Kraftwerk in Germany in the mid-1970s band It outlines the countless electronic music Home tries to follow the grand blueprint to be realized. From England New Wave (New Wave) Move to Hip Hop (hip-hop) and then to techno, the band's self described "robot pop music" (music with hypnotic rhythm displayed by electronic devices) Development stage Both of them have produced great repercussions and profoundly influenced the pop music of the same era at the end of the 20th century. As pioneers of electronic music, their lasting and far-reaching influence can not be overstated. Kraftwerk was born in Germany in the late 1960s Experimental music The group has also incubated Can and Tangerine Dream Such a famous band. When Florian Schneider and Ralf Hutter, the core members of the band, first met West Germany One classical music College students. They were originally in a five member band called The Organization. In 1970, the band released the album Tone Float. Then Schneider and Hutter disbanded the Organization, reorganized their own band and named it Kraftwerk（ German It means "power station"), and began to make music in their own studio (later called "Kling Klang"), immersing themselves in his Minimum The music that requires electronics creation is not very mature. Their first album in 1971, Kraftwerk 1, put forward their unique Aesthetic viewpoint And made some innovative attempts, including the electronic equipment designed and produced by Schneider himself. The strange mechanical noise processing and environmental electroacoustic operation in the album surprised the music world at that time. Then came a series of personnel changes, and even Hutter left the band for a while. However, when the album Kraftwerk 2 was released, Hutter came back to work with Schneider. This recording doesn't use drums. The rhythm of the album is completely composed of Drum machine To provide and create the music with obvious mechanical sense that had no precedent at that time (from the perspective of pure technical concept), which completely ran counter to traditional musicians (just like the audience at that time). Then the band held some popular Live performance Until the release of their third groundbreaking album, Ralf and Florian in 1973. The album refined their ambition and ambition into some simple but innovative motivations, and their music became more and more enlightening - although their sharp and scientific image was completely opposite to the popular music of that era. Kraftwerk's first album released in the United States in 1974《 Autobahn 》It has achieved great international success. The title song "Autobahn" lasts for 22 and a half minutes. The single version after editing can be heard everywhere in people's homes and on the journey. In the United States, this previously unknown band has entered the pop album charts and remained high. Mostly Mug synthesizer While the first overture played broke the structure and melody of traditional pop music, Autobahn established a unique Kraftwerk voice. From this album, Kraftwerk has transformed from Krautrock to the field of pure electronic music, and successfully entered the pop music industry, making electronic music find a permanent foothold in mainstream music. In 1975, Kraftwerk discussed atomic energy Thematic concept album Radio Activity appeared again, and the album was released in German and English, indicating the popularity of the band in the world. Train travel It's a 1977 album《 Trans-Europe Express 》The theme of music is a sign that the movement of music towards mechanization is rising. Trans Europe Express produced early hip-hop significant impact , which combines a cold and severe rhythm with the timid and mysterious high tone scattering, and this effect has Hypnosis 。 Kraftwerk is good at using the repetition part, which is like the elastic effect in the rhythm. The music Metal On Metal is like a cool breeze. The 1978 album "The Man Machine" went further and lost human touch completely in this album. The composition of the album cover is taken from Russia Structuralism Master El Lissitzky's tough diagonal twill layout, with its sharp edges and corners, is exactly in line with Kraftwerk's intention of showing machines, power, etc. The band members are wearing bright red shirts and painted black ties, which are extremely challenging. At this time, Kraftwerk members even openly called themselves robots, and the opening song "We Are the Robots" strengthened this image. A melodious, elegant and romantic "The Model" Never tire of listening 。 The music structure of the whole album is rigorous and the arrangement is fine, and the band is familiar with manipulating various electronic elements, making this album reach the peak of Kraftwerk's music career. 
Live performance After five years of silence, Kraftwerk released the album Electric Cafe in 1986. At this time, use the synthesizer The pop music with drum machines has become the mainstream, and the band's outstanding achievements also make them famous in history. In 1991, Kraftwerk released a《 The Mix 》Remix for Selected Collection 。 In the following years, the band kept silent until the end of 1999 when it released the single "Expo 2000". Looking back on Kraftwerk's music history, although the band has hardly published any new works in the later period, their position in modern pop music is absolutely unshakable. On the other hand, positive It's a band This attitude of seeking breakthrough and continuous innovation has restricted their later music Perfectionism The spirit sets an almost impossible standard for future creation. Kraftwerk's three albums in the mid-1970s《 Autobahn 》Trans-Europe Express and The Man Machine are undoubtedly the most mature and perfect works of the band. Kraftwerk's electronic music It has got rid of the long and complicated structure and adopted a small, circular rhythm arrangement, which sounds very smooth and pleasant. These three albums seemed to be unorthodox to traditional musicians at that time, but they shocked countless experimental musicians with innovative ideas and changed their music path from then on. New Wave、 New Romantic 、 Ambient 、Hip—hop、 Techno even to the extent that Industrial noise Such music has been inspired. Musicians have made breakthroughs under the guidance of Kraftwerk's music thought, making today's electronic music extremely prosperous. Perhaps many people have not heard of these three records, but the popular music that people hear now is permeated with Kraftwerk's artistic concept. 
Florian Schneider、Ralf Hutter Current members: Ralf H ü tter Fritz Hilpert、Henning Schmitz、Stefan Pfaffe
Former members: Florian Schneider, Karl Bartos, Wolfgang Fl ü r Klaus Röder、Michael Rother、Klaus Dinger、Andreas Hohmann
1. Kraftwerk (November 1970)
2. Kraftwerk 2 (1972)
3. Ralf und Florian (October 1973)
four Autobahn (November 1974) 5. Radio Activity (October 1975)
seven The Man-Machine (May 1978) eight Computer World (May 1981) 9. Electric Caf é/Techno Pop (December 16, 1986)
10. The Mix (June 1991) - Mix
11. Tour de France Soundtracks (August 4, 2003)
1. Exceller 8 (October 1975)
2. Klang Box (May 1997)
3. Minimum Maximum (June 2005)
4. The Catalog (October 5, 2009, October 2, 2009 - Germany, November 23, 2009 - boxed)
