TRANS-EUROPE EXPRESS [AKA: TRANS-EUROPA EXPRESS]

Trans-Europe Express is Kraftwerk's most acclaimed album- one of the only albums on Rolling Stone's Top 500 from a non-English speaking country, in Pitchfork Media's top ten 70's albums, and often considered one of the building blocks of electronica and even rap, this album has earned it's share of praise over the years. This is because it is a unique, satisfying, consistently great album by one of electronica's best.

Europe Endless is a very upbeat, happy tune, which perfectly conveys the feeling of a tour of Europe- seeing all the great things, great people, and great areas. It's well-made, and though it lasts 9 minutes, it doesn't drag at all- you're completely sucked in, like being on a little trip of your own.

Hall of Mirrors harkens back to the days of Radio-Activity, right down to the shaking synth notes that it begins with. It's a very ominous, scary song, with various noises being layered on top of each other to build an atmosphere.

Showroom Dummies is incredibly cheesy, yet it miraculously manages to work- it's the closest Kraftwerk's gotten to pop at this point. Though it's cheesy, it's fun to listen to, and the artificial chorus effects give it Kraftwerk's signature ominous sound.

I treat Trans-Europe Express and Metal on Metal as one single entity, which is a logical evolution on what Autobahn's title track started. TEE starts with repetitive drumming, like the thuds of a train running on metal tracks, as electric whispers alternate with amazing synthesizer parts that fly with the music like trees going by. A bit after Metal on Metal comes, the drum pattern that dominated for seven minutes dies, and the synthesizer washes come to the forefront.

Franz Schubert is a happy, positive song, not really much to say besides the fact that there's no pulsing drum rhythm here, just synths and more synths in this piece named for the Austrian composer. And finally, Endless Endless continues Franz Schubert's upbeat synth rhythm alongside distorted vocals.

This behemoth of an album earns every bit of the praise it garners from musical critics, and it's surprising to know that it came out in the 70's. It's influence has proved great over the years, and it is truly a force to be reckoned with. Five stars for the legend.