The Man-Machine

by

Kraftwerk

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1978's 'The Man Machine' is Kraftwerk's most focused, and strongest album to date. Although short, clocking in at just over thirty minutes, the six tracks that comprise 'The Man Machine' are of high quality and filler-free. The album can easily be listened to straight through several times without boring the listener.

The album kicks off powerfully with 'The Robots'. It's pulsating bassline, machine-like rhythms and heavily processed vocals set the tone for the rest of the album. I actually prefer this version of 'The Robots' to the one on Kraftwerk's 1991 release 'The Mix'. I find 'The Man Machine' version to be a lot more robotic than 'The Mix''s more human, organic reworking.

Next is the first of the two almost completely instrumental tracks on `The Man Machine', `Spacelab'. `Spacelab''s weightless, dreamy synth lines say more to the listener than any vocals could ever describe. The only vocals that enter the mix are the vocoded words "Space-lab". A very relaxing, beautiful track.

Third up is the other vocally minimal track on the album, the dystopian `Metropolis'. This track is the most ominous of all of the tracks on `The Man Machine', perhaps the most ominous of all of Kraftwerk's songs (`Radioactivity' would be a close second). Likely drawing from Fritz Lang's 1926 masterpiece of the same title, `Metropolis' invokes the listener with the feeling that this futuristic city may not be the utopia we would all like it to be.

`The Model', the album's fourth track is a strange, somewhat poppy, but very catchy song. The lyrics are very simple and the synth sounds are very dated, but that is what is so charming about this song. "Charming" could very easily describe the appeal of all of Kraftwerk's work, as a matter of fact.

`Neon Lights'. Soothing, vocally minimal, long, experimental. Perfectly positioned in the track listing, `Neon Lights' helps to hold the album together. It is the perfect transition between the poppy `The Model' and the animatronic title track.

The closing track on the album is the title track, `The Man Machine.' It's toy-like staccato synth line and "pop-hiss" drums that run throughout the song sound as if they were played by automatons. The vocals are a stark contrast to the synth lines as they are warm, smooth and reverberating. This is one of the best tracks on the album, it is so much different in structure than the other songs, yet has many musical similarities. A great way to end the album.

Overall, `The Man Machine' is my favourite Kraftwerk album. Every song is focused and contributes in it's own way to the one overall feel of the album. If you want to get into Kraftwerk, I would suggest buying `The Mix' as I did. It is a bit of a greatest hits album, as well as a reworking of older Kraftwerk favourites. It is a good overview of Kraftwerk's career thusfar, even though they haven't done much since '86. But if you want some solid, vintage Kraftwerk, definitely pick up `The Man Machine.'