The Mix

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The intro and other sound effects are redone to match up with the beat, which is another welcome change. Computer Love: Much like The Robots, the most noticeable addition here is a new synth riff in the accompaniment that adds to the danceability of the track. It has entirely re-arranged and re-recorded versions of a selection of songs which had originally appeared on Kraftwerk's albums Autobahn (1974) to Electric Café (1986). Most of the songs featured on their set list from this point to the present time have been heavily rearranged in a similar fashion to what appears on the album.

To calculate the overall star rating and percentage breakdown by star, we don’t use a simple average. This is a completely different song from the original, transforming a haunting atmospheric track designed to immerse you in a world of industrial technology, into an anthem against nuclear energy. Synth Pop was popular in the 80's and while Kraftwerk followed that trend then (that they originally helped inspire), in 1991, Dance music was more popular and here they follow that trend instead.

Shortly after the last "Wir sind die Roboter" the left channel gets louder by about 4 dB while the right channel stays the same. It also acts as a strong sampler of Kraftwerk’s music, akin to a “greatest hits” compilation, but with much more effort in its creation.

Many were disappointed at the lack of new compositions and, moreover, the production values of the re-recorded tracks did not strike many listeners as particularly cutting edge, something which Kraftwerk had previously been renowned for.

Strangely enough, however, this album was the last project for Kraftwerk before they fully turned into a legacy act for the next twelve years, with almost no new original music released, but a lot of tours and live-appearances.

These are the versions of these tracks that the boys play live the most, because they are way more danceable and kinetic, and even though the mysterious robotic atmosphere of their originals disappears along the way, the songwriting and tight melodicism stays very much intact. In retrospective reviews, All Music's Alex Henderson observed that "Dance clubs had long been a key part of Kraftwerk's following, and the dance club was the obvious target of The Mix – a collection of highly enjoyable, often clever remixes", adding that it was a "welcome addition to the Kraftwerk catalog".Abrantes, while uncredited in the liner notes, appeared in the artwork and other promotional material. The idea of recreating a bunch of hits from across your catalogue with new equipment is very interesting on paper but considering Kraftwerk’s track record with digital music, I was not looking forward to this on the account of that and also on the account of the fact that I didn’t want to listen to a bunch of songs I had already heard before that were essentially the exact same but worse. It was released on 11 June 1991 by Kling Klang and EMI in Europe and by Elektra Records in North America. By revisiting their past, the band somehow stopped walking entirely after putting out the most danceable project in their career. I was pleased to find that, although the extended remixes smack more of the early 90s period (with all the acid synth bass and drum machine blip-blops one might expect) in which they were created rather than the 70s era which people tend to remember them for, the tunes I remembered still survived fairly intact and the CD fulfilled its purpose of making me want to hear more, if in the music's original form next time.