Trans-Europe Express () is the sixth studio album by German electronic band Kraftwerk. Recorded in 1976 in Düsseldorf, Germany, the album was released in March 1977 on Kling Klang Records. It saw the group refine their melodic electronic style, with a focus on sequenced rhythms, minimalism, and occasionally manipulated vocals. The themes include celebrations of the eponymous European railway service and Europe as a whole, and meditations on the disparities between reality and appearance.
Trans-Europe Express charted at 119 on the American charts and was ranked number 30 in The Village Voices 1977 Pazz & Jop critics' poll. Two singles were released: "Trans-Europe Express" and "Showroom Dummies". The album has been re-released in several formats and continues to receive acclaim as one of the best albums of the 1970s and of all time. In 2014, the Los Angeles Times called it "the most important pop album of the last 40 years".
Artwork
The artwork for the album cover of Trans-Europe Express was originally going to be a monochrome picture of the group reflected in a series of mirrors. This idea was dropped for a photo by New York-based celebrity photographer Maurice Seymour, with the group dressed in suits to resemble mannequins. J. Stara's image of the group was taken in Paris and is a highly retouched photo-montage of Kraftwerk from their shoulders up again posed as mannequins which are shown on the cover of the English version of the album. On the inside sleeve, a color collage of the group sitting at a small cafe table designed by Emil Schult was used. The photo for this scene was from the session by Maurice Seymour, taken on the group's American tour. Other photos were taken by Schult that show the group laughing and smiling. These were not used for the album's release.
Composition
Wolfgang Flür has stated Kraftwerk were influenced by the music of the Weimar Germany era: "we were children who were born straight after World War Two... we had no musical or pop culture of our own... there was the war, and before the war we had only the German folk music. In the 1920s or 1930s melodies were developed and these became culture that we worked from". Hütter has commented on the minimalist nature of the album, stating that "If we can convey an idea with one or two notes, it is better than to play a hundred or so notes". The first side of Trans-Europe Express has three songs. The song "Hall of Mirrors" has been described as containing deadpan vocals with lyrics that speculate how stars look at themselves in a looking glass. Hütter and Schneider have described the song as autobiographical. The third track "Showroom Dummies" was described by AllMusic as "bouncily melodic in a way that most of Trans-Europe Express isn't" and with lyrics which are "slightly paranoid".
| 2003
| style="text-align:center"|*
|-
|Paste
|The 70 Best Albums of the 1970s
| 2012
| style="text-align:center"|47
|-
|Pitchfork
|Top 100 Albums of the 1970s
|2004
| style="text-align:center"|6
|-
|Robert Dimery
|1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die
|2005
| style="text-align:center"|*
|-
|rowspan=4|Rolling Stone
|The Rolling Stone 200: The Essential Rock Collection
|1997
| style="text-align:center"|*
|-
|rowspan=3|The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
|2005
| style="text-align:center"|1
|-
|Tom Moon
|1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die
|2008
| style="text-align:center"|*
|-
|VH1
|The 100 Greatest Albums of Rock & Roll
|2001
| style="text-align:center"|56
|-
|Vibe
|100 Essential Albums of the 20th Century
|1999
| style="text-align:center"|*
|-
|Channel 4
| rowspan="20" |United Kingdom
|125 Nominations for the 100 Greatest Albums
|2005
| style="text-align:center"|*
|-
|GQ
|The 100 Coolest Albums in the World Right Now!
|2005
| style="text-align:center"|86
|-
|Gary Mulholland
|261 Greatest Albums Since Punk and Disco
|2006
| style="text-align:center"|*
|-
|rowspan=3|Mojo
|The 100 Greatest Albums Ever Made
|1995
| style="text-align:center"|48
|-
|70 of the Greatest Albums of the 70s
|2006
| style="text-align:center"|*
|-
|The Mojo Collection: The Ultimate Music Companion
|2007
| style="text-align:center"|*
|-
|rowspan=2|Muzik
|The 50 Most Influential Records of All Time
|1999
| style="text-align:center"|8
|-
|Top 50 Dance Albums of All Time
|2002
| style="text-align:center"|9
|-
|rowspan=4|NME
|Albums of the Year (honorable mentions)
|1977
| style="text-align:center"|*
|-
|All Times Top 100 Albums
|1985
| style="text-align:center"|38
|-
|100 Best Albums of All Time
|2003
| style="text-align:center"|36
|-
|The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time
|2013
| style="text-align:center"|81
|-
|Paul Morley
|100 Greatest Albums of All Time
|2013
| style="text-align:center"|*
|-
|Q
| The 50 Best Albums of the 70s
|1998
| style="text-align:center"|9
|-
|rowspan=2|Sounds
| Albums of the Year
|1977
| style="text-align:center"|13
|-
| The 100 Best Albums of All Time
|1985
| style="text-align:center"|48
|-
|The Observer
| 50 Albums That Changed Music 1956-2006
|2006
| style="text-align:center"|3
|-
|The Times
|The 20 Most Influential Albums
|2008
| style="text-align:center"|11
|-
|Uncut
|100 Rock and Movie Icons
|2005
| style="text-align:center"|23
|-
|The Wire
|The 100 Most Important Records Ever Made
|1992
| style="text-align:center"|*
|-
|Adresseavisen
| rowspan="2" |Norway
|The 100 (+23) Best Albums of All Time
|1995
| style="text-align:center"|15
|-
|Panorama
|The 30 Best Albums of the Year 1970-98
|1999
| style="text-align:center"|16
|-
|Pop
|Sweden
|The World's 100 Best Albums + 300 Complements
|1994
| style="text-align:center"|101
|-
|Max
|rowspan=8|Germany
|The 50 Best Albums of All Time
|1997
| style="text-align:center"|22
|-
|rowspan=2|Musik Express/Sounds
|The 100 Masterpieces
|1993
| style="text-align:center"|94
|-
|The 50 Best German Records
|2001
| style="text-align:center"|15
|-
|RoRoRo Rock-Lexicon
|Most Recommended Albums
|2003
| style="text-align:center"|*
|-
|rowspan=2|Rolling Stone
|The Best Albums of 5 Decades
|1997
| style="text-align:center"|*
|-
|The 500 Best Albums of All Time
|2004
| style="text-align:center"|325
|-
|Sounds
|The 50 Best Albums of the 1970s
|2009
| style="text-align:center"|10
|-
|Spex
|The 100 Albums of the Century
|1999
| style="text-align:center"|35
|-
| colspan="6" style="text-align:center; font-size:8pt" | (*) designates lists that are unordered.
|}
Commercial performance
Trans-Europe Express charted higher in the United States than Kraftwerk's previous album Radio-Activity by peaking at number 117 on the Billboard Top LPs & Tape chart.
|style="text-align:center;"|2
|-
|-
|-
!scope="row"|Italian Albums (FIMI)
|style="text-align:center;"|8
|-
|-
!scope="row"|UK Albums (OCC)
</references>
Works cited
External links
- Trans Europe Express on Spotify (listen)
- Kraftwerk official website