Autobahn - Electronic Masterpiece or Farcical Novelty

[Halmyre]

And, definitely good stuff too from Kraftwelt. I have "Retroish" and like it a lot; plus I have several other tracks of theirs on compilations and remix albums (such as their contribution to "Space Box:1970 and Beyond)". They added an element of "nu-electronica" to Kraftwerks' sound and I always thought it as being more dense and heavy as well. Also, no silliness with lyrics like these from Ralf and Florian:

Wir fahr'n fahr'n fahr'n auf der autobahn
Vor uns liegt ein weites tal
Die sonne scheint mit glitzerstrahl
Die fahrbahn ist ein graues band

Weisse streifen, gruener rand
Jetzt schalten wir das radio an
Aus dem lautsprecher klingt es dann
Wir fahr'n auf der autobahn

Oh come on, "we've fun fun fun on der autobahn"? I think those crazy Germans knew what they were doing.

[Enidi]

Autobahn is not a masterpiece to me. I still return to it periodically for its insanity vibe. The vocals are a bit robotic and catatonic not unlike how Outsider Music makes me feel. The simplicity of the style and redundant chord progressions in Autobahn are sort of fitting and attached to that way of writing.

[SunRunner2]

Oh come on, "we've fun fun fun on der autobahn"? I think those crazy Germans knew what they were doing.

[Zeuhlmate]

[r2daft2]

I always thought that the Autobahn lyrics were purposefully monotonous and sarcastic suggesting that travelling great distances on the Autobahns was a bit boring. Consequently, I'd support the view that the whole thing is a bit of a novelty - but I do enjoy it more than anything else in the Kraftwerk catalogue. Not a masterpiece though!

[Trane]

At work, in our labs, all our toolcarts are Kraftwerk.

I think I have 3 Kraftwerk CD's and Autobahn is not one of them....

I've got three as well, and one of them is Organization's Tone Float... And I've got the two cone albums.

But like most everyone, I've first heard of them via Autobahn, and indeed, nifty pop single, but boring album.... As are all of their following albums. To call them farcical is not necessarily wrong, because of the comedy in their act & music.

TBH, I've always seen the band (before discovering their experimental roots) as a bit of a Eurovision contest candidate, without much credibility as rockers (unlike C/Kluster, Harmonia, Neu!) >> probably Belgium's Telex pushed me in that mind-frame. However, they were hugely influential - though I'm not sure which band came up with that style first (given that Dinger and Rother were also in Kraftwerk).

Krautrock is one of my fave (multifacet) rock genre, but not really fond of that electro-pop facet

[the winter tree]

Masterpiece.

[rcarlberg]

TBH, I've always seen the band [as] without much credibility. However, they were hugely influential

Kraftwerk committed the Cardinal Sin of progressive rock: they became popular.

[aith01]

Kraftwerk committed the Cardinal Sin of progressive rock: they became popular.

[Halmyre]

Kraftwerk committed the Cardinal Sin of progressive rock: they became popular.

Worse, they became fashionable,

[Rajaz]

Best show I saw in 2022 and I never thought I would get to see them live (in PDA Montreal) but it was worth the wait, the masters of robotic electronic music --NON Stop >>

[everyday]

Masterpiece.

[Rarebird]

I will concede that the Autobahn single was pretty great. I was actually made aware of Kraftwerk by hearing them on the radio, WFIL in Philly. I can honestly say there was nothing like it on the radio at the time!
I too was not a fan of the side-long version...the single edit said all the track had to say. And if l listened to the other side more than once, it was an effort to try to get my allowance's worth.

That was my opnion when I wanted to buy the Autobahn album. When I heard the sidelong version, I couldn't stand it. Now I love it and dislike it that the radio only plays te single version on occasions.

[JAMOOL]

uh, the first one

I remember a record store dude describing the title track as being similar to the long suites that prog bands do. it's a bit more static than that of course, but it certainly does have a lot of cool sections to it

honestly, I kinda love Tour De France Etapes even more. talk about an eternal beat...

[arturs]

honestly, I kinda love Tour De France Etapes even more. talk about an eternal beat...

TdFS was really a great comeback for Kraftwerk. They still had something to say in the new millennium and they proved that they could throw down beats as good as the best of the new generation of techno artists. Shame they never followed up with any more new music.

