The Man-Machine

The Man-Machine is Kraftwerk's most perfect sequence of songs, 'The Model' and 'Neon Lights' and the title track built with a pop precision the group rarely bettered. It's their most elegant record, the aesthetic that swallowed a century of pop rendered in its cleanest form. It ranks at a hundred and five because on a rave list its ancestry sits at honest altitude rather than the top, but as pure craft it's close to flawless, and its influence is everywhere.