotic like modern day electronica. A few tracks get like old Nintendo game soundtracks which isn’t a bad thing. I did enjoy some of it and it did feel tongue in cheek a lot of the time. Need a deeper dive or somebody to explain why they were so revolutionary as I can’t see it yet.

Significantly better than Autobahn

So far seems lik the least compelling Kraftwerk-related project we've had on the list. That this is from 1978 makes the bland 90s-00s electronic on here more inexcusable. We probably have one of those up next again. like a solid 2.5, upped to 3 stars for originality. star debt will be paid by the post-1978 bleep bloop albums.

My twin three-year-olds are obsessed with the song Robots. Any time I put on any song, there’s a good chance they will yell “CAN YOU PLAY ROBOTS”. When they hear the first synth hit, they tense up, ready to run in circles, pumping their arms and screaming. Whenever they see a fan, they stick their faces right in front of it and say “WE ARE THE ROBOTS”. I have heard Robots ten thousand times. Yesterday I heard it four times. Once for this project. Three times on their request. Every day, Robots. Good album though. Not the coolest Kraftwerk, but still good.

who daft punk thinks they are

Classic electronic music that I have listened to before and will listen to again. Not something where I would listen to their albums front to back but I do have a few song on different playlists.

Always down for some Kraftwerk, these guys are wacky. "The Robots" goes stupid hard. Lost me a little as it went on but still a good time overall. Favorite tracks: The Robots, The Model. Album art: Anything red/white/black is always a hit with me. Cool font, design is minimal graphics but color scheme saves it. 3.5/5

6/10. Too underwhelming for my taste. :)

Sounds like it should be in a sci-fi movie. Not entertaining to me.

Kraftwerk really is just a lot of fun, definitely the best as far as electronica goes. I think I liked this one a little more that "Trans Europe Express" but I also knew what to expect going in, which helped.

It's very different, and I didn't hate it. Didn't love it either.

This is a band I had heard of, but had never actually listened to. This is probably the widest gap I've had so far between how much I thought I would like something and how much I actually did. For some reason, I thought they were an industrial act. I blame German stereotypes a bit. Specifically American German stereotypes, because damn, they're specific and revisionist, and it all depends on the year it is now and the year their grandparents (or parents) told them they moved. That aside, I liked it. It's a record that is trying to experiment with new tools, and it succeeds, for the most part. They're messing with instrumentation in a way that is still trying to connect with listeners. It seems like the target audience for most "experimental" albums is an academic board, musicians, or engineers. This is the first one that feels like it still wants a regular person to have the chance to like it.

I hate Electronica in general, but I found this one tolerable, even enjoyable at times

Fine-ish. It is good but not something I'd listen to regularly

Beep booping German robots back in the 70s. Crazy to hear the now familiar techno synth and realize where it has come from.

A little repetitive but still enjoyable.

Impressed by the complexity solid 3/5 stars

robot noises :)

Another one of these albums? I guess. 2.5.

I'm trying to imagine hearing this in 1978. I wonder if DEVO heard them. Personal enjoyment: 3/5 Relevance to this list: 4/5

I like The Robots; I kind of like Spacelab, The Model

Bee boo boo bop boo boo bop.

Neon lights was cool and I can see how this album was revolutionary for the time it was produced, I can also see how lots of bands from Joy Division to Bowie as well as other experimental/ electronic/ punk/pop music was inspired by them.

Happy to have been exposed to this album.

So clean. So efficient. So Teutonic. So pulsey. So bleepy. And a bit Jean-Michel Jarrey. It must have been absolute hell to program all those loops, thumps and squiggles into a coherent whole in 1978. Thank Gott they persisted and birthed the next four decades of techno, culminating in the Flight of the Conchords parody/tribute of Die Roboter. The loop is complete. For the full retro-futuristic effect I highly recommend listening to the German version. So viel Spaß!

3 - Kicks off with Robots which was actually my least favourite, something about it sounded cheesy, almost like a parody. Thought the album generally went better as it went along/I got into the flow. This kind of stuff isn't always my thing but I'm sure this was revolutionary when it came out. Still sounds pretty fun and fresh to a degree.

I get that tons of amazing bands, and even whole genres like EDM, look to Kraftwerk as the Big Bang inflection point for much that has come following their rise in the 70s, but I just don’t find this truly engaging.

