Best of the 70's: Trans Europe Express by Kraftwerk

You like Depeche Mode?  How about Massive Attack?  Kraftwerk was inventing the sound that would influence both back in 1974 with their release Autobahn.  I'm actually surprised that it's not Autobahn at number 79 on the Best of the 70's list.  As I said in an earlier review often it's the album that was the beginning of something that gets the high marks.  Trans Europe Express came out three years after Autobahn, and where Autobahn started something new Trans Europe Express completes it by packaging the inventive sound in fully crafted pop songs. 

What were these guys inventing?  Well where to begin?  When you listen to this album you can hear their thumbprint on everything from Tears for Fears to Kanye West.  Kraftwerk may be the most important band of the 70's.  You take Kraftwerk and David Bowie and mix them together and you get people like The Cure and Siouxsie and the Banshees.  You get the driving electronic loops that will be the backbone to hip-hop and electronica.

Now all of that being said, I'm not the biggest Kraftwerk fan in the world.  I like their stuff, but I'm not going to spend my day listening to them.  If you have any interest in understanding pop music history then give this a listen and just remember it was made in 1977, that's 34 years ago. 

Following the Rhapsody rating method I give it 3 out of 5 stars for Pretty Good.