Kraftwerk are well known for their cold, robotic sound, but when I listen to "Europa Endlos" I hear something a little bit different. Okay, it's repetitive and sort of mechanical, but it has a weird sort of optimism, the type that I associate with the 60s and 70s fantasy of the future. In other words, it has that "world of wonder" atmosphere to it. It's a nine and a half minute track so it seems wrong to call it fleeting, but it doesn't represent the album as a whole. It's just an extremely interesting way to open it up.
The second track kicks back to what we know from Kraftwerk. Both "Spiegelsaal" and "Schaufensterpuppen" are more sobering tracks, musically and lyrically. This is more the band's bread and butter, songs that have a more more foreboding, "futuristic" sound. I put futuristic in quotations because Kraftwerk's electronic style is expectedly antiquated, but the delivery is so good that it doesn't matter. It's very strange to hear something that sounds so much like a product of its time but also has a timeless and relatable sound. It's also incredible how they are able to be so repetitive without growing old. Again, it's the delivery on the concept - the music is supposed to be mechanical and robotic but "supposed to be" doesn't always mean it works. Kraftwerk make it work and thrive with it. And the way they bring it back to the feeling they had on the opening track on the final track is just a wonderful touch.
A complete side note, there's a line in "Schaufensterpuppen" ("Showroom Dummies" in English) that goes "We go into a club and there we start to dance" and it is just one of the most hilarious lines in music history given the music.
By: Nesquik