Glad that at least one Kraftwerk album is on this list. Not because that I am particularly a big fan but because they and a few other contemporaries actually brought something new to music at that time. It was bound to happen with the advancement in technology and synthesizer‘s that this type of music would take hold and become a big part of the music scene and still is. As a big Keith Emerson fan I did love his use of the Moog Synthesizer but this was restricted to the odd solo or extra texture to his virtuoso keyboard playing along with other instruments. Synthesizer music only was a big step change. I was excited by this at the time but my interest was mainly towards Gary Numan and what he was doing. I knew Kraftwerk existed but never really got into them enough to buy any albums. Listening to this album today was pleasant enough for the first few tracks but it quickly became monotonous. I found the melodies were very simple and repetitive to the extent that they began to jarr. I do like some of the modern day electronic artists in particular if they on the ambient side such as those by Brian Eno. Maybe Eno type music exists thanks to albums like this one so my rating reflects that and the fact that Kraftwerk were very unique. 3/5 21/9/24

Interesting album

This list seems obsessed at times with early German techno. It's just not my jam. This was... fine, but I'll be happy never listening to it again.

Standard old-school electronic tunes

It’s ok

Interesting instrumentation

Classic.

I can see this being influential. I think i heard the police song invisible sun on one of these. Definatley not bad but won’t come back to this.

So tinny! But still listenable. Wouldn't seek it, but it's OK

no private session used for Spotify. Catchy electronic tunes, not really my thing, but I can see why folks are into it. I don't know if I would ever find myself in a place where I think I need to put it on, though.

a good album - but not my style. The Model was good !

непонятный жанр) чтобы входить в электронную нирвану?

Ah what I can say. I actually have such a soft spot for Kraftwerk, despite my tendencies. The model is a great song, pioneers of their field.

2,5

Early house music is cool but not that cool

While initially a lot of the concepts for each songs start out fun and engaging, I find that they quickly become repetitive or annoying. While some tracks hold my attention and I can enjoy, others simply overstay their welcome. If the songs were shorter, and perhaps there were more of them, I would think much higher of this project. Despite these complaints, these songs sound like an acid trip and definitely have some soul behind them. Great music to study or work out too, due to its almost monotonous nature.

I listened to the 2009 remastered, and it sounds fantastic. I can't imagine hearing this when it was released; it must have sounded so futuristic, and it certainly influenced electronic music for years to come. It's not the type of album I'd play regularly, but it was a fun listen. My least favorite track was The Model. It really took me out of the rest of the album for some reason. I genuinely really love Neon Lights. That will go into my playlist for sure.

I know these guys only by reputation and came into this kind of expecting to hate it. It's still not my style, and I probably won't put it on again. But it's actually alright. It's nice as background music, and they actually do some interesting stuff. I liked the mostly instrumental pieces (e.g. "Spacelab" + "Metropolis") quite a bit better than the vocal-oriented pieces, which are a little cheesy. The do a nice job of developing themes, it's like very solid nuts-and-bolts composition. But just much too light and sparse for my taste. There's a reason why so much of pop music is focused on a talented solo instrumentalist, usually a singer.

Not gonna lie, after about the first 30 seconds of the first track I thought I would dread this. However, after the 36-minute album was finished, I was actually pleasantly surprised. It's a little odd don't get me wrong, but it did make me feel like I was in an early 80s cyber-spy thriller. If you're here for the lyrics, this won't be for you, but the beats and the electronic hooks are catchy. This was a perfect listen for me to focus on work, and Kraftwerk will now be in my "lock in" rotation. Notable Tracks: - The Robots - Spacelab - The Man Machine 5/10

extremely 80s pretty cool sounding.

Not as strong as Autobahn, but good enough to return to.

Bem legal, inovador demais pra época. Ouviria fácil.

Not 100% my thing, but surprisingly enjoyable.

Lemppari: Metropolis Vähiten lemppari: The Robots

German techno is so weird but the model is such a tune

Well! This was an interesting one! Upon beginning to listen, I immediately didn’t like it! The usual electronic synth nonsense people tried to pass as music, but is just garbage! But the more I listened, the more I enjoyed it. Then song 4 hit and I realised that I’d heard this band before! Song 5 was also great and before I knew it I was listening to the album again! I shouldn’t be so judgemental!

I felt like this was kind of mid music to dissociate to. I probably won't come back to this.

A very different sound when it came out. 3*

Interesting electronic album. The Model was really catchy.

