Customer Reviews

Trans Europe Express

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Having already created the aural electronic equivalent of driving on one of Europe's most famous roadways, Kraftwerk set about making the soundtrack to riding Europe's best known railroad line. "Trans Europe Express" is the electronic album that launched thousands more; everyone from David Bowie to Afrika Bambaataa to Radiohead has cited this album as an influence. In its 2009 remastered incarnation, "Trans Europe Express" gains in clarity and depth, and reinforces the fact that this 1977 album was decades ahead of its time.

This was the album where Kraftwerk began to manipulate not only their sound, but their look. The non-synthesized instruments from "Autobahn" were removed entirely and the interlocking title track/"Metal On Metal"/"Abzug" playout as a trip along the tracks with the monotonous clickety clack of the drum machines simulating the rolling cars. The deadpan voices chant the title and name drop meeting Iggy and Bowie in Berlin (an episode that really happened). It was the sound of the future, and sounds incredible even now.

Back in the late 70's My Brother introduced me to Kraftwerk Autobahn, That Album blew me away, Later I discovered Radio Activity and then Finally this one, Trans Europe Express, I have to admit, Back then, This was my least favorite Kraftwerk Album. Well life moved on and the carefree days of listening to music and watching MTv (Back when it actually played Music Videos) are a distant memory, being replaced by Marriages, Jobs and Day to Day living, and While AutoBahn was always My go to Kraftwerk album on my Ipod ~ The Rest I kind of had forgotten about until I recently re-discovered them on YouTube.

Well I got to say, I certainly Appreciate T E E much more now that I'm Older and much Wiser I've been listening to the title track and Europe Endless over and over, In Fact YouTube is what led me to add this CD to my collection, already having Autobahn and Radio Activity (Which are both Excellent CD's in their own right) It's a shame no one makes great music like this nowadays and sadly a whole generation has now grown up thinking Rap is actually Good Music, But if you want to listen to something from the 70's that puts most current "music" to shame, it doesn't get much better than Kraftwerk. This from an era in Music when it actually took talent to make it.

Enjoy some today.

this album starts it all.
these guys are the masters and should be in the rock and roll hall of fame for analog snyth music !
hall of mirrors.. t.e.e.
pre-owned but still clean disc/packaging
quick delivery and great to add to the collection..
trkybird

Kraftwerk are one of the few Influential Bands(tm) who really deserve their acclaim. By this point their music had become fully synthesized, and they had just abandoned any organic, texture-based experimental impulses in favor of icy, concrete pop driven by machine-like repetition. What remains interesting about this period of the band is that when they approach abstract, emotional concepts, they do so as distanced spectators who embody artificiality, an aesthetic shamelessly plagiarized by talentless pop divas to this very day.

I rank this particular release a little below the rest of the band's catalogue because the 10 minute opener does drag a little, and side B--more or less one long composition separated into movements--gets a little tedious in one sitting, especially considering its neoclassical sense of prim & proper balance. (The band nailed the whole quasi-suite structure later with Computer World.) Still, this definitely deserves a solid five stars. "The Hall of Mirrors" examines the dissonance between self-perception and reality in the band's typical postmodern fashion, while "Showroom Dummies" is still about the creepiest thing ever.

A delight to hear this remastered re-issue of some great ipod music for late night rides with your Eurail Pass.

The piece "Hall of Mirrors" by Kraftwerk on their album entitled Trans Europe Express is definitely interesting. After listening to it in its entirety enough times for any sane person, I would be lying if I did not say that the repetitive beat is stuck in my head. Whether or not this is a completely good or bad thing though, I am still unsure; the beat is catchy to say the least, and Kraftwerk does a very good job of layering different sounds as is often done with electronic and technosonic music. The song starts off with a very computer-sounding sound, almost reminiscent of those old space video games people used to play in arcades. This computer sound is carried throughout the entire piece, entering and exiting periodically through decrescendos and crescendos and in different pitches. This sound alone is electronic and computer-sounding enough to make any fan of early Elektronische Musik or Stockhausen proud.
Another sound is also introduced toward the beginning, which sounds similar to loud, booming, echoing footsteps through a desolate hall, which happens to be recorded through a microphone with low quality or a little bit of static. While this description may make this noise sound odd, and quite possibly unpleasant, it is actually one of the most effective aspects of the piece. When combined with the computer noise described above and other elements of the piece that I will touch upon later, not only is music created, not only is a song, but a feeling is created as well with an environment. This feeling of an environment being conveyed was what struck me most about this piece. Technosonic music is not always accepted with open minds and open arms, and many people may not enjoy the artists' appreciation of the idea of being abstract. However, no matter what someone's opinion may be of this type of music, anyone could appreciate how this song, like other technosonic pieces, uses music to create the appropriate environment that its "Hall of Mirrors" title calls for.
The last layer of beats and sounds in the song that helps to attribute to this creation of an environment (excluding the lyrics and voice) is the use of what sounds like a cross between a Hammond Organ and some variation of an electronic keyboard with an echo effect. This layer consisting of a few levels of different beats at different pitches is the part of this song that may indeed haunt you in your sleep. It is the catchy part that I mentioned earlier and also helps to create more of its melodic quality with its rhythm.
The last element of the song that I have failed to mention thus far that really pulls all the pieces together are the lyrics and the voice added. As with many electronic pieces, the lyrics are presented in a spoken, as opposed to a singing fashion. While some listeners may not find this to appeal to their taste, in my opinion, it helps the song progress leaps and bounds, and turns this already created environment, into a story. The spoken word helps create this eerie, almost empty feeling as similar variations of the lyric "Even the greatest stars, discover themselves in the looking glass" are repeated and changed. These words are dispersed between more lyrics describing a man's experiences in this hall of mirrors to tell the story of a progression of one man's--as well as society's--changing view of themselves through self-examination.
It is this idea of "The Hall of Mirrors" for which the song is aptly named that enables this self-examination for society, and ultimately self-alteration and change. Kraftwerk could have severely failed in tackling such a complex issue in one song, but they manage to pull together a piece that is entertaining, enlightening, and creative. However, while I would recommend buying, or at least listening to this song, I must say that as difficult as it may seem, if you don't like it the first time, consider listening to it again while paying more attention to the lyrics and trying to appreciate the little details. For instance, when the lyrics refer to distortion, the computer music gets louder and faster--more distorted. The piece does drag on a little , and it is in appreciating details like these that you will further enjoy it for its eight minute duration, and be less likely to deem this song too repetitious and appropriate of the title "Endless Endless," which is already taken by another song on Kraftwerk's album , Trans Europe Express.