Thought I'd stick my 2 Euros-worth in with an alternative opinion to Per's (hope you don't mind Per!) who seems pretty disappointed with the single, and must be causing some distress among the mailing list veterans who haven't heard it, and have been waiting years for some new KW stuff! I have to say... I really like it... it sounds exactly like Kraftwerk... and what more can a sad old fan like myself want, really? I think there are two things that you just have to accept about them these days: 1. They will never ever be as ground breaking as they once were. They're using exactly the same kit as every other electronic musician these days (in whose evolution they did at least have a hand in over the last 20 years) - how can they? 2. Likewise, they will never make a massive, heavy, club anthem. Sure, their music is informed by dance culture (in which they also had a hand in the evolution of too), but hopefully it stands up for itself outside that genre. In that respect, surely it's a little more timeless I think. The 3 "Etape"s do pretty much run together as one piece. Very Kraftwerkian, if you think about it... Boing Boom Tschak -Techno Pop - Musique Non Stop... ?: Version 1 is the one from the Astralwerks Flash page. LIght and spacious, a little bit abstract-sounding, but it does have that nice string motif that adds to the mood, and for me it conjures up exactly an image of the cyclists heading out through those mountain passes the band seem to like so much, all bright sunshine and optimism. Version 2 is the familiar "radio" rip. After Version 1, it actually sounds like something of a moment when it kicks off - definitely the most commercial piece. KW are obviously very fond of this filtered stab sound, having already used it on "Expo" and "Airwaves/Tango". One thing I'm personally not so keen on is the resonant/distorted delay they use so heavily. However trendy, this kind of distortion just doesn't seem to sit in Kraftwerk's music to me. Version 3 is my favourite, and I suspect will be many other fans' too, sounding more like classic Kraftwerk to me. Quite minimal and hypnotic, even a touch of "Home Computer" in there perhaps. Various bleeps and bloops pan around and are delayed, and a couple of neat little rhythmic devices move in and out of the mix. Much more contemporary sounding than Version 2, it could be something on Warp Records even. Looking forward to the longer version on the album... And even the "Long Distance Version 2" does not disappoint me at all! There's quite a bit more to it than the edit, including a nice mellow intro, differently-treated vocoder/robovox, and further rhythmic details later on. Can't help thinking they've made the edit a bit too featureless, in fact. I urge everyone to go out and buy it... otherwise they'll probably never release the bloody album! Anyway, hope this gives a bit of hope to anyone who was feeling increasing ambivalence toward these upcoming releases! Staggboy