Kind of interesting for 70’s electronica but not worth a revisit

On sitä mitä lupaa eli suoraviivaista konemusaa 70-luvulta. Vilpitöntä hieman kieronlaisella omalla tavallaan. Robots kyllä kantaa levyn, vaikka tulee heti alussa, hyvä loppua kohti kuulijansa helpommalla päästävä kokonaisuus on luotu.

Nerokas toteutus, ainutlaatuinen sinkku - mutta hetkinen, oliko tässä vain kolme biisiä? Voisin vannoa, että Eurooppa-levyllä oli neljä. Tunnelmakaan ei ole tällä kertaa yhtä pysäyttävä - vai onko kysymys vain siitä, kumman kuulin ensin?

Good example of an album that was likely innovative at the time, but sounds very dated after 45 years.

Vibey - great album just to zone out and chill. Love the tension throughout, a testament to not needing the nauseating peak gluttony of modern EDM

This was so much better than I was expecting-- some of their work has a little too much Kraft cheesiness for me. You sort of have to figure out that there will be one or more Kraftwerk albums buried in this list and it did not disappoint. All the weird robotic electronica you could want packed into a single old school album. I'm a fan.

Interesting, a bit comical. I don’t know if I would listen again.

Mids

Fun fun fun on the man machine

Reading about this before I listened, I fully expected to hate it. I'm not sure I'd listen to it again as it's definitely not my ideal genre, but I enjoyed it way more than expected. I'd give it 3.5 if possible, but I'll round down to three simply because I can't imagine myself listening to it again

Moderately interesting techno

Didn't mind this. Better than the other one.

I liked this as background music, but it's not captivating enough to make me want to hear any of these songs on the reg

The beeps and boops are great! I could do without the singing.

Don't hate it ..but have to be in the mood

Not a fan

A tough listen. Appreciate their pioneering spirit though

Interesting album for sure. 1970's electronic is certainly interesting.

Erste Hälfte klingt als hätte der Songwriter von "Tequila" den Soundtrack, zum Menschheit ausrotten, für die Terminatoren geschrieben. Zweite Hälfte solide

Respekt for indflydelsen på musikhistorie, må have lydt crazy i 1978. Bliver lidt for repetitivt til min smag og lyder også ret outdated i 2024

Det er vel meget fint for hvad det er. Synes det er lidt meget af det samme hihi - 3/5

Ég er ekki mikið fyrir raftónlist en þegar ég er fyrir raftónlist þá er það nokkuð líklegt að ég setji Kraftwerk á og þarna eru slagarar sem ég þekki vel til og raula með vélmennarödd við. Ég mun samt ekki setja þetta á fóninn held ég en þetta er ekki rusl. Meðalplata kannski en væri örugglega frábær plata fyrir meiri raftónlistaraðdáendur

I'm sure very influential but this is museum music. In other words, music that you'd want to see immortalized in a museum for electronic music but not music you'd actually listen to in the real world. Still good

It was fun, quite weird

The range is amazing for the limited number of sounds available. You could spend months putting this together … or maybe just hours. It’s impossible to tell. And that is the genius of it.

Listened to this before and I know it's pretty high regarded....I quite like it, but I think it falls into the category of "really innovative even it was released, but not so interesting 40 years later". Reminds me of flight of the conchords too (I assume they were parodying this). Good, but not quite my thing. Think it it was the year it was released I would be much more impressed. 3.5

This is a band who I have heard described as legendary, countless times. They are mentioned as influences in interviews by nearly every band I've ever loved. I love the experimental nature of what they are doing. I can only assume this was pretty "out there" when released in '78, and it's undeniable that it influenced music across many genres as well as defining some of its own. With all that being said... I just don't enjoy listening to it. It's cold. It's lifeless. It's mechanical. It sounds like a mathematical property because sentient and "wrote" a few songs. Great dance music if that's your thing, but it's not mine. Not bad for background music, or if you want to score a nostalgia-dripping, 1980's themed, children's horror/sci-fi television show.

No a bad album, probably would be great as background music for studying or working at a computer. I’m not a huge electronic music fan so it doesn’t move the dial much for me, but I wouldn’t be opposed to someone playing this album.

This was pretty good, a little sparse as you would expect. Overall a good album to have on in the background as I work..

3.3 Perfect if you want to feel a sense of intergalactic doom while doing work. Fave songs: the model

Pretty catchy. I don't really have much to say about this album. 6/10 Would I listen again? It would be pretty good background music.

