Kraftwerk (German for "power plant" or "power station") is an influential electronic music band from Dusseldorf, Germany. The signature Kraftwerk sound combines driving, repetitive electronically-generated rhythms with catchy synthesizer-generated melodies; mainly following a Western classical style of harmony, in a minimalistic arrangement. The group's simplified lyrics are at times sung through a vocoder or generated by computer-speech software. In the mid to late 1970s and the early 1980s, Kraftwerk's distinctive sound was revolutionary for its time, and it has had a lasting impact across nearly all genres of modern popular music.
Kraftwerk were formed in 1970 by Florian Schneider (flutes, synthesizers, electro-violin) and Ralf Hutter (electronic organ, synthesizers). The duo had originally performed together in a quintet known as Organisation. This ensemble released one album, titled Tone Float (issued on RCA Records in the UK) but the unit split shortly thereafter. Early Kraftwerk line-ups from 1970-1974 fluctuated, as Hutter and Schneider worked with around a half-dozen other musicians over the course of recording three albums and sporadic live appearances; most notably guitarist Michael Rother and drummer Klaus Dinger, who left to form Neu!.
The input, expertise, and influence of producer/engineer Konrad "Conny" Plank was highly significant in the early years of Kraftwerk and Plank also worked with many of the other leading German electronic acts of the period, including members of Can, Neu!, Cluster and Harmonia. As a result of his work with Kraftwerk, Plank's studio near Cologne became one of the most sought-after studios in the late 1970s. Plank co-produced the first four Kraftwerk albums.
That is Kraftwerk (1970), Kraftwerk 2 (1972), Ralf und Florian (1973) and 1974's Autobahn. Especially auobahn stand as a landmark in the music history with much critical acclaim and it was also Kraftwerk's first album that serious commercial success. The commercial success meant that they could build their own studio, the legendary Kling Klang studio. And Autobahn became the last album Conny Plank engineered for Kraftwerk. The follow-up to Autobahn was 1975's Radio-Activity, based on a theme around radio communication. Commercially the album was let-down compared to Autobahn. In 1976 Kraftwerk created a innovative music sequencer for their Kling Klang Studio. The Music Sequencer controlled the band's Minimoog, which in turn created the next albums' rhythmic sound. The next albums being their two masterpieces Trans-Europe Express and The Man-Machine.
After the release and subsequent tour of Computer Love in 1981, Kraftwerk quite touring untill the late nineties, spending more and more time in their Kling Klang studio and their releases schedule was much more sporadic. They released Electric Cafe in 1986 and a album of re-recorded back-catalogue track called The Mix in 1991. After laying low the most of the 1990's Kraftwerk returned with seemingly renewed creative energy around 2000. The acclaimed album Tour de France Soundtracks was released in 2003, while a remastered box-set called the The Catalogue was released in 2004, followed by a live album in 2005 called a Minimum-Maximum.
Author Resource:-
Kevin Hawkins writes about music, the music industry and vinyl records. To find out more about Kraftwerk and its releases check out Kraftwerk on Nylvi.
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