Trans-Europe Express (album)

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Trans-Europe Express

Studio album by Kraftwerk
Released	1977
Recorded	1976
Genre	Electronic music, Krautrock
Length	42:45
Label	EMI (Capitol)
Producer(s)	Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider
All Music Guide link Robert Christgau (A-) link Q October 2000 Rolling Stone RS 909 14/12/02
Kraftwerk chronology
Radio-Activity (1975)	Trans-Europe Express (1977)	The Man-Machine (1978)

Trans-Europe Express is the English language version of a 1977 music album by German band Kraftwerk (see 1977 in music). The album's German language version was simultaneously released as Trans-Europa Express.

This milestone Kraftwerk album is also notable for probably being their most-often ranked album, even on pop/rock lists, including: #253 in industry magazine Rolling Stone's "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" (2002) – #36 in music magazine NME's "100 Greatest Albums of All Time" (2003) – #71 in Channel 4's (UK) "The 100 Greatest Albums" (2004) [1] – #56 in TV network VH1's "100 Greatest Albums (of Rock & Roll) of All Time" (2001) [2][3] – #6 in Pitchfork Media's Top 100 Albums of The 1970s.

1 Overview
2 Track listing
3 Personnel
4 Equipment
5 Release details
6 See also

[edit] Overview

Kraftwerk's sound developed further on this release. Their music is distilled into a song format more than ever, with strong classical melodies. Much use was made of custom-built sequencing equipment, which helped Kraftwerk achieve the precise, minimalist pop sound distinctive of the album. The equipment in question, the Synthanorma-Sequenzer, had previously been used in its standard form by other synthesizer musicians, such as Klaus Schulze (on his 1975 album Timewind) and Edgar Froese of Tangerine Dream. Kraftwerk's, however, was a special version created specifically for them by Matten & Wiechers in conjunction with Florian Schneider.

This enhanced "Kraftwerk-sequenzer" allowed an ultra-precise control of voltages over a range of 10 octaves, eliminating the need for the time-consuming tuning of pitches; it also enabled the exact reproduction of complex or lengthy pre-determined patterns – such as the keyboard arpeggios in Europe Endless and Franz Schubert or the driving train-like rhythm of Trans Europe Express – at precisely measured clock speeds, combined with the ability to easily and quickly modify them. The instrument greatly improved Kraftwerk's recreation of their music in performance, whereas previously everything would have had to be played by hand.

Combined with further developments in their electronic percussion, the soundscape is unique compared to their contemporaries. The string sounds of the Vako Orchestron were also used liberally, and some impressive vocal vocoding is on display.

The album's opening track, Europe Endless, is a long romantic-nostalgic paean on European culture. The idea for the album was apparently born during a lunch meeting with journalist Paul Alessandrini at the restaurant Le Train Bleu. This opulently-styled classical interior situated above the Gare de Lyon railway station in Paris, the terminus for trains arriving from central Europe. Alessandrini was later acknowledged on the album's inner sleeve.

The title track in particular was an impressive fusion of electronic percussion rhythms and very strong melody, tied together with a lyrical concept. (Tracing its development through live bootlegs, it appears to have ultimately derived from "Ruckzuck", which opened the original Kraftwerk album.) The concept behind this track harks back to 1974's Autobahn, which recreated a journey on the German motorway network: Trans-Europe Express was intended to evoke a trip on one of the TEE rail services that were operating at the time of its writing.

The colour English and monochrome German/French versions of the cover are deliberately evocative of the pre-war era, with the use of heavily retouched studio portraits in the style of film-star publicity photos; the inner sleeve of the original LP featured a photo of the group posed in a mocked-up terrace cafe scene, with a background of a mid-European landscape of mountains and lake painted by Emil Schult.

‘The culture of Mitteleuropa was cut off in the Thirties, and many of the intellectuals went to the USA or France, or they were eliminated. We [Kraftwerk] are picking it up again where it left off, continuing this culture of the Thirties, and we are doing it spiritually.’

— Ralf Hütter

[edit] Track listing

[edit] English release

"Europe Endless" – 9:35
"The Hall of Mirrors" – 7:50
"Showroom Dummies" – 6:10
"Trans-Europe Express" – 6:40
"Metal on Metal" – 6:52
"Franz Schubert" – 4:25
"Endless, Endless" – 0:55

[edit] German release

"Europa Endlos" – 9:41
"Spiegelsaal" – 7:56
"Schaufensterpuppen" – 6:17
"Trans-Europa Express" – 6:36
"Metall auf Metall" – 1:46
"Abzug" – 5:18
"Franz Schubert" – 4:25
"Endlos, Endlos" – 0:45

[edit] French release

"Europe Endless" – 9:35
"Hall of Mirrors" – 7:50
"Les Mannequins" – 6:10
"Trans-Europe Express" – 6:40
"Metal on Metal" – 6:52
"Franz Schubert" – 4:25
"Endless, Endless" – 0:45

Note 1: The track "Trans-Europe Express" segues seamlessly into "Metal on Metal", which begins with a percussive section then replays the theme of "Trans-Europe Express", making the whole a 13:32 piece. In the German edition, "Metal On Metal" was denoted as two tracks, "Abzug" being the title of the "Trans-Europa Express" theme reprise.
Note 2: The English language album was issued in a full colour cover, whereas the German album was issued in a monochrome cover with front and back cover images swapped around. The French release had the German style cover design, but with English typography. The French album has never been reissued on CD.

Kraftwerk "Trans-Europe Express (file info) — play in browser (beta)
- Problems listening to the file? See media help.

The German album cover featuring the photo used on the reverse of the English cover.

Version of the vinyl album released in France; German photo, English typography.

Inner sleeve photocollage by Emil Schult; it was also included as a poster with the German LP.

[edit] Personnel

Ralf Hütter - electronics, voice.
Florian Schneider - electronics, voice.
Karl Bartos - electronic percussion.
Wolfgang Flür - electronic percussion.

[edit] Equipment

Eventide FL-201 Instant Flanger
Matten & Wiechers Synthorama Sequenzer
Moog Minimoog
ARP Odyssey
Vako Orchestron

[edit] Release details

The original releases of each format are shown below. These may differ from currently available versions.

Country	Date	Label	Format	Catalog	Lyrics
Germany	March 1977	EMI-Electrola	Vinyl	1C 064-82 306	German	With poster
	March 1977	EMI-Electrola	Cassette	1C 264-82 306	German
	February 1986	EMI-Electrola	CD	CDP 564 7 46133 2	German
France	March 1977	Capitol Records	Vinyl	2C 068-82.306	English/French
	March 1977	Capitol Records	Cassette	2C 066-82.306	English/French
	1989	EMI	CD	CDP 7 46473 2	English
United Kingdom	April 1977	Capitol Records	Vinyl	E-ST 11603	English
	April 1977	Capitol Records	Cassette	TC E-ST 11603	English
	June 1987	EMI	CD	CDP 7 46473 2	English
United States	1977	Capitol Records	Vinyl	SW-11603	English
	1977	Capitol Records	Cassette	SU 16301	English
	1977	Capitol Records	8-track	8XW 11603	English
		Capitol Records	CD	CDP 46473-2	English