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

The Man Machine is Kraftwerk's best Cd and I owned the original vinyl and spun it endlessly in my childhood days. I was encapsulated by the ultra strange starkness and alien-techno shifts into futurism and beyond. I had heard nothing like it and craved more, going as far as getting hold of every Kraftwerk vinyl album I could find. Some thirty years later, and I am still engrossed by the hypnotic rhythms of these Krautrock pioneers of white noise and eclectic electronica.

'The Robots' is an outstanding punchy, cold, alienated track and is easily the highlight of the album. The synthetic robotic vocals work brilliantly against the wall of sound from computerised electronics and percussion. The song has since been revamped but this is the best version, trust me.

'Spacelab' is a space electronic excursion into the stratosphere featuring high level percussion and gorgeous synth pads throughout. The droning 'Metropolis' follows and is full of subsonic electronica with washes of inspired keyboards.

'The Model' is the single and works well, with actual verses sung appropriately in cold sterile tones. The song has since been made into an MTV favourite; a very funny, and decidedly satiric black and white film clip, showing old fashioned footage of models and strange women in high fashion garments from the late 50s. It is a highlight of the album, and is quite a mainstream approach in comparison to the rest of the high strangeness.

Back to the strange and surreal with 'Neon Lights' that feature shimmering keyboards synthesised through effects panels on computers. How do you describe this music? It is the weakest song on the album and yet still has the power of trance if you let it into your brain.

'The Man Machine' is a wonderful album closer and has hypno-trance rhythms that are surprisingly contemporary to today's standards. In fact the whole album is contemporary and these pioneers were way ahead of their time.

This is Kraftwerk's best album in my opinion because it simply mesmerizes from beginning to end, and is a prime example of Krautrock electronica at its best.