Trans Europa Express by Kraftwerk

The line-up is the “classic” one, which recorded most of the most important albums, made up of founders Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider with Karl Bartos and Wolfgang Flür, who left the group in the eighties and nineties.

You could write a treatise on their musical style, from the inspiration in Stockhausen’s minimalism to the influence on the birth of genres such as techno, house music and hip hop, via cosmic music, electronic rock, up to this album, with a melodic and electronic style together, an extraordinary use of sequencers, in particular the Synthanorma Sequenzer, minimal voices post-processed.

How to describe an album with these features? I’ll try.

A riot of synthesizers, a sort of musical symposium of what this gear can do, fast midtempo rhythms, simple melodies where every accent and tiniest detail make the difference, slow electronic steps, lyrics half spoken and half sung that, on listening, for those who don’t master the language make no sense at all, and then there’s the title track, which is a hymn to the trains that explored Europe (hence the cover) with Interrail, the sound of wheels on the rails, already used in boogie woogie in a futuristic key, and instrumental parts with influences of musique concrète. The album closes with a fantastic tribute to composer Franz Schubert, where it returns admirably to melody.

A Kraftwerk masterpiece. A work that left an indelible mark, reaching as far as influencing modern music, by unaware kids who, dancing in clubs, don’t even imagine the origins, the experimentation, the cultural complexity behind the strobe lights and the driving, complex tempos in and thanks to which they have fun.

My Version

Label: Kling Klang – 5099969958816, Parlophone – 50999 6 99588 1 6
Series: Kling Klang Digital Master
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album, Limited Edition, Reissue, Remastered, Special Edition, Clear, 180 Gram
Country: Europe
Release: 9 Oct 2020

The Tracks

1. Europe Endless (Europa Endlos) (9:35)
2. The Hall Of Mirrors (Spiegelsaal) (7:50)
3. Showroom Dummies (Schaufensterpuppen) (6:09)
4. Trans Europa Express (6:52)
5. Metal On Metal (Metal auf Metal) (6:39)
6. Franz Schubert (4:25)
7. Endless Endless (Endlos Endlos) (0:54)

Length 42:24

The Line-up

- Ralf Hütter - electronics, synth, Orchestron, Synthanorma Sequenzer, vocals, co-producer
- Florian Schneider - electronics, synth, Votrax, vocoder, vocals, co-producer
- Karl Bartos - electronic percussion
- Wolfgang Flür - electronic percussion

Here the biographical sheet: Kraftwerk, founding fathers of modern electronic music