- The film critic Philip French wrote in 1990 that "nothing dates the past like its impressions of the future." He was talking about Stanley Kubrick's 1971 film, A Clockwork Orange, but at that time he could have been describing Kraftwerk. For those of us who grew up in the '80s, unless we had particularly hip parents, Kraftwerk already felt like ancient history. Once acid house, rave and techno had arrived, they seemed downright primitive. Their funny outfits and rinky-dink sounds all came over like something from a Doctor Who episode in comparison to the white heat of technical innovation that was happening around us.
Of course that was unfair. And as we grew into our musical tastes, working backwards through Underground Resistance, Drexciya and Juan Atkins, Kraftwerk's vitality became more obvious—not just their influence, but also the power and beauty of their creative project. As electronic music became more diverse and complex, the purity and elegance of their sound gained an added appeal in contrast. Their music and art felt more futuristic the further it receded into the past.
3-D The Catalogue contains recordings of the shows performed in major contemporary art galleries during the band's extended tour of 2012 to 2016. The mixing is pristine, the performances note perfect, the dynamics dramatic. And if you select the quadruple Blu-ray set (with accompanying deluxe art book, with concept work and detail from the shows' visuals) and have a decent home viewing setup, the package makes absolute sense.
As a straight-up listening experience—whether you get eight CDs, eight LPs or the condensed "best of" version—the value of 3-D The Catalogue is a little more questionable. For sure, the sound is exquisite, and the "liveness" is audible, if mostly in filter-sweeps or the way sounds zip across the stereo field. There's a depth of bass, a sense of scale, a deftness with those moving sounds that certainly "takes you there" if you're going to have a deep-listening session, whether with hi-fi speakers or headphones. But how often, honestly, are you going to do that?
For most listening situations, what you're getting is buffed and polished remakes of classic Kraftwerk. Quite often, the structures seem identical—you could send yourself mad flicking back and forth to the original versions working out the slight differences (and believe me, I have). On certain tracks—the majestic sound of the Trans-Europe Express material leaps out here—the lushness of the production is transformational, and they stand out as worthy additions to the Kraftwerk remix and remake canon. But too often, unless you're 100% immersed in the mix's spatial-dynamic brilliance, all that detail is irrelevant, and the originals can sound better. Put the new take on "Spacelab" side-by-side with the original, and the crisp sparseness of the latter pops out of the speakers more than the live version.
In a sense, it's just like any box set. If you're a hyper-fan (and God knows Kraftwerk have plenty of those), you'll want it and will enjoy absorbing every minute. If you're not, you won't. But actually, the very nature of Kraftwerk makes it more complicated than that. The way they've always reassessed and reworked their legacy, most notably on 1991's The Mix album, makes it interesting to see which of their tracks stand up best to new sonic treatments. And that their place within the electronic music continuum only seems to become more solidified with each new generation makes new ways of hearing their tracks welcome. Sometimes impressions of the future don't date—they mature.
Lista de sequência de músicasAutobahn
01. Autobahn
02. Kometenmelodie 1
03. Kometenmelodie 2
04. Mitternacht
05. Morgenspaziergang
Radio-Activity
01. Geiger Counter
02. Radioactivity
03. Radioland
04. Airwaves
05. Intermission
06. News
07. The Voice Of Energy
08. Antenna
09. Radio Stars
10. Uranium
11. Transistor
12. Ohm Sweet Ohm
Trans-Europe Express
01. Trans-Europe Express
02. Metal On Metal
03. Abzug
04. Franz Schubert
05. Europe Endless
06. The Hall Of Mirrors
07. Showroom Dummies
The Man-Machine
01. The Man Machine
02. Spacelab
03. The Model
04. Neon Lights
05. The Robots
06. Metropolis
Computer World
01. Numbers
02. Computer World
03. It's More Fun To Compute
04. Home Computer
05. Computer Love
06. Pocket Calculator
07. Dentaku
Techno Pop
01. Electric Cafe
02. The Telephone Call
03. House Phone
04. Sex Object
05. Boing Boom Tschak
06. Techno Pop
07. Music Non Stop
The Mix
01. The Robots
02. Computer Love
03. Pocket Calculator
04. Dentaku
05. Autobahn
06. Geiger Counter
07. Radioactivity
08. Trans-Europe Express
09. Metal On Metal
10. Abzug
11. It's More Fun To Compute
12. Home Computer
13. Boing Boom Tschak
14. Techno Pop
15. Music Non Stop
16. Planet Of Visions
Tour De France
01. Tour De France
02. Prologue
03. Etape 1
04. Chrono
05. Etape 2
06. Vitamin
07. Aero Dynamik
08. Elektrokardiogramm
09. La Forme
10. Régéneration
Abridged
01. Autobahn
02. Geiger Counter
03. Radio-Activity
04. Trans-Europe Express
05. Metal On Metal
06. Abzug
07. The Man Machine
08. Numbers
09. Computer World
10. Boing Boom Tschak
11. Techno Pop
12. Music Non Stop
13. The Robots
14. Tour De France
15. Prologue
16. Etape 1
17. Chrono
18. Etape 2