The Man-Machine
Encyclopedia
The Man-Machine is the seventh studio album by German electronic
band Kraftwerk
, released in May 1978. It contains the song "The Model
" which was a chart-topping single in the UK in 1982.
co-credited with songwriting along with Hütter
& Schneider
. Emil Schult
co-wrote the lyrics for "The Model".
Musically, it builds on Trans-Europe Express
. The initial recording had been made at Kraftwerk's own Kling Klang
studio, but further work was done at nearby Studio Rudas, where Detroit sound engineer Leanard Jackson of Whitfield Records
, who had worked on Rose Royce
's second album the previous year, was hired to work on the final sound-mix.
The cover design imitates the graphic style of the 1930s Modernist movement
, particularly that of the designer/architect El Lissitzky
, whose inspiration is acknowledged in the album credits. The rear cover of the album is actually an adaptation one of his geometric page designs for a children's book, From Two Quadrants (specifically, the upper right quarter of the page captioned "And on the Black was established Red Clearly").http://www.ibiblio.org/eldritch/el/pix/pro13.jpg
magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Albums, and number 92 on Pitchfork Media
's Top 100 Albums of the 1970s.
A newly remastered
edition of the album was released by EMI Records
, Mute Records
and Astralwerks Records on CD and digital download in October/November 2009, with heavyweight vinyl editions released in November/December 2009.
Side one
Side two
Electronic music
Electronic music is music that employs electronic musical instruments and electronic music technology in its production. In general a distinction can be made between sound produced using electromechanical means and that produced using electronic technology. Examples of electromechanical sound...
band Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk is an influential electronic music band from Düsseldorf, Germany. The group was formed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in 1970, and was fronted by them until Schneider's departure in 2008...
, released in May 1978. It contains the song "The Model
Das Model
"Das Model" is a song recorded by the electro-pop group Kraftwerk in 1978; written by musicians Ralf Hütter and Karl Bartos, with artist Emil Schult collaborating on the lyrics. It is featured on the album, Die Mensch-Maschine; English version title: The Man-Machine...
" which was a chart-topping single in the UK in 1982.
Album information
This was the first Kraftwerk album to see Karl BartosKarl Bartos
Karl Bartos was, between 1975 and 1990, along with Wolfgang Flür, an electronic percussionist in the electronic-music group Kraftwerk. He was originally recruited to play on its US "Autobahn" tour...
co-credited with songwriting along with Hütter
Ralf Hütter
Ralf Hütter is the lead singer, keyboardist, and reportedly leader of the electronic-music band Kraftwerk. Since the departure of Florian Schneider in 2008, he is also the group's sole remaining founding member....
& Schneider
Florian Schneider
Florian Schneider-Esleben is one of the founding members of electronic music band Kraftwerk. He left the band in November 2008.-Career:...
. Emil Schult
Emil Schult
Emil Schult is a German painter, poet and musician.He is most famous for his collaborations with the electronic music band Kraftwerk. He has created most of their sleeve designs since 1973...
co-wrote the lyrics for "The Model".
Musically, it builds on Trans-Europe Express
Trans-Europe Express (album)
Trans-Europe Express is the sixth studio album by German electronic music band Kraftwerk. Recorded in mid-1976 in Düsseldorf, Germany, the album was released in March 1977 on Kling Klang Records. The album's themes were influenced by friends who suggested writing songs about the Trans-Europ...
. The initial recording had been made at Kraftwerk's own Kling Klang
Kling Klang
Kling Klang is the private music studio of the band Kraftwerk. The name is taken from the first song on the Kraftwerk 2 album...
studio, but further work was done at nearby Studio Rudas, where Detroit sound engineer Leanard Jackson of Whitfield Records
Whitfield Records
Whitfield Records was a record label, founded in 1975 by former Motown producer and songwriter Norman Whitfield and active until 1982. Whitfield Records was distributed throughout its entire existence by Warner Bros...
, who had worked on Rose Royce
Rose Royce
Rose Royce is an American soul and R&B band. The group is best known for several hit singles including "Car Wash," "I Wanna Get Next to You," "Wishing on a Star", "Love Don't Live Here Anymore" and "I'm Going Down".-Career:...
's second album the previous year, was hired to work on the final sound-mix.
The cover design imitates the graphic style of the 1930s Modernist movement
Modernism
Modernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes the modernist movement, its set of cultural tendencies and array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society...
, particularly that of the designer/architect El Lissitzky
El Lissitzky
, better known as El Lissitzky , was a Russian artist, designer, photographer, typographer, polemicist and architect. He was an important figure of the Russian avant garde, helping develop suprematism with his mentor, Kazimir Malevich, and designing numerous exhibition displays and propaganda works...
