Kraftwerk - Minimum Maximum

Year of Release: 2005
Label: EMI
Catalog Number: 7243 5 60616 20
Format: CD
Total Time: 120:49:00

I have been trying to interview Kraftwerk for well over ten years now and still nothing has happened. However, with this double album I have been given the reason why, as the music does all the talking! Over the years, our German friends have evolved from a pure electronic band to the founders of electronic dance music. Recorded all over the world between March and June 2004 Minimum Maximum has become kind of a greatest hits revisited as the older material has been given a true facelift. Take "Autobahn" for instance, which no longer takes up a whole side of a vinyl album, but is stripped down to the core of a mere eight minutes of digital marvel. Whilst the sleeve design for this new live album is but a reversed version of the Expo 2000 design, a large selection has been taken from the band's Tour De France album which was released a year prior to the tour. Kraftwerk knows how to please its fans by also including plenty of well-known "classics," albeit sometimes in a heavily re-arranged way.

One does not really know whether the order of the songs on this album is exactly the same as on the actual nights; yet regardless of this. the quality of the material is high enough to keep everyone on her/his toes from beginning to end. The computervoice that introduces "The Man-machine" is crisp and clear, as will be the entire recording. Kraftwerk not only has made a name for itself where compositions are concerned, but also regarding the quality of sound. Instead of being stuck in a void like so many of their electronic colleagues from the seventies, Kraftwerk has experimented with synths and sounds, tackling these to become the percussive backbone to their songs. These songs have become timeless due to their simple yet evocative nature and their rather naïve, simple and repetitive lyrics. Over the years everyone has learned how to sing along to "The Model," "Radioactivity" or "Pocket Calculator." However, attending a Kraftwerk show does not immediately mean you have to massively join in singing along. What you will do however is constantly move your butt whether you like it or not. Take "Planet Of Visions" as a prime example of the funky dance oriented material that gets executed with German precision. Is it a surprise that Kraftwerk's music gets remixed a lot for use in the coolest discos?

Ralf, Florian, Fritz and Henning might probably be the most boring people this side of the planet, yet their music is original, ingenius, innovating, contemporary and most of all inspiring tons of musicians in every style of music. Minimum Maximum will most certainly please all kinds of music lovers, whether they want to dance, chill out or simply enjoy some great quality music. Whether you already have tons of Kraftwerk at home or this would be your very first Kraftwerk purchase, this album comes highly recommended - whether you pick it up as a double CD, multichannel SACD, double DVD (can't wait to see this one!), or 4LP box set. Kraftwerk : there's nothing like it!

Tracklisting:
Disc One: The Man Machine / Planet Of Visions / Tour De France Etape 1 / Chrono / Tour De France Etape 2 / Vitamin / Tour De France / Autobahn / The Model / Neon Lights

Disc Two: Radioactivity / Trans Europe Express / Metal On Metal / Numbers / Computer World / Home Computer / Pocket Calculator / Dentaku / The Robots / Elektro Kardiogramm / Aero Dynamik / Music Non Stop

Musicians:
Ralf Hütter - keyboards, electronics
Florian Schneider - keyboards, electronics
Fritz Hilpert - keyboards, electronics
Henning Schmitz - keyboards, electronics

Discography:
Kraftwerk 1 (1971)
Kraftwerk 2 (1972)
Ralf and Florian (1973)
Autobahn (1974)
Radio-Aktivitat (Radio-Activity) (1975)
Exceller 8 (1975)
Trans-Europa Express (1977)
Die Mensch Maschine (1978)
The Man-Machine (1978)
Computer Welt (Computer World) (1981)
Electric Cafe [German] (1986)
The Mix (1991)
The Mix [German] (1991)
The Capitol Years (1994)
The Model: Best of Kraftwerk (1994)
The Best of Kraftwerk (1999)
Radio Activity (Australian Tour Edition) (2003)
Trans-Europa Express (Australian Tour Edition) (2003)
Computer World (Australian Tour Edition) (2003)
Man Machine (Australian Tour Edition) (2003)
Tour de France Soundtracks (2003)
Minimum Maximum (2005)

Genre: Electronic

Origin DE

Added: September 19th 2005
Reviewer: John "Bobo" Bollenberg

Artist website: www.kraftwerk.com
Hits: 2616
Language: english