The Man-Machine

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The Man-Machine (Template:Langx) is the seventh studio album by German electronic music band Kraftwerk. It was released on 19 May 1978 by Kling Klang in Germany and by Capitol Records elsewhere. A further refinement of their mechanical style, the album saw the group incorporate more danceable rhythms. The album has a satirical bent to it. It addresses a wide-range of themes from the Cold War, Germany's fascination with manufacturing, and humankind's increasingly symbiotic relationship with machines.[1] It includes the singles "The Model" and "The Robots".

Although the album peaked at 53 initially on the UK Albums Chart, it reached a new peak position of number nine in February 1982,[2] becoming the band's second highest-peaking album in the United Kingdom after Autobahn (1974).[3]

Music

Matt Mitchell of Paste magazine said that "the album was where Kraftwerk took their mechanical style of old and re-tuned it into a club-worthy aesthetic".[4] The staff of GQ India assessed: "Taking electronic music from the German counterculture – a still influential moment termed Krautrock by UK audiences – across the 1970s and early '80s, [Kraftwerk] sculpted something modernist [...] out of the possibilities of synthesiser music."[5] According to Alex Linhardt of Pitchfork, the band "just sound like robots" on the album. He explained: "While the fast-paced world of Ralf Hütter quotes knows no limits of pretension, this is the only album that conceivably expresses his ideal music: No emotions, no philosophies, no performances, and virtually no humor. It is pure technology: the whistles and surging circuitry of unmanned factories; twinkling hydraulic tubes; flaring odometers and cogs; and pre-Pong claw-claps."[6] According to Steve Huey of AllMusic, "The Man-Machine is closer to the sound and style that would define early new wave electro-pop – less minimalistic in its arrangements and more complex and danceable in its underlying rhythms." He further described the style as "more pop-oriented than any of their previous work"[7]

Themes explored on the album include science fiction and urbanization.[7]

Artwork

The artwork for the cover was produced by Karl Klefisch,[8] based on the work of the Russian suprematist El Lissitzky – the words "Inspired by El Lissitzky" are noted in the album's inner sleeve.[9] The back cover image is an adaptation of a graphic from Lissitzky's book for children About Two Squares: A Suprematist Tale of Two Squares in Six Constructions.[10]

Release

The Man-Machine was released in April 1978.[11] The Man-Machine was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) on 15 February 1982[12] In October 2009, a remastered edition of the album was released on CD, Vinyl and digital formats by Mute Records, and Astralwerks.[13][14]

Critical reception and legacy

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Reviewing the album in 1978, Andy Gill of NME stated that "The Man-Machine stands as one of the pinnacles of 70's rock music", adding that "the sparsity of the lyrics leaves the emphasis squarely on those robot rhythms, chilling tones and exquisite melodies".[15] Village Voice critic Robert Christgau also reviewed the album that year, saying: "Only a curmudgeon could reject a group that synthesizes the innovations of Environments and David Seville & the Chipmunks, not to mention that it's better make-out music."[16] Mitchell Schneider from Rolling Stone found that the "chilling restraint and relentless sameness" of the lyrics and music are tempered by Kraftwerk's sense of humour and "sheer audacity", which makes for a listening experience that is "strangely pleasant in an otherworldly way".[17]

Tony Clayton wrote in The Irish Times which "they constitute the resilient framework of electro-pop and electronica we hear today. And if there are more simple, warm and beautiful pieces of electronic music out there than 'Ohm Sweet Ohm', 'Neon Lights', 'Europe Endless' and the title track of Autobahn, then this geezer has yet to hear them."[14] Uncut critic David Cavanagh called "The Model" a "wry pop satire" and wrote that "the sparse lyrics lend themselves to considerable interpretation".[18]

In a retrospective review for AllMusic, Steve Huey gave the album four-and-a-half-stars, noting: "More pop-oriented than any of their previous work, the sound of The Man-Machine – in particular among Kraftwerk's oeuvre – had a tremendous impact on the cold, robotic synth pop of artists like Gary Numan, as well as Britain's later new romantic movement."[19] NME ranked The Man-Machine as the 57th greatest album of all time in 2013, citing it as Kraftwerk's "definitive" album and the catalyst for the synth-pop "revolution" that followed its release.[20] Paste ranked it the 11th best album of 1978.[21]

