The multi-media project Kraftwerk was started in Düsseldorf, Germany 1970 by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider. They set up their electronic Kling Klang Studio where they conceived and produced all Kraftwerk albums.

Kraftwerk created the soundtrack for the digital age of the 21st century. AUTOBAHN 1974, RADIO-ACTIVITY 1975, TRANS EUROPE EXPRESS 1977, THE MAN-MACHINE 1978, COMPUTER WORLD 1981, TECHNO POP 1986, THE MIX 1991, TOUR DE FRANCE 2003. Their compositions, using innovative techniques, electronic sounds and synthetic voices combined with computerised rhythms, had a major musical influence on Electro, Hip Hop, Techno and Synth-Pop.

By the 1980s, the world had at least somewhat caught up with Kraftwerk’s chilling musical vision. Synthesizers were everywhere, and the automation of music was developing with alarming speed. As pioneers of the genre, Kraftwerk was hitting its stride as the rest of the pop music world was taking its baby steps. 1981’s COMPUTER WORLD serves as an ominous reflection of our evolving technological world, and it’s a seminal influence on electronic music to come. Kraftwerk’s music had always been completely based in technology, all the while reflecting a healthy fear of global automation. This album met that fear head on, from the plaintive musical theme and lonesome Everyman protagonism of “Computer Love” to the chilling “Home Computer”, which foretells the PC revolution via the group’s trademark marriage of relentless, melodic electronic music and stark, touching human imagery. Other landmark compositions include the infectious, oft-sampled “Numbers” and “Pocket Calculator”, a cut which stands out even on this album as a milestone in quirky, Teutonic synth-pop.

Translucent neon yellow vinyl / 16-page booklet.