The Man-Machine

Performer: Kraftwerk
Distributor: EMI Music Distribution

Notes: THE MAN-MACHINE and its predecessor, 1977's TRANS-EUROPE EXPRESS, deserve their exalted position in the pantheon of modern music, if only for their importance in shaping the future development of hip-hop and dance music. The concept behind The Man-Machine took Kraftwerk's mechanistic vision of humanity to its logical extreme, but the music within captured the group at their most engagingly melodic. Instantly memorable, "The Model" reached number 1 in the UK singles chart three years later, and proved to be a direct inspiration for the wave of gloomy electronic bands that quickly followed. However, none of them ever came close to grasping the subtle human touch that lay behind Kraftwerk's faceless exterior.

Alternative Press (5/02, p.104) - Included in AP's '10 Essential Pioneering Electronic Albums' - "...Their most chart-friendly LP...this album laid the foundation for the 2nd British Invasion of the early '80s..." Q (Magazine) (p.116) - 4 stars out of 5 -- "As evidenced by the mesmeric groove of 'Spacelab,' their influence on the more electronic end of disco was feeding back into their own art..."

Kraftwerk was initially part of the hippie-era krautrock boom. However, this pioneering German electro-pop group soon set themselves apart from their long-haired contemporaries by forsaking acid-soaked jams for a clean, precise sound whose mechanical aspects were part of its charm. Their catchy, simple synthesizer melodies were a key influence on subsequent generations of electronic musicians. They can be seen as the fathers of both '80s synth-pop and '90s electronica.

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