KRAFTWERK 2

Kraftwerk 2 is, as the title suggests, the second studio album from electronic band Kraftwerk. With the departure of drummer Klaus Dinger, who went to form the band Neu!, Kraftwerk was reduced to the duo of Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. With no drums, how do they continue with a Krautrock sound? Well, they don't, but it's not electronic music yet either. Instead, this is more of a "We'll do whatever weird shit we want" kind of album. There is lots of random noise to be heard here, which is not something I look for.

Don't be completely worried though, as Kraftwerk still relies on repetitive rhythms and still keeps some structure into their music. The opening song's name may sound familiar, as Kraftwerk's private recording studio Kling Klang was named after this opening track. This song takes place as the longest of the album, and the majority of it is based around a pretty boring repetitive melody. I must say though that it sounds interestingly similar to a passage in Autobahn's title track, and props to this song if it led to the creation of that masterpiece. However, it starts out with eerie out-of-tune bells and triangles, which is not pleasant listening in any way. Then you have "Atem", which is just three minutes of someone breathing, giving a pretty uncomfortable vibe plus just being useless.

The second side of the album doesn't have much going for it either, unfortunately. "Spule 4" is just mostly silence with occasional out-of-tune guitar riffs which just sound like someone plucking a guitar for the first time with no previous musical experience. "Harmonika" is just high-pitched noise, that will most likely make your ears bleed. While so far this album sounds pretty bad, there is some saving grace. "Strom" is a pretty decent song, relying on a droning riff and some symphonic instrumentation. The real winner is "Wellenlänge", which sounds like if Tool devoted an entire nine-minute long song to the experimental acoustic interludes of their albums. You hear droning bass reverb, subtle acoustic plucking with a bit of melancholic touch.

Unfortunately, Kraftwerk 2 is a step-down from the debut which had a bit more structure. It is definitely worth listening to "Wellenlänge", but the rest of the album isn't anything worth writing home about. Kraftwerk would certainly find their way on the next album, along with developing what they are known for.