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Trans-Europe Express is the English language version of a 1977 music album by German band Kraftwerk (see 1977 in music). The album's German language version was simultaneously released as Trans-Europa Express.

This milestone Kraftwerk album is also notable for probably being their most-often ranked album, even on pop/rock lists, including: #253 in industry magazine Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" (2002) – #36 in music magazine NME's "100 Greatest Albums of All Time" (2003) – #71 in Channel 4's (UK) "The 100 Greatest Albums" (2004) TV network VH1's "100 Greatest Albums (of Rock & Roll) of All Time" (2003) [http://web.archive.org/web/20040109121946/http://www.vh1.com/shows/dyn/the_greatest/62191/episode_about.jhtml" target="_blank" >** – #6 in Pitchfork Media's Top 100 Albums of The 1970s.

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Overview

Kraftwerk's sound developed further on this release. Their music is distilled into a song format more than ever, with strong classical melodies. Much use was made of custom-built sequencing equipment – the Synthanorma Sequenzer, developed by Matten & Wiechers in conjunction with Florian Schneider – which combined with further sonic developments in their electronic percussion, produces an increasingly precise, minimalist electronic pop sound, by now sounding quite unique compared to any of their contemporaries. The string sounds of the Vako Orchestron were also used liberally, and some impressive vocal vocoding is on display.

The title track in particular was an impressive fusion of electronic percussion rhythms and very strong melody, tied together with a lyrical concept. (Tracing its development through live bootlegs, it appears to have ultimately derived from "Ruckzuck", which opened the original Kraftwerk album.) The concept behind this track harks back to 1974's Autobahn, which recreated a journey on the German motorway network: Trans-Europe Express was intended to evoke a trip on one of the TEE rail services that were operating at the time of its writing.

The colour English and monochrome German/French versions of the cover are deliberately evocative of the pre-war era, with the use of heavily retouched studio portraits in the style of film-star publicity photos; the inner sleeve of the original LP featured a photo of the group posed in a mocked-up terrace cafe scene, with a background of a mid-European landscape of mountains and lake painted by Emil Schult.

Hütter: "The culture of Mitteleuropa was cut off in the Thirties, and many of the intellectuals went to the USA or France, or they were eliminated. We * are picking it up again where it left off, continuing this culture of the Thirties, and we are doing it spiritually."

Track listing

English release

  1. "Europe Endless" – 09:35
  2. "Hall Of Mirrors" – 07:50
  3. "Showroom Dummies" – 06:10
  4. "Trans-Europe Express" – 06:40
  5. "Metal On Metal" – 06:52
  6. "Franz Schubert" – 04:25
  7. "Endless Endless" – 00:45

German release

  1. "Europa Endlos" – 09:35
  2. "Spiegelsaal" – 07:50
  3. "Schaufensterpuppen" – 06:10
  4. "Trans-Europa Express" – 06:40
  5. "Metall Auf Metall" – 04:42
  6. "Abzug" – 02:10
  7. "Franz Schubert" – 04:25
  8. "Endlos Endlos" – 00:45

French release

  1. "Europe Endless" – 09:35
  2. "Hall Of Mirrors" – 07:50
  3. "Les Mannequins" – 06:10
  4. "Trans-Europe Express" – 06:40
  5. "Metal On Metal" – 06:52
  6. "Franz Schubert" – 04:25
  7. "Endless Endless" – 00:45

Note 1: The track "Trans-Europe Express" segues seamlessly into "Metal On Metal", which begins with a percussive section then replays the theme of "Trans-Europe Express", making the whole a 13:32 piece. In the German edition, "Metal On Metal" was denoted as two tracks, "Abzug" being the title of the "Trans Europa Express" theme reprise.

Note 2: The English language album was issued in a full colour cover, whereas the German album was issued in a monochrome cover with front and back cover images swapped around. The French release had the German style cover design, but with English typography. The French album has never been reissued on CD.

Personnel

Equipment

See also

Kraftwerk | Kraftwerk albums | 1977 albums

Trans-Europe Express | ヨーロッパ特急 (アルバム) | Trans Europa Express

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Trans-Europe Express (album)".

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