Customer Reviews

Tour De France Soundtracks

5 star:		(43)
4 star:		(28)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Wow! After well over a decade of silence I had presumed that Kraftwerk had finally hung up their flashing ties and called it quits. But here's a completely new album! Suddenly the Hutter/Schneider partnership has become one of the longest in pop history, having lasted over 34 years!
So what about the album? Well the opening 5 tracks form a very extended suite of an ORIGINAL track called Tour De France (not to be confused with their breakdance hit of 1983, an updated version of which appears at the album's close almost as an afterthought). This new track is a fine start to the album, though in many ways it sounds the least 'traditional Kraftwerk' of all the tracks. It's very techno, if you know what I mean... Things start to sound more familiar with "Vitamin", a dryly humourous list of a cyclist's dietry supplements!
The next two titles form a single track ("Aero Dynamik" and "Titanium"). This piece is superb! It really put me in mind of the equally dark and punchy "Home Computer" from 1981's Computer World album. Next comes the fiendishly catchy "Elektro Kardiogramm". This piece is cleverly built around the sounds of a beating heart and heavy breathing (no you potty-minds, it's supposed to be CYCLISTS!!!!) After a few listens I found myself subconsciously chanting "Elektro-Elektro-Kardiogramm" under my breath while doing household chores. I warn you, it could happen to you!
La Forme and Regeneration are solo pieces by Hutter, and are really quite lovely; tuneful in that slightly nostalgic way that much of 1977's Trans Europe Express was.
The final song is 1983's Tour De France, lovingly given the up-date treatment like the tracks on "The Mix". Although completely re-recorded, it sounds like the group really took pains to adhere to the sounds and style of the original. It's great to finally get this track on CD!
I would recommend this CD to any fan of Kraftwerk. Some may think they've changed too much, some may think they haven't changed enough! Personally when I listen to this CD I feel as if an old friend who I haven't seen in 15 years has just got back in touch. Welcome back Krafty!

I had no idea KW were going to release a new album; just two weeks after buying the French import TDF single I came across this while looking for "Ralf & Florian". I've only been listening to KW a short time, but they've become perhaps my favorite group. To make a long story short, the day I saw this I did not hesitate at all to purchase a copy.
And I had no idea what to expect. After such long silences, most groups disappoint their fans with new material. And for a group as legendary and mythical as Kraftwerk, I was very empathetic to the pressure they must have felt, particularly from critics.
Upon first listen I was disappointed, heart-broken really; two of my biggest musical heroes showing signs that their time had come and gone. I hadn't been this letdown since John Lydon's "Psycho's Path".
Then I listened to it again. And again. Although I still had a nagging feeling of letdown, for some reason I could not put this LP down. The first 5 tracks always seemed as if they would go on forever. But then I began to notice the subtle variations, the ever-changing mix, the hooks, melodies, cresendos and how they interwove. Suddenly I felt as though I were listening to some kind of modern synthetic classical peice. Like heroin, you puke the first time; but then you realize you're hooked after it's too late. That's what this album is: musical heroin without the ugly side-effects (ha ha). I've listened to this album nearly everyday since it came out and it never gets old.
After the initial piece, you're totally prepared for "Vitamin". This is definitely single material. It's the most immediatly infectious track of the album. It has everything Kraftwerk is known for: Stockhausen-type random sounds, tightly syncopated funk grooves, a totally futuristic sound. Not to mention the tongue-in-cheek lyric, which reads like a GNC shopping list.

I won't pontificate on every track, but I have to mention that "La Forme" (one of the most abused tracks) has become my favorite. Strap on some high end headphones and close your eyes, because this song has the ability to transcend any environment you're in. It has the same "synth symphony" feel as the first 5 tracks.
Overall, this has become one of my favorite KW albums. IMHO, it's in their top 3, alongside Computer World & Man Machine. And I have a strong feeling that many critics who wrote this album off upon release are scratching their heads now, thinking the same thing.

