[The previous] matchup is really unfortunate. Rejuvenation is a really fantastic funk record deserving of more than a first round dismissal, but I just can't vote against Autobahn here. It's such a revolutionary work. I prefer a few of the later Kraftwerk record, but this one really put them on the map.
sp4cetiger wrote:
Autobahn was Kraftwerk’s international breakthrough and was also a major landmark in the history of electronic music. The idea for the first half of the album is summarized on Wikipedia:
Quote:
The title track is intended to capture the feeling of driving on the Autobahn: from travelling through the landscape, the high-speed concentration on the fast lane, to tuning the car radio and the monotony of a long trip.
There’s no citation for that passage, so it may as well be an anonymous opinion, but it describes my experience with the album perfectly. In a sense, I have to tip my cap to Kraftwerk, because it’s not easy to create something that’s so profoundly antithetical to what I want music to be.
Queen II was a motherfucking bomb that changed the course of hard rock and metal history as we know it. It's influence on metal history is both incalculable and under-appreciated. It still totally ROCKS today.
sp4cetiger wrote:
Queen II has to be among the whitest recordings in the classic rock canon. Queen takes the theatrical stylings of progressive rock and wraps them in a melodic, throbbing package so gringo-friendly that their music has even become a fixture at sporting events. Whereas bands like Genesis and Yes give the impression that they actually see themselves as “progressive”, Queen just sounds like a bunch of guys who love being over-the-top white.
Kraftwerk were one of the defining artists of my childhood, they were on these weird cassette mixtape things my dad made who knows when. Autobahn’s title track was one of the songs on it and whilst not my favorite of the Kraftwerk songs as a child it definitely stuck with me. This was my introduction to electronic music and I’m very thankful for it. As for the record? I think it’s absolutely wonderful even if it’s not even my favorite of their catalogue (‘Ralf und Florian’ is). There’s a lot of cool experimentation that lead the way for not just early techno artists but also ambient artists that you can hear all over this record. Looking back maybe this is where my love for experimental music comes from? It was the first thing I had ever heard with this much “weird” and I remember digging around and listening to a bunch of soundtracks my parents had collected (for example: ‘Close Encounters of the Third Kind’).
I like Queen well enough, but they can’t beat that.
A drive on the faster road... _________________ "And can’t you see you’re in on it?
You were born though you need not
And is that not some cause
For worship, being born among these trees?"
Autobahn, and it's not even close. I don't think it touches Trans Europe Express or Computer World, but it's still an awesome album by one of the greatest bands ever to have been put to wax. Plus, I can't fucking stand Queen. It's not that I'm against theatricality in music (I just voted for the Residents in another matchup), I'm just against Queen's particular brand of pompous theatricality. I know they never took themselves too seriously, and therefore I shouldn't, but I just... Fuck Queen. I really, really hate Queen. And I really, really love Kraftwerk, more importantly. _________________ 2021 in full effect. Come drop me some recs. Y'all know what I like.
I saw the thread title and got excited. But right, this is a 1974 tourny and so their s/t album couldnt possibly be here. Bummer. I like their first 2 records more than anything else theyve done.
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