Some songs can be a little repetitive but overall the album was nice to listen to.

You know, robot music

The Robots - 3 Spacelab - 3 Metropolis - 3 The Model - 3 Neon Lights - 2.5 The Man Machine - 2.5 Wish 2.5 was an option. The music is fine. Not painful, but not enjoyable.

The Machine Man by Kraftwerk Tuesday 6/11/2024 10:51 S Tier————————— Spacelab The Robots A Tier————————— Metropolis B Tier————————— Neon Lights The Man Machine The Model

I'm sure this was cool and novel once, but now it feels like a subpar electronica album.

I didn’t like this as much as Autobahn. I guess this was more concept-y comparatively.

pretty but repetitive

I was pretty bored with the repetitive nature of this, but I do recognize the significance and influence to everything from later electronica bands in general and the use of synth mixed in smaller doses in the 80’s new wave and beyond.

Look, I get it. This is one of those bands that you’re supposed to put on a pedestal. I can appreciate their innovation but don’t personally find it all that listenable. And you just know these guys inspired some of the shittiest bands you’ve ever heard.

It’s like electronic Rammstein. Cool. My neighbor across the street is from Düsseldorf so gonna see if he knows these guys. Was def interesting but not something I’m dying to listen to. 2.75

I'm not a huge fan of beeps and boops music, but this one feels more influential than others we've had thus far. Literally the first track I was like, "this sounds like Get Innocuous! by LCD Soundsystem." Not sure if Kraftwek were actually credited on that track, but c'mon man, it was directly lifted by LCD. I assume the dudes of Daft Punk are huge fans, which also kinda explains the whole robot thing. Some tracks kind of remind me of the Blade Runner score and of course Tron. Haven't seen either in forever, but that's the vibe/feel I'm getting. This is also a great album to get soon after that Heaven 17 mess... one sounds dated, crappy, and irrelevant. Yes, you can tell this is of another time, but it also somehow still works today and you can hear influences everywhere. Despite all that, to my ears this doesn't rise to the level of a great album. Good for what it is, but not incredible. 3.25/5

She's Glen Hoddle and she's looooking good. 3rd Kraftwerk album already, this list has a lot of albums from the same artists. OK this is Kraftwerk goes pop. Catchy and still sounding like nothing else but influencing everyone. Sehr gut.

Cool, though redundant.

For 1978 it's boundary pushing music. For 2024 it's like a child's toy keyboard.

Just.

6.5/10

This one started off a bit cheesy but it got really good as it went on. I enjoyed this, 3.5.

Krautrock at its finest. 3.5 stars

You're alright in my book, Kraftwerk. A sort of adorableness to their earnestness

I am not a man-machine, nor do I have any desire to be

DOITSU NO KAGAKU WA SEKAI ICHI

01001001 01110100 00100111 01110011 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01101101 01101111 01110011 01110100 00100000 01100001 01100011 01100011 01101111 01101101 01110000 01101100 01101001 01110011 01101000 01100101 01100100 00100000 01101111 01100110 00100000 01110100 01101000 01100101 00100000 01101101 01100001 01101110 01111001 00100000 01001011 01110010 01100001 01100110 01110100 01110111 01101111 01110010 01101011 00100000 01100001 01101100 01100010 01110101 01101101 01110011 00100000 01101111 01101110 00100000 01101000 01100101 01110010 01100101 00101110 3/5

It's easy to hear the significant influence that this album has had on subsequent generations of artists. However, it probably suffers the same fate as other great works that have been copied to the point of cliche: without considering the influence, the album doesn't have much individual staying power. Perhaps it's the consistent obscurity that Kraftwerk has had beyond name recognition (read: I don't know of any individual Kraftwerk songs that are certified bangers), but this album is more criterion than icon.

Very enjoyable beeps and boops and doesn't outstay it's welcome. Medium 3.

Seminal band, always wanted to try them. It's fine. Obviously foundational to later bands (electronic like Daft Punk, and not like Teleman) as well as contemporaries (Sparks), but too minimalist to hold up.

