Trans-Europe Express

I was a sophmore in a Central Texas High School when I got Trans-Europe Express by Kraftwerk. It was beyond anything I had been listening to electronic music wise and I loved it. Such a distinguished gentleman cover too:

It opens with the lovely tones of "Europe Endless", the chant of Europe Endless Endless floats through my head whenever anyone pontificates about across the pond. The keyboard riff of "The Hall of Mirrors" is almost as good as the self aware lyrics :"Even the greatest stars discover/find/dislike/change/themselves (live their lives/fix their face) in the looking glass". My favorite Kraftwerk song of all time concludes side one, "Showroom Dummies", predating the whole we are the robot thang with "We are Showroom Dummies/We look around/And change our pose/We are showroom dummies." I had friend listen to that song at the time and go on a long voyage covering all that mannequins coming to life implies. Of course, I talked about the fabulous Twilight Zone episode where the woman finds out that she is a Showroom Dummy.

Side Two opens with title hit "Trans-Europe Express", my mind would wander across the countries in a train when ever I listened and stared at the album cover. I'm glad vinyl is back but the beauty that was the album cover before it all shrank (well there were cassettes and eight tracks) meant that sometimes there was deep thought about the images printed on that 12" square. All of side two just flows together, "Metal on Metal" is such an enduring theme that I always felt it was a continuation. Then "Franz Schubert" is a pleasant respite exploring the more classical side of electronic composing. And "Endless, Endless" rounds it out, less than a minute long it echoes the feel of the album; traveling across one's memories and reflected desires.

I just saw Kraftwerk perform in 3D tonight and it was an amazing experience. The first rock show ever where 3D glasses were required. The visuals were phenomenal and the jamming of four guys on keyboards was unparallelled. Their version of Trans-Europe Express/Metal on Metal was as transcendent as the rest of the show. For their first encore, they had their robots perform. It was better than the Hall of Presidents but not as the Country Bears. Still seeing Ralf as a robot tickled my soul and made me glad to alive in this time before it all gets______(fill in the blank). I convinced a friend to go who was not that familiar with Kraftwerk and I think it's safe to say he was Boing Boom Tschak Techno Popped away.