Computer World
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| Computer World | |||||
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| Studio album by Kraftwerk | |||||
| Released | May 1981 | ||||
| Recorded | 1979 - 1980 at Kling Klang Studio, Düsseldorf, Germany | ||||
| Genre | Electronic music Synthpop |
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| Length | 39:21 | ||||
| Label | Kling Klang EMI Warner Bros. |
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| Producer | Ralf Hütter Florian Schneider |
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| Professional reviews | |||||
| Kraftwerk chronology | |||||
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| Singles from Computer World | |||||
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Computer World is a concept album created by Kraftwerk and released in 1981. It was released in German as Computerwelt. The album deals with the themes of the rise of computers within society. Critics see this album as a peak in the career of Kraftwerk, along with Autobahn[citation needed] and Trans-Europe Express.
The compositions are credited to Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider, and Karl Bartos. The sound of the album is more reliant on purely electronics and vocals. For the first time since 1970's "Vom Himmel Hoch" from the group's first album, the band displayed shades of funk music - tracks such as "Numbers" went on to influence early elements of hip hop music in the US.[1]
In keeping with the album’s concept, Kraftwerk showcased their music on an ambitious world tour and issued several versions of the single, "Pocket Calculator". The song is also sung in German—"Taschenrechner", French—"Mini Calculateur", and Japanese—"Dentaku" (電卓). While not major, it should also be noted that there are a few noticeable differences in the album mixes used on the English- and German-language releases.
As was the case with the two previous albums, "Computer World" was released both as German and English language editions. Instead of translating everything verse by verse, some lyrics were omitted. Most notably the opening title track, "Computer world", lacks approximately half of the original lyrics. The English lyrics misses the reference to the collection of peoples' personal data (Finanzamt und das BKA - Haben unsere Daten da) by agencies such as the tax authorities and the police. Similarly the refrain Computerwelt - Denn Zeit ist Geld is simplified. The title of the final track is in English in all releases, as it is a pun based on the slogan "It's more fun to compete!" that could be seen on old pinball machines.
"Computer Love" was released as a 7-inch single single in the UK, in July 1981, backed with "The Model", from the group's previous album The Man-Machine. The single reached number 36 in the charts. In December 1981 the two songs were reissued as a double A-side 12-inch single, and reached number one on the UK pop charts in February 1982, although "The Model" received the most airplay.
"Computerwelt" was subsequently remixed as a punchier-sounding dance version, with additional bass and percussion and was released in January 1982 as a twelve-inch vinyl single only in Germany.
In the same year, the song "Computer World" was nominated for a Grammy award in the category of Best Rock Instrumental Performance.
Although the album was originally released by Warner Bros. Records in the US and Canada, it has since been reissued in these regions by Elektra Records. Warner Bros. also issued a vinyl version pressed on neon green vinyl[citation needed].
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Contents |
[edit] Track listing
[edit] English-language release
[edit] Side one
- "Computer World" – 5:05
- "Pocket Calculator" – 4:55
- "Numbers" – 3:19
- "Computer World 2" – 3:21
[edit] Side two
- "Computer Love" – 7:15
- "Home Computer" – 6:17
- "It's More Fun to Compute" – 4:13
[edit] German-language release
[edit] Side one
- "Computerwelt" - 5:06
- "Taschenrechner"- 4:32
- "Nummern"- 3:21
- "Computerwelt 2"- 3:11
[edit] Side two
- "Computerliebe"- 7:19
- "Heimcomputer"- 8:03
- "It's More Fun to Compute"- 4:12
[edit] French-language release
[edit] Side one
- "Computer World" – 5:05
- "Mini Calculateur" – 4:55
- "Numbers" – 3:00
- "Computer World 2" – 3:30
[edit] Side two
- "Computer Love" – 7:00
- "Home Computer" – 6:00
- "It's More Fun to Compute" – 4:15
[edit] Japanese-language release
[edit] Side one
- "Computer World" ("コンピューター・ワールド") – 5:07
- "Dentaku" ("電卓") – 4:56
- "Numbers" ("ナンバース") – 3:21
- "Computer World 2" ("コンピューター・ワールド2") – 3:20
[edit] Side two
- "Computer Love" ("コンピューター・ラブ") – 7:16
- "Home Computer" ("ホーム・コンピューター") – 6:17
- "It's More Fun to Compute" ("コンピューターはボクのオモチャ") – 4:12
Note 1: The French-language album has never been reissued on CD.
Note 2: On the Japanese-language re-release CD, track 2 is "Pocket Calculator," while "Dentaku" is a bonus track.
[edit] Equipment
- Sequential Circuits Prophet 5 - used only on the accompanying tour
- Moog Polymoog
- Moog Minimoog
- Korg PS-3300
- Roland MC8 Microcomposer sequencer - used only on the accompanying tour
- Friendchip "Mr Lab" sequencer unit
- Custom-built 32x2-step analogue sequencers by Matten & Wiechers
- Dubreq Stylophone
- Mattel Bee Gees Rhythm Machine
- Texas Instruments "Speak & Spell" language toy: Home Computer begins with a sound sample of the off/on jingles of the Speak & Spell electronic spelling game. The Speak & Spell was an early example of a computer in an everyday household object – in this case an interactive toy – rather than shown as a stereotypical piece of space-age gadgetry.
- Texas Instruments Talking Translator (with English, French and Spanish language modules)
- Casio FX-501P Programmable Calculator with FA-1 Cassette Interface
- EMS and Sennheiser vocoders
[edit] Other utilization
- The song "Computer World" was used as the theme music of the series The Computer Programme, a TV show originally broadcast on British network BBC2 in 1982. The series aimed to introduce people to computers and showcase their potential. "Computer World 2" was used at the end of the show on the credits.
- Afro-Rican, a popular Miami Bass and Hip-Hop group, sampled Kraftwerk's "It's more fun to compute" on its hit "Give it All You Got (Doggy Style)," which would later be sampled on Fergie's hit "Fergalicious."
- Coldplay got the permission to use the synthesizer melody of "Computer Love" in its song "Talk," which was featured on the album X&Y.[citation needed]
- Pizzicato Five utilized the bass line from "Pocket Calculator" for the song "Contact" from Romantique 96.
- German musician Uwe Schmidt, under his pseudonym Señor Coconut, recorded a merengue arrangement of the song "Home Computer" on El Baile Alemán, his album of Latin-style Kraftwerk cover versions.
- Nicole Scherzinger, lead singer of the Pussycat Dolls, launched her solo career with "Steam," a track that heavily sampled "Numbers."
- An image of the Computer World album cover was used on a t-shirt given to students in the Fall 1998 EE302 class taught at the University of Texas at Austin. This T-shirt has since made appearances on the Warner Bros. television show Beauty and the Geek.
- Kaiser Broadcasting, the stations of which included WKBS in Philadelphia and WFLD in Chicago, used the tracks "Numbers" and "Home Computer" as musical backgrounds for its kids cartoon bumpers in the early-mid 1980's.
- The Miami bass hip-hop group the Puppies sampled "It's more fun to Compute" and "Numbers" in its song "Funky Y-2-C."
- The Native American house-music group Alternations sampled "Home Computer" in its song "Feel it for You."
- Techmaster P.E.B. used samples of "Computer Love" and a did a complete remake of "Numbers," called "Bass by Numbers," on its debut album, Bass Computer.
[edit] References
- ^ Pascal Bussy - author of the book, Kraftwerk: Man, Machine and Music - Bartos relates that prior to this, Hütter & Schneider were disturbed by him playing off-beats in rhythms.
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