KRAFTWERK – THE MAN MACHINE LP – EXC/VG+ UK 1978 ORIG THE MODEL PROG ELECTRONICA

Kraftwerk – The Man Machine
(Capitol Records  1978  EST11728)
UK Pressing

Sleeve in Excellent/Very Good+ condition
– some wear to edges/corners and some ringwear and rubbing on the back
Plain White Inner Sleeve

Vinyl in Excellent/Very Good+ condition
(there are some surface marks visible on the vinyl which do give light pops/crackles but sound quality is excellent overall – very crackly at the start)

Kraftwerk is a German band formed in Düsseldorf in 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. Widely considered to be innovators and pioneers of electronic music, they were among the first successful acts to popularize the genre. The group began as part of West Germany’s experimental krautrock scene in the early 1970s before fully 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), Kraftwerk developed a self-described “robot pop” style that combined electronic music with pop melodies, sparse arrangements, and repetitive rhythms, while adopting a stylized image including matching suits.

The band’s work would exert a lasting and profound influence across many genres of modern music, including synthpop, hip hop, post-punk, techno, ambient, and club music, and 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.” Following the release of Electric Café (1986), member Wolfgang Flür left the group in 1987. Their last album Tour de France Soundtracks was released in 2003. Founding member Schneider departed in 2008. In 2014, the Recording Academy honored Kraftwerk with a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. As of 2018, the remaining members of the band continue to tour.

The Man-Machine (German Language Edition: Die Mensch-Maschine) is the seventh studio album by German electronic band Kraftwerk, released in May 1978. It contains the song “The Model” which was a chart-topping single in the UK in 1982.

Album information

This was the first Kraftwerk album to see Karl Bartos co-credited with songwriting along with Hütter & Schneider. Emil Schult co-wrote the lyrics for “The Model”.

Musically, it builds on Trans-Europe Express. The initial recording had been made at Kraftwerk’s own Kling Klang studio, but further work was done at nearby Studio Rudas, where Detroit sound engineer Leanard Jackson of Whitfield Records, who had worked on Rose Royce’s second album the previous year, was hired to work on the final sound-mix.

The cover design imitates the graphic style of the 1930s Modernist movement, particularly that of the designer/architect El Lissitzky, whose inspiration is acknowledged in the album credits. The rear cover of the album is actually an adaptation one of his geometric page designs for a children’s book, From Two Quadrants (specifically, the upper right quarter of the page captioned “And on the Black was established Red Clearly”).

The track “Metropolis” drew inspiration from the 1927 German expressionist science-fiction film of the same name, directed by Fritz Lang.

Release

Upon its release, the record charted at number 12 in Germany and 130 on the US Billboard 200. It originally only peaked at number 54 in the United Kingdom, but reached number 9 in 1982 after “The Model” became a number one single. The Man-Machine was voted at number 96 on Q magazine’s list of the 100 Greatest Albums, and Pitchfork Media listed The Man-Machine as 92nd best album of the 1970s. A newly remastered edition of the album was released by EMI Records, Mute Records and Astralwerks Records on CD and digital download in October/November 2009, with heavyweight vinyl editions released in November/December 2009.

rack listing

All songs by Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider and Karl Bartos, except where noted.

Side one

1. “The Robots” (Die Roboter) – 6:11
2. “Spacelab” (Ralf Hütter, Karl Bartos) – 5:51
3. “Metropolis” – 5:59

Side two

1. “The Model” (“Das Modell”) (Ralf Hütter, Karl Bartos, Emil Schult) – 3:38
2. “Neon Lights” (“Neonlicht”) – 9:03
3. “The Man-Machine” (“Die Mensch-Maschine”) – 5:28

Personnel

• Ralf Hütter – voice, vocoder, synthesizer, keyboards, orchestron, synthanorma sequenzer, electronics, cover (i.e. art direction)
• Florian Schneider – vocoder, votrax, synthesizer, electronics , Prophet 5 , Prophet 10, Yamaha CS-80
• Karl Bartos – electronic drums
• Wolfgang Flür – electronic drums
• Leanard Jackson – sound engineer mixing & mastering
• Joschko Rudas – sound engineer (Studio Rudas, Düsseldorf)
• Henning Schmitz – assistant sound engineer
• Karl Klefisch – typography (“lettering”)
• Günther Fröhling – photography