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They're certainly not for everybody, for sure. Even for people like me who was experiencing a shift in what I was buying. By 1972 I was really getting into Barclay James Harvest, Strawbs, Jane, King Crimson, Focus, Bo Hannson, Popol Vuh, Tangerine Dream, and several other European progressive bands. Still, those bands were introduced to me by independent store owners who knew what I liked in music. Those bands didn't get a great amount of airplay, at least in the area I lived in anyway. By 1970 I had pretty much picked up entire catalogs by the Moody Blues, Pink Floyd, and Jethro Tull. And wanted more.
But credit Kraftwerk for a career that has gone over four decades. The album "Autobahn" was released in my area around September of 1974 and I would hear the entire album side every week by DJ's. That was similar to Mike Oldfield when he released "Tubular Bells" the year before. I'd have to look it up but I'll bet they've released 30 lp's by now.
One of my guilty pleasures? Heh, "I am the operator of a pocket calculator." I'll cue that song on the ol' turntable every now and then.
I only have Autobahn which I listen to from time to time, but saw them back in 2008 at Coachella and was really impressed. They are without a doubt one of the most influential groups in music history.
Their music hasn't held up very well, but I have to give them a huge amount of credit for being the grandfathers of electronic music. At minimum, you have to respect a group of guys who built their own instruments.
I've heard people with a giant amount of denial claiming other artists were the true innovators. Music doesn't work like that. The theremin made its debut in the 20's, and people were messing with vocoders in the 50's. It's who made the most strides and had the most impact.
Practically everyone who has plugged a keyboard into an electrical outlet owes a debt of gratitude to these guys. On top of that, go to the WhoSampled website and see how many artists have used their work.
I liked how Tony Naylor of NME summed it up in 2005 while briefly reviewing "Minimum-Maximum Live."
Quote:
‘The Beatles and Kraftwerk’ may not have the ring of ‘The Beatles and the Stones’, but, nonetheless, these are the two most important bands in music history.
I had the 8 track tape of the Autobahn album. It got played one time, I might have listened to Autobahn the song a few more times, then it was never played again. Just too far out there and rather boring actually.
Part of it sounds a lot like the second or third "movement" of Autobahn - the A major section with that friendly Pet-Sounds-ish melody.
I love Kraftwerk's album The Man Machine. We are the robots... The track "Metropolis" is a perfect representation of that scene in A Wrinkle In Time on that planet with everybody moving in the same way.
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