The discography of German electronic band Kraftwerk consists of 10 studio albums, two live albums, four compilation albums, one remix album and 28 singles. Formed by Ralf Hütter and Florian Schneider in Düsseldorf in 1970, Kraftwerk were part of the krautrock scene. However, the group mostly found fame as pioneers of electronic music, showcasing their styles on a series of concept albums.
While their initial albums featured mostly German lyrics, in 1975 Kraftwerk began writing lyrics that combined both German and English verses. Beginning with "Trans-Europe Express" (1977), most songs by the group were created as duplicate versions sung in English or German; some French, Japanese, Italian or Spanish versions were made.
Since the mid-1970s Kraftwerk have always picked at least two album tracks for release as singles. These accompanying singles were, for many years, created by simply editing down the album recordings, rather than being remixed or otherwise expanded. Since 1991 Kraftwerk have tended to follow the trend for releasing singles in multiple remixed arrangements. A small number of recordings have only been issued as albumless singles, notably those between 1999 and 2000 for the Expo 2000 project.
Prior to forming Kraftwerk, Hütter and Schneider were part of a project called Organisation that released the album Tone Float in 1969.
Studio albums Title Album details Chart positions Certifications(sales thresholds) GER AUSAustralian chart peaks: Kent Music Report peaks to 12 June 1988: N.B. ARIA licensed the top 50 portion of this chart between mid-1983 and 12 June 1988. The Mix (ARIA) peak: ARIA peaks from 13 June 1988 onwards: N.B. The High Point number in the NAT column represents the release's peak on the national chart. AUT CAN FRA ITA NL NZ SWE UK US Kraftwerk Released: November 1970 Label: Philips, Vertigo Format: LP, CS 30 — — — — — — — — — — Kraftwerk 2 Released: January 1972 Label: Philips, Vertigo Format: LP, CS 36 — — — — — — — — — — Ralf & Florian Released: November 1973 Label: Philips, Vertigo Format: LP, CS, 8-trk — — — — — — — — — — 160 Autobahn Released: 1 November 1974 Label: Philips, Vertigo Format: LP, CS, 8-trk 7 9 35 5 — — 11 7 27 4 5BPI: Silver SNEP: Gold Radio-Aktivität / Radio ActivityThe only differences between the Radio-Activity and Radio-Aktivität albums are the packaging and the title. The music on both albums is identical, and so are the lyrics. Both releases feature a mix of German-English lyrics, whereas the subsequent albums have been released in both German and English sung versions. The only exception is Tour de France Soundtracks, which was only released in one language version, mainly sung in French. Released: November 1975 Label: Kling Klang, EMI Electrola, Capitol Format: LP, CS, 8-trk 22 94 4 59 1 — — — — — 140BPI: Silver SNEP: Gold Trans Europa Express /Trans-Europe Express Released: March 1977 Label: Kling Klang, EMI Electrola, Capitol Format: LP, CS, 8-trk 32 — — — 2 8 — — 32 49 119BPI: Silver Die Mensch-Maschine /The Man-Machine Released: 28 April 1978 Label: Kling Klang, EMI Electrola, Capitol Format: LP, CS, 8-trk 12 56 15 — 14 15 29 — 24 9 130BPI: Gold Computerwelt /Computer World Released: 11 May 1981 Label: Kling Klang, EMI, Warner Bros. Format: LP, CS 7 51 14 — — — — 28 27 15 72BPI: Silver Electric Café /Techno Pop Released: 27 October 1986 Label: Kling Klang, EMI, Warner Bros. Format: CD, LP, CS 23 — — — — — 56 — 9 58 158 The Mix German version: The Mix Released: 10 June 1991 Label: Kling Klang/EMI Elektra (US) Notes: Album of remixed back-catalogue713212—————2015— BPI: Silver Tour de France Soundtracks Released: 4 August 2003 Label: Kling Klang, EMI, Astralwerks Format: CD, LP 1 110 29 — 84 — 76 — 7 21 —BPI: Silver