But I prefer the 80's mixes of the TDF single. The new percussion is to soft, I think. My only complaint & a small one, really. Cheers...
Oh, and I have never done heroin... :)

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There is [and undoubtedly will continue to be] a fair degree of criticism of this album.
It has been deemed to be too 'repetitive', 'dull' and 'boring'.

Such broad, sweeping charges should cause us to cast a more discerning and critical
eye on both this and other Kraftwerk projects. Take for example, 'Trans Europa Express'
[the German version]. On that album there are 3 sequential variations of the title track;
and the last track offers a brief variation or 'reprise' of the first. Again, two tracks on one
of the most influential concept albums of all time are variants on a singular general theme -
'Computer World' and 'Computerworld 2'. Are you aware that the word 'Computer'
appears in 4 of the 7 track titles; and another includes the word 'Compute'. But this fact
does nothing to demote the undisputed important landmark classic status of the whole.

If you look and listen hard enough then you will also discover that these conceptual
developmental themes are not uncommon in the classical music world either. So it
should come as no great surprise to find two classically trained musicians namely -
Ralph Hutter and Florian Schneider - composing alternate and similar formations of
musical scores. Therefore, TDF soundtracks contains character traits in common with
the aforementioned titles, because although thematically and musically some of the tracks
appear the same, there are in them some notable differences in both sound and musical
arrangements.

To cast off TDF Soundtracks as dull, repetitive and boring after one or two hearings is a
very valid but equally unfair critical misunderstanding of what I consider to be great originality.
The album attempts to convey to us the overall grandeur and excitement associated with
participating in the Tour De France. There is also a sense in which the length, variation
and merging of the tracks [especially 2-5] actually serves to convey both the overall fluidity
of the race, and the huge distances and challenges that each participating cyclist must endure
throughout.

From the outset, the TDF Soundtracks 2003 takes us to the starting line of this famous
cycling competition. The 'prologue' is if you like, an opening push into the start of the race.
And if you have ever ridden a bicycle, then maybe you will appreciate the gradual transition
from a stationary position to a smooth progression of pace as you work through the lower
gears. Imagine as you listen through the TDF variations, the enthusiastic exhilaration of
peddling along roads, around mountains, through villages and countryside; speeding up;
slowing down; controlled breathing. Consider the physical exertion associated with a hill
climb - and as a result both feeling and hearing the heartbeat pounding in your mouth;
sweating, dehydrating and drinking juice from a bottle. Consider the joy, the pain -
the competitive strain - the freedom! It actually works very well, even more so for the
initiated.

There are a few hidden, distant musical shades of 'Computer World' and other works
throughout the whole adventure, and although sometimes very subtle they are well
worth listening out for. There is a clever, genial simplicity in many of the lyrical scores -
which certainly only Kraftwerk could produce - alongside some truly refreshing musical
brilliance. 'Vitamin' and 'Aero Dynamik' are beautifully crafted, and their meaning
and connection to the main theme should be plain, even to a glancing non-participant.
The heart beating introduction and overall rhythm in 'Elektro kardiogramm' is quite
simply and truly breathtaking. 'La Forme' opens with a quiet solo rhythmic beat which
bursts into a bright electronic crescendo of sound, almost as if you can see beyond the
pain barriers and gruelling exercises of the event, towards the finishing line ahead in
the distance. "Nearly there; I've almost made it; the yellow shirt is mine for the taking!"

And what more fitting end, what better and more logically brisk way to complete the
'Tour De France' than with the words "Sprint final à l'arrivée" from an invigorating new,
soft and subtle variant of the original title song? This is a very special 12th track for fans
who in a sense have waited, not '13' nor even '17' years for the new album [as some say],
but about 20 years. For in my humble opinion, with this crowning glory, 'Techno Pop'
has finally arrived. For just as 'Tour De France' is a track that would have been on the
album that never was; so also like a great consolation, Tour De France Soundtracks is
the finest follow-up concept album that Kraftwerk SHOULD have released next after
Computer World.

