Kraftwerk- Tone Float
During my listening of this album, I heard clear and distinct nods of influence to Pink Floyd's "Interstellar Overdrive" and "Set The Controls For The Heart Of The Sun" - and even some rhythms which seemed to be lifted straight out of Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida". On more than one occasion, the keyboardist is obviously attempting to mimic Pink Floyd's Richard Wright from the post-Syd, early-Floyd era. I believe this music would be right-at-home if used as the soundtrack to a late-60s hippy culture movie. "Zabriskie Point" anyone?
I was alive in the late 1960s but too young to be aware of what was happening culturally around me. Regardless, I have loved much of that period's psychedelic aural and visual output since I began discovering it as a teenager in the early/mid-80s. I give this music high marks. It's not perfect but it certainly deserves to be lovingly remastered and officially released on compact disc. Even if this is not the kind of music and style of cover art with which the members of Kraftwerk have become associated over the decades, this music is historically *important* and provides valuable context for enabling the listener to understand how the guys who created "Autobahn" came to be who they are. Before hearing this, "Autobahn" was the earliest Kraftwerk I'd ever heard - and I bought it on vinyl 23 years ago in the summer of 1986!
Kraftwerk's path is suspiciously similar to the one traveled by Tangerine Dream which also released 4 relatively unknown experimental albums between 1970 and 1973 before suddenly "debuting" in 1974 with the now-classic "Phaedra".
IMO, it is grossly unfair to Kraftwerk's long-time fans that they appear content to deliberately sit on this album and the three which followed it - seemingly pretending they don't exist and doing nothing to see them officially reissued in an easily accessible, high-quality digital format.
Technically speaking, many people consider this to be Kraftwerk's first album, however, programmers frequently choose to begin their counting at zero, not one. Since the first Kraftwerk album can be accurately called "Kraftwerk 1" to differentiate it from "Kraftwerk 2", this album could and perhaps should be affectionately referred to as "Kraftwerk 0". Think about it. :)
For a "needle-drop" version of such a rare vinyl release, the fidelity of this pirate CD is remarkably good. There is some unfortunate distortion during the loudest percussion-drenched passages but, fortunately, it quickly goes away. While listening, I heard only two tell-tale "pops" which reveal that it is sourced from an LP. It shouldn't be difficult to manually remove those "pops" with software such as Audacity which probably did not yet exist in 1996 when this CD was mastered.
I would certainly like to know more about the cover art which I find to be quite hideous. Perhaps if I could understand it, I'd be better able to accept it. And what's up with using "Tone Float" for a title? What is that about?
Preferred Trendy Chemical Amusement aid for this Album: Amphetamines
I was alive in the late 1960s but too young to be aware of what was happening culturally around me. Regardless, I have loved much of that period's psychedelic aural and visual output since I began discovering it as a teenager in the early/mid-80s. I give this music high marks. It's not perfect but it certainly deserves to be lovingly remastered and officially released on compact disc. Even if this is not the kind of music and style of cover art with which the members of Kraftwerk have become associated over the decades, this music is historically *important* and provides valuable context for enabling the listener to understand how the guys who created "Autobahn" came to be who they are. Before hearing this, "Autobahn" was the earliest Kraftwerk I'd ever heard - and I bought it on vinyl 23 years ago in the summer of 1986!
Kraftwerk's path is suspiciously similar to the one traveled by Tangerine Dream which also released 4 relatively unknown experimental albums between 1970 and 1973 before suddenly "debuting" in 1974 with the now-classic "Phaedra".
IMO, it is grossly unfair to Kraftwerk's long-time fans that they appear content to deliberately sit on this album and the three which followed it - seemingly pretending they don't exist and doing nothing to see them officially reissued in an easily accessible, high-quality digital format.
Technically speaking, many people consider this to be Kraftwerk's first album, however, programmers frequently choose to begin their counting at zero, not one. Since the first Kraftwerk album can be accurately called "Kraftwerk 1" to differentiate it from "Kraftwerk 2", this album could and perhaps should be affectionately referred to as "Kraftwerk 0". Think about it. :)
For a "needle-drop" version of such a rare vinyl release, the fidelity of this pirate CD is remarkably good. There is some unfortunate distortion during the loudest percussion-drenched passages but, fortunately, it quickly goes away. While listening, I heard only two tell-tale "pops" which reveal that it is sourced from an LP. It shouldn't be difficult to manually remove those "pops" with software such as Audacity which probably did not yet exist in 1996 when this CD was mastered.
I would certainly like to know more about the cover art which I find to be quite hideous. Perhaps if I could understand it, I'd be better able to accept it. And what's up with using "Tone Float" for a title? What is that about?
Preferred Trendy Chemical Amusement aid for this Album: Amphetamines
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