Line #38 Music/TransEuropeExpress


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/trans_europe_express_3643.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:''"From Music/{{station to station}}, back to Düsseldorf City/Meet Music/IggyPop and Music/DavidBowie..."'']]
3	[[quoteright:350:]]
4	[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see the original German album cover]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/trans_europe_express_german_2.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]
5	[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see the album cover used on the 2009 remastered edition]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/trans_europe_express_2009.jpg[[/labelnote]]]]
6
7	''Trans-Europe Express'' is the sixth studio album by Music/{{Kraftwerk}} and was released in 1977 through Kling Klang in Germany and Creator/CapitolRecords internationally. Widely considered to be one of the band's best and most groundbreaking records in the history of pop music (and ElectronicMusic in particular).
8
9	----
10	!! Tracklist
11
12	[[AC:Side One]]
13	# "Europe Endless" (9:40)
14	# "The Hall of Mirrors" (7:56)
15	# "Showroom Dummies" (6:15)
16
17	[[AC:Side Two]]
18	# "Trans-Europe Express" (6:52)
19	# "Metal on Metal" (6:43) [[note]]Some versions of the album separate this into two tracks: "Metal on Metal" and "Abzug". It sounds exactly the same either way.[[/note]]
20	# "Franz Schubert" (4:26)
21	# "Endless Endless" (0:55)
22
23	'''Personnel'''
24	* Ralf Hütter: voice, synthesizer, orchestron, synthanorma-sequenzer, electronics
25	* Florian Schneider: vocals, electronics, vocoder, votrax, synthesizer
26	* Karl Bartos: electronic percussion
27	* Wolfgang Flür: percussion
28
29	----
30	!!The Hall of Tropes:
31	* BilingualBonus: A French version of "Showroom Dummies", titled "Les Mannequins" was recorded. There's also the fact that this album was recorded and released in German, English and French.
32	* BookEnds: "Endless Endless" is a brief reprise of the opening track, "Europe Endless".
33	* ConceptAlbum: European unity. "Trans-Europe Express" sounds more European than their earlier output, with both the title track and the opening track, "Europe Endless" directly referencing it.
34	* DarkerAndEdgier: A lot of the songs on this album have a much more sinister sound to them compared to their other works (looking at you, "Hall of Mirrors" and "Showroom Dummies").
35	* EpicRocking: "Europe Endless", "The Hall of Mirrors".
36	* FaceOnTheCover: The band is pictured on the album cover in close-up.
37	* HallOfMirrors: One track has this title.
38	* LongestSongGoesFirst: The album starts with the nine-minute "Europe Endless"; no other track goes above eight.
39	* NamedAfterSomebodyFamous: "Franz Schubert".
40	* OminousPipeOrgan: On ''The Mix'' version of "Trans-Europe Express". Orchestration in their music is very rare, but it was of course a synthesized organ.
41	* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Ralf and Florian did, in fact, meet Iggy Pop and David Bowie, hence the name-dropping.
42	* ShoutOut:
43	** The "eins zwei drei vier" count that begins "Showroom Dummies" was made as a reference to Music/TheRamones' habit of starting their songs with Dee Dee quickly shouting "one two three four!".
44	** The title track references a meeting between the band members and Music/IggyPop and Music/DavidBowie, while they were working on Iggy's ''Music/TheIdiot'' and Bowie's ''Music/{{Low\|DavidBowieAlbum}}''.
45	** One song is named after Music/FranzSchubert.
46	* SiameseTwinSongs:
47	** "Trans-Europe Express" and "Metal on Metal" are basically one long song. The first track is the vocal portion, and the second track is a mostly-instrumental coda.
48	*** And even still "Metal on Metal" is separated into "Metal on Metal" and "Azbug" on occasion, so it's a Siamese ''triplet''.
49	** Similarly, "Endless Endless" is just a brief finale for "Franz Schubert".
50	* SyntheticVoiceActor: Some of the vocals (particularly in the title track). It became one of their trademark elements (and, later on, a staple of ElectronicMusic).
51	* TitleTrack: "Trans-Europe Express".
52	* TrainSong: "Trans-Europe Express" is about the train express named that way. Several electronic sounds during it mimick a train chugging.
53	* UnusuallyUninterestingSight: Owing to the deadpan delivery, "Trans-Europe Express" makes traveling to hang out with Music/DavidBowie and Music/IggyPop sound about as exciting as buying groceries. Florian Scheider and Iggy Pop [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GTrMzYhlG8 actually did buy groceries]].

Context Music / TransEuropeExpress