Kraftwerk 2

Like most of the world, my introduction to Kraftwerk was the song “Autobahn.” It was an early morning favorite of my local FM station. Fast forward 10 years and suddenly “Trans Europe Express” was the backbeat of many nascent hip-hop DJs as they introduced to the world a “brand new” musical style based on the word. With other hits like “The Model,” “Computer World” and “Tour de France,” Kraftwerk and their quirky robot pop became a powerful modern musical influence.But it wasn’t always so. When Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider began their musical journey, they were a decidedly different band, playing avant rock similar to Ash Ra Temple. On this album, Kraftwerk 2, they lurch into a more improvised musical direction, which is both weird and wonderful. If you played this to most people, they would probably scratch their heads and wonder why it sounds so strange. They’d never guess it was Kraftwerk. When I first heard this album, I couldn’t believe it was Kraftwerk either.I’ve recently began playing electronic music again after many years on hiatus and I’ve been listening to a lot of different styles of electronic music, both contemporary and from the past. One night, in the beginning of May, this album popped up through the YouTube algorithm and I realized I had never heard Kraftwerk 2. Was I in for a surprise!The 17 minute opening track starts with various bells and struck metal sounds and it just gets crazier from there, with their primitive drum machine going faster and faster as it drives the sound forward until it suddenly slooooooooooows down and stops. Then a complete different theme starts playing! These two guys are not common mortals: not many people hear music like this in their heads and then try to reproduce it for others!There’s also a track of just some guy breathing, foreshadowing their later hit “Tour de France.” Most of the rest are wild feedback driven guitar improvisations with a closing tune of a harmonica doing its best church organ imitation courtesy of heavily processed delay and reverb. As it was the first time hearing this album, I was shocked. Kraftwerk did this? And in 1971? Oh my.I have a much deeper respect for Ralf and Florian than I did before. This record gives me a bit more understanding of why they became what they did in later years. This is a “pre-fame” album from a band that would later have great musical influence on all types of music, not just robot pop. Highly recommended.

And on the 8th day, God created Kraftwerk. And it was good.

I'll be honest, this is for the fans of Kraftwerk. It likely won't make someone a fan as their later albums defined the Kraftwerk sound. I've been a fan since I bought the album Autobahn in 1974. What I like about this album is how Kraftwerk continued to experiment with sound, echo and distortion from the first Kraftwerk album (Kraftwerk red). The track that stands out is Klingklang which runs 17+ minutes. Spule 4 and Wellenlange are probably the other tracks that need to be listened to. Again, this album is interesting in how it lead Kraftwerk to develop that Kraftwerk sound of The Man Machine and Computer Cafe. If you are a real fan of Kraftwerk or want to get a better idea of the music scene in Germany back on the early 70s, this album is worth a listen. Hope this helps out some folks.

Great work from Kraftwerk!

Great Album!

Awesome!

its a shame that KRAFTWERK 1 was highly innovative and experimental, it sounded really electronical and interestingbut with this record they went back,despite KLINGKLANG a 20+ minutes piece of music which is very repitive the other tracks are not interestingin ATEM you can hear a guy breathingin STROM you can listen to somebody who plays e-guitar and then there is repitive musicHARMONIUM-- here you can listen somebody playing a music instrument called HARMONIUM the whole trackSPULE 4 repitive boring musicthis is their only album which is not nearly electronical

This CD, Kraftwerk's second album, is one of the oddest things I've heard in a while. As other reviewers have remarked, do not expect the Robots, Pocket Calculators, Autobahn Rides, and Electric Cafes for which they are justifiably famous. Here they are in the very, very early stages of developing that signature sound, and about the only thing really electric is the electric guitar. Much of the music has a strong psychedelic streak, in fact, and bears a strong family resemblance to some of Pink Floyd's earlier work or, more closely, Tangerine Dream's "Electronic Meditation" and "Alpha Centauri" --atmospheric, meandering instrumentals with guitar and a bit of flute, flavored with cosmic sci-fi moods and half-baked but well-intentioned evocations of Indian sitar music. In retrospect it seems clear that we have here the basic ingredients of their musical sense; without this, their later albums would have had all the charm and artistry of speak-and-spell. And then this spaced-out psychedelica is interlaced with some daring (and not always completely successful) experimentation with recorded noise arranged and distorted for effect--the primitive foundation of the Kraftwerk we know and love.I would very much hesitate to recommend this album as one's introduction to Kraftwerk--its historical importance in understanding their musical development is too big a part of the overall enjoyment for that, and it's hardly typical of their work. Still, it's more than just a history lesson, and stands on its own pretty well as good, inventive music with an oddball touch, "Klingklang" especially.

I like this album/CD - mastering is clear and clean alth0ough it has suspicious faint tick sounds reminiscent of vinyl...not sure of the source. Contains one track used on the exceller 8 Vinyl best of album - KlingKlang. Worth picking up if your a fan of the earlier more experimental works.

Capolavoro assoluto dei Kraftwerk e uno dei dischi più importanti degli anni 70. Qui si intravede già abbastanza bene il passaggio da trame sperimentali moderatamente ostiche allo stile per il quale i Kraftwerk verranno consegnati alla storia del rock. Sono circa 15 anni che si parla di ristampe ufficiali e rimasterizzate dei primi dischi dei Kraftwerk, ma non se n'è mai fatto nulla, al punto che si sospetta addirittura di una leggenda metropolitana

all Kraftwerk CD's but 3 were remastered ... Kraftwerk 1 + 2 + "Ralf und Florian" were never released "officially" ... so if You want to complete YOUR collection, don't wait for a miracle to happen, this is it ...

A l'instar de Cluster, les premiers opus de Kraftwerk (de Tone Float à Ralf & Florian) baignent dans la musique expérimentaleet avant gardiste. Faisant surtout appel à de l'instrumentation conventionelle , l'électronique y est peu présente, donc à desannèes-lumières de ce qui fera leur gloire et fortune (de Autobahn à Computer World). Pour amateurs de voyages dèjantés,typique de ces années fabuleuses.

Más conceptual que el primero, aunque sin alcanzar el éxito de los futuros (Autobahn, etc) discos, se puede aun hoy oir como algo fresco y potente.