(off track comment:I knew I had missed a Kraftwerk album on this 1001 journey, and was driving so I couldn't recall which album. This will be my second from them, and the first was pretty robotic--which I get is by design,but I mean industrial/factory robots. I accidentally guessed it was Computer World, which I started and it had a lot more life in it.... hopefully this one is closer to that than The TransEurope Express) So this album is probably in the middle between the two mentioned above. Coincidentally that follows release order, so apparently they get better as they go on. This album also stood out for having the silly german dorky stereotype, which is a good thing. Kind of a shorter album, but pretty good. Favorite track "The Model" 3/5

I was in a bit of a daze all day and this didn't get me out of it. I barely know what to review this as. If it blended so well due to the design of it all, this is really impressive, but I have no idea how much of that vibe came from my listening state.

It's not really "listen to for fun" music, though there is something in it that draws you to it. Better for a sweaty dance floor at 1 am than for a living room couch at 1 pm. I like The Model but overall the songs go on way too long.

I imagine how amazing Kraftwerk must have sounded when these sorts of effects weren’t a proper music genre, and the idea of humans making music as robots is an interesting one. Still, it’s not quite for me, but I liked The Model and Neon Lights.

Im deutschen Original definitiv ein super Album. In der englischen Version funktioniert es für mich nicht gleich gut.

Pretty all right not great not bad

Wow wild to have this type of music in the 70s. Didn't even know there were groups like this. No particular favorite song. Added to my Spotify library.

super cool!

I had mixed feelings about this album. On the one hand, I appreciate the ground-breaking work they did for the electronica genre, but on the other hand I think that because they were basically the father of the genre it almost feels like a parody of itself at this point because it's so influential and is indirectly referenced through so much of modern content. I really enjoyed the instrumental/musical side of this album, but where it lost me was the lyrics because they felt really dated. With themes like "metropolis" "neon" and "robots" that were probably really futuristic at the time, now they are just commonplace and what we view as people from the 60's and 70's as thinking the future would be like.

01000011 01001111 01001111 01001100

This was kind of an interesting one. No doubt I have heard of Kraftwerk but never actually sat down and listened to one of their albums. Some of these sounds seem almost cartoonishly cliché at this point, but they would have been new and exciting when this album came out. Then the album keeps going and it actually is pretty interesting once you get past the initial impression.

Better than I expected

Sometimes music can just be something to listen to, not worry too much about, enjoy the sound, the rhythms, the little melodies, the chord changes. Just listening with no effort expected on the listener's part. Light entertainment for your amusement.

Officially 3, but adding a 0.5 in my heart for being short.

For early electronic music this is pretty good!

Must have sounded like it came from the future, but is now so old that it sounds a little dated. A record that has been so influential it sounds like a bunch of other stuff, but it came before pretty much all of it! Not my favourite genre, I prefer analogue instruments and especially value physical drums, but enjoyable and innovative

Better than Autobahn. I can respect it.

After a long break from all the really weird albums, we return to your scheduled broadcast of them with The Man Machine. And in all honesty, this album sounds very ahead of its time considering that it sounds like something that would be from the 80s or 90s yet its from 1978. The general electronic sounds used in the songs worked rather well too even if they could get repetitive but that is what you would expect with electronica albums. It is a bizarre album but that doesn't mean i didn't enjoy it. Best Song: The Man Machine Worst Song: Metropolis

Techno pop.

So techno! Honestly for the genre and the time period it's pretty good. Techno tends to fade into the background for me so I did have to listen a couple of times to really "hear" it.

Props for pioneering.

I listened to The Man Machine on iTunes and found it exceptionally dorky. Bleep bloops and silly repetitive lyrics. Then I had a thought… they’re a German band, why are all their songs in English? Autobahn is in German and it sounds way cooler than the English version “Drive drive drive on the highway” So I looked up the German version, Die Mensch Machine. It’s still bleep bloops but their native language sounds so much better! So I give the English version a 3 and the German version a 4. I also think it shoulda counted as my Duolingo for the day.

Solid Kraftwerk album, had some nice memorable melodies and decent vocal hooks. These aren’t always the most exciting LPs, but this band was pivotal in bringing electronica to the forefront and it’s fascinating to hear that sea change take shape here.

Wel lekker relaxed maar spotify speelde A Forest van the Cure toen het album was afgelopen en toen dacht ik ja weet je ik kan ook naar dit soort dingen luisteren

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

Almost goofy

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

Interesting album that sounds like the foundation of electronic music

Liked it a lot better than the last inr

Weird, but good. But weird

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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".

Meh.

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

Cool and pretty easy to listen to just not super memorable

German Tomorrowland ambient music

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.

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.

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.