Early Kraftwerk and later Kraftwerk are rather different.
Early highlights are: Radioactivity (Radio-Aktivitaet) and Autobahn and later highlights: The Man Machine.
The very early Kraftwerk is the most experimental, and possibly my favourite era, albeit possibly the least accessible. There are three albums to look for Kraftwerk, Kraftwerk2 and Ralf and Florian
Radio 3 currently playing a cover of The Model (played by the Balanescu (string) Quartet) which is wonderful.
Then theyâre playing Transistor from Radio-activity. So thatâs your highbrow Kraftwerk playlist!
Mark
Hereâs what Iâve been able to work out in terms of Florianâs composer credits, one album at a time (not including The Mix and Minimum-Maximum):
And Expo 2000 (later retitled Planet of Visions, for example on Minimum-Maximum) if you want to be really completist about it.
Following Radio 3 this morning, Iâm enjoying the Balanescu Quartetâs other Kraftwerk covers - they did five on their album Possessed (1992, but resissued more recently and available on Spotify). The way they emulate the synth effects at the start of Robots is excellent.
Enjoy,
Mark
The cover of Hall of Mirrors by Siouxsie & The Banshees is great; it captures the essence of the original but still sounds unmistakably of SATB. Ralf Hutter said as much
Ralf HĂŒtter of Kraftwerk lauded the version of âHall of Mirrorsâ and stated: âIn general, we consider cover versions as an appreciation of our work. The version of âHall of Mirrorsâ by Siouxsie and the Banshees is extraordinaryâ
For Bruceâs benefit, Techno Pop is basically a re-issue of Electric Cafe with an extra track âHouse Phoneâ included. Qobuz and Tidal only list Techno Pop, not Electric Cafe
Had no idea when I was break dancing as a teenager to the likes of Afrika Bambaataa and others way back that I was listening to music inspired by Kraftwerk.
R.I.P. Florian
On a slightly off topic note, any opinions on whether youâd buy the remaster or original Trans Europe Express on vinyl?
Cheers, Rack.
Iâd go for the live album Minimum Maximum. It has stuff from all the albums I believe and the performances and sound quality are stunning. Radioactivity is truly outstanding.
@BruceW the albums to go for are two from their 1970s peak, Trans-Europe Express (1977) and The Man-Machine (1978)
Then Iâd go for the underrated Radio-Activity (1975) and the tone poem Autobahn (1974). Computer-world (1981) fifth, the last time they were pushing any boundaries. By the end of 1981, they were starting to get left behind by the likes of YMO and even New Order and the Cabs. Electric CafĂ© in 1986 was a bit of a disappointment, and 2003âs Tour de France Soundtracks is a bit dull and would be better at half the length. 1991âs digitally-remade hits album The Mix is crap â everything on it is inferior to the original.
Kraftwerk are essentially a 1970s analogue band, and their true legacy lies between the years 1973 and 1981. Thereafter itâs all rehashes and the law of diminishing returns sets in. The live albums Minimum-Maximum and Der Katalog are OK, but youâre better off exploring the five studio albums between '74 and '81.
The original. The remasters are rubbish. Very âdigitalâ and harsh.
Ralf and Florian, Autobahn, Radio Activity and Trans Europe Express would be my recommendations.
Superb album - very sad news to hear Florian is no longer with us.
Thanks Kev 
Queued up on Qobuz. I love being able stream a huge variety of music in >=CD quality.
Thanks folks for the suggestions. I have downloaded Minimum Maximum and it is doing very nicely.
Incidentally I realise have almost 2000 albums and this purchase increased my live album count to just two. Is this a record?
Bruce
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