Autobahn is not a completely electronic album, as violin, flute, piano and guitar are used along with synthesizers. The title track features both untreated and vocoded vocals; the remaining tracks are purely instrumental. Kraftwerk used a Minimoog, an ARP Odyssey, an EMS Synthi AKS, a Farfisa Professional Piano and various devices of their own design and implementation, such as their famous electronic drums. The title track is intended to capture the feeling of driving on the Autobahn: from traveling through the landscape, the high-speed concentration on the fast lane, to tuning the car radio and the monotony of a long trip. The remaining ambient tracks have a two-part structure—an introduction followed by a main section—and are loosely based around a theme of the night, beginning with twin tracks "Kometenmelodie 1 and 2", then an ominous-sounding "Mitternacht" and the final track, "Morgenspaziergang". This last track begins as a dawn chorus bird-song effect created by the electronic instruments, with an extended conclusion that uses a repeating variation of the melodic phrase heard in the first instrumental section of "Autobahn". Klaus Röder was not a member of the band for very long, and had left before the recording sessions were completed. The engineer Konrad Plank, who co-produced the very first couple of Kraftwerk albums, had reputedly played a large role in developing the early Kraftwerk sound. Much of the recording and all of the mixing of the work took place at his studio in Cologne. Wolfgang Flür had played with the band since late in 1973, first appearing with them on a Berlin TV performance to promote their Ralf und Florian album. On that show, he debuted the band's custom-built electronic percussion pads, and these feature heavily on the Autobahn album.
Artwork
The front cover of the original German album was painted by Emil Schult, a long-time collaborator of Ralf and Florian, who also co-wrote the lyrics to the song "Autobahn". The version released in the UK on the Vertigo label in 1974 had a differently designed cover, produced by the label's in-house marketing department. The rear cover of the original LP showed Hütter, Schneider, Röder and Emil Schult seated as if in the back of a car. Wolfgang Flür's head was added to the group photo when it was decided that he would stay as a permanent member of the band. However, for the 2009 remaster booklet this image has been replaced by the version originally photographed.
Reception
Upon its release, Village Voice critic Robert Christgau called the record "the Iron Butterfly of überrock—Mike Oldfield for unmitigated simpletons, sort of, and yet in my mitigated way I don't entirely disapprove." AllMusic later described it as a “pioneering album” in which “the roots of electro-funk, ambient, and synth pop are all evident.” The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. The radio edit of the title track became a surprise international hit, reaching number 11 in the UK, number 12 in the Netherlands, number 25 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart, and number 30 in the Australian chart. On 6 February 2013 the group played the entire album at the first of their eight-night retrospectives at the Tate Modern in London.
Versions
A remastered edition of the album was released by EMI Records, Mute Records and Astralwerks Records on CD and digital download in October–November 2009, with heavyweight vinyl editions released in November–December 2009. A quadraphonic mix was released on Q8 eight-track cartridge, possibly without the band's knowledge.
