Line #42 YMMV/Kraftwerk


1	* AccidentalInnuendo: The heavy breathing on "Tour de France" sounds a tad too, er, ''passionate'' to be an out-of-breath cyclist.
2	* {{Anvilicious}}: ''The Mix'''s version of "Radioactivity". Apparently it was created when Ralf got pissed off when activists in England and North America accused the original version of being a ''pro''-nuclear song.
3	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
4	** Most fans agree that ''Music/{{Autobahn}}'' through ''Music/ComputerWorld'' represent their best work. However, ''Electric Café'' and ''Tour de France Soundtracks'', their final albums, are often viewed as good albums within the fanbase despite being less influential than their preceding albums.
5	** Then there's the entirety of ''Music/TransEuropeExpress'', which is widely considered to be Kraftwerk's masterpiece and their most influential album, helping to spearhead electro, house and hip hop.
6	** Even though the band has disowned them, there's still some great stuff on their first albums, especially the {{Krautrock}} jamming on ''Kraftwerk'' or the soothing sounds of ''Ralf und Florian''.
7	* BigLippedAlligatorMoment:
8	** "Intermission", "News", and "The Voice of Energy", all from ''Radio-Activity''. "Intermission" only serves as an interlude into "News", an avant-garde piece comprised of various samples of Ralf's voice, while "The Voice of Energy" is a BadassBoast from [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin the voice of energy]] that serves as a ShoutOut to the Voice of America radio station.[[note]](who's German broadcasts began with "Hier spricht die Stimme aus Amerika", hence "The Voice of Energy" beginning with "Hier spricht die Stimme der Energie")[[/note]] All three come out of nowhere and have barely anything to do with the rest of the album other sharing the "radio" theme.
9	** During one of the verses on the German version of "Das Model"/"The Model", after Ralf sings "Sie trinkt in Nachtclubs immer Sekt", a man randomly shouts "KORREKT!", and then Ralf returns to singing like nothing happened seconds later. According to WordOfGod, the man was a waiter at a discothèque the group frequented who always served champagne to new visitors, and would often greet them with "Hallöchen! Sekt? Korrrrrrrekt!", hence why he was brought in to record that one word, which, along with the preceding verse, helped form a reference to his catchphrase.
10	* CoveredUp:
11	** "Das Model"/"The Model" must have some kind of record for most covered into different genres song:
12	*** A lot of young Music/{{Rammstein}} fans might know it from Rammstein's cover "Das Model'''l'''".
13	*** Hardcore American AlternativeRock fans might know it from the Music/BigBlack cover on ''Music/SongsAboutFucking''.
14	*** Music/TheResidents fans might know it from the Snakefinger cover.
15	*** Latin Americans might know it from the SpeedyTechnoRemake in Spanish "La Modelo" ("The Model") by Argentinian Clota Lanzetta.[[note]]Lanzetta wasn't a professional singer, but a public relationist for celebrities and TV personalities, but nonetheless also made covers of other synthpop songs, such as Music/NewOrder's "Bizarre Love Triangle".[[/note]]
16	** Likewise, the riff from "Computer Love" is better known as the riff from Music/{{Coldplay}}'s "Talk".
17	* EnsembleDarkhorse:
18	** According to David Buckley's biography of the band, ''Kraftwerk: Publikation'', Wolfgang was this in the 1980s, due to being perceived as "the cute one" of the group.
19	** Karl is one due to his musical talent, status as the OnlySaneMan of the classic lineup (stemming from his autobiography), and his sheer {{Adorkable}}ness.
20	* FriendlyFandoms:
21	** With the Music/DaftPunk fandom. Both fandoms share a love of electronic music, and the overlap between the two is significant.
22	** With Music/TheWiggles fandom, of all bands.
23	** With the Music/{{Devo}} fandom. Both fandoms have a good overlap, and both bands are often seen as "underrated" by their respective fandoms.
24	** With the [[Music/EinsturzendeNeubauten Einstürzende Neubauten]] fandom. Both fandoms are dedicated to experimental (West) German bands. It's fairly common on sites like Tumblr to see people get into one band via the other.
25	** While not considered goth music, many goths will acknowledge Kraftwerk's contribution to the creation of the coldwave genre, and their music gets occasional plays at goth night clubs.
26	** With Music/DavidBowie, especially fans of ''Music/StationToStation'' and the Berlin Trilogy. It helps that Kraftwerk was a major musical influence during this phase of Bowie's career.
27	* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff:
28	** Kraftwerk seem to be one out of two explicitly German bands well-known in the United States. The other one is Music/{{Rammstein}}.
29	** Kraftwerk are also cult favorites in the United Kingdom, as they influenced Britain's synth-pop scene. Andy [=McCluskey=] saw them live when he was 16, and he was so amazed, he decided to start his own electronic band: Music/OrchestralManoeuvresInTheDark. They even named their second album ''Organisation'' after Kraftwerk's precursor band of the same name. In both the U.S. and U.K. they were considered ''the'' electronic band for a long time.
30	** Not only are they popular in Japan, for instance with ''Music/YellowMagicOrchestra'' namedropping them as a major influence on their early-1980s appearance in ''Series/SoulTrain'', but as you can hear in Dentaku on the ''Minimum-Maximum'' live album, Japanese audiences are far more excited in Kraftwerk concerts than audiences in most other countries that tend to treat the live performances like art shows. Kraftwerk has also returned the affection numerous times, such as with their 2012 No Nukes festival performance of ''Radio-Activity'' with the revised lyrics to The Mix version.
