Kraftwerk / Autobahn (1974) (The Catalog Box Set)
Artist Kraftwerk
Box Set Title: The Catalog (Klangbox 002) (50999 9 67506 2 9)
Album Title: Autobahn (1974) (The Catalog Box Set)
Album Cover:
Primary Genre Rock: General Rock
Format CD
Released 11/23/2009
Reissue Date 11/23/2009
Label Kling Klang
Catalog No KLANGBOX 002
Bar Code No 50999 9 67507 2 8
Packaging Box Set (8 Disk)
Tracks
1. Autobahn (22:47)
(Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider, Emil Schult)
2. Kometenmelodie 1 (6:42)
(Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider, Emil Schult)
3. Kometenmelodie 2 (5:31)
(Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider, Emil Schult)
4. Mitternacht (3:45)
(Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider, Emil Schult)
5. Morgenspaziergang (4:02)
(Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider, Emil Schult)
Date Acquired 12/01/2009
Personal Rating
Acquired from Amazon
Purchase Price 130.99

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Notes



Reviews
All Music Guide Review:

Review by Andy Kellman

One of electronic music’s most crucial and lavish box sets, The Catalogue contains eight Kraftwerk albums remastered by founding member Ralf Hütter: Autobahn (1974), Radio-Activity (1975), Trans-Europe Express (1977), The Man-Machine (1978), Computer World (1981), Electric Cafe (aka Techno Pop, 1986), The Mix (1991), and Tour de France Soundtracks (2003). Some purists were upset with liberties taken by Hütter -- specific elements of certain songs sound sharpened, evidence of some noise reduction, and so forth -- but they are few in number and minor in effect. (The gripes were quite possibly made with the intent to prove that they know the ins and outs of these albums more than you do.) The box itself is 12 inches by 12 inches, rather hefty. The eight discs, nested in four dense foam compartments, are individually packaged in sleeves that replicate the original artwork, whether through the disc’s pouch or the slipcase in which the pouch is (tightly) housed. Each album gets its own 12-by-12 booklet with full-page images.



Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Although Kraftwerk's first three albums were groundbreaking in their own right, Autobahn is where the group's hypnotic electronic pulse genuinely came into its own. The main difference between Autobahn and its predecessors is how it develops an insistent, propulsive pulse that makes the repeated rhythms and riffs of the shimmering electronic keyboards and trance-like guitars all the more hypnotizing. The 22-minute title track, in a severely edited form, became an international hit single and remains the peak of the band's achievements -- it encapsulates the band and why they are important within one track -- but the rest of the album provides soundscapes equally as intriguing. Within Autobahn, the roots of electro-funk, ambient, and synth pop are all evident -- it's a pioneering album, even if its electronic trances might not capture the attention of all listeners.
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