Computer World is an engrossing, spellbinding piece of work achieved from the dims of the 80's. Despite having 7 tracks, they are ALL unique, and somehow lead you on a journey. Definitely going down in one of my top 5 favorite Electronic releases.
Can you really call a record 'dated' when it's as wildly influential as Computer World? Listening to it initially is a disorientating experience, especially when compared to their earlier output, simply because you can't help but feel you've heard all this before. But then it sinks in, and you realize that the only reason this is so imitated is because it's so brilliant. Kraftwerk's sense of humour had been located, giving us the addictive, self-deprecating "Pocket Calculator" and "Home Computer". Their melodic instinct was on fine form, too - "Computer Love" was epic and beautiful enough to be stolen wholesale by Coldplay on "Talk", not to mention that it was a song about cybersex written a good 15 years before the internet was available in most people's homes. Computer World was the last great Kraftwerk album, and probably the one that best displays that the 80s simply wouldn't have happened without them.
