THE MAN-MACHINE [AKA: DIE MENSCH-MASCHINE]

Cold space electronic music for robots... this is a groundbreaking and visionary album and a true work of art. I think this is Kraftwerk's best, most fully-realized album. The minimalist music paints a stark picture of a future world where all life is automated and all thoughts and experiences are artificially manufactured. The songs have a cold, disaffected, sterile atmosphere... precise, angular, ticking-cog percussion drive the mechanical music forward through bleak synthesized clouds and metallic blips and drones. 30 years after it's release, Die Mensch-Maschine still sounds futuristic.

'Spacelab' is my favorite track by far, it's has a dark and depressive quality that stands out on the album amongst it's mostly anti-emotional, anti-humanistic counterparts.

'Metropolis' exudes a similar melancholy... but instead of genuine sadness it feels like the memory-of-an-emotion felt by a newly assimilated cyborg who can no longer feel themselves... but still long for the lost humanity they will never experience again in their hyper-modern computer world.

This is certainly a masterpiece of Electronic music... and while it is progressive in it's own way, I am not convinced this is 'Prog' or essential listening for every Prog fan. I do, however, highly recommend this as a starting point for anyone who wishes to explore Electronic music.