(Kling Klang/ Capitol, 1981)
It was natural, back in 1981, that Kraftwerk would come up with a follow-up of their 1978 album Man Machine with a follow-up subject: the computarization of society. A celebration and a warning for what could happen if you abuse of the power of the chip.
The German quartet presented a clean, analog electronic production divided in two (as it used to be with the two sides of an LP): the first, an electronic poem about how computers influenced Germany -and the World- as a society. The second, how the same machines influenced our personal relationships. If you think that Kraftwerk wasn't being prophetic at the time, it's ok, go on www.amazon.com and buy the record, then you can go and check your bank account to see if the money was deducted. After that, you can go to www.eharmony.com and create your own profile to find a perfect match to show them the record you just purchased. If you're a scammer, you could steal some identities by hacking some PCs and buy thousands of dollars in home furnitures or scuba diving equipment.
"Computer World" opens the first part with the classic Kraftwerk pulse and melody, only this time it's accelerated, fun, and way more attractive, suitable for the 80's, 90's and 00's. Timeless. A few words get sung through a vocoder: Interpol and Deutsche Bank, FBI & Scotland Yard, Business, Numbers, Money, People, Crime, Travel, Communication, Entertainment, Computer World. After the last word is said, we get the sweetest relief: we have joined the computerized revolution. And it still goes on! "Pocket Calculator," makes fun of the little devices we own -and pay a monthly fee for- to make us feel connected, in control, and belong to a group for protection. Then, "Numbers" counts up to four in German, Italian and Mandarin, creating a creepy atmosphere some listeners can find annoying up to a point, but that's exactly the idea: Kraftwerk is telling us Technology makes us dependable, not independent. Alienated, not communicated. Prisioners, not free people. And that's a vicious circle it's been going since forever. It will reach our personal lives in "Computer Love" and "Home Computer," where we look for love, happiness, and fulfillment with the help of digital signals decoded in machines like the one you have in front.
Kraftwerk, from Düsseldorf, rarely plays in the U.S. and they're very, very reclusive. Even thought they use electronic devices to produce haunting and pounding music that influenced practically every dance act of the 80's, they don't produce too many records per year. With Computer Love, Kraftwerk reached the top of their career, but for me they never cared about development; they just showed us how the World is, with lots of pulses and computerized melodies.
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