Kraftwerk discography
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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.
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| Kraftwerk discography | |
|---|---|
Kraftwerk performing at the Royal Albert Hall 2017. From left to right: Ralf Hütter, Henning Schmitz, Fritz Hilpert and Falk Grieffenhagen | |
| Studio albums | 10 |
| Live albums | 2 |
| Compilation albums | 4 |
| Singles | 28 |
| Video albums | 3 |
| Music videos | 18 |
| Box sets | 2 |
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[1][2] | Certifications (sales thresholds) | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GER [3] |
AUS [4] |
AUT [5] |
CAN [6] |
FRA [7][8] |
ITA [9][10] |
NL [11] |
NZ [12] |
SWE [13] |
UK [14] |
US [15] | |||
| Kraftwerk | 30 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| Kraftwerk 2 |
|
36 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |
| Ralf & Florian |
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 160 | |
| Autobahn |
|
7 | 9 | 35 | 5 | — | — | 11 | 7 | 27 | 4 | 5 | |
| Radio-Aktivität / Radio Activity[18] |
|
22 | 94 | 4 | 59 | 1 | — | — | — | — | — | 140 |
|
| Trans Europa Express / Trans-Europe Express |
|
32 | — | — | — | 2 | 8 | — | — | 32 | 49 | 119 |
|
| Die Mensch-Maschine / The Man-Machine |
|
12 | 56 | 15 | — | 14 | 15 | 29 | — | 24 | 9 | 130 |
|
| Computerwelt / Computer World |
|
7 | 51 | 14 | — | — | — | — | 28 | 27 | 15 | 72 |
|
| Electric Café / Techno Pop |
|
23 | — | — | — | — | — | 56 | — | 9 | 58 | 158 | |
| The Mix |
|
7 | 132 | 12 | — | — | — | — | — | 20 | 15 | — |
|
| Tour de France Soundtracks |
|
1 | 110 | 29 | — | 84 | — | 76 | — | 7 | 21 | — |
|
Live albums
| Title | Album details | Chart positions[1][2] | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GER [3] |
AUT [5] |
FRA [8] |
ITA [9] |
NL [11] |
SWE [13] |
UK [14] | ||
| Minimum-Maximum |
|
26 | 33 | 123 | 44 | 93 | 29 | 29 |
| 3-D The Catalogue |
|
4 | 26 | 171 | 75 | — | — | 24 |
Compilation albums
| Title | Album details | Chart positions | |
|---|---|---|---|
| GER [3] |
AUT [5] | ||
| Doppelalbum |
|
— | — |
| Exceller 8 |
|
— | — |
| Elektro Kinetik |
|
— | — |
| Remixes |
|
4 | 37 |
Box sets
| Title | Album details | Chart positions[1][2] |
|---|---|---|
| GER [3] | ||
| Klang Box |
|
— |
| The Catalogue |
|
34 |
Singles
| Title | Year | Chart positions[2] | Certifications | Album | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| GER [3] |
AUS [4] |
AUT [5] |
BEL [20] |
CAN [21] |
IRL [22] |
NL [11] |
NZ [12] |
UK [14] |
US [23] | ||||
| "Autobahn" | 1975 | 9 | 30 | — | — | 12 | 20 | 16 | 4 | 11 | 25 | Autobahn | |
| "Kometenmelodie 2" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Radioactivity" | 1976 | — | — | — | 6 | — | — | — | — | — | — |
|
Radio-Activity |
| "Trans-Europe Express" | 1977 | — | — | — | 26 | 96 | — | — | — | — | 67 | Trans-Europe Express | |
| "Showroom Dummies" | — | — | — | — | — | 28 | — | — | 25 | — | |||
| "The Robots" | 1978 | 25 | — | 23 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | The Man-Machine | |
| "The Model" | — | — | — | — | — | — | 43 | — | — | — | |||
| "Neon Lights" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 53 | — | |||
| "Pocket Calculator" | 1981 | 63 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 39 | — | Computer World | |
| "Numbers" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "Computerwelt" | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | |||
| "The Model" / "Computer Love" | 7 | 33 | — | — | — | 4 | 41 | — | 1 | — |
|
The Man-Machine / Computer World | |
| "Tour de France" | 1983 | 47 | 60 | — | — | — | 20 | — | 24 | 22 | — | Non-album single | |
| "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 | — | Non-album single | |
| "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 | Director[25] |
|---|---|---|
| 1974 | "Autobahn" | |
| 1975 | "Radioactivity" | |
| "Antenna" | ||
| 1978 | "The Robots" | Günter Fröhling |
| 1979 | "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" |