“To listen now is to be dazzled by how many of its ideas were embraced and expanded by key artists… its ripples today dominate modern music”: Kraftwerk’s 50th anniversary edition of Autobahn

The less-is-more electronic music milestone returns with Ralf Hutter Atmos remix

Kraftwerk – Autobahn 50th anniversary
(Image: © Parlophone)

You can trust Louder Our experienced team has worked for some of the biggest brands in music. From testing headphones to reviewing albums, our experts aim to create reviews you can trust. Find out more about how we review.

Autobahn occupies a strange place in the Kraftwerk canon. The German electronic music pioneers’ best-seller, it has by far the greatest name recognition and influenced everybody from David Bowie to Arthur Baker. For ‘proper’ Kraftwerk fans, though, it’s nowhere near their best album: Trans-Europe Express explored similar routes with more intensity.

Yet to listen to Autobahn now is to once again be dazzled by just how many of its ideas were embraced and expanded by key artists: once the underdog outsider, its ripples today dominate modern music. Its “weird” has become the norm.

Its 50th anniversary – it was originally released in November 1974, but gained more interest the following February when the single edit of side one surprised charts – is celebrated with a new Dolby Atmos mix by sole remaining original member Ralf Hutter on Blu-ray.

It’s accompanied with a vinyl picture disc featuring the 2009 remix. It was panned by some critics back then, but it’s hard to see why. It’s crystal clear, and that’s no bad thing: Kraftwerk didn’t exactly aspire to muddy, gritty authenticity.

Autobahn (Single Edit) - YouTube Autobahn (Single Edit) - YouTube
Watch On

The pristine new Hutter polish likewise, wisely, doesn’t fix anything that ain’t broke. It’s headphones heaven. It may be the case that, just by existing, it causes the listener to exercise increased levels of attention.

The 22-minute title track still glides along, its numbness a virtue, although the little moments of interruption leap out with the shock impact of a body lurching in front of a windscreen.

The hisses and shuffles remain faintly spooky; the human voices are still disengaged, wilfully cold

The hisses and shuffles remain faintly spooky; the human voices – even in the famous cheeky “Beach Boys bit” – are still disengaged, wilfully cold. It’s often forgotten that the last few minutes noodle aimlessly as if to pad out time, on the very brink of illusion-shattering improvisation.

But then a sequence of moments will bring to mind side two of Bowie’s Low and it’s lucid again. What a creative gold rush this undemonstrative journey was. What a (road) trip.

The 50th anniversary edition of Autobahn is on sale now via Parlophone.

Chris Roberts

Chris Roberts has written about music, films, and art for innumerable outlets. His new book The Velvet Underground is out April 4. He has also published books on Lou Reed, Elton John, the Gothic arts, Talk Talk, Kate Moss, Scarlett Johansson, Abba, Tom Jones and others. Among his interviewees over the years have been David Bowie, Iggy Pop, Patti Smith, Debbie Harry, Bryan Ferry, Al Green, Tom Waits & Lou Reed. Born in North Wales, he lives in London.

Read more
Kraftwerk
Kraftwerk to celebrate 50th anniversary of classic Autobahn album with reissues in March
Tangerine Dream
"It’s timeless. It was always in its own world; it didn’t fit into any category.” Tangerine Dream and the story of Phaedra
Talking Heads: Remain In Light cover art
"After a lifetime listening to hard rock and heavy metal I discovered Talking Heads and realised how good music could really be": Talking Heads open up new worlds on Remain In Light
The cover of Steven Wilson’s The Overview album
“A return to full-fat prog from the man who gave the genre a good name in recent years”: Prog fans rejoice! Steven Wilson has come home with cosmic modern classic The Overview
Hawkwind – Live At The Royal Albert Hall
“Emphatically proves that the current line-up is the band’s best since their mid-70s heyday”: Hawkwind’s Live At The Royal Albert Hall is much more than just another live album
Blood Incantation 2024
"We’ve played shows on mushrooms in the past." Blood Incantation made one of 2024's trippiest, most ambitious metal albums, and we're starting to see why
Latest in
Kraftwerk – Autobahn 50th anniversary
“To listen now is to be dazzled by how many of its ideas were embraced and expanded by key artists… its ripples today dominate modern music”: Kraftwerk’s 50th anniversary edition of Autobahn
Rush posing for a photo in 2007
Rush got emails "from all kinds of drummers" minutes after the death of Neil Peart
Radiohead
Are Radiohead getting ready to do something big in 2025? A new business linked to the band members' names suggests so
Peter Baumann
"Instrumental music is an expression that words can never capture." Former Tangerine Dream member Peter Baumann to release first new solo album for nine years
David Draiman of the band Disturbed performs during The Sickness 25th Anniversary Tour at Little Caesars Arena on March 10, 2025 in Detroit, Michigan.
Disturbed pyrotechnics damage famous Chicago Bulls championship banners during hometown show
Gene Simmons of KISS performs during KISS: End of the Road World Tour at Madison Square Garden on December 01, 2023 in New York City.
Cloudy with a chance of hard rock. Watch Kiss star Gene Simmons take a stint as a weatherman on Los Angeles TV station
Latest in Review
Kraftwerk – Autobahn 50th anniversary
“To listen now is to be dazzled by how many of its ideas were embraced and expanded by key artists… its ripples today dominate modern music”: Kraftwerk’s 50th anniversary edition of Autobahn
Steven Wilson – The Overview
“Nothing overshadows the totality of the concept… The Overview is very prog indeed”: Steven Wilson fully embraces the genre again, in a modern manner that will attract new listeners
Bob Mould at The Lower Third
Bob Mould, live in London: one man and his guitar elevating troubled souls in a manner that only the best music can
Coheed and Cambria in 2024
The Father Of Make Believe is Coheed And Cambria's midlife crisis album. Luckily, it's also a layered, thoughtful and rich new entry in the Amory Wars Saga
The Murder Capital, 2025
Blindness cements The Murder Capital's standing as one of Ireland’s great modern guitar bands
Jon Anderson & The Band Geeks: Live – Perpetual Change album cover
“Has his voice withstood the test of time? The answer is an emphatic yes”: Jon Anderson effortlessly recreates the best of Yes on new album Live – Perpetual Change