Electronic Music Entry

Kraftwerk is responsible for most of the electronic music we hear today. Ralf Hutter and Florian Schneider were the primary songwriters and leaders of Kraftwerk. They started off making music using real instruments along with some electronic ones and they looked as if they were just another Krautrock band at the time. Later they began to use more electronic instruments and they decided they wanted to be robots so that’s what image they created which has been used by electronic artists ever since. The first three albums they came out with, Kraftwerk, Kraftwerk 2, and Ralf and Florian used real instruments. Then in 1974 they came out with the Autobahn, which is when they started using more synth instruments. It also is the first album that really put them on the map, reaching the top 40 in the UK and America. Then in 1975 Radio-Activity is when they started to get closer to the robot theme, with the theme of the album being nuclear energy. Then in 1977 they released Trans-Europe Express, which had a great influence on Hip Hop. A good example of this is Hip Hop artist Africa Bambaataa sampled the Kraftwerk song Numbers to make Planet Rock. In 1978 they released The Machine, this album has their most Pop sounding songs. From this album there are still songs being covered by artists today like Neon Lights, which is covered by U2. In 1981 the released Computer World. A song on this album, Computer Love’s melody was used in the Coldplay song Talk. Kreftwerk is one of the most influencing and sampled bands still to this day. As a listener and industry professional I am always impressed by something that is completely new and never done before. When it comes Kraftwerk, I am amazed how original there sound is and cannot believe how you can hear elements of this sound they created in every genre of music.