Esperanto (album)

For 1985 album, see Ryuichi Sakamoto.
Esperanto
Studio album by Elektric Music
Released 1993
Genre Technopop
Length 43:43
Label SPV
Producer Karl Bartos
Elektric Music chronology

Esperanto
(1993)		 Electric Music
(1998)
Singles from Esperanto
  1. "Crosstalk"
    Released: 1992
  2. "Lifestyle"
    Released: 1993
  3. "TV"
    Released: 1993

Esperanto, released in 1993, was the first album by Elektric Music, initially a collaboration of Karl Bartos (formerly of Kraftwerk) and Lothar Manteuffel (formerly of Rheingold), but later only Bartos worked under this name. The project begun after Bartos ended his involvement with Kraftwerk in 1991. The songs "Show Business" and "Kissing the Machine" were co-written with Andy McCluskey of OMD, with McCluskey performing vocals on the latter track. "Crosstalk" and "Overdrive" were co-written with Kraftwerk associate Emil Schult, who was also the art director of the cover graphics of the early Elektric Music releases.

About half the songs are similar to Kraftwerk, and the others more to contemporary techno. Many Kraftwerk fans were dissatisfied by the techno elements, while others claimed the album was an unexpected masterpiece. Later Kraftwerk releases would, however, feature similar elements.

Reception

Allmusic gives the album a four out of five star rating, commenting "A fine slice of electronica, Esperanto demonstrates that in 1993, the teacher was quite willing to learn some things from his students."[1]

Track listing

No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "TV"  Karl Bartos, Lothar Manteuffel 5:44
2. "Show Business"  Bartos, Manteuffel, Andy McCluskey 3:20
3. "Kissing the Machine"  Bartos, McCluskey 5:05
4. "Lifestyle"  Bartos 4:46
5. "Crosstalk"  Bartos, Manteuffel, Emil Schult 5:52
6. "Information"  Bartos 8:35
7. "Esperanto"  Bartos 4:41
8. "Overdrive"  Bartos, Schult 5:23
Bonus tracks for the Japanese remastered reissue (1999).
No. TitleWriter(s) Length
9. "Lifestyle" (Radio-Style)Bartos 3:42
10. "Lifestyle" (Club-Style)Bartos 6:02
11. "Lifestyle" (Phone Me-Style)Bartos 3:35
12. "Lifestyle" (Edit-Style)Bartos 7:32
13. "Crosstalk-Intercomix"  Bartos, Manteuffel, Schult 4:08
14. "Baby Come Back"  Eddy Grant 4:13

Release history

Region Date Label Format Catalog
Germany 1993 SPV limited edition CD in digipack SPV 084-92892[2]
CD in jewel case SPV 084-92832[3]
Europe East West CD 4509-92999-2[4]
USA Atlantic CD 82604-2[5]
Japan 1999 Nippon Crown CD, remastered, with 6 bonus tracks, titled Esperanto_plus CRCL-4711[6]

References

  1. ↑ Henderson, Alex. "Esperanto > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved 2010-09-19.
  2. ↑ "Elektric Music - Esperanto (Germany, Limited Edition, Digipak)". Discogs. Retrieved 2010-09-19.
  3. ↑ "Elektric Music - Esperanto (Germany)". Discogs. Retrieved 2010-09-19.
  4. ↑ "Elektric Music - Esperanto (Europe)". Discogs. Retrieved 2010-09-19.
  5. ↑ "Elektric Music - Esperanto (US)". Discogs. Retrieved 2010-09-19.
  6. ↑ "Elektric Music - Esperanto_plus (Japan)". Discogs. Retrieved 2010-09-19.