The Man-Machine () is the seventh studio album by German electronic music band Kraftwerk. It was released on 19 May 1978 by Kling Klang in Germany and by Capitol Records elsewhere. A further refinement of their mechanical style, the album saw the group incorporate more danceable rhythms. The album has a satirical bent to it. It is thought to address a wide-range of themes from the Cold War, Germany's fascination with manufacturing, and humankind's increasingly symbiotic relationship with machines.
Although the album peaked at 53 initially on the UK Albums Chart, it reached a new peak position of number nine in February 1982,
Music
Matt Mitchell of
Paste Magazine said that the album was where Kraftwerk took their mechanical style of old and re-tuned it into a
Nightclub-worthy aesthetic."
The staff of
GQ India assessed: "Taking
electronic music from the German counterculture - a still influential moment termed
Krautrock by UK audiences - across the 1970s and early '80s, Kraftwerk sculpted something
Modernism ... out of the possibilities of
Synthesizer music."
According to Alex Linhardt of
Pitchfork, the band "just sound like
Robot" on the album. He explained: "While the fast-paced world of Ralf Hütter quotes knows no limits of
pretension, this is the only album that conceivably expresses his ideal music: No
Emotion, no
Philosophy, no performances, and virtually no
Humour It is pure
technology: the whistles and surging circuitry of unmanned factories; twinkling hydraulic tubes; flaring
Odometer and
Gear; and pre-
Pong claw-claps.
According to Steve Huey of
AllMusic, "
The Man-Machine is closer to the sound and style that would define early new wave
Electropop -- less minimalistic in its
Arrangement and more complex and
Danceability in its underlying
Rhythm." He further described the style as "more
Pop music-oriented than any of their previous work."
Themes explored on the album include science fiction and urbanization.
Artwork
The artwork for the cover was produced by Karl Klefisch,
based on the work of the Russian
suprematist El Lissitzky – the words "Inspired by El Lissitzky" are noted on the cover.
The back cover image is an adaptation of a graphic from Lissitzky's book for children
About Two Squares: A Suprematist Tale of Two Squares in Six Constructions.
Release
The Man-Machine was released in April 1978.
was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) on 15 February 1982
In October 2009, a remastered edition of the album was released on CD, Vinyl and digital formats by
Mute Records, and
Astralwerks.
Critical reception and legacy
Reviewing the album in 1978, Andy Gill of
NME stated that "
The Man-Machine stands as one of the pinnacles of
rock music", adding that "the sparsity of the lyrics leaves the emphasis squarely on those robot rhythms, chilling tones and exquisite melodies".
critic
Robert Christgau also reviewed the album that year, saying: "Only a curmudgeon could reject a group that synthesizes the innovations of
Environments and David Seville & the Chipmunks, not to mention that it's better make-out music."
Mitchell Schneider from
Rolling Stone found that the "chilling restraint and relentless sameness" of the lyrics and music are tempered by Kraftwerk's sense of humour and "sheer audacity", which makes for a listening experience that is "strangely pleasant in an otherworldly way".
Tony Clayton wrote in The Irish Times which "they constitute the resilient framework of electro-pop and electronica we hear today. And if there are more simple, warm and beautiful pieces of electronic music out there than 'Ohm Sweet Ohm', 'Neon Lights', 'Europe Endless' and the title track of Autobahn, then this geezer has yet to hear them."
In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Steve Huey gave the album four-and-a-half-stars, noting: "More pop-oriented than any of their previous work, the sound of The Man-Machine -- in particular among Kraftwerk's oeuvre -- had a tremendous impact on the cold, robotic synth pop of artists like Gary Numan, as well as Britain's later new romantic movement."
The staff of GQ India called the album's sound "new and brilliant" for its time. They wrote: "Though 1981’s Computer World is arguably more prescient musically in its anticipation of techno, 1978’s Man Machine is the masterpiece - elegiac, witty and truly marvellous in its sheer audacity and triumph. For our money, the best electronic album of all time."
In 2023, Matt Micthell of Paste Magazine stated that the album is "at its core, the godfather of synth-pop as we know it." He also said "the album is a beautiful example of early-era Electropop architecture, and it laid the groundwork for what bands like Depeche Mode, OMD and Pet Shop Boys would aim to do in the decade that followed."
Track listing
Personnel
Credits adapted from the liner notes of the 2009 remastered edition of
The Man-Machine.
Kraftwerk
-
Ralf Hütter – album concept, artwork reconstruction (2009 remaster), album cover, electronics, keyboards, Orchestron, production, Synthanorma Sequenzer, synthesiser, vocoder, voice
-
Florian Schneider – album concept, electronics, production, synthesiser, vocoder, Votrax
-
Karl Bartos – electronic drums
-
Wolfgang Flür – electronic drums
Additional personnel
-
Günther Fröhling – photography
-
Leanard Jackson – engineering
-
Karl Klefisch – artwork
-
Joschko Rudas – engineering
-
Henning Schmitz – engineering assistance
-
Johann Zambryski – artwork reconstruction (2009 remaster)
Studios
-
Recorded at Kling Klang Studio in Düsseldorf, Germany
-
Mixed at Studio Rudas in Düsseldorf, Germany
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
Certifications and sales
Further reading
External links
