MINIMUM MAXIMUM

It's really about time these guys put out an official live album. Now that digital technology has dominated the electronic mainstream, Ralph and Florian don't have to worry about the all the bulky Moogs, ARPs, ocillators, microwave ovens and whatever else plus the kitchen sink they were using in the 70s and 80s. Now we have our Kraut legends, teamed up with Henning Schmitz and Fritz Hilpert streamlined to just podiums and laptops. Giving more breathing room to visualize their shows with incredible light and projection.

Like Rush did with their 35th anniversary tour, they pretty much covered most of their career on these shows so there's too much to go over here. And instead of just duplicating the songs from their earlier works, they do breath new life into these techno classics. According to other reviews, these guys don't do the same show twice, so it's not like they're just sitting there pushing buttons. So yes, there is some musicianship at work here regardless of what some critics have said in the past.

My only gripe with this album is that it doesn't sound to "live". The music sounds like it's coming right off the mixing board and probably is with one microphone thrown in to capture the audience sound. There is no acoustic dynamics except artificially from the computer echo effects. That said, the new DVD of this coming out in Sept. should be a sonic assault on the ears if done right with a Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 mixes. I just hope they don't make the same mistake Ozric Tentacles did with their DVD and keep the soundscape to just the front speakers.

In conclusion, as novelty as I always thought of these guys, I have to admit they were revolutionary in this genre. Hip-Hop and Techno owes a lot to these guys. I'm glad that this tour demonstated that they weren't passe'. I'm sure Ralph and Florian won't stop here and just keep going.