Kraftwerk – THE CONTINENTAL DRIFT CD

Following on from the breakout success of Autobahn, Kraftwerk embarked on a world tour at the end of 1975, replacing Röder with Karl Bartos for the jaunt. The tour was undoubtedly a turning point for the band, featuring a stable lineup that would endure into the late 1980s and incorporating Hütter and Schneider’s live vocals into the mix for the first time. The newfound success of Autobahn in the U.S. also meant that the group had financial backing from label Phonogram Inc., offering the means for Kraftwerk to visit the U.S., Canada and the U.K. for the first time.Kraftwerk closed out the European leg of the tour on 22nd March 1975 in Cologne, Germany, shortly before embarking on the U.S. leg a few weeks later. The homecoming show was a rousing success, predominantly featuring long electronic interpretations of songs from Autobahn. Perhaps the finest show of the entire world tour, the show was also broadcast for transmission on local radio and is now presented here in full for the first time. Featuring the group at their zenith as they began to truly establish themselves as one of the most important electronic groups in existence, the show serves as a historical and cultural document of a band in their ascendancy. Bonus tracks here feature from Kraftwerk’s show on 28th February 1976 in Paris, France, shortly after the release of the equally successful Radio-Activity in late 1975, demonstrating the early sonic evolution of the classic Hütter-Schneider-Bartos-Flür lineup and their rapidly developing mastery of the electronic format in those early years.