The Catalogue

Untitled

The Catalogue (German title: Der Katalog) is a forthcoming boxed set comprised of eight albums by Kraftwerk that were released from 1974 to 2003. All albums were digitally remastered, with most of the cover art redesigned, including rare photographs in the liner notes that were not part of each album's original release.

We've been digitally transferring all of Kraftwerk's original recordings and sound sources from our badly degrading master tapes while our engineers, Fritz and Henning, have been working in parallel to remaster our early albums for re-release. So for the first time, our recordings will be available in crisp, clear Kling Klang sound with all the fold-out covers and images our label at the time either messed up or wouldn't pay for. There will be some alternate mixes of tracks and some unedited versions, but unfortunately we don't have much unreleased material. We never recorded extra songs or twenty different versions of the same song. We would complete a song and then move forward, always keeping very focused on one Kling Klang project at a time.

It has also been suggested by Hütter that Kraftwerk could reissue its first three albums in a separate collection after the release of The Catalogue:

We've just never really taken a look at those albums. They've always been available, but as really bad bootlegs. Now we have more artwork. Emil has researched extra contemporary drawings, graphics, and photographs to go with each album, collections of paintings that we worked with, and drawings that Florian and I did. We took a lot of Polaroids in those days.

Contents

The albums included in the boxed set are the following:

• Autobahn (1974)
• Radio-Activity - (German title: Radio-Aktivität) (1975)
• Trans-Europe Express - (German title: Trans-Europa Express) (1977)
• The Man-Machine - (German title: Die Mensch-Maschine) (1978)
• Computer World - (German title: Computerwelt) (1981)
• Electric Café (1986) - (here given its original name of Techno Pop)
• The Mix (1991)
• Tour de France Soundtracks (2003) - (now titled Tour de France)

Formats

As with previous Kraftwerk releases, the collection will be distributed in two versions: English-language vocal tracks for international distribution and another (Der Katalog) with German-language vocal tracks.

The CD Box Set contains 8 x CDs in mini-vinyl card wallet packaging, plus individual large-format booklets.

The collection will also be available as individual albums on vinyl, CD, and as digital downloads.

Promotional version

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Front cover of the 2004 promo version of The Catalogue.

The boxed set was initially planned for release in 2004 on compact disc and vinyl format and was distributed as a promotional box set on compact disc. Some copies were sold on eBay for prices in excess of $400/€300/£200. However an actual release date was not announced and the project remained dormant.

2009 release

In March 2009, Ralf Hütter said to Brazilian television that after its 2008–2009 tour that Kraftwerk would continue the work on the boxed set. An advertisement leaflet for the recent Manchester Velodrome concert stated that the back catalogue would be digitally remastered and released on Mute Records in the UK during September. Pictures of The Catalogue were also shown on the packaging of the concert's 3D glasses.

The re-mastered albums will be available on compact disc from 5th October 2009, with a 8-CD boxset and heavyweight vinyl versions to follow on the 16th November . EMI Germany, lists 2 October 2009 as the release date of the German-language version.

Links

• Official announcement