Filtre4Pole said: So, you are one of those (rare?) early fans... who are still fans ;-) ian t said:
Have loved them since I bought the Vertigo double album (1972) in 1976 (I haden't heard Autobahn or Radio activity at this stage).
Filtre4Pole said: Interesting... I'm wondering: have you been really disappointed when you discovered the new and definitive electro-pop side of Kraftwerk ? or on the contrary, have you been amazed, feeling something like "wow! unbielivable, these guys are genius, better than I could imagine!..." ??? ;-) Certainly not disappointed, "wow! Unbelievable" would be more like the case. During my early teenage years (early seventies) there was bland pop music and there was rock music. When punk came along everything became less formal, more liberated and much more diverse. But prior to that it was mainly guitar-orientated ego-centric Americanised (usually pretentious) rock music, or else bubble gum pop. German groups like Faust, Can and Kraftwerk seemed much more interesting. Strangely, Tangerine Dream never quite grabbed my attention, so I can only conclude that the synthesiser sound was not the main attraction (Tangerine Dream were totally synthesised before KW). I remember hearing the single Autobahn and thinking "wow" but this was only one individual track, the rest of the Autobahn album was still quite avant-garde. It was not until TEE did I see the real genius. I think genius is easy to see in retrospect, but when something is truly new the difference between novelty and genius is not so obvious. The image of KW on the TEE cover was radical for its time, and The Man Machine even more so, because up till then all serious rock musicians had long hair etc. The punks emerged at the same time as the TEE album so everything was being challenged anyway. I would say that the approach of Tangerine Dream was more like the early 70's rock bands, more operatic and grand, whereas KW were more punk like (even though they were certainly not punks) with having a radical look and a more minimalist less grandiose approach to music. The fantasy/OTT romantic, sort of "Lord of the Rings" and "I will love you forever baby, subjects that the 70s rock bands dealt with contrasted heavily with the political and aggressive formats of the new punk bands. KW was neither of these things, but I think the "new wave" in music made them more accessible. It is really only after a period of time has gone by that one can really see that what you enjoyed at the time was actually innovative genius. To the KW fans that came later (such as yourself Mr Filtre4Pole) the KW legacy will already be acknowledged. I wonder if it is the case that the older members of the list find it easier to accept and enjoy the new album for what it is (genuine interest, I'm not trying to offend anyone in anyway!!). I don't recall any KW album getting rave reviews and declared "groundbreaking" at the time of its release. I think music that truly fits this description always receives a mixed reception at the time. In fact I would be worried if TDF Soundtracks was getting consistently brilliant reviews; it would suggest that it is predictable. ian t _________________________________________________________________ It's fast, it's easy and it's free. Get MSN Messenger today! http://www.msn.co.uk/messenger