The 1970s were a glorious time to be a Rock Music fan. Krautrock was a European offshoot of the music developments of the day, incorporating elements of Psychedelic and Progressive Rock into a new and innovative format and genre that was revolutionary musically at the time. Indeed, Michael Rother and Klaus Dinger were both from an original incarnation of Kraftwerk, the famous German group that created and pioneered a large amount of EDM. Although this album failed internationally to be a success on its own, it did sell well in West Germany at the time (before Germany itself was united). Even so, this album is often revered as a classic album today, and gave the two men a motivation to work together musically on this project. This album was produced by Konrad “Conny” Plank and was released in March 1972, being recorded at Star Studios in Hamburg. Let’s take a listen to this album, and we shall hear if it has aged well at all.

1. Hallogallo is a 10-minute-long piece that begins with some funky rhythms and muted wah-wah guitar. Drums gradually enter, and this exciting tune gets grooving along nicely. This is likely heavily inspired by Jimi Hendrix. Some awesome drumming and keyboard sounds are present on this track. These two guys were obviously music masterminds, ahead of their time. A different-sounding tune that is a game-changer, to this very day. One can imagine David Gilmour of Pink Floyd being heavily inspired by this brilliant music, complete with backwards guitars to boot. A lovely piece of imaginative music with many layers of sound to explore. The guitar parts throughout are also very, very sweet. This is a great pastiche of backwards guitar parts, and it sounds very, very good. A wonderful tune to listen to that was made decades ago, that still sounds futuristic. This is scientifically and sweetly structured excellently. A brilliant take on early 1970s instrumental music at hand. This proves that sometimes you can minimise some of the music and styles on a song to maximum effect. Very deliciously groovy throughout. A timeless and excellent track that sounds like a mixture of drug-inspired (mainly LSD) music with artistic brilliance. This sounds light years ahead of many other forms of music at the time. A strong and interesting debut album is present thus far. This does sound absolutely awesome and is already worth listening to. With many music changes throughout, alongside some trippy and interesting sounds, Neu! were excellent at creating genius-level music. This is never dull, tasteless or boring. The mixture of backwards guitars and grooviness is far out, man. A sensationally good listen. This becomes more muted towards the end, and is 100% worth hearing. A fantastic track.

2. Sonderangebot is a much shorter piece, beginning with a brief section of German speech and some fantastic and eerie electronic sounds. This continues on for some time, just sounding like a serious LSD trip. A really cool listening experience to behold. This is a very nicely structured piece of music with tripped-out structures and really top-notch sound. The mixture of distorted cymbals, eerie melodies and other sounds makes this a spooky listen. A real trip to the senses is present on this tune. It points to a future of music with some electronic experimentation that is incredibly intellectual and intelligent to hear. A really warped tune and piece of experimental music that sounds creepy. This sounds super odd as well. Wacky and strange. It eventually wraps up with the continuous sounds and textures gradually fading out, with some freaky sounds to conclude with, before seguing into the next track.

3. Weissensee begins with some loose drumming before entering into a calm and more laid-back tune than before. This is still on the LSD trip style of things. A musically interesting and decent tune to behold. This also runs for nearly seven minutes and is very interesting to listen to. With some awesome wah-wah Fender Stratocaster parts and other interesting and unique sounds present. This is a very chilled and laidback sort of tune. It is also extremely minimal to listen to. Truly amazing how the guitars and drums can adapt to almost any situation out there. In any case, this music is very interesting and sweet. Certainly a unique take on the Psychedelic Rock of the 1960s and the Progressive Rock of the early 1970s. Neu! certainly make a lasting impression on the listener. The wah-wah guitars and drums are very prominent throughout. Absolutely awesome to hear and to listen to. There are minimal but interesting changes throughout, and these guys obviously understood the nature of music. A top-notch listen, for the minimal nature that this all is. A unique take on Rock Music at the time. It fades out gradually right towards the end.

4. Im Gluck begins with some watery sounds and the sounds of a lady laughing. Very weird, especially in retrospect. This has some background chatter among the water sounds, before the main track segues right in. This sounds super spacey and LSD oriented, once again. A very, very good listen once again. This continues the interesting, dark and experimental music nature of this album. It also sounds really fantastic to hear. This music is a deep, intricate and trippy-sounding piece of soundcraft. Very weird, there is also no percussion or drumming on this track. If you ever need to blast your brain with hallucinogenics to an oddball soundtrack to match it, this album is likely perfect for you. The electronics on this track are very, very good. If Pink Floyd’s instrumentals are your thing, this may be an album worth checking out as well. A fantastic listen throughout, which has a dark flavour and edge to it all. The second half has some wacky Jimi Hendrix-style guitar sounds, before the watery sounds randomly return. A great soundscape of the experimental kind. Also, this is very weird. The watery sounds and dialogue finish this track off.

5. Negativland launches it all off with industrial jackhammers and other random sounds, which are like a bad LSD trip. This is super weird to listen to. This tune goes on for nearly 10 minutes in length as well. Soon enough, Rock instrumentation enters, and we are underway. This eventually sounds a bit more orthodox overall. The music and soundcraft are still really weird, although this tune has a more normal Rock Music feel to it all. A great listen, all the same. This music sounds quite interesting, although the beats are repetitive. You can clearly hear proto-EDM ideas on tracks such as these. Repetitive a little too much, but still worth listening to throughout. One can also hear the ideas of Public Image Ltd. on this tune for their own later releases, which were classic albums as well. The musicianship is excellent. Towards the midsection is a repeated guitar figure, before this drastically changes outlook and tempo. A really fresh and diverse listen. The midsection has some bizarre electronic sounds that are really quite cool, before the band starts again. The second half sounds a little like Talking Heads, and it carries a bunch of music surprises throughout. This is like the Silver Apples, just on a different level. All in all, a good yet fairly repetitive listening experience overall. The music on this release is a bit of an acquired taste, but if you dare venture through it, it has its rewards. Towards the end are some squealing guitars and fine playing throughout. This eventually wraps up in a weird way. Krautrock was alive by this release. It ends with some weird overdubs. Admittedly, this would have been better if it were a lot shorter. There are several seconds of silence at the end of this track.

6. Lieber Honig begins with some unusual instrumentation that is very eerie. This plays nicely along and in a sweet way. This tune is over seven minutes long. Some random and weird harmonies that are completely unmusical are present here as well. Goodness knows what these guys were thinking. Perhaps they were high as heck while recording this tune? Possibly. This is not a good listen, and it is proof that this last track could have been ditched. In any case, the bad harmonies conclude, and other multitracked instrumentation seeps in. A strange and odd tune overall. This is probably not worth listening to. The weird harmonies return, and this tune is an awful listen. The worst singing in recorded history is present on this track. This is followed by some violin-style droning sounds. Odd. The watery sounds from Im Gluck return as well. This is a very weird listen overall. This makes only sense to the listener if you are coming down off a hallucinogenic trip. Anyway, the watery sounds and German spoken are odd. Very unusual. This continues on with some delay at the end of it all before fading out. Odd and oddball, this is a strange way to conclude a strange album.

This album is almost as good as it promises itself to be. It has a fair amount of brilliance, yet some awkward music moments that don’t sound quite so good. Nonetheless, if you want to experience a very well-structured LSD trip set to music, this is definitely a reference point to hear this album. All the same, should you listen to this album? Maybe. It really depends on how much of a Hippie you are. Most Rock and Punk fans will not like this release, however.

Surreal and strange.

7/10

Best tracks: Hallogallo.