Kraftwerk

Kraftwerk are from Dusseldorf, Germany. Founding members Ralf Hutter and Florian Schnieder released an album in 1970 named Tone Float that features five experimental tracks, the longest of them being the 20:45 title track. The album is not in general release, and only a few original copies remain in circulation (be prepared to pay top dollar if you see one). The band's name at that stage was Organisation.

Later in 1970, Kraftwerk 1 was released, again featuring the two original members, Hutter and Schnieder. It contains just four tracks, again quite experimental, but did show signs of what was about to come in later releases. In 1971, Kraftwerk 2 was released, which again features just the two original band members. It contains six more-refined tracks, yet was still in the experimental stages of their development. "Kling Klang" was the longest of these, running 17:36. In 1973 they released Ralf And Florian, a montage of six tracks that were more refined and structured.

In late 1973, Ralf and Florian were joined by two "electronic percussionists" in the form of Wolfgang Flur and Karl Bartos. The result was the now critically acclaimed Autobahn album, which was released in 1974. This album is heralded by many critics who consider it a landmark of electronic music. Bands like Depeche Mode, OMD, The Human League and Gary Numan have praised the album and cited it as an influence.