Tour de France Soundtracks
Tour de France Soundtracks | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 4 August 2003 | |||
Studio | Kling Klang, Düsseldorf, Germany | |||
Genre | Techno | |||
Length | 55:57 | |||
Language |
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Label | ||||
Producer | ||||
Kraftwerk chronology | ||||
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Singles from Tour de France Soundtracks | ||||
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Tour de France Soundtracks (renamed to Tour de France for its remastered release) is the eleventh and final studio album by German
The album received positive reviews from critics and was a commercial success. It reached No. 1 in Germany, the top 40 in the UK, as well as No. 3 in the US dance charts.
Composition
Kitty Empire of The Observer labeled Tour de France Soundtracks a techno album.[1] Unusually for a Kraftwerk album it did not have separate German and international vocal mixes, but was released only in one version, with a mix of French, German, and English. The lyrics were co-written by Ralf Hütter and Maxime Schmitt, who had previously been manager of the Capitol label at Pathé-Marconi (part of the EMI group, the company that distributed Kraftwerk's music in France) and had been involved with the band since the mid-1970s.
Promotion and release
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 73/100[2] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [3] |
Blender | [4] |
The Guardian | [5] |
Los Angeles Times | [6] |
Mojo | [7] |
Pitchfork | 7.0/10[8] |
Q | [9] |
Rolling Stone | [10] |
Spin | C[11] |
Uncut | [12] |
"
Tour de France Soundtracks took the band on an extensive world tour in 2004. On the tour, they performed the music from four laptop computers running sequencing, sampling, and synthesizer software, also controlling and synchronised with large video displays. In 2005, Kraftwerk released Minimum-Maximum, with separate audio and video releases featuring songs performed at various venues during the 2004 tour.
A newly
Commercial performance
Tour de France Soundtracks became the highest charting Kraftwerk album. It peaked at number one in Germany, becoming the band's first number one in their home country. However, it did not enter the
Track listing
All lyrics are written by
- Hütter
- Hilpert
- Hütter
- Hütter
- Hütter
- Schneider
- Karl Bartos
No. | Title | Length |
---|---|---|
4. | "Tour de France Étape 3" | 4:07 |
5. | "Chrono" | 3:27 |
11. | "Régéneration" | 2:05 |
Notes
- The 2003 Japanese CD release also contains the video of the single "Tour de France 2003" as enhanced content.
- The promotional version of Tour de France Soundtracks is slightly different from the album as it was finally released. "Régéneration" is longer at 2:05 in length, and there are slight differences in timbre and modulation during "Tour de France Étape 3", "Chrono", "La Forme" and "Régéneration".
Personnel
- Ralf Hütter – vocals, software synthesizers, sequencing
- Henning Schmitz – software synthesizers, electronic percussion
- Fritz Hilpert – software synthesizers, electronic percussion, sound engineer[14]
- Florian Schneider – additional vocals, software synthesizers, sequencing
Charts
Chart (2003) | Peak position |
---|---|
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[15] | 29 |
Danish Albums (Hitlisten)[16] | 9 |
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)[17] | 76 |
Finnish Albums ( Suomen virallinen lista)[18]
|
7 |
French Albums ( SNEP)[19]
|
84 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[20] | 1 |
Italian Albums (FIMI)[21] | 22 |
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[22] | 18 |
Scottish Albums (OCC)[23] | 25 |
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[24] | 7 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[25] | 25 |
UK Albums (OCC)[26] | 21 |
US Top Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)[27] | 3 |
Certifications
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
United Kingdom (BPI)[28] | Silver | 60,000‡ |
‡ Sales+streaming figures based on certification alone. |
References
- ^ Empire, Kitty (3 August 2003). "Synth and synthability". The Observer. Retrieved 29 February 2020.
- ^ "Reviews for Tour de France Soundtracks by Kraftwerk". Metacritic. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
- ^ Bush, John. "Tour de France – Kraftwerk". AllMusic. Retrieved 25 February 2016.
- ^ Harrison, Andrew (October 2003). "Kraftwerk: Tour De France Soundtracks". Blender. No. 20. p. 120. Archived from the original on 13 December 2004. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
- ^ Simpson, Dave (31 July 2003). "Kraftwerk: Tour de France Soundtracks". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 11 September 2014. Retrieved 27 October 2017.
- ^ Hochman, Steve (24 August 2003). "Techno pioneers in high gear". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
- ^ "Kraftwerk: Tour de France Soundtracks". Mojo. No. 118. September 2003. p. 101.
- ^ Leone, Dominique (11 August 2003). "Kraftwerk: Tour de France Soundtracks". Pitchfork. Retrieved 14 September 2012.
- ^ "Kraftwerk: Tour de France Soundtracks". Q. No. 207. October 2003. p. 102.
- ^ Miles, Milo (12 August 2003). "Tour de France Soundtracks". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
- ^ "Breakdown". Spin. Vol. 19, no. 11. November 2003. p. 117 – via Google Books.
- ^ Cavanagh, David (16 October 2009). "Uncut Reviews: Kraftwerk – Reissues". Uncut. Archived from the original on 1 January 2011. Retrieved 22 October 2009.
- ^ "Kraftwerk - Tour De France (Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Remastered)". Discogs. 16 November 2009. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
- ^ Tour De France (Digital Remaster) (CD). Kraftwerk. Great Britain: Mute Records. 2009. CDSTUMM310.
{{cite AV media notes}}
: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link) - ^ "Austriancharts.at – Kraftwerk – Tour de France Soundtracks" (in German). Hung Medien.
- ^ "Danishcharts.dk – Kraftwerk – Tour de France Soundtracks". Hung Medien.
- ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Kraftwerk – Tour de France Soundtracks" (in Dutch). Hung Medien.
- Musiikkituottajat – IFPI Finland.
- ^ "Lescharts.com – Kraftwerk – Tour de France Soundtracks". Hung Medien.
- GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
- ^ "Italiancharts.com – Kraftwerk – Tour de France Soundtracks". Hung Medien.
- ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Kraftwerk – Tour de France Soundtracks". Hung Medien.
- ^ "Official Scottish Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
- ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Kraftwerk – Tour de France Soundtracks". Hung Medien.
- ^ "Swisscharts.com – Kraftwerk – Tour de France Soundtracks". Hung Medien.
- ^ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company.
- ^ "Kraftwerk Chart History (Top Dance/Electronic Albums)". Billboard.
- ^ "British album certifications – Kraftwerk – Tour de France". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 30 August 2020.