Live albums Title Album details Chart positions GER AUT FRA ITA NL SWE UK Minimum-Maximum Released: 6 June 2005 Label: Kling Klang/Astralwerks/Caroline/Virgin/EMI Notes: 2 CDs/4 LPs, 2 DVDs, also available as a special edition Notebook with an 88-page book 26 33 123 44 93 29 29 3-D The Catalogue Released: 26 May 2017 Label: Kling Klang/Parlophone/WEA 4 26 171 75 — — 24
Compilation albums Title Album details Chart positions GER<br/ > AUT DoppelalbumReleased: 1974 Label: Philips Notes: France/Germany release — — Exceller 8Released: 1975 Label: Vertigo (UK), Mercury (Canada) Notes: UK/Canada release — — Elektro KinetikReleased: 1981 Label: Vertigo Notes: UK release — — RemixesReleased: 21 December 2020 (digital); 25 March 2022 (CD and vinyl) Label: Kling Klang/Parlophone/WEA Notes: Compilation of remixes from 1991–2022 4 37
Box sets Title Album details Chart positions GER Klang BoxRecorded: 1976–1986 Released: May 1997 Label: Kling Klang/EMI Notes: Black XL-size T-shirt with a robot motif and the name Kraftwerk (identical to the design on the front lid of the box) — The CatalogueGerman version: Der Katalog Released: 2 October 2009 Label: Kling Klang/EMI (Germany)Mute/EMI (Europe)Astralwerks/Caroline/Virgin/EMI (US) Notes: Promotionally issued in 2004, remastered boxed set of albums from 1974 to 2003 34
Singles Title Year Chart positions Certifications Album GER AUS AUT BEL CAN IRL NL NZ UK US "Autobahn" 1975 9 30 — — 12 20 16 4 11 25Autobahn "Kometenmelodie 2" — — — — — — — — — — "Radioactivity" 1976 — — — 6 — — — — — — SNEP: Gold Radio-Activity "Trans-Europe Express" 1977 — — — 26 96 — — — — 67 Trans-Europe Express "Showroom Dummies" — — — — — 28 — — 25 — "The Robots" 1978 25 — 23 — — — — — — — The Man-Machine "Das Model" — — — — — — 43 — — — "Neon Lights" — — — — — — — — 53 — "Pocket Calculator" 1981 63 — — — — — — — 39 — Computer World "Numbers" — — — — — — — — — — "Computerwelt" — — — — — — — — — — "The Model" / "Computer Love" 7 33 — — — 4 41 — 1 — BPI: Gold The Man-Machine /Computer World "Tour de France" 1983 47 60 — — — 20 — 24 22 — "Musique Non-Stop" 1986 13 — — — — — — 45 82 — Electric Café "The Telephone Call" 1987 — — — — — — — — 89 — "The Robots" 1991 18 161 — — — 26 — — 20 — The Mix "Radioactivity" — — — — — — — — 43 — "Expo 2000" 1999 35 142 — — — — 95 — 27 — "Tour de France 2003" 2003 50 103 — — — — — — 20 — Tour de France Soundtracks "Elektro Kardiogramm" — — — — — — — — — — "Aerodynamik" 2004 80 — — — — — — — 33 — "Aerodynamik" / "La Forme" 2007 79 — — — — — — — 78 — "Heimcomputer / Home Computer" 2021 — — — — — — — — — — Computer World "Autobahn" / "Kometenmelodie 2"2024——————————Autobahn
Video albums 2005: Minimum-Maximum 2017: 3-D The Catalogue 2017: 3-D Der Katalog
Music videos Year Title Director1974"Autobahn" 1975 "Radioactivity" "Antenna" 1978 "The Robots"Günter Fröhling1979 "Autobahn" Roger Mainwood 1981 "Pocket Calculator"1982 "Neon Lights"Günter Fröhling "Trans-Europe Express" Florian Schneider and Ralf Hütter"Showroom Dummies" 1983 "Tour de France""Tour de France" 1986 "Music Non-Stop" Rebecca Allen[ref] 1987 "The Telephone Call"Günter Fröhling 1991 "The Robots" Florian Schneider and Ralf Hütter"The Robots" 2000 "Expo 2000" 2003 "Tour De France Étape 2" D.E. Macken "Tour De France Étape 2"
References
External links Kraftwerk Official Homepage AllKraftwerk