Search - Kraftwerk :: Die Mensch-Maschine

A masterpiece from Germany

04/08/1999

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Trotzdem die Platte toll ist, hier einige Anmerkungen: 1. viel zu teuer hier; gibt's bei anderen on-line Laeden billiger 2. auf der CD ist ein Fehler: bei "Das Modell" an der Stelle "hat hier alle Maenner abgecheckt" ist die stimme ploetzlich zu laut. Dieser Fehler ist auf der Schallplatte nicht zu hoeren!Ansonsten: mit "Computerwelt" sicherlich Kraftwerks bestes Werk."

"Die Mensch Maschine" still holds up today

Roger Williams | Providence, RI | 07/03/2002

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Kraftwerk has been often imitated, yet never duplicated. In today's age of lifeless electronic music, Kraftwerk's icy, almost stereotypically sterile Teutonic sound has, ironically, aged so well as to sound like a breath of fresh air in the 21st century. "Die Mensch Maschine" doesn't revolve around a central theme as do some of their earlier albums, but is something of a commentary to the modern age (such as it was in the late 1970's) and the "constructionist" art movement (in particular, the late Soviet artist El Lissitzky). This is the original German language recording, and frankly, doesn't vary in any appreciable way from the English language recording in any other regard. The outer space funk (is it possible that Kraftwerk are simply Parliament-Funkadelic from another dimension?) of "Die Roboter" and "Das Modell" are strong points, while the atmospheric "Neonlicht" gives you some breathing space before the angular finale of the title track. Whether you listen to it in German or English, fans of techno and electronic music can't go wrong here."