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""The Man-machine" is certainly the last great album of the discography of Kraftwerk."
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5/5
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Surfing on the still hot ashes of the excellent "Trans-Europe Express", Kraftwerk continued one year later its exploration of the possibilities of synthesizers brought by an ever more performing electronics, and released in 1978 "The Man Machine", with a songwriting shared for the first time beyond the founding duo, since Karl Bartos was credited on all tracks.
Based on the concept of a music that could be created by machines, this new album was extremely sophisticated, both in terms of production and in the construction of the tracks and the choice of sounds. Of course, this is still a repetitive electronic music, based on purified melodies to get to the essential. But Kraftwerk introduced a pop aspect that had been left aside until then to the benefit of the experimental side of their music. This led to some real hits, the first of which was 'The Model', with its traditional verse/chorus pattern that quickly made an impression. In the same vein, but in an extended version, the opening track proposed by ' The Robots' was also indicative of this new state of mind.
And in the little game of who influenced whom, one couldn't help but evoke strong analogies with the artists of the time: 'Spacelab' and its disco rhythms inevitably reminding us of Didier Marouani's band ... Space and others (a simple coincidence?), while Jean-Michel Jarre and his 'Oxygène' were invited on 'Metropolis'. This same 'Metropolis' also featured an increased presence of electronic percussion, giving a very particular energy to the track. And of course, we wouldn't mention OMD here, as the influence of this new album seemed obvious for the duo Humphrey/Mc Cluskey, even in their most recent works.
Beyond this simple pop twist, "The Man Machine" also presented a second versus side where the repetitive side of the music was accentuated, while keeping its accessible side thanks to its catchy melodies, making it a quasi reference album for the synth-pop that was going to come right after the punk wave and that was going to flood the 80s. Certainly the last great album of Kraftwerk's discography. - Official website
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TRACK LISTING:
01. The Robots
02. Spacelab
03. Metropolis
04. The Model
05. Neon Lights
06. The Man Machine
LINEUP:
Florian Schneider: Claviers / Vocoder
Karl Bartos: Batterie
Ralf Hütter: Chant / Claviers / Vocoder
Wolfgang Flür: Batterie
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