AUTOBAHN

The last time I heard this album I really enjoyed it, so I feel at liberty to take pot shots at the opener, knowing that overall I'll like it when it finishes. 'Autobahn' is a likeable synthetic album that always seems to add up to nothing when you reach the end. Unnoticed by many is the fact that this sleeve along with 'Radioaktivatet' have allusions to the Third Reich. Hitler's Autobahns, his car of choice being the Mercedes and his promise to all Germans of a Volkswagen Beetle are all on display on the bright, colourful sleeve.

This is their first electronic album where the death knell of Florian Schneider's flute comes to pass. The title track - 'Autobahn' lasts a full 22 minutes and is as hammy as hell, but always good in an entertaining, but shallow way. It's' full of tinny percussion and paper thin vocals and displays a lack of vision as it meanders from one theme to the next. It's like the musical equivalent of watching a 'Noddy and Big Ears' outing on a Sunday driving picnic. Maybe that was the point?

Thankfully things pick up on side two. Here's where the influential side of Kraftwerk kicks in. There's many similarities with Bowie's 'Low' from '76. A far more serious affair with lots of innovative keyboards being executed in an austere manner. Sadly, there's the rather shoddy flute outro that is clearly a remnant of their prog origins.

What's worse is that we still have two more years to go before the grey and bland 'Radioaktivatet' is released, before a massive upswing in robotic inspiration which leads to three great albums in a row .