AUTOBAHN

"Autobahn" is the 4th full-length studio album by German experimental electronic pop/ rock act Kraftwerk. The album was released through Philips/Vertigo in November 1974. Kraftwerk started their career as a krautrock group but slowly started to incorporate more and more electronic elements into their sound with each album they released. "Autobahn" is the first album in their more dominant "electronic" phase. The music is still experimental in nature and if you´re familiar with their first three albums it´s obvious that Kraftwerk still have elements of the more ambient/experimental krautrock style featured on "Autobahn".

In my world the 22:30 minute long title track, which filled the whole of Side 1 of the original LP, is by far the most interesting track on the album. It´s also the track which mostly reminds me of the later electronic pop/rock that Kraftwerk are predominantly known for (even though the music on the album features some organic instruments like flute, violin and guitar). I really appreciate the memorable and simple themes as well as the repetitive electronic rythm. The "Autobahn" track is the first Kraftwerk track to feature vocals and the only track on this album to feature them. "Autobahn" was a commercially successful track in the 3:27 minutes long single version and single handedly put the band on the international music map. It features both "regular" vocals and vocoder processed vocals. Side 2 of the Original LP features four tracks which even after repeated listens don´t appeal much to me. They are too ambient, repetitive and not memorable enough.

So even though the obvoiusly great musicianship and the high quality sound production are assets that pull my rating up, the varying quality and entertainment level of the material on "Autobahn", drag it down a bit. A 2.5 - 3 star (55%) rating is warranted.