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

What an amazing album of electronic music! I absolutely adore this album. Kraftwerk's driving electronic sound is brilliant here. The only other Kraftwerk album I have (so far) is The Man Machine, but Tran-Europe Express is far superior. This album is dark and often has a very even motorik beat. It is also slightly experimental.

The epic Europe Endless is first, and is amazing. It really gives that European feeling, and serves as a lengthy prologue to the journey that this album is. Hall of Mirrors is next. This song is more dark and minimalistic. There is a hollow feeling on this song that draws us into the shallow world of celebrity. Showroom Dummies is next: a real highlight. This again has a dark opressive feeling, but this time more robotic, being somewhat a precursor of the next album's The Robots. The title track is the real centrepiece of the album. It takes us on a train journey across Europe, meeting Iggy Pop and David Bowie. Metal on Metal follows straight on, starting off as an instrumental including train sound effects, ending with the line 'trans-europe express' repeated ad nauseum to great effect. Franz Schubert is the next piece and is totally instrumental. This piece has floating pleasant melodies in place of the intense beats of the rest of the album. Endless Endless is a short outro that brings the album full circle.

This whole album is a brilliant piece of electronic music history and all should hear it at least once. Five Stars.