Kraftwerk – Die Mensch•Maschine

My best sounding LP. Clean, punchy, well defined. Just perfect. Pay what you need to for a VG+ or above.

Fantastic pressing, highly recommended.
I really prefer the German version of this album. The lyrics just flow better in my opinion.

IMO the A1/B1 matrix is a 'true' first press or has somebody other ideas?

This album is good

it is rather Retro-futuristic. it has a lot of songs and topics which are based on the german life in the WEIMAR Republic
and it has a lot of influence from that era and especially from the silent movies of that era

Good

and with THE MODEL they had their sole number 1 Hit in UK

Does anyone have any info on a white vinyl version of this album? It doesn't have anything printed or inscribed in the run off area and I cant really find much out about it. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Why are the english and german versions of this record mixed up and not easy to find out in the market place overview?

Man-Machine is an interresting part of Kraftwerk's legendary discography. It ditches their famous funky rhythms, the only album to do so in fact, in favour of very simplistic, minimalist, robotic and almost machine-like 4/4 rhythms (save for Man-Machine, the only song ironically which uses more of a funk beat). The melodies are also a lot more repetitive and machine-like, giving the album a very futuristic feel to it. I remember buying this album in the early 2000's and being awestruck by how modern it sounded, refusing to believe it was made in 1978. And for its time, this album was insanely ahead of its time, sounding like NOTHING else at the time. Kraftwerk's pure industrial sound on this record is probably what makes it my favourite and in my opinion they never made any album like it before or since. Every single track explores the future of mankind, whether it would be through robots of our own creation, exploring space, future society (dystopian or utopian is never made clear, but Metropolis and Neon Lights evokes images of Blade Runner for sure, years before it was made), as well as technology merging with humanity in the title track, a notion that evokes images from the later cyberpunk movement. The only track which seems a little dated was ironically one of Kraftwerk's biggest hits, The Model. It feels a little bit out of place on the album, but it serves as one of their best pieces of electropop nonetheless with a look at the (sometimes willing) objectification of women.
All in all, Man-Machine is probably one of Kraftwerk's strongest albums and while it was easily overshadowed by Computer World which in my opinion is a much stronger concept album, it still holds a strong second place for me.

It's a vilification to assign this Kraftwerk album to "Electro" or "Synth-pop", terms that were not even contrived in the 1970s when "Mensch-Maschine" came out. Kraftwerk have inspired the invention of "Electro" in it's original definition (shortcut for Electrophonic funk) in the early 80s, but the term has become in the mid to late 90s an unspecific all-purpose word in use for all kinds of electronic music. Back in the 70s Kraftwerk was regarded as a Rockband with electronic instruments, but nowadays many people like to believe Rock and Electronic are contrary to each other. Setting the genre to "Electronic" and "Rock", with Style "Krautrock" and "Avantgarde" would say much more about this album than the wishy-washy styles now in use.

I have a copy of this album but it seems to be a mixture of a few of the ones above. Based on the below can anyone recommend which I catalog this under or do I need to create a new entry?

Cat# is 2S 068-85444 on back cover with SE in a circle to the right of the cat#

It has Russian, French and English on the cover.

Produced in Germany

Mixed by Joschko Rudas Ans Leanard Jackson Courtesy of Whitfield Records

(P) 1978 Capitol Records Я ТВОЙ СЛУГА Я ТВОЙ РАЬОТНИК

Side A label is red and black with yPartx 85.629 and 2S 068 - 85.444 printed in white
Side B label is white and black with yPartx 85.630 and 2S 068 - 85.444 printed in red

Matrix RunOut Side A (Stamped) : 2S 068 85 444 A YPARTX 85 629 21 M6 322 2965 2
Matrix RunOut Side A (Etched) : KORREKT Pellé
Matrix RunOut Side B (Stamped) : 2S 068 85 444 B YPARTX 85 630 21 M6 322 296 2
Matrix RunOut Side b (Etched) : Pellé

Plain liner but includes a poster.

Thank you

stroke of genius