Autobahn (album)

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Autobahn
Studio album by Kraftwerk
Released	1974 (digital remix in 1985)
Recorded	Germany, 1974
Genre	Electronic music, Krautrock
Length	42:27
Label	Philips Vertigo EMI Warner Bros. Elektra
Producer(s)	Conny Plank & Kraftwerk
Professional reviews
All Music Guide link Q October 2000 Robert Christgau (B-) link Rolling Stone RS 189
Kraftwerk chronology
Ralf und Florian (1973)	Autobahn (1974)	Radio-Activity (1975)

Autobahn (German for "motorway") is an album by Kraftwerk, released in 1974. (The album's 22-minute title track was edited to about 3 minutes for single release, and reached #25 on the US Billboard charts, charting even higher around Europe, getting to #11 in the UK.)

Autobahn is not a completely electronic album, as violin, flute, and guitar are used along with synthesizers. The title track features both untreated and vocoded vocals; the remaining tracks are purely instrumental. Kraftwerk used a Minimoog as one of their synthesizers, which were known to cost as much as a Volkswagen at that time. Other instruments employed included the ARP Odyssey, EMS Synthi AKS and various devices of their own design and implementation, such as their famous electronic drums.

The title track is intended to capture the feeling of driving on the Autobahn; from the high-speed concentration of the fast lane, to the tuning of the car radio, to the monotony of a long trip. Autobahn is also the first of Kraftwerk's concept albums of sorts, which they have done up to 2003.

The front cover of the original German edition was painted by Emil Schult, a long-time collaborator of Ralf and Florian, who also co-wrote the lyrics to the song "Autobahn". It was subsequently used on the cover of the 1985 re-issue. The version released in the UK on the Vetigo label in 1974 had a differently designed cover, produced by the label's in-house marketing department.

Roeder was not a member of the band for very long, and had left before the recording sessions were completed. There is some doubt about Roeder's input; the original 1974 cover credited him with "violin, guitar", whereas for the 1985 re-release he was given a credit on the vinyl B-side label only, as playing electro-geige (electro-violin) on "Mitternacht". According to Flür's autobiography, this was an electronic instrument of his own invention; he also played it on "Autobahn", though his contributions were apparently mixed out on the finished album.

Wolfgang Flür's face was added to the group photo on the back cover of the original LP (grafted onto Emil Schult's body) at the last minute when it was decided that he would stay as a permanent member of the band. For the 1985 digital remix album all traces of the original recording line up were removed and instead a photo from the 1975 Autobahn tour was used. It shows Hütter, Schneider and Flür with new member, percussionist Karl Bartos – who were the band members at the time of the album's re-release in 1985 – performing on stage.

In a rather disingenuous move, producer Conny Plank's name was also largely removed from the re-issue of the album, only appearing very small on the side B label of the vinyl edition and nowhere on the CD version. Plank had reputedly played a large role in developing the Kraftwerk sound, and much of the recording and all of the mixing of the work took place at his studio in Cologne.

One can hear how much Plank contributed to the sound, since Kometenmelodie had been recorded before without his input; the rare single "Kohoutek-Kometenmelodie" sounds like a demo recording compared to the album version.

Flür had played with the band since late in 1973, first appearing with them on a Berlin TV performance to promote their Ralf und Florian album. On that show, he debuted the band's custom-built electronic percussion pads, and these feature heavily on the Autobahn album. When Flür published an autobiography in the late 1990s, legal wranglings ensued over his claim to have largely built and developed these pads himself (with electronics assistance from Schneider), cannibalising an organ beat-box for the sound generating circuits. Schneider had in fact filed a patent on the device under his own name in 1977. Again, Flür's name was removed from the artwork of the 1985 re-issue – when the album became available on CD – although his contribution was later confirmed by a German court decision on March 23 2001.

[edit] Track listing

1. "Autobahn" ("Motorway") (Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider, Emil Schult) – 22:43
2. "Kometenmelodie 1" ("Comet Melody 1") (Hütter, Schneider) – 6:26 (inspired by Comet Kohoutek)
3. "Kometenmelodie 2" ("Comet Melody 2") (Hütter, Schneider) – 5:48
4. "Mitternacht" ("Midnight") (Hütter, Schneider) – 3:43
5. "Morgenspaziergang" ("Morning Walk") (Hütter, Schneider) – 4:04

[edit] Credits

• Ralf Hütter – vocals, keyboards and synthesizers.
• Florian Schneider – vocals, keyboards and synthesizers.
• Klaus Roeder – guitar, electric violin.
• Wolfgang Flür – electronic percussion.
• Konrad "Conny" Plank – record producer.
• Emil Schult – cover design.

[edit] Album cover variations

The original version of the German issued cover, with artwork by Emil Schult.

The back cover of the original German version, Flür's head montaged into the group photo.

The version of the cover released in Britain on the Vertigo label in 1974.

The back cover of the 1985 re-issue, showing the Hütter-Bartos-Flür-Schneider line up.

[edit] Equipment

• Minimoog
• ARP (white-faced) Odyssey
• Customized Farfisa Rhythm Unit 10
• Vox Percussion King
• Farfisa Professional Piano
• EMS Synthi-A
• Schulte Compact Phasing A
• Mutron Biphase
• & others

[edit] Release details

The originally released formats and later digital remix versions are shown below. These may differ from currently available versions.