Put aside for a moment if you will, the negative criticism and enjoy the race -
From 'Start' to 'Finish' TDF Soundtracks is a 'breath of fresh air' for cyclists
and non-cyclists alike!

And jolly well worth the long wait!

It's often been said that the Kraftwerk should have just stopped probably after "Computer World", and definately after the OK-ish "Electronic Cafe" and rather iffy "The Mix". Certainly, the signs were not that encouraging when rumours started surfacing of a new album not long after the OK-but-not-brilliant "Expo 2000". Then when it turned out that the album was themed around 1983's "Tour De France" single, and would bookended by a reworking of the original, and mixes of a new "Tour De France 2003" single, the wails of anguished techno fans could be heard from Dusseldorf to Dundee. Well, the good news is the album is much better than expected, perhaps even better than "Electric Cafe".

After 17 years away, it's still very Kraftwerkian. Very minimalist, very repetitive, very tight rhythms, improvisation co-existing with computer sequencing, no "tunes" as such but still very musical, the image of Kraftwerk depicted as four anonymous figures rather than distinct personalities, opaque multilingual lyrics detailing basic concepts rather than personal experiences, the upper case font typography and minimalist "conceptual" cover. Even the classic album template of six songs split between concept "tracks" is present and correct.

The first 5 tracks are effectively a 19 minute megamix of the mixes of the slightly disappointing "Tour De France 2003" single. The mixes are effectively edited and linked together into a seamless whole, and even the repetition of the lyrics across the mixes don't matter so much. (It's Kraftwerk- they're supposed to be repetitive!) The best bits are the shiny "Etape 2" and "Chrono", which re-introduces the melodic freakout tricks last in used "Computer World". (In "Numbers" and "Home Computer")

However, the album really takes off with "Vitamin", which melds old-skool Kraftwerk with a surprisingly funky laid-back electro beat and cut-up metallic synth guitar sound twanging in tight lock-step with the rhythm. Is Florian using his guitar again? And have Kraftwerk been taking note of the recent wave of bleep-and-beats R'n'B from the likes of Timbaland?

Even better is "Aero Dynamik / Titanium", with a infuriatingly catchy bouncy bassline, a fast-moving vocal, hard-edged electro beats, and even a "Numbers"-style melodic freakout midway through. "Elektro Kardiogramm", another laid-back track, has a surprisingly *rock* feel to it- fortunately it's far superior to the laughable "Sex Object" from "Electric Cafe", the last attempt to put a bit of rock into Kraftwerk's technopop.

"La Forme / Regeneration" is another slow one (What's suprising about this album, considering it's about a gruelling bicycle race, is how *relaxed* it is.) with a funky beat and melody floating in and out on a bed of filters and phased sound, presumably reflecting the cycles of the human body detailed in the lyrics.

So far so good. And then the real clunker of the album- amazingly it's "Tour De France" itself. Not the original single of course, but a "re-creation" which manages to re-create the worst problems of "The Mix" by coming up with a pedestrain and wooly sounding (Surprisingly, given the polished sounds elsewhere on the album) re-make which sounds merely like a superior karaoke version. They'd have been better doing a slight remix of the original, or if they had space, used the Francois Kevorkian mix.

Apart from that blip, this album is much better than was to be expected. Of course, now that people can beam themselves into the future with their home computer, and make Kraftwerkian sounds on public domain software (See http://www.buzzmachines.com/ ) we can't expect boys from Dusseldorf to knock us dead with their "futuristic" sounds anymore, nor do we need them to, but on this showing their artistic vision and musical ability is still is strong as ever.

