Autobahn (German for "motorway") is the fourth studio 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, including #11 in the UK. This commercial success came after the band had released three experimental and purely instrumental albums.
Autobahn is also the first of Kraftwerk’s concept albums of so...
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Autobahn (German for "motorway") is the fourth studio 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, including #11 in the UK. This commercial success came after the band had released three experimental and purely instrumental albums.
Autobahn is also the first of Kraftwerk’s concept albums of sorts, which they have done up to 2003.
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, an ARP Odyssey, an 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 travelling through the landscape, the high-speed...
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