The Mix (Kraftwerk album)  

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The Mix is a 1991 album by Kraftwerk. It featured newly arranged, re-recorded versions of a selection of songs which had originally appeared on the albums Autobahn to Electric Café. Hütter stated in interviews that he regarded The Mix as a kind of "live album", as it captured the results of the band's continual digital improvisations in their Kling Klang studio. When, subsequent to the album's release, Kraftwerk made their return to performing live in concert, many songs featured on their set list were heavily rearranged in a similar fashion to what appears on the album.

Stated reasons from the group explaining the release include:

1. The group didn't want to release a traditional "Greatest Hits" or "Best of" collection.
2. At the time, the group were in the process of reconfiguring their Kling Klang studio from analog to digital recording technology; integrating MIDI into their setup and creating sound archives from their original master tapes that were stored onto computers. This proved to be an ongoing task, as new upgrades and equipment were continually made available in the years following the album project.
3. Despite no new material or live tours outside of Europe, Ralf Hütter didn't want Kraftwerk to appear "dead" to the public.

The album met with a rather mixed reception on its release. 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. The Mix was created entirely digitally, albeit during a period when the technology had yet to reach its maturity, and thus featured a sound which many listeners tend to find somewhat "sterile" compared to the analogue electronics employed on most of Kraftwerk's previous recordings of these songs.

The album sleeve was somewhat obtuse in the information it offered. Production of the album is credited to Ralf Hütter, Florian Schneider and Fritz Hilpert, who replaced percussionist and stage set designer Wolfgang Flür, after Flür left the group in 1987. Karl Bartos had also left the band soon after playing a few secret Italian gigs in February 1990. Bartos claimed in later interviews that much of his programming work was still featured on The Mix, uncredited.

Track listing

English release

1. "The Robots" – 8:56
2. "Computerlove" – 6:35
3. "Pocket Calculator" – 4:32
4. "Dentaku" – 3:27
5. "Autobahn" – 9:27
6. "Radioactivity" – 6:53
7. "Trans Europe Express" – 3:20
8. "Abzug" – 2:18
9. "Metal on Metal" – 4:58
10. "Homecomputer" – 8:02
11. "Music Non Stop" – 6:38

• "Homecomputer" also includes elements from "It's More Fun to Compute"
• "Musique Non Stop" also includes elements from "Boing Boom Tschak"

German release

1. "Die Roboter" – 8:56
2. "Computerliebe" – 6:35
3. "Taschenrechner" – 4:32
4. "Dentaku" – 3:27
5. "Autobahn" – 9:27
6. "Radioaktivität" – 6:53
7. "Trans-Europa Express" – 3:20
8. "Abzug" – 2:18
9. "Metall auf Metall" – 4:58
10. "Heimcomputer" – 8:02
11. "Musik Non-Stop" – 6:38