[Gizmotron]

I was fortunate enough to purchase Kraftwerks' 4th studio album in late 1974, shortly after its release. My first impression was positive, and I liked what I heard, especially being a newbie when it came to electronic music. I had purchased a couple of TD releases and was moving forward into other progressive electronic output, but this was somewhat of an anomaly, at least for me. The historical aspect of the famous German super-highway also made it an interesting focal point in my fledgling Prog Rock collection.

After several listening sessions, I started to view this album as a monotonous and repetitive experiment with laughable, fluff lyrics. Particularly side two was a waste of time, from my standpoint. It no longer held my interest as it did upon first listenings and I eventually retired it from my active inventory.

Looking back in time, what do you think? Was I too naive and myopic to appreciate what Florian and Ralf were doing here? Or, is this album actually a lot of silly repetition and bland musical experimentation?

Exactly what IS a “Farcical Novelty”? Can you give me an example of one that most people agree on?
I’ve spent 3 weeks pondering this question when I visit the Forum and see this thread. I well know what a “Novelty Song” is—it is an acknowledged label; “Monster Mash” is probably a good example. And I well know what a farce is, but I am clueless about the combo of the two terms.

I have read the entire thread and feel that all the contributors have voiced their opinion about the Song/album being discussed. Some love it, others not so much. I am not trying to be difficult, I just am intrigued.

Thanks in advance!

[soundsweird]

I imagine a lot of "average" music listeners (who weren't into 70's synth music, especially sung monotonously in German) might have thought "What the hell is this?!?" I remember playing it for some friends who asked if it was supposed to be funny.

[rcarlberg]

Exactly what IS a “Farcical Novelty”? Can you give me an example of one that most people agree on?

How about the above-posted "Da-Da-Da"? How about Toni Basil's "Hey Mickey"? How about The Singing Cats?


This is stuff you play at Branch Davidians to try to get them to surrender and give up their guns.

[SunRunner2]

I imagine a lot of "average" music listeners (who weren't into 70's synth music, especially sung monotonously in German) might have thought "What the hell is this?!?" I remember playing it for some friends who asked if it was supposed to be funny.

I think this is what I was trying to impart by the term "farcical novelty", but by no means do I think it is that (and only that). I was 24 years old and just getting into prog and electronic musical forms and I liked Autobahn quite a bit when I picked it up at the local record store. However, now I view it as somewhat of a novelty with the driving force being humor amongst the repetitive electronic soundscapes.

However, I do agree somewhat with those who have come to its defense. It has a certain curious draw even at this stage of my life. I don't own the CD and my vinyl copy was jettisoned many years ago. But, playing it on You Tube while posting this thread initially, I actually enjoyed the revisitation.

[Rarebird]

How about the above-posted "Da-Da-Da"? How about Toni Basil's "Hey Mickey"? How about The Singing Cats?


This is stuff you play at Branch Davidians to try to get them to surrender and give up their guns.

The first 2 examples are actualy not that bad, but the cat song really freaks me out. I suppose a lot of work has been put into it, but I can't imagine having to listen to a whole album with 20 songs made this way. Even this piece seemed to last forever. I love cats, but this....

[Piskie]

Jingle Cats has made my day - Kraftwerk pale in comparison

[rcarlberg]

But is it “a farcical novelty”?

[Gizmotron]

But is it “a farcical novelty”?

…and is it really Art?

Thank you for pointing out the three examples from earlier in the thread. I agree that the “cats” thang is both cringe inducing and very far from the other tunes mentioned.

Come to think of it, aren’t many songs by Frank Zappa great examples of the farcical side of things. He certainly didn’t take those any less seriously than his other songs. He and the band went to extreme lengths to make the instrumental side of things be gem-like in their complexity.

Weird Al was the guy that came to mind when I first saw the thread.

I focused on that side of the thread because the first part just seemed hard to really consider. Not finding anything worthwhile in the song/album? Naturally, my fondness for Autobahn colors my objectivity on that. I very much remember my brother making me put the record—when it first came out—on my turntable and cranking the volume. We were both big fans of early synth albums like the the first two from ELP. I instantly thought Autobahn was fabulous in a delightfully quirky German way.

