Kraftwerk: Man, Machine And Music

by Pascal Bussy

Now into its fourth edition, this perennial bestseller has been updated and revised to coincide with the band’s 2004 World Tour. Kraftwerk’s influence and place in the annals of music history is ever growing. This is the first, and still the best, biography. Appearing in B-format for the first time, Bussy has included information about Kraftwerk’s first new album in 16 years.

Genres: Music, Nonfiction, Biography

222 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Thomas Stroemquist · Rating 3 out of 5]

A biography of a band as non-disclosing as Kraftwerk can of course not be expected to contain any major revelations or surprises and this book really doesn't. Instead, it is more of an extended album review covering the entire back catalogue, interspersed with some anecdotes and hypothesis. Recommended if especially interested.

[Tiago · Rating 4 out of 5]

Are you a fan of Kraftwerk? Then you must have heard of the auto-biography that wasn't. The approved telling that then, suddenly, was disapproved. The mystery of the band that was more than a pioneering artist, more than the percursor to a whole genre of music, gets peeled slightly in this book, which is written quasi-chronologically in a style which is 1/3 genuine admiration, 1/3 revenge interviews, 1/3 getting the job done 'because I need to get the rest of the money from my publisher'.

[Simon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kraftwerk's notorious high level of secrecy, an integral part of the band's underlying concept and a source of amusingly surreal anecdotes from the author, results in this being a decidedly odd read compared to every other band biography I've read so far. The few interviews the author has done with Kraftwerk's members are cryptic and sparse, the bulk of testimony coming from either former members or previous interviews if not outsiders the band has interacted with.

By far the most illuminating part of the book covers Kraftwerk's early years, before their signature music style and public image had crystallised into its familiar form, in no small part because Kraftwerk disowns their output before "Autobahn" and refuse to re-release it. Pascal Bussy does a great job tracing Kraftwerk's inspiration from not just the minimalist modern classical of Karlheinz Stockhausen & Company but also previous pop/rock traditions they're supposedly broke completely with, and their place in the greater context of post-WW2 German culture+society.

It's when Kraftwerk become the band we know and love today that the book becomes a somewhat awkward reading experience, because that's when Schneider and company became extremely reclusive. For reasons that admittedly have been beyond the author's control, the book here becomes less about Kraftwerk than the hows and whys of their influence on younger artists. It's not useless because I've indeed been curious to find out exactly how electronic music evolved from the Kosmische Musik era to its current incarnations, but that's neither quite what I borrowed this book at the library to discover.

[Sarah S · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the most informative book I've been able to find on this group thus far. Has a lot of pics and talks about the beginning when Florian and Ralf initially met and conceived the notion for th music. I love the ambient movement because I find it to be very ecclectic and diversified. My only complaint is that the book really does tend to center around the heyday of their career.

[Ipswichblade · Rating 4 out of 5]

I never tire of reading about Kraftwerk and this is another great read. On the back cover the NME describe the book as a "crisp, business-like biography" and that it is an excellent summary.

[Dozy Pilchard · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very enjoyable read. Well rounded and informative. The book covers both the member's musical lives and also their seemingly equally important leisure pastimes, therefore providing a well balanced picture for the reader.

The member's of Kraftwerk are notoriously private individuals, so this level of insight is no mean feat.

Unfortunately I recently sold my copy of this book, just prior to the death of Florian Schneider. The value of the book has since tripled. If you get a copy. Hold on tight to it. It's a gem.

[milton · Rating 5 out of 5]

while written mostly from an almost hearsay point of view, an interesting look into the lives and music of the pioneers of electronic modern music.

[Francisco Luis Benítez · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most depth study about the top electronic band ever. Including interviews with Hütter and Schültz. Interesting if you're a big fan.

[Antonio Moreno Pini · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hay pocos relatos o articulos sobre Kraftwerk y su proceso creativo.pese a ser una influencia muy grande en toda la musica de los años 80 (depeche mode, gary numan,...) el techno de los 90 y toda la electrónica desde los 70.

Pascal Bussy tuvo relaci con ellos en sus frecuentes visitas a francia y es de los pocos reporteros que ha visitado los estudios Kling klang.

Cada capitulo se centra en uno de sus discos anlizando los diferentes interesea de RAlf y Florian, pues cada uno estan construidos alrededor de un concepto que se analiza desde puntos diferentes a veces serios otra vez con ironía.

También el aspecto gráfico es analizado ya que está muy relacionado con los conceptos de cada album. Mencio aparte merecen los dummies o robots que se convirtieron en una seña de identidad de la banda durante 30 años.

La unica pega es que la historia acaba en los años noventa y al acabar nos quedamos co ganas de seguir conociendo la evolucion del grupo en sus últimos años.

[Grant McDougall · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very, dull, bland book. It told me nothing that aficionados wouldn't already know. The writing is very dry and lifeless and completely fails to adequately explain with any depth or imagination about the band and their music.

[JBP · Rating 4 out of 5]

More music. Kraftwerk are kind of an enigma--super secretive, rarely releasing music as they haven't released anything of great worth since '82! I liked reading how totally into the ideology they are and how their views on music and image interconnect. I just loved reading how their early stuff was made and the ideas that were behind them.

[Bagatela · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is an objective and modest approach to the inside world of Ralph and Florian. If the end results are not all that informative for a follower of the Düsseldorf duo, the reason is simple. This book is something of a semi official biography, written with the support of Kling-Klang, the clique that dwell’s in secrecy and concealed creativeness.

[Devin Tait · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very insightful and interesting read. I didn't know much about Kraftwerk before but I always knew they had influences a lot of my favorite bands, so I thought I'd give this book a try when my mom gave it to me. I really enjoyed it and had to start tracking down Kraftwerk albums shortly after finishing it.