Rarebird's Rock and Roll Nest

Before the German band Kraftwerk crafted their trademark electropop style -- and the robotic image that goes with it -- on their 1974 album Autobahn , there were three earlier albums recorded under the Kraftwerk name. But at that point, Kraftwerk were a duo, consisting of founding members Florian Schneider and Ralf Hütter. Those albums were stylistically more Krautrock than electronic. Those first three Kraftwerk albums have long been unavailable commercially, and none of the material from them was ever performed by the band after the '70's. Of course, many bootlegs and unofficial pressings have circulated over the years. Hütter and Schneider have dismissed the three early albums as works from a development phase that no longer fits with the band's "robot pop" style and image. Still, they may be of interest to devotees -- and at least one of them is remarkably good. First, let's start from the beginning. Before forming Kraftwerk, Hütter and Schneider were pa...