This album is very underrated. I have read countless reviews that mention the monotony of the first five tracks. People scold Kraftwerk, pretty harshly I might add, for using the same theme through out in the first five tracks. They do the same with other albums as well. They scold them saying that they just repeat the same sound. It feels as though they are trying to call them lazy. Like their saying "maybe they should write completely different songs instead of using the same one over and over through out an entire album!" I've never heard anyone actually say this, but all the negative reviews similar to the ones I am reffering to sound like they want to.

I was introduced to Kraftwerk with this album. I do agree that TDF Soundtracks is not the best introduction for the group, however, I disagree with almost every negative comment I have heard about the album. First, I have noticed alot of minimalism in Kraftwerk's music. They are minimalists. They produce minimalism at its best. They use this sound very well, especially in TDF Soundtracks. Where I think most people, who reviw this album and Trans-Europe Express (or Trans Europa Express for me, as I prefer the German version), miss the level of understanding required to properly review the album is with the theme. They use the same theme through out the first five songs of TDF Soundtracks, this is similar to the style of Trans-Europe Express. People scold the group for this. However, I actually I enjoy their use of theme. They do more than take a suond and variate it enough to classify it as a 'new' sound. They are minimalists, they use this to their advantage. I see the variations on the theme, not the use of the theme, as not being minimalistic. They have a way of doing very subtile variations that create a world of difference. For the listener who can appreciate slight variations and pay attention to very fine details you will enjoy this album very much; as well as Trans Europe Express.

People, in my opinion, need to listen more closely to music that they do. Not only listen to it, 'hear' it. Listening is when a sound hits your ear and you notice that it has. Hearing is when you know what your listening to. I am not talking about technicals. I do not mean, you know you're listening to a 1Khz tone being emmited by a Moog Synthesizer. What I mean is that you listen to more than simply the beat or the rythm or both the beat and the rythm. Listening is done with the ears and maybe simple use of the brain. Hearing is done with the mind and the rest of your body. Listen to the music, your ears are simply there to grab the sound and send it to your brain. For those who do more with the music after it has been sent to your brain, you will enjoy Kraftwerk's subtile variations very much.

Innovators from the far left out-field who've managed to keep up there with the best for 30 years, Kraftwerk are a unique and often bizarre proposition. And here's another example why... take a fairly odd idea - "musical to cycle to" - put it through 11 iterations, stand back and see what happens. First off is their 1983 "Tour de France (CD Single)" featuring three excellent interpretations of their ridiculously catchy original tune, including some quite wonderfully integrated sound bytes of heavy breathing and buzzing derailleur gears. Then 20 years later there's this, their "Tour de France Soundtracks" album with its superb first three tracks (Tour de France Etapes 1, 2 & 3) which while some way away from their predecessors pick up on several of their chord sequences to become perfectly complementary, equally irresistible extensions of them, followed by it's final track, titled - yes you've guessed it - "Tour de France", that's a further excellent reworking of the original concept. And then, if that's not enough, mix it all up even more with their "Tour de France 03 (CD Single)" featuring four more, subtly different, versions of the first three tracks from the "Soundtracks" album.

Too much I hear you say... well possibly not. As you may by now suspect these guys are dedicated "velo-men" who know a bit about how to keep your legs turning, and if you put the whole 11 tracks together and hit the "shuffle" button you'll see why because you've got just about the best possible accompaniment to a serious blast on the pedals. A mesmerically addictive, wholly harmonious sequence of brain etchingly good back-beats & chord sequences that'll keep you cycling, jogging, driving or just chilling out for almost an hour before hitting, as you will, the replay button. And if you're not convinced, buy any one of these superb records for starters and then see if you can resist getting the rest.

