Electric Café (studio album) by Kraftwerk

From lleon79 02/11/2024 18:21

This album is amazing!

Not their best album sadly, it feels like the group recycled stuff they'd done on previous projects a lot of the time and IMO the production makes it sound overblown and at times corny

From santropez 03/09/2019 15:49

Best track: "Sex Object"
Weakest track: "Musique Non Stop"

I think this record gets a bad rap. Sure, it's not as great as its predecessor "Computer World", but I think that "Electric Cafe" cleverly taps into the isolation (sexual or otherwise) one feels with increasing technology. Musically a bit stale since all the other 80s synthpop acts caught upto their sound by 1986, but you know, it still sounds fine. A weak Kraftwerk record is still pretty good.

From Boltzmann 07/12/2018 22:54

Y’know, it’s fun. You can’t take that away from this album. And because the technology at this time was already somewhat less outdated than previous works, I feel myself gravitating to this album a lot more often.

It's telling when one of Kraftwerk's worst albums is still really good. This one in particular may lack any revolutionary streak that "Autobahn" had or the sublime melodies found in "The Man-Machine", but by subtly enveloping the listener in a melancholic atmosphere, "Electric Cafe" manages to create a world of its own. This particular atmosphere really complements the record's cyber-paranoia themes, which seem to revolve around the monotony of technology and our reliance on it.

Songs such as "The Telephone Call" & "Sex Object" are great examples for that interpretation, and others like opener "Boing Boom Tschak" & closer "Electric Cafe" bring back the Kraftwerkian bounciness (even if it isn't as radiant as "Computer World"). Overall it's an impressive record, thematically ahead of its time, and it's one that's sadly been neglected (or simply misunderstood) by critics and audiences alike, but you know, hopefully it'll be given the rightful amount of acclaim by future generations.

Sehr gut!

Very Good !