Tag Archives: The Most Important Pop Album of the Last 40 Years

Kraftwerk: Trans-Europe Express

In March 1977, “Kling Klang Records” label released “Trans-Europe Express” the sixth Kraftwerk studio album. It was recorded in 1976, at “Kling Klang Studios” in Düsseldorf, Germany, and was produced by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider.In 2001, TV network “VH1” placed “Trans-Europe Express” at number 56 on their list of “100 Greatest Albums of All Time”; in 2002, “Slant Magazine” placed the album at number one on its list of the “Greatest Electronic Albums of the 20th Century”; in 2003, “Rolling Stone” ranked  the album at number 253 on its list of the “500 Greatest Albums of All Time”; in 2014, the “LA Times” called it “The Most Important Pop Album of the Last 40 Years”.

Personnel:

  • Ralf Hütter– voice, synthesizer, orchestron, synthanorma-sequenzer, electronics
  • Florian Schneider– voice, vocoder, votrax, synthesizer, electronics
  • Karl Bartos– electronic percussion
  • Wolfgang Flür– electronic percussion
  • Peter Bollig – engineer
  • Bill Haverson – engineer
  • Thomas Kuckuck – engineer
  • Ink Studios – typographic design
  • Maurice Seymour – photography
  • Stara – photography

Track listing:

  1. Europe Endless – Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider
  2. The Hall of Mirrors – Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider, Emil Schult
  3. Showroom Dummies – Ralf Hütter
  4. Trans-Europe Epress – Ralf Hütter, Emil Schult
  5. Metal on Metal – Ralf Hütter
  6. Abzug – Ralf Hütter
  7. Franz Schubert – Ralf Hütter
  8. Endless Endless – Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider