Kraftwerk's Die Mensch-Maschine

Kraftwerk's seventh studio album and a personal favorite of mine, this record is a treat. There are so many interesting themes, ideas, and fragments of the culture from which it came.

Kraftwerk obviously need no introduction, and this album contains many of the tracks that most people would associate the group with - the title track being Die Roboter.



Original German is the only way to go

Discuss this classic here - its influence, its production, and everything in between.

 

Probably my favourite Kraftwerk album.

I've actually never heard the original German version, though...

 

Give it a shot! It's pretty rad.

 

My introduction to Kraftwerk was "Radio-Aktivität" as a kid, but "Die Mensch-Maschine" was my first love when it comes to their albums. I was totally fascinated by the futuristic feel and it's still my favourite Kraftwerk album. Apart from the hits, I nowadays enjoy "Spacelab" and "Neon Licht" the most.

 

Korrekt!

 

Still looking for a decent copy of the German version on vinyl, but yeah - this along side Computerwelt & Trans Europa Express are actually my favorites. IMO the only misstep in their "classic" years was Radio-Aktivitat.

 

Regarding the German vs English versions - is it only the vocals that are different?
Or are the songs differently mixed and/or recorded (as with Peter Gabriel's German versions.)

 

I see Radio-Activitat as a bit of a transitional album, but I don't think it's any kind of "misstep" at all.

 

German version is my preference, too (and is one of my favorite Kraftwerk albums...might be my favorite). The production is fantastic; particularly the sound and texture of the synths.

 

No, me neither. It's darker and more experimental than the others, but it's still a great album. I love it a lot, especially late at night. Though it really spooked me out when I was a kid and my brother made me listen to "Die Stimme der Energie" in the dark.

 

Are there CDs of the German issues in good quality - I seem to remember reading that titles were not released in the format with good mastering. Or was that the English versions?

 

The 2009 remasters are, to my ear (and many others) very faithful and pleasing to the original sound, and should be readily available in both English and German languages (I think)

 

I drastically prefer the 80's AAD CDs to the '09 remasters. The remasters are unnecessarily compressed and in an attempt to modernize the sound and even it out among the albums they futzed way too much with the EQ. Computerwelt is almost unlistenable (the '09 remaster) between the pumped-up bass and compression.

 

Well I do own a German Target CD of "Computer World" (the German language version) and it sounds absolutely fantastic.

 

I have a couple of the remasters but never thought there was a problem with the old 80s U.S. CDs. The old ones take more effort to find now of course. Years ago I used to shop at store that had all the German language versions of the albums...I regret not buying all those. Might track them down at a later date.

 

This was my first Kraftwerk album too. Even though I prefer "TEE". Think the difference between the stark, European b/w soundscapes of that album and the colorful, scifi sonics of "Mensch Maschine" is fascinating.

And I'm covinced Giorgio Moroder was responsible for turning on the "Neon Lights", "I Feel Love" came out in 1977

The transition to the dynamic, hyperrealistic (and as it turned out prophetic) "Computer Welt" is also amazing. My three favourite Kraftwerk albums.

 

I tried to find Kraftwerk vinyl records in Berlin about 15 years ago, and they really didn't have any. Kraftwerk is probably still hard to find in most record stores the world over, U.S.A. included.

 

Hmm...I quite like my CD. It indicates that it is 'Made in Holland;' as far as I know the mastering is the same as the original German release. Note that this disc appears to have pre-emphasis, even though it isn't in the TOC.

 

It's not difficult to pick up the German language lp's on Discogs or eBay.

 

If you can find them, the promo remasters issued in 2004 generally sound better than the standard 2009 remasters, which suffer from too much compression and noise reduction, and sometimes editing errors.

The 2004 masterings seem to have been used for the recent vinyl reissues (at least that's the case for The Man-Machine).

More info on this useful link: http://5-against-4.blogspot.fr/2009/11/kraftwerk-remastered-retrospective.html

 

Fleamarkets and record fairs are the way to go. "Mensch Maschine", "Computerwelt", "Autobahn" and "Radio Aktivität" show up quite frequently and usually between ten and twenty Euros. So does "TEE" but if you want it complete with poster you probably need luck or 30 Euros ."Kraftwerk" and "Kraftwerk 2" come up from time to time but no longer cheap, in fact their price is on a continous rise. What was once 25 to 50 Deutsch Marks is now 40 - 50 Euros. The album I see least - as official pressing - is "Ralf & Florian".

 

Oh my. Just got into these guys not too long ago. Really dig this one, but I keep going back to Computer World and Trans Europe Express lately.

 

This was the first album I ever bought. It was also the only album I ever bought on music cassette. I was 11 years old.
I still like the album a lot, it's my favourite Kraftwerk album.

 

Fantastic album. For me it marks the start of the Man Machine, Computerwelt, Electric Cafe run, which i find to be the highlight of their discography. (Electric Cafe being a very underrated album imo)

Fave, for me, will always be Computerwelt. It is also the one album that is not just better in German but MUCH better in German. The mix is better, and the humor got lost in translation.

 

Radio-Aktivität is one of my favorite kraftwerk albums and their first album I knew and bought.

I would love to put Die Stimme der Energie over and over again in my work LOL