I think some of the earlier posts point out the great opportunities for constructive yet critical discussions of many elements of the album. As a synth geek I would love more discussion on just how clever and/or clumsy they were with that old tech. Those patched synths took lots of effort to master. And in the realm of image and press coverage,how on earth did they juggle such an unusual, anti-pop Pop thing with all that pop, rock and funk of the times? How about their “look”?

Anyway, this all is a nice change in some ways from the usual thread.
I am not being farcical!!
Couldn’t resist…

Thanks!

[Rarebird]

…and is it really Art?

Thank you for pointing out the three examples from earlier in the thread. I agree that the “cats” thang is both cringe inducing and very far from the other tunes mentioned.

Come to think of it, aren’t many songs by Frank Zappa great examples of the farcical side of things. He certainly didn’t take those any less seriously than his other songs. He and the band went to extreme lengths to make the instrumental side of things be gem-like in their complexity.

Weird Al was the guy that came to mind when I first saw the thread.

I focused on that side of the thread because the first part just seemed hard to really consider. Not finding anything worthwhile in the song/album? Naturally, my fondness for Autobahn colors my objectivity on that. I very much remember my brother making me put the record—when it first came out—on my turntable and cranking the volume. We were both big fans of early synth albums like the the first two from ELP. I instantly thought Autobahn was fabulous in a delightfully quirky German way.

I think some of the earlier posts point out the great opportunities for constructive yet critical discussions of many elements of the album. As a synth geek I would love more discussion on just how clever and/or clumsy they were with that old tech. Those patched synths took lots of effort to master. And in the realm of image and press coverage,how on earth did they juggle such an unusual, anti-pop Pop thing with all that pop, rock and funk of the times? How about their “look”?

Anyway, this all is a nice change in some ways from the usual thread.
I am not being farcical!!
Couldn’t resist…

Thanks!

I'm not sure, but I think Kraftwerk build at least some of their stuff themselves.

[rcarlberg]

Technological innovations

Throughout their career, Kraftwerk have pushed the limits of music technology with some notable innovations, such as home-made instruments and custom-built devices. The group has always perceived their Kling Klang Studio as a complex music instrument, as well as a sound laboratory; Florian Schneider in particular developed a fascination with music technology, with the result that the technical aspects of sound generation and recording gradually became his main fields of activity within the band.[6][page*needed] Alexei Monroe called Kraftwerk the "first successful artists to incorporate representations of industrial sounds into non-academic electronic music".[68]
Early 1970s vocoder, custom built for Kraftwerk

Kraftwerk used a custom-built vocoder on their albums Ralf und Florian and Autobahn; the device was constructed by engineers P. Leunig and K. Obermayer of the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt Braunschweig.[69] Hütter and Schneider hold a patent for an electronic drum kit with sensor pads, filed in July 1975 and issued in June 1977.[70] It must be hit with metal sticks, which are connected to the device to complete a circuit that triggers analog synthetic percussion sounds.[71] The band first performed in public with this device in 1973, on the television program Aspekte (on the all-German channel Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen), where it was played by Wolfgang Flür.[72] They created drum machines for Autobahn and Trans-Europe Express[73]

On the Radio-Activity tour in 1976 Kraftwerk tested out an experimental light-beam-activated drum cage allowing Flür to trigger electronic percussion through arm and hand movements. Unfortunately, the device did not work as planned, and it was quickly abandoned.[70] The same year Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider commissioned Bonn-based "Synthesizerstudio Bonn, Matten & Wiechers" to design and build the Synthanorma Sequenzer with Intervallomat, a 4×8 / 2×16 / 1×32 step-sequencer system with some features that commercial products couldn't provide at that time.[70] The music sequencer was used by the band for the first time to control the electronic sources creating the rhythmic sound of the album Trans-Europe Express.[74]

Since 2002, Kraftwerk's live performances have been conducted with the use of virtual technology (i.e. software replicating and replacing original analogue or digital equipment). According to Fritz Hilpert, "the mobility of music technology and the reliability of the notebooks and software have greatly simplified the realization of complex touring setups: we generate all sounds on the laptops in real time and manipulate them with controller maps. It takes almost no time to get our compact stage system set up for performance. [...] This way, we can bring our Kling-Klang Studio with us on stage. The physical light weight of our equipment also translates into an enormous ease of use when working with software synthesizers and sound processors. Every tool imaginable is within immediate reach or just a few mouse clicks away on the Internet."

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