31	* GrowingTheBeard: The albums ''Music/{{Autobahn}}'' and ''Radio-Activity'' are where Kraftwerk really began to develop their style, with ''Autobahn'' being somewhat of a transition between their earlier ambient krautrock style and their later synthpop and electro work.
32	* HarsherInHindsight: The single "Tour de France" was supposed to have been issued as the first single from the album ''Techno Pop'', before the production work on the album had been completed. The album was shelved when Ralf ended up in a coma from a cycling accident.
33	* HilariousInHindsight: One common contemporary remark about the band is that a lot of the time, all four of them look very similar to [[Series/TheBigBangTheory Sheldon Cooper]]. Fitting, given how Jim Parsons reportedly based his portrayal of Sheldon in part on the band.
34	* LGBTFanbase: Pretty much comes with the territory of being a 70s/80s synth act.
35	* MemeticMutation: the Coke Can Incident of 1981.[[note]]While travelling in Poland during the Computer World Tour, Karl threw an unopened can of Coke at Wolfgang's head in an act of irritation. For some fans, this incident is ''hilarious,'' given how UnintentionallyUnsympathetic Wolfgang portrays himself as being while recounting it.[[/note]]
36	* NarmCharm: Songs like "The Robots" and "Pocket Calculator" run on it.
37	* OlderThanTheyThink: No, Music/DaftPunk are ''not'' the first electronic band posing as robots. They are in fact directly giving homage to this band.
38	* ReplacementScrappy: Some fans refuse to acknowledge the post-1987 additions the band[[note]]that is, Fritz Hilpert, Fernando Abrantes, Henning Schmit, Stefan Pfaffe, and Falk Grieffenhagen[[/note]] as true members of Kraftwerk; however, there's not much fuzz about these members outside of that bubble, especially among fans who weren't around for the classic lineup in the first place. This is {{parodied\|Trope}} with the Facebook group [[https://www.facebook.com/Christian-Dads-against-Falk-Grieffenhagen-2209160652703951/?ref=br_tf&epa=SEARCH_BOX "Christian Dads against Falk Grieffenhagen"]], who consistently (and intentionally) mix Falk up with Florian.
39	* SampledUp: Most people never recognise when bands sample from Kraftwerk, but it happens a lot. A lot of Industrial and EBM acts do it, and their drum beats crop up in hip-hop, especially from the '80s and early '90s all the time.
40	** Perhaps the most famous sample up is Music/{{Coldplay}}'s use of "Computer Love/Computerlieb"'s main melody in their song "Talk".
41	** The Gregorian chant-like choir from "Uranium" being sampled on Music/NewOrder's "Blue Monday" and Music/{{Underworld\|Band}}'s "Dark & Long (Dark Train)".
42	** Fans of Music/LCDSoundsystem will recognise synth lines from "Home Computer" and "The Robots" in "Disco Infiltrator" and "Get Innocuous!", respectively.
43	* SequelDisplacement: ''Music/{{Autobahn}}''. Justified in that the band's first three albums have been treated as CanonDiscontinuity for several years due to their refusal to officially reissue them in order to not hurt their reputation as synth pioneers, so you'd be surprised how people, and even casual fans, would earnestly think that ''Autobahn'' is their debut album.
44	* SugarWiki/SweetDreamsFuel:
45	** "Morgenspaziergang", the final track of ''Autobahn''. It translates to "Morning Walk", and appropiately enough, while the album's title track mimicked driving on a highway and the rest of the tracks mimicked (sometimes downright scary) night sounds, this track mimicks nature sounds one might hear while taking a morning walk, with the flutes even sounding like birds singing.
46	** "Airwaves".
47	** "Computer Love".
48	** "Ohm Sweet Ohm" - particularly in live recordings; the depth of the synthesised organ makes it almost sound like a wedding song.
49	* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: The live shows. Whether it's because they've changed the lineup (again), or because they changed the stage setup to the very impersonal four desks, or because the band prefers to play only ''The Mix'' versions of songs rather than the originals, it's a common opinion that contemporary Kraftwerk shows do not hold a candle to those of the 20th century—least of all to the Computer World Tour shows, which featured the band members roaming the stage and even utilizing small hand-held synths that a lucky member of the audience would be invited to play during "Pocket Calculator". This opinion's more notable holders include former band members Wolfgang Flür and Florian Schneider.
50	* VindicatedByHistory:
51	** ''Radio-Activity'' is often considered one of Kraftwerk's weaker efforts, despite it being their first fully electronic album and the title track being an integral part of their stage show, but its fusion of melodic pop and use of early sampling technology have become more applauded in the 21st century.
52	** ''Electric Café'', aka ''Techno-Pop'', was poorly received at the time, and is still not considered one of Kraftwerk's better albums, but it is now regarded by many to be quite a good instrumental hip-hop and electro album, showing Kraftwerk embracing their music's popularity within the hip-hop and electronic dancing scenes of the mid-80s and producing music specifically for the purpose of breakdancing. It being a good gateway album for people not drawn in by Kraftwerk's normally rigid sound certainly helps.

Context YMMV / Kraftwerk