Kraftwerk - Tour De France Soundtracks

Kraftwerk have been ahead of their time since they started recording in 1971, and this record proves it. It was 17 years since the release of Electric Café, and the boys returned to the recording studio for the 100th anniversary of the world's most grueling sporting event...And they capture the feeling of the race PERFECTLY. You can hear it in every subtle nuance of the first 5 tracks; The ticking cymbals that remind one of bike chains...The breathing of the racers...You can feel the speed and turns.

An album truly worth it for the first 5 tracks alone, but that's not to say that the rest of the album is a throw-away, no sir. "Vitamin" is a throw-back to classic 'Werk if there ever was one...Slow funky rhythm, awesome synth melody...Aero Dynamik & Titanium, like the first 5 tracks, slowly build into each other, and the remixed version of the original 1983 "Tour de France" is quite welcome here.

While not as groundbreaking as, say, Autobahn or Trans-Europe Express, this is an excellent addition to anyone's Kraftwerk collection, and album collection, period.

Since 'The Mix', personally I really have no interest in hearing new Kraftwerk's music - for they are by now constantly recycling (besides cycling) their familiar and not-so-far-away past. 'Tour De France Soundtracks' might seem like a longtime wish coming true for the band exploring one such event into musical accompaniment (for the first time stretching its number of themes to considerable number of 12), but with the title chosen it is already a cliche for they made it more significant with the original 1983 tune.

Of course, there are moments of Kraftwerk' pristine beauty and perfection here (like 'Vitamin') but there are also moments of emptiness when it comes to their expensive and stripped-down-to-bare-minimum-technology. If Kraftwerk are the ideal form of an enterprise where commerce means music, then its perfect product by all means; however, if they are sort of a quadruple Bill Gates selling their 'Windows' it starts to show slight wear-offs. And eventually gets boring.

Nice and respectful but nothing as revolutionary.

This is an absolutely incredible release, definitely on a par with or even better than most of the great contemporary minimal techno/tech-house/microhouse records. The production across the whole album is perfect and most of these tracks would also definitely go down pretty well in clubs.

Everything these day's evolves from what it was, but, no worries, for change isn't always bad. Like Kraftwerk, which, had a positive change. The album is excellent and is a nice demonstration of their evolution from some of their older work. This cd is just as good as their older track.

I love this album . Fanatstic sounds in best Kraftwerk tradition . This album workd especially good on CD - it's a non-stop journey with sound . Lovely melodies , innovative sound-effects and a stringent subject matter (their beloved hobby ) : cycling and especially the myth of the worlds greatest sporting event . The TOUR DE FRANCE . Thos recording reminds me of another fine moment in KRAFTWERK's history "AUTOBAHN". This dynamic feeling of a non-stop forward movement thru electronic music . Hats off to the originators and respect 4 their best album to date .

That last comment was very entertaining. 'Tour De France' is truly a great album, and gets better and better the more I listen to it. There are only few of many musical artists that really have made a real impact on music history. Kraftwerk is definetly one of the few. They've done it some 30+ years ago. Why ask for anything else from them? They have released enough influential and innovative material. I look at 'Tour De France' as not being inspired by modern electronic usic, but inspired by their own material. 'Tour De France' doesn't sound that much different to me than say, 'Computer World'. Yes it is 20+ years later, but it is still Kraftwerk. There hasn't been many, if any, artists that we can say truly revolutionize music more than once in their career (especially not some 30 years later); an artist that truly created a new form of music twice, that inspired an entirely new generation of artists. I think that may be what some were expecting from 'TDF Soundtracks'.

Lush, warm analogs. Some tracks comparable to Detroit techno of past, with the signature Kraftwerk style of vocals and melodies. IMO, this is some of the best electronic music released in the recent past. I don't understand why some say it was not worth the wait and disappointing, comparing it to kraftwerk's previous material (though I don't think it is that far off). This is Kraftwerk, and the year 2003. I don't understand how one can truly understand electronic music and say 'TDF Soundtracks' is disappointing, but we are all different.

Trax 1-5 are variations of the new TDF track, and the last track is a re-recording of the old one. But the rest of the tracks are really good classic kraftwerk tunes! For these trax this is a recomended buy!

"Has the jury reached a verdict?"

"Yes we have, your honour".

"How say you?"

"In the case of the unholy community of judgmental critics and anal fans vs. The Pioneers of Electronic Music As We Know It, The Grandfathers of Techno, the Godlike, Mythological Unit of Kraftwerk, we find the defendants not guilty in the first charge of entirely ruining their reputation. However, in the second charge of damaging their trademark value and the web of mythology that surrounds them, we find the defendants guilty. We will, however, note that there are several extenuated circumstances. First of all, "Tour De France Soundtracks" is a good album. It has all their classic trademarks firmly in place; the crystalline production, the funky, understated beats, the damn cool vocoder work, the sophisticated aesthetic. There are several good songs on it, "Elektro Kardiogramm" and "Aero Dynamik" in particular, and it's a flawlessly executed and remarkably coherent work that demonstrates that, although they might have been caught up by the sonic revolution they kickstarted thirty years ago, they are certainly not lagging behind either. We the jury find that it can't be held against Kraftwerk that they won't revolutionize the world of music again with this release; noone can invent the wheel twice. Some critics will probably dismiss this work as too polished and inoffensive, but we believe that the album grows with repeated listening. In the case of deconstructing their own mythology, we the jury are of the opinion that it was about time that the impenetrable wall of silence they have built up around them was showing some cracks. It's merely a sign of humanity that they step down from their pedestal and give us the album we've been waiting for since 1986, while they're completely aware of the fact that they are no longer innovators and that a new album can only contribute to harm the Kraftwerk myth. Therefore, we believe that one should refrain from harsh judgments, forget the hype and just enjoy the record. In fact, we should applaud the fact that they are still able to create good music".

"We thank the jury for its service. The defendants are sentenced to community service in the form of a concert tour that should take place no later than 2004. In the meantime, they are free to go to their Kling Klang Studio to prepare themselves. This court is adjourned".