Kraftwerk – Exceller 8

On a personal level I had Autobahn the LP for Xmas 1975 (I was 12 years old), and I rushed out and bought this LP thinking it would be similar to `Autobahn'. So that's how I was introduced to Krautrock ! I grew to love it ,as you did when you were 12 in 1975 and had about 5 LP's to your name, they tend to get played a lot ! Thing is, I came on here, age 61 to recommend this LP to people who are obsessing about the first three LP's...this has a lot of the good stuff in very listenable form, very well compiled/sequenced including RuckZuck and Kling Klang, which are the cornerstones of their respective LPs.

I've always preferred listening to the original albums but this compilation does a fairly good job representing the essence of the band's first three records. It's not particularly rare, which makes it easy to find in great condition at an affordable price.

What really stands out about this compilation is the exceptional mastering and the high-quality pressing. The sound quality is top-notch, and that alone makes it a valuable addition to any vinyl collection. Whether you're a hardcore fan or just getting into the band, this compilation is a solid choice.

Bonus nerd trivia: The tracklist for this LP was curated by the guitarist of semi-legendary UK prog rockers Gracious!

Picked this up used, and I'm very impressed by the excellent sound quality. Airy and dynamic, and my copy is extremely clean and very quiet.

A very random compilation. Autobahn and Kometenmelodie II are very out of place here with the rest of Kraftwerks earlier work. I bought this one cheap, which is fine but I would not pay discogs prices for a copy. Stick to the original LPs

well to complete my previous comment . there is definitely 2 periods in kraftwerk; after and before 1975; with and without fantastic sound engineer Konrad "conny"Plank. and frankly that probably makes all the difference. Before 1975 kraftwerk had not his own kling klang studio and did not paly totally with synthetizer but thankfull to Plank it has this incredible raw electronic sound....which is far better for me than the post 1975 sound (radioactivity, trans europe express etc...).
So that makes this compilation really worth and essential. i am not found of compilations. But this one is a monument. And kraftwerk should have continued with Plank. definitly. Schneider, the band leader considered this pre-1975 as "archeology "and was reluctant to release the albums before 1975!!!! But he completely deny the work of Plank, which is obvious. "Radioactivity" sound is far less raw than "autobahn" and "kraftwerk" 1&2!!!

excellent 1975 early compilation of their first 4 albums(kraftwerk..-.autobahn); for those who don't want to buy all their 4 early albums!
really intersting pioneer electronic music. mostly melodic. the beginning of noise electro ( von himmel hoch from their first album is very " noisy" ; i nearly hear bomb explosions)...
you have 3/4 tracks of their first album kraftwerk
minimal repetitive electronic music (still with a little flute sometimes, twice). most of the versions are short versions, which is not so bad. and i don't understand why this period is called pre electronic; for me it's their most electronic music; of course they still use some non electronic device but the sound is less melodic and formated and more " raw" than in their later releases (radioactivity etc...).
may be the more interesting part of their work before marketing and business took them down to more commercial stuff...

Before they were robots. A great sampling of the group's pre-electronic phase from 1971-1974. Also includes the very hard-to-find 7" version of 'Autobahn'. Recommended for those who wish to check out what the group was all about before the release of the Autobahn LP. The release was only on vinyl and has become quite rare since. If you find it, snap it up immediately!