Kraftwerk

Kraftwerk is a German group that was started by two men.  Ralf Hutter and Florian Scheider are the backbone of this group.  Their music influenced the new and genre of music that is slowly taking over the music industry.  During the time period of their early years, many other bands were trying to create a new form of music.  Kraftwerk is known as the God father of electronic music.  The two gentlemen played together in an ensemble called the Organisation. 

Kraftwerks music was entirely made out of electronic sounds.  Their instruments were custom made and different from sounds experienced at that time.  From electronic drums to their vocals going through a vocoder, Kraftwerk was on a different level from their competition.   

From 1974- 1981 Kraftwerks success shot off like a rocket.  In 1974, Kraftwerk release their fourth album, Autobahn, which was a commercial success.  This album established them a pioneers of computer music.  The theme of this album was based off of long road journeys.  In 1976, their fifth album, Radio Activity, wasn’t as successful as Autobahn.  The theme of that album was based off of sounds they found off of the radio waves.  In 1978, Kraftwerk released their sixth album, The Man-Machine.  This album was full of surprising hits.  When they released the single ‘The Model’, it reached the top of the UK charts in 1982.  Followed by ‘Showroom Dummies and ‘Neon Lights’.  This album was a huge success for them.  They were surprised that it did so well.  Finally on 1981, they released Computer World. This album was another one of their commercial success. The theme was based off of computers taking over the world in the future.

Kraftwerk could be one of the most influential groups of all times.  Their style of music was ahead of their time.  Now, in the present, technology has found a way to compress their experiments into software and smaller devices. But if it weren’t for them paving the way for the electronic age, then we probably would not have advanced on our musical technology and our understanding of music synthesis. 

Ralf Hutter and Florian Scheider left me in amazement when I first previewed their biography.  As a listener, it was weird listening to their bizarre sounds.  Their form of music is hard to understand and is different to what I have grown up to.  As a industry professional, I found their music extraordinary and brilliant.  Their music was like a computerized ocean that cannot be tamed.