The staff of GQ India called the album's sound "new and brilliant" for its time. They wrote: "Though 1981's Computer World is arguably more prescient musically in its anticipation of techno, 1978's Man Machine is the masterpiece – elegiac, witty and truly marvellous in its sheer audacity and triumph. For our money, the best electronic album of all time."[5]

In 2023, Matt Mitchell of Paste magazine stated that the album is "at its core, the godfather of synth-pop as we know it." He also said "the album is a beautiful example of early-era electro-pop architecture, and it laid the groundwork for what bands like Depeche Mode, OMD and Pet Shop Boys would aim to do in the decade that followed."[4]

Track listing

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Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of the 2009 remastered edition of The Man-Machine.[22]

Kraftwerk

Additional personnel

  • Günther Fröhling – photography
  • Leanard Jackson – engineering
  • Karl Klefisch – artwork
  • Joschko Rudas – engineering
  • Henning Schmitz – engineering assistance
  • Johann Zambryski – artwork reconstruction (2009 remaster)

Studios

Charts

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Certifications and sales

Region Certification Certified units/sales
Germany — 150,000[26]
United Kingdom (BPI)[12] Gold 100,000 

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Wiser, Danny (31 July 2020). "GERMANY: The Man-Machine - Kraftwerk". 200worldalbums.com. Retrieved 25 October 2023.
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference UK chart was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Kraftwerk" (select "Albums" tab). Official Charts Company. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  4. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."The 50 Greatest Synth-Pop Albums of All Time". Paste Magazine. 21 July 2023. Retrieved 7 June 2025.
  5. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."The 10 best electronic albums of all time". GQ India. 17 May 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2025.
  6. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."The 100 Best Albums of the 1970s". Pitchfork. 23 June 2004. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  7. ^ a b Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."The Man-Machine – Kraftwerk". AllMusic. Retrieved 8 June 2025.
  8. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Kraftwerk stoppt Schau zu eigenen Ehren". Westdeutsche Zeitung (in Deutsch). 17 April 2018. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  9. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Smolko, Tim; Smolko, Joanna (11 May 2021). Atomic Tunes: The Cold War in American and British Popular Music. Indiana University Press. p. 253. ISBN 978-0-253-05617-7. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  10. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."El Lissitzky. Suprematic tale about two squares". Ukrainian Art Library. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  11. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Schütte, Uwe (27 February 2020). Kraftwerk: Future Music from Germany. Penguin UK. p. 72. ISBN 978-0-241-32055-6. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  12. ^ a b Script error: No such module "cite". Select albums in the Formats field. Type The Man-Machine Kraftwerk in the "Search:" field.
  13. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Kraftwerk begin MoMA run TONIGHT, new limited edition boxset now available". BrooklynVegan. 10 April 2012. Retrieved 3 October 2022.
  14. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference irishtimes was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Gill, Andy (29 April 1978). "Mind Machine Music". NME. ISSN 0028-6362.
  16. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Christgau, Robert (4 September 1978). "Christgau's Consumer Guide". The Village Voice. New York. ISSN 0042-6180. Retrieved 29 April 2013 – via robertchristgau.com.
  17. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Schneider, Mitchell (18 May 1978). "The Man-Machine". Rolling Stone. ISSN 0035-791X. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  18. ^ Cite error: The named reference uncut was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference allmusic was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."The 500 Greatest Albums Of All Time: 100–1". NME. London. 25 October 2013. ISSN 0028-6362. Retrieved 19 October 2020.
  21. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."The 30 Best Albums of 1978". Paste. 23 February 2018. Retrieved 21 July 2022.
  22. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Die Mensch-Maschine (remastered CD liner notes). Kraftwerk. Kling Klang. 2009. 50999 6 99589 2 2.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  23. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content.Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 170. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  24. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Le Détail des Albums de chaque Artiste". InfoDisc (in français). Retrieved 1 June 2018. Select "KRAFTWERK" from the drop-down menu and then press "OK".
  25. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."Top 100 Album-Jahrescharts – 1978" (in Deutsch). GfK Entertainment. Retrieved 1 June 2018.
  26. ^ Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css has no content."EMI Electrola" (PDF). Billboard. Vol. 90, no. 50. New York. 16 December 1978. p. WG-12. ISSN 0006-2510. Retrieved 5 October 2020 – via World Radio History.

Further reading

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