Minimum - Maximum [Live]

My experience is that somehow much loved music of the past is not quite so thrilling when revisited after a spell away.

I bought this CD with a degree of angst that I would be disappointed when I reheard some old favourites as they did not resonate as before.

Boy did I enjoy them again. Being live gave them a certain added piquancy. It was as though the intervening years had not happened. I was young again, sang along, swayed with the rhythm. What more can I say?

I enjoyed the CD, play it frequently and relive an earlier life each time. Will that happen for you? I don't know but it does for me.

It has all the earlier out of body feel, the somehow disjointed but melodic rhythm, and hypnotic themes on unusual yet familiar subjects.

I am happy. Sorry if this is little help in whether you should buy or not, it is a personal taste thing.

OK so here all you get is the music (a mystique-demolishing DVD is in the pipeline). However, these versions aren't identical to the studio ones at all, there are lots of little tweaks, boinks and bongs. At times, such as on 'Numbers' Kraftwerk bend everything around to suitably mesmerising effect. Beats are given an extra kick throughout and they sound funkier than ever as they head for pensionable age. Not sure how much is 'played' and how much is pre-sequenced, and I suspect there are only 4 members on stage for the sake of symmetry, however there is enough going on to justify purchase even if you have all the other records. At times they almost better the originals.
The reaction of the audience(s), loving every minute and cheering mid-song as the beats kick in, (even singing along..in Japanese to 'Dentaku' to Hutters obvious delight) adds an unusually human element to this notoriously clinical music (although machines have soul as we all know).

Each track comes from a different gig. Apparently they taped the whole 2004 tour. One can imagine Kraftwerk wading through piles of minidiscs and comparing the acoustics of different halls they played in and choosing the best ones. Anyway, it all sounds incredibly crisp and smart. Puts most studio LPs to shame for sheer sonic fidelity....listen to it your headphones!

Yeah its all done on Computers now, who cares? It still sounds great. And Kraftwerk can still teach technobots a third of their age a thing or two about how to use Laptops and software in a live setting.

For anyone who doesn't crave this as a souvenir of a great night out in Brixton, it will serve well as a Greatest Hits remix album as it contains tracks from all their main albums which are close enough to be familiar, but different enough to be worth having. There is enough crowd noise to give it atmosphere, but not enough to intrude. In fact the crowd reaction on Dentaku adds to the song, hearing the Tokyo audience singing along to Kraftwerk's Japanese lyrics.

The highlights are the mighty Radioactivity, the insistant clanging of Metal On Metal and... well... most of the other 20 tracks to be honest. I particularly liked the subtle intonation of the vocals on Pocket Calculator and Autobahn which actually made Ralf seem more human than I have ever heard him.

Like everyone else, I see this as only a stopgap while waiting for the promised DVD or SACD, but it really does repay careful listening: each time I find new depth in it and, surprisingly for music which is entirely electronic, great soul.

It would have been nice if they had played the full 22-minute version of Autobahn, although the one here is, at almost 9 minutes, a lot onger than the single version, and I'm slightly miffed that my personal favourite (Showroom Dummies) was not included, but they are mere quibbles and not worth knocking a star off for.

One word about copy protection, which another review mentioned. I saw no sign of it on my copy from Amazon, and had no trouble at all ripping it to my iRiver to listen to on the way to work. There is just something too perfect about listening to Trans Europe Express while on a train, even if it is only the 06:50 to London Bridge.