Man Machine [Original recording remastered]

Kraftwerk | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (October 6, 2009)
• Original Release Date: October 6, 2009
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Original recording remastered
• Label: Astralwerks
• ASIN: B002N1AF7W
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #23,710 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #41 in Music > World Music > Europe > Continental Europe > Germany

Editorial Reviews

From the Artist

"The album has `classic' stamped all over it...in time it would acquire the same ageless quality as The Beatles' Sgt.Pepper or The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds..." - Pascal Bussy, Kraftwerk

Product Description

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.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars First exposure - now on a pedestal, as it should be., December 28, 2009

By 

Hedgehog (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Man Machine (Audio CD)

"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.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Breath-taking remaster, November 8, 2009

By 

Lovblad (Geneva, Switzerland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Man Machine (Audio CD)

As in the rest of the remastered Kraftwerk series, this album has been given the full remastering treatment. If you are familiar with previous both German and US CD versions you will remember the hiss and the flat sound overall. This did not prevent enjoying the techno pioneers but it was even back then not great. The first idea of how it should sound came with the live Minimum Maximum album. Now, this is an enormous improvement: not just is there no hiss butu also the sound has an amplitude it never had. Listen to The Robots and you will be knocked out by the modernikty of the sound: the highs and the basses are incredible and belie the age of this recording. Even if you have it you must get it again. The people at Kling Klang have done a psctacular job.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Not for everyone but certainly fascinating, June 12, 2011

By 

Paulo Henrique Nobrega Tavares - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Man Machine (Audio CD)

I first came across the music in the early eighties and it has fascinated me ever since. Yes, there are lots of pieces which just repeat over and over again - so it will suit everybody's taste - but even after all those years it still sounds fresh to me and this is certainly the mark of a good work.