Mojo Magazine, September 2003, p. 101 by David Buckley Coffee-slurping cyclists make dignified comeback record. Who said a German joke was no laughing matter? Only Kraftwerk would have try wry wit to 'rush release' a CD 17 years after their last album of new material, Electric Café, and in any case too late for this year's Tour De France. First the bad news: Tour De France Soundtracks is not the same class as Trans Europe Express, The Man Machine or Computer World, a trio of albums that shaped the contours of mmodern music. After an uncertain start, however, where the Duesseldorfers appear to short-change us with some mildly rehashed melodies, there are four trademark Kraftwerkian moments: the droll Vitamin and Elecktro Kardiogramm, the blistering Aero Dynamik, and the beautiful La Forme. A brilliantly revamped Tour De France closes the 'fun'. No huge amounts of new ground broken then (the Kraftwerk sound has been subtly updated with ambient shadings), but even a mediocre Kraftwerk album is still a work of near-genius. (four stars out of five) Jan