I've loved Kraftwerk since I first picked up Man-Machine, so it's always a treat for me when they release something new, even if it's just a modern re-vamp of old classics (see The Mix). I picked up this album thinking it was going to be another remix, but lo and behold, all new. Some of these reviews I've read are stating it is a re-hash of the old TDF, but that isn't entirely true. This album was released to coincide with the 100(?) anniversary of the TDF. Every song on this album is great. For you people who say Kraftwerk have lost it, maybe you don't like your bands to evolve. I saw them just last month (April) at the Warfield in San Francisco, and every song from this album was so good. It made me want to go out right after the show, buy a bike and start training. My wife was a semi-fan before the show. She said, "I was hypnotized the entire show." Now she's a diehard. You owe it to yourself to own this album. Pay homage to the robots. Without them, all other so called Techno bands who inhale Kraftwerk's dusty circuits would be working at Burger King.

After popping in and out of view since their last album of new material--Electric Cafe in 1986 that provided the Shprockets theme for SNL--Kraftwerk suddenly release an original album, bang, like that.

The band basically has nothing to prove any more. They are revered by electronica artists old and new, and rightly so. They clearly have little desire to be mired in the game of popular music as record label slaves or trend setters for a new generation.

Not surprising they would work on contract now. First it was the Expo 2000 single that came out of nowhere and acted as a theme for that event. Now they get the job of providing the soundtrack for the Tour De France 2003. Not a bad gig for these guys.

So what does this sound like? Actually, it sounds like Kraftwerk, plain and simple. They operate on their own, and they sound like they have no interest in what anyone else is doing. So you get an album that has all of the favorite sounds, with little attention paid to trends. And it holds up, plain and simple. Some of this is actually excellent chill out music, if a bit steely. But there are completely pleasant tunes on here, such as Vitamin, which makes you think of bobbing along in a Kraftwerkian landscape of synths and microships on a sunny day in the spring. The opening of the album is strong, you can see the bikers bolting off the line with Kraftwerk at the controls.

For Kraftwerk fans, it's a no brainer. I don't think this will win over many new fans or convert anyone who doesn't like electronic pop. But it's a solid effort, and hey, at least we finally got something.

What a pleasant suprise. I resisted it for so long, but it's really top-notch Kraftwerk. At times majestic, then humorous and always sublime - the things that make Kraftwerk work.
Smart in the way Computer World is. Buy this one now.

Kraftwerk's newest album still rocks. It's their first real album since 1986's Electric Café. Kraftwerk maintains their classic style, and adds some new technology to it making it one of my favorite albums. While it might not be my first choice for music while I am cycling, it's still a very good album.

Tour De France, Étape 1: 7/10. The first version of Tour De France on the CD. It's pretty good.

Tour De France, Étape 2: 9/10. The second version of Tour De France. In my opinion, the best version.

Tour De France, Étape 3: 8/10. The third version, and the shortest too. It's also pretty good. It has some pretty cool distorted synths in it.

Chrono: 5/10. Nothing too special compared to TDF Étape 3.

Vitamin: 9/10. One of my favorite tracks. It's got some cool retro synths and sounds in it. 8 minutes long, very good track.

Aéro Dynamik: 8.5/10. This is a strange track. I first heard it on the iTunes Music Store, when it was #3 on the top selling Kraftwerk tracks. The strange arrangement of sounds caused me think that it was crappy, but after listening to it a few more times it instantly became one of my favorites.

Titanium: 5/10. No more than an addition to Aéro Dynamik.

Elektro Kardiogramm: 8/10. This is an interesting song. If you have heard Aero from Kraftwerk II, then try imagining something like a better version of Aero combined with distorted synths and vocals. Overall a good track.

La Forme: 9.5/10. This my second favorite track. I can't really describe it, other that it is probably one of, if not the most innovative tracks on the album.

Régéneration: 4/10. A 1 minute long quicky. The name doesn't suit the track, as it is the sleepiest track on the album.

Tour De France: 10/10. Definately my most favorite track. The original 1986 Tour De France, never released with Electric Café. It's worth buying the album just for this song. Amazing track. I really can't understand why this was never on Electric Café.

I highly reccomend this album, whether you are a huge Kraftwerk fan or not.