Line #25 Music/ComputerWorld


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/00b9cc0d1369ee3f2bd4b2858d103b34.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''"By pressing down a special key, it plays a little melody."'']]
3
4	''Computer World'' (original German title: ''Computerwelt'') is a 1981 album by Music/{{Kraftwerk}}, the eighth studio album in their catalogue. Released through Kling Klang in Germany, Creator/WarnerBrosRecords in North America, and Creator/{{EMI}} internationally, it had hit singles such as "Pocket Calculator" and "Computer Love"
5
6	The record is a ConceptAlbum about the rise of computers within society, and is arguably their most stripped-back and mechanical album to date, anticipating the {{Techno}} and Electro scenes that would emerge during the decade. Coincidentally, this was released the same year IBM released their first personal computer.
7
8	!!Tracklist:
9	[[AC:Side One]]
10	# "Computer World" (5:05)
11	# "Pocket Calculator" (4:55)
12	# "Numbers" (3:19)
13	# "Computer World 2" (3:21)
14
15	[[AC:Side Two]]
16	# "Computer Love" (7:15)
17	# "Home Computer" (6:17)
18	# "It's More Fun To Compute" (4:13)
19
20	!!Personnel:
21	* Ralf Hütter: electronics, keyboards, mixing, synthesizer, vocoder, voice
22	* Florian Schneider: electronics, mixing, recording, speech synthesis, synthesizer, vocoder
23	* Karl Bartos: electronic drums
24	----
25	!! ''Computer Tropes''
26	* ArcWords: The word "computer" appears in almost every track.
27	* BeepingComputers: "Pocket Calculator."
28	--> ''By pressing down a special key, it plays a little melody.''
29	* BilingualBonus: Someone counts off in German, French, English, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Russian and other languages during "Numbers".
30	* ConceptAlbum: The album deals with computers taking over the world.
31	* CountingToThree: "Numbers" starts off with someone counting off in German.
32	* CradleOfLoneliness: "Computer Love"
33	-->''Another lonely night, stare at the TV screen\
34	I don't know what to do\
35	I need a rendez-vous. Computer love''
36	* CreepyMonotone: The computerized voice on several of the tracks.
37	* CyberGreen: The album cover depicts a PC monitor displaying yellow-green outlines of the band members' heads, fitting the album's name and focus on the rise of computers in society.
38	* EpicRocking: The 5:05 "Computer World", which gets a reprise with the 3:21 "Computer World 2".
39	* EverythingIsAnInstrument: Among the instruments used on this album were a Texas Instruments Language Translator and a Mattel Bee Gees Rhythm Machine toy.
40	* FaceOnTheCover: The faces of the band members on a computer screen.
41	* FloatingHeadSyndrome: The band on the computer screen on the album cover.
42	* DesignStudentsOrgasm: The album cover was designed by Emil Schult.
43	* InsideAComputerSystem: The voices used on this album sound like this most of the time.
44	* LimitedLyricsSong: As with most of Kraftwerk's songs. The shortest is "It's More Fun To Compute", which is basically this one line reappearing at various moments throughout the song.
45	* LostInTranslation: The chorus of the German version of the title track has the line "Denn zeit ist geld" ("Because time is money"), while the English version just repeats the title again. The English version also drops German lyrics about the BKA (''Bundeskriminalamt''), the German equivalent of the FBI, and Flensburgh, which is home to the ''Kraftfahrt-Bundesamt'', a national database of traffic tickets.
46	* MachineMonotone: The vocoder used in several of the songs.
47	* MoodWhiplash: "Computer Love" is a love song among all the more technical songs.
48	* MotorMouth: "Numbers" ends with somebody saying several numbers very quickly.
49	* MundaneMadeAwesome: "Pocket Calculator", a song where a man ("the operator") talks about the various things he can do with his pocket calculator.
50	* OneWordTitle: "Numbers".
51	* ProductPlacement:
52	** In "Computer World":
53	--->''Interpol and Deutsche Bank, FBI and Scotland Yard\
54	Interpol and Deutsche Bank, FBI and Scotland Yard\
55	Business, numbers, money, people\
56	(...) Crime, travel, communication, entertainment''
57	** Subverted by the version on ''The Mix'', which completes the endorsement-y chant.
58	--->''Interpol and Deutsche Bank, FBI and Scotland Yard\
59	CIA and KGB, control the data, memory.''
60	** "Computerliebe" mentions the Bildschirmtext, an online videotext system developed by Deutsche Bundespost whose first trial was conducted in the band's hometown of Düsseldorf earlier that year.
61	* ShoutOut: "Home Computer":
62	-->''I program my home computer\
63	[[Franchise/StarTrek Beam myself into the future]]''
64	* PunBasedTitle: "It's More Fun To Compute" is a pun on the pinball machine slogan: "It's more fun to compete!"
65	* SiameseTwinSongs: "Numbers" and "Computer World" are played together in later live performances.
66	* TimeMarchesOn: Partially avoided, as their vision of a world dominated by computers has practically come true today. But the [[ComputerEqualsMonitor video terminal]] on the cover is obviously very outdated.
67	* TranslatedCoverVersion: Different language versions of "Pocket Calculator" were recorded, including "Taschenrechner" (German), "Mini Calculateur" (French), "Mini Calcolatore" (Italian; originally created for a performance on the show ''[=Discoring=]'') and "Dentaku" (Japanese).

Context Music / ComputerWorld