Kraftwerk – Radio-Aktivität

Note: I will be referring to all songs by their English titles.

Radio-Aktivität (English: Radio-Activity) is the 5th album by the German band Kraftwerk. This is an incredibly unique and one of a kind album. It's a concept album about radio communication and radioactive decay. This is the first Kraftwerk album to be made entirely with electronic equipment (most notably the Vako Orchestron and the Moog Micromoog). This is also the first Kraftwerk album to feature lyrics sung in English. Something I find interesting is that this is the only album of theirs to be in both German and English. Future albums would be separated into German and English versions. It's cool to me that this one has both languages present in the same package and in about equal measure too! Anyway, the album is much darker in tone than anything the group has made before or since. I believe I'm in the minority with this opinion but I honestly think Radio-Activity is one of the best Kraftwerk albums. On top of having it's own unique identity (from a group that already has their own signature sound), the album does a great job portraying both of the concepts it was aiming for. The tracks here fall into one of two categories: experimental tracks that carry conceptual significance or more melodic songs that fall more in line with some of their later material (albeit darker).

We begin with Geiger Counter which is mostly just a kick drum that speeds up in tempo towards the end. As the name implies, it's meant to imitate an actual Geiger counter detecting radioactive material. Though more of a prelude to the next track than an intro, it is still a nice opener and I couldn't imagine the album without it. After this, of course, we get Radioactivity. This is the only single from the album and it's also the most memorable song in the bunch. Featuring these catchy synth melodies, tortured vocals, and the iconic synth choirs, this is one of my favorite Kraftwerk songs ever. Radioland has a nice little bassline and zipping synth sound effects. Lyrically, it leans more on German language than any of the non-experimental/interlude tracks. Airwaves is another highlight, carried by a memorable theremin-esque melody. I think Intermission is meant to resemble a radio test broadcast. It's a nice little bridge between the two surrounding tracks. News is definitely the weakest song on the album but I don't mind its inclusion. It's built around a bunch of muffled voice recording while also including a few bubbly synth effects added in for good measure.

The Voice of Energy is the most minimalistic track on the album. It's a short recording of a low-pitch, robotic vocoder talking in German about a giant electrical generator. Antenna has echo-ing vocals, plunking synths and a simple but nice bassline. There is also a cool phaser effect underlying the song. After this we get two more experimental tracks that focus more on the duel concepts: Radio Stars and Uranium. The former is the weirdest track on the whole project. It begins with ascending synth tones before we get some reverb heavy, low pitch vocals. I've seen some people say that this track was a subversion of expectations. The title may lead you to believe the track was gonna be about pop stars on the radio but instead it's actually about about quasars and pulsars. Uranium has more of the synth choirs but this time there is a strained synthesized voice talking over it about..well..Uranium. I think this one is my favorite of the interludes. At the risk of sounding corny, it has this awesome feeling of being descended into a dystopian plane of existence. Next up we got Transistor which begins with some radio-tuning sounds before jumping into a light-hearted, free-flowing, synth driven piece. It's very nice and it definitely has that "coming up towards the end" vibe that I'd like from a penultimate track. Finally, we have Ohm Sweet Ohm. I would argue that this song is the best closer of any Kraftwerk album. It starts out with a looped vocoder saying the title. After this, a series of warm and emotive synth melodies come in. The chord progression feels somewhat nostalgic and reflective. I'd even go as far to say that this song is beautiful! Definitely one of their more emotional potent songs. It's quite irable that on an album filled with dark and cold tones, they chose to end it with a warm and mellow song while still managing to make it feel tonally in place.

Radio-Activity is an excellent, alluring and wholly unique sounding album. Each time I hear any kind of synth choir outside of this project, I'm immediately reminded of this album. Both the interludes and longer tracks are memorable. The atmosphere here is one that hasn't been replicated elsewhere.

Favorite Tracks: Radioactivity, Airwaves, Antenna, Uranium, Transistor, Ohm Sweet Ohm
Least Favorite Track: News

(Review originally written May 15, 2022)

This UK pressing sounds amazing. The sound is fresh, analog natural, airy, crispy and warm.

My VG+ copy sounds very clear and noise free. The soundstage is wide and the details are crisp as well as the stereo separation. Using an AT VM540ML cartridge on a vintage Hitachi PS-38 TT.

Really nice. Smooth music. It's rare to relax and groove with electronic music for me but this one is exception. Clean, well pressed, ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The audio quality is definitely not compromised by this pressing.

I obtained a sealed copy of this album. Tracks A5: Intermission and B5: Transistor are missing from this pressing! Hown on earth did they manage that!!

Beau pressage translucide et le son est bon pour un bootleg, pressé et imprimé en Allemagne, un seul regret c'est que ce ne soit pas un officiel car il mériterait amplement !

on my copy of 1C 064-82 087 there is hörzu sticker on the left and radio.aktivität sticker on the right side

Mine has runout stamped: Side 1: 5C-062-82087-A//26979-2-Y and Side 2: 82087 B 1

Mine has all 3! outer stickers. Front: Radioaktivität and Hörzu. Back side: Radioaktivität.
Ultra rare withe the ORIGINAL complete sticker page - 16! stickers.
No Matrix run out visible in the death wax.