Kraftwerk - Man Machine
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CD Details
Artist: KraftwerkEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown)
Format: Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 2009-10-06
Music Label: Astralwerks
Soundtracks:
- The Robots
- Spacelab
- Metropolis
- The Model
- Neon Lights
- The Man Machine
Music reviews of Man Machine
Music Review: First exposure - now on a pedestal, as it should be.
Rating: 5 Stars
"The Man Machine" was my first exposure to Kraftwerk back in the late 70's, and in the remaster, the work sounds that much better. Nice to see it raised on such a pedestal. Although I have the original vinyl, I haven't compared the two side-by-side, but the remaster is powerful, clear and clean, which does the music great justice. There is so much clean detail - like the subtle breathiness of the single-word vocal in "Spacelab", or the clean staccato beat at the start of "The Man Machine", and the detail of the sounds in it.
Not having the direct comparison of new to old, I'll stick to the tracks, which are especially informative when comparing to Kraftwerk's "Computer World" (1981) - very different compilations. "The Man Machine" is like a "working man's" (actually, "working robots") compilation compared to "Computer World". If you liked the latter, you'll like this even better if you like simplicity. "The Man Machine" is analogous to the imaginative liner notes (actually photos), which show the four Kraftwerk mannequins going off to a day of work (arriving promptly at 7:59 to their recording studio). It's practical and hard-hitting in most spots, interleaved with the "experiences" of the day. Brilliant - and so much different than the also brilliant "Computer World". You will not find anything like "Numbers" or "It's More Fun to Compute" (from the latter CD) here. In comparison, "The Man Machine" world is quaint and familiar, rather than being edgy.
Track 1 (The Robots) "We are programmed just to do, anything you want us to". The PERFECT intro to this compilation. The track just brilliantly gives the feeling of marching forward, somewhat in a plodding but well-defined way that you might imagine a robot would do. A lot of vocoder here, and the remaster picks up all the very fine subtlety - the breathiness and echo. Just great.
Track 2 (Spacelab) Starts with the sound of a door closing. Perhaps the door to the studio? Now, the robots go to work - making sounds quite unlike the first track! This track is far more fluid and spacious. The melody is mostly uplifting, but with a few melancholy lines - both feelings are carried in a smooth melody which overlays a very staccato beat.
Track 3: (Metropolis) The start sounds like the power is coming up, over the sound of a "beating heart" of the city, which smoothly transitions to another smooth melody - something you might attribute to smooth movement. Feels like you're watching the goings-on of a Fritz Lang style art-deco city through the eyes of "the robots".
Track 4: (The Model) The robots hit the night club. Another smooth, charming melody - sounds like the Kraftwerk "robot" equivalent to Robert Palmer's "Simply Irresistible".
Track 5: (Neon Lights) Nostalgic. The start is so simple, and a bit melancholy. Day passes into night in the robot world, but here (as in "the Model") we have human vocals. The musical lines are so simple, even though they layer as the song proceeds. The synth
That comes in at 2:00 in the song mimics the lyric - "shimmering neon lights". The slow tempo, crossed with the smooth melody and staccato beat gives a peaceful feeling in this seemingly "cold" robot world.
Track 6: (The Man Machine) Just in case you were forgetting where you were from hearing the last two tracks, we're now back to the working, robot world. Seems like the complement to track 1 in many ways - simple clean musical lines, with "sound effects" in many spots that are used as musical lines, overlayed in the usual brilliant Kraftwerk way.
To conclude - I can't help to re-iterate the vast difference between this compilation, and "Computer World". I'm leaning toward the latter as the "better" compilation, but both are beyond 5 stars, so it doesn't matter - if you are into Electronica, you must have both.
More Man Machine free music reviews:
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Description of Man Machine
A bold new look, sound and concept as Kraftwerk fully realize their clever use of melody and technology over supple processed rhythms predating the rise of European techno and trance. Man Machine is so stunningly ahead of its time that "The Model" becomes a surprise UK #1 chart-topper three years after the album's initial release.Alternative Rock CDs
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