, whose inspiration is acknowledged in the album credits. The rear cover of the album is actually an adaptation one of his geometric page designs for a children's book, From Two Quadrants (specifically, the upper right quarter of the page captioned "And on the Black was established Red Clearly").http://www.ibiblio.org/eldritch/el/pix/pro13.jpg
Release
Upon its release, the record charted at number 12 in Germany, nine in the UK, and 130 on the US Billboard 200. The Man-Machine was voted at number 96 on QQ (magazine)
Q is a popular music magazine published monthly in the United Kingdom.Founders Mark Ellen and David Hepworth were dismayed by the music press of the time, which they felt was ignoring a generation of older music buyers who were buying CDs — then still a new technology...
magazine's list of the 100 Greatest Albums, and number 92 on Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media
Pitchfork Media, usually known simply as Pitchfork or P4k, is a Chicago-based daily Internet publication established in 1995 that is devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews. Its focus is on underground and independent music, especially indie rock...
's Top 100 Albums of the 1970s.
A newly remastered
Audio mastering
Mastering, a form of audio post-production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device ; the source from which all copies will be produced...
edition of the album was released by EMI Records
EMI
The EMI Group, also known as EMI Music or simply EMI, is a multinational music company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the fourth-largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry and one of the "big four" record companies. EMI Group also has a major...
, Mute Records
Mute Records
Mute is an independent record label based in the UK. It was founded in 1978 by Daniel Miller and featured several prominent musical acts on its roster such as Goldfrapp, Depeche Mode, Yazoo, Erasure and Fad Gadget.-Beginnings:...
and Astralwerks Records on CD and digital download in October/November 2009, with heavyweight vinyl editions released in November/December 2009.
Coloured vinyl pressings
The first pressings of the album distributed in Germany (with tracks sung in German) and in France (the English language version) were manufactured with translucent red vinyl, that carried through the dominant colour scheme of the front cover design. The French red vinyl version was pressed in a larger quantity, with the less numerous German red vinyl becoming a rarer and much sought after collectible item as a consequence. In the rest of the world the album was only ever released on black vinyl, but in the UK a 12" single of the track Neon Lights was eventually released in 1979 pressed on an appropriately luminous vinyl.Track listing
All songs by Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider and Karl Bartos, except where noted.Side one
- "The RobotsThe Robots"The Robots" is a single by the influential German electronic music pioneers, Kraftwerk, released in 1978. The single and its B-side, "Spacelab", both appeared on the band's seventh album, The Man-Machine...
" (Die Roboter) – 6:11 - "Spacelab" (Ralf Hütter, Karl Bartos) – 5:51
- "Metropolis" – 5:59
Side two
- "The ModelDas Model"Das Model" is a song recorded by the electro-pop group Kraftwerk in 1978; written by musicians Ralf Hütter and Karl Bartos, with artist Emil Schult collaborating on the lyrics. It is featured on the album, Die Mensch-Maschine; English version title: The Man-Machine...
" ("Das Modell") (Ralf Hütter, Karl Bartos, Emil Schult) – 3:38 - "Neon LightsNeon LightsNeon Lights is a covers album by Simple Minds.-Background:After Our Secrets Are The Same was leaked by a DJ in Spain and Simple Minds were fired from EMI they went into partial retirement. Frontman Jim Kerr moved to Italy to start a hotel. There a number of young Italian artists came to Kerr for...
" ("Neonlicht") – 9:03 - "The Man-Machine" ("Die Mensch-Maschine") – 5:28
Personnel
- Ralf HütterRalf HütterRalf Hütter is the lead singer, keyboardist, and reportedly leader of the electronic-music band Kraftwerk. Since the departure of Florian Schneider in 2008, he is also the group's sole remaining founding member....
– voice, vocoderVocoderA vocoder is an analysis/synthesis system, mostly used for speech. In the encoder, the input is passed through a multiband filter, each band is passed through an envelope follower, and the control signals from the envelope followers are communicated to the decoder...
, synthesizer, keyboards, orchestron, synthanorma sequenzer, electronics, cover (i.e. art direction) - Florian SchneiderFlorian SchneiderFlorian Schneider-Esleben is one of the founding members of electronic music band Kraftwerk. He left the band in November 2008.-Career:...
– vocoder, votraxVotraxVotrax International, Inc. , or just Votrax, was a speech synthesis company located in the Detroit, Michigan area from 1971 to about 1996 It began as a division of Federal Screw Works from 1971 to 1973...
, synthesizer, electronics - Karl BartosKarl BartosKarl Bartos was, between 1975 and 1990, along with Wolfgang Flür, an electronic percussionist in the electronic-music group Kraftwerk. He was originally recruited to play on its US "Autobahn" tour...
– electronic drums - Wolfgang FlürWolfgang FlürWolfgang Flür is a German musician, best known as a member of the electronic group Kraftwerk, from 1973 to 1987, playing electronic percussion...
– electronic drums - Leanard Jackson – sound engineer mixing & mastering
- Joschko Rudas – sound engineer (Studio Rudas, Düsseldorf)
- Henning SchmitzHenning SchmitzHenning Schmitz, born December 26, 1953 in Germany, is a member of the electronic/experimental pop band Kraftwerk.-Background:Henning Schmitz studied at the Musikhochschule Rheinland and the FH Düsseldorf, and in 1980 he received his Diplom-Ingenieur qualification in sound and image technology...
– assistant sound engineer - Karl Klefisch – typography ("lettering")
- Günther Fröhling – photography
- Johann Zambryski – artwork reconstruction (2009 remaster)