Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk 2

Release Date: 1972 | Tracklist

I have a riddle for you. If a Kraftwerk album hasn’t been officially rereleased since 1979, did it ever really exist to begin with? This kind of imaginary fairytale thinking is what the members of Kraftwerk have been operating on for the past 30-40 years. In total disregard to the concept of object permanence, Kraftwerk has been committed to keeping their early work (including their pre-Kraftwerk works) locked away, where no one could ever find it. In many circles (especially more “hardcore” progressive rock circles), this has led to a Streisand effect and a greater interest in these albums. As technologically-minded as Kraftwerk are, I don’t believe they accounted for the sharing power of the internet when they made the decision to hide their past all those years ago. Despite their best efforts, their first three albums (1970’s Kraftwerk, 1972’s Kraftwerk 2, and 1973’s Ralf & Florian) have remained in circulation.

While the group’s first and third outings have gotten significant reappraisal as time has passed, Kraftwerk’s second, Kraftwerk 2, has remained the black sheep of their catalog. Even up until the modern day, very few seem to give this album as much as a cursory acknowledgement. Perhaps the group’s constant dismissal finally took its toll on the listening public and everyone decided to heed their warning. Just for this album. No, that would be ridiculous. A more likely explanation would be that the listening public sought out Kraftwerk 2, listened to it, and decided for themselves that it was not worth seeking out.

I’m not here to convince you that Kraftwerk 2 is somehow Kraftwerk’s lost masterpiece that has been tucked away in a vault somewhere as to not melt minds with its sheer brilliance. For one, after relistening to the record, I found it to be a bit more underwhelming than I was hoping it would be. There truly are some bizarre cuts here that probably could have been left out. The most obvious instance of this would be “Atem”, which is just 3 minutes of heavy breathing. Even I, the avant tryhard that I am, cannot justify calling Kraftwerk 2 a stone-cold classic when something like that takes up a spot on the tracklist. But I’ve found that the true intrigue of the album arises from an eerie simplicity; ambient muzak given a bit of krautrock flair. A lot of bands that followed decades later share elements with Kraftwerk 2, specifically in the realm of post-rock. While later acts would finely tune that sound over the years, there’s a minimalistic charm to a track like “Wellenlänge” that shouldn’t be understated. The 17-minute opener “Klingklang”, the one track many seem to cite as the only mandatory listen off this album, is a long-form ambient piece littered with everything from fluttering flutes to early drum machines to a plucky electric guitar. On an otherwise mellow record, “Klingklang” no doubt shines as an obvious standout. But I’d make the argument that it stands toe-to-toe with some of Kraftwerk’s best work.

As the album closes on the harsh sounds of amateur accordion playing (“Harmonika”), that same eeriness returns. Later works by the group would be imbued with a similar, if not more polished, tone. It doesn’t seem like much at first, but little hints of the Kraftwerk that Kraftwerk want you to remember found their start here. So, while the band’s self-titled debut has become notable for its more experimental krautrock nature and Ralf & Florian has been cited as the emergence of a more focused, electronic-minded Kraftwerk, Kraftwerk 2 falls somewhere in the middle. The band has worked tirelessly to hide these early records away, but the truth is, they all played a part in creating what they would eventually become. And if those other two records have gotten some respect, who’s to say Kraftwerk 2 isn’t worthy of a critical reevaluation?

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