COMPUTER WORLD [AKA: COMPUTERWELT]

As all Kraftwerk albums, this one has it's theme: "Computer World". Of course you can analyze this message/reflection/prediction about this "Computer World"-concept (I'll leave that up to each listener to figure out). In today's computer age, this early eighties computer visions seems quite unharmful to me. The visual concept is as in all Kraftwerk albums extremely artistic and makes the total concept homogenic. When it comes to these "total concepts", there is no band on earth that beats Kraftwerk. The tradmark "Kraftwerk" is extremely strong today and it is albums like this that has created it.

"Computer World" is the most clinical Kraftwerk album. Pure and simple, often minimalistic. The major change in comparison with previous "Man Machine" is the direction towards techno. Some even say that "Computer World" is a milestone in the developing of techno. Listen especially to "It's more fun to Compute" to hear these early techno vibes. The playing time, under 35 minutes, is a small minus about this record. But all tracks, especially the first four, "Computer World", "Pocket Calculator", "Numbers" and "Computer World pt.2" (side A on LP) fits extremely well together. These form the strongest half of the album. In my opinion "Computer World" may not be the best of Kraftwerk's albums, but it's for sure the most interesting!