KRAFTWERK – EXCELLER 8 LP – Nr MINT 1Y1 UK PROG ELECTRONICA

Kraftwerk – Exceller 8
(Vertigo Records  1975  6360629)
Matrix No’s: 1Y1/2Y1 – UK Pressing

Textured Sleeve in Excellent condition
– some wear to edges & a little rippling

Vinyl in Nr MINT condition
Kraftwerk (“power station”) is a German electronic music band formed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in 1969 in Düsseldorf. In the 1970s, they were among the first successful pop acts to popularize electronic music and are widely considered to be innovators and pioneers of the genre. The band was fronted by both Hütter and Schneider until Schneider’s departure in 2008.

Kraftwerk began as part of Germany’s krautrock scene in the early 1970s, releasing three albums in an experimental rock style before embracing electronic instrumentation, including synthesizers, drum machines, vocoders, and self-made instruments. On commercially-successful albums such as Autobahn (1974), Trans-Europe Express (1977), and The Man-Machine (1978), they developed a distinctive style which combined electronic music with simple pop melodies, sparse arrangements, and repetitive rhythms, while adopting a stylized visual image which often employed matching suits. Following the releases of Computer World (1981) and Electric Café (1986), member Wolfgang Flür left the group in 1987. They released their final album Tour de France Soundtracks in 2003. Founding member Schneider departed in 2008.

Kraftwerk have exerted a lasting and profound influence across many genres of modern music, including synthpop, hip hop, ambient, industrial, post-punk, techno, and club music, and have inspired a wide and diverse range of artists. According to The Observer, “no other band since the Beatles has given so much to pop culture.” In January 2014, the Recording Academy honored Kraftwerk with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.  As of 2016, the remaining members of Kraftwerk continue to tour.

Exceller 8 is the title of a 1975 compilation album of music by Kraftwerk. It was released by the Vertigo label in order to capitalize on both the summer chart success of the single “Autobahn” and the imminent release of the next Kraftwerk album Radio-Activity. By this time, Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider had set up their own record and publishing company, Kling Klang.

The album is a sampler of material from the first four Kraftwerk albums – Kraftwerk, Kraftwerk 2, Ralf und Florian, Autobahn – and includes some versions of tracks that had been edited down for release on singles, such as “Autobahn”, as well as simple excerpts from longer album tracks, such as “Kling-Klang”. Only the pair of tracks from the Ralf und Florian album, “Tongebirge” and “Kristallo”, are entirely free of cuts.

Track selection was by Alan Cowderoy (later an A&R manager at Stiff Records) and sound engineering is credited to Steve Brown, though it is unclear if they created the edited versions of the two tracks released as singles. The three-minute version of “Autobahn” (edited down from an original album length of 22:30) is the same as the three-minute UK single mix, which had been a top 20 hit in the UK. A different 3:28 edit, released in 1974, received considerable airplay in the US. “Comet Melody 2” failed to chart.

The album was issued on vinyl, 8-Track and cassette and deleted in 1980.

Track listing

1. “Ruckzuck” (minus the opening flute-echo intro) – 7:30
2. “Autobahn” (new edited version) – 3:06
3. “Tongebirge” – 2:50
4. “Kristallo” – 6:18
5. “Comet Melody 2” (version released as a single in August 1975 with middle section edited out) – 2:49
6. “Kling-Klang” (excerpt beginning at 1:38 into the original track) – 9:20
7. “Vom Himmel Hoch” (the opening and closing sections with a cross-fade link) – 4:00
8. “Stratovarius” (excerpt of the final section) – 1:35