UNDERRATED: Kraftwerk, TECHNO POP

For many music listeners, German electronic music pioneers Kraftwerk coalesced perfectly with the release of 1981 classic, Computer World. The album's seamless blend of warm synthesizers and warmer melodies with mathematically funky click-track beats was the sound of humanity mastering machines; everything in its right place, and with feeling.

All the more reason the reaction to the long-awaited follow-up, Electric Cafe, when it finally arrived on December 16, 1986, was decidedly muted. The synthetic warmth of Computer World only appeared in short, fading bursts, buried in air-lock rigid rhythms and sputtering vocal samples. Whereas Computer World was the sound of man mastering machines, Electric Cafe reflected a future where the machines are the overlords. Humanity's only hope: a genuine connection. "The Telephone Call" is the obvious metaphor, with people desperate to link up through a disjointed network that continually comes back with the same answer: "The number you have reached has been disconnected." The seemingly glorious and all-encompassing Computer World had been reduced to an isolating planet of one, only connected by a wire(less) from a single point to the metaverse: the Electric Cafe. Sound familiar?

"Sex Object" pushes the disconnect even further, detailing the dichotomy between primal urges and the desire for something more. Synthetic violins and a twanging digital guitar ramp up the drama. The lyrics plead for "feeling and respect...You turn me on and then forget." Swipe left, swipe right.

By the album's closing title track, any humanity remaining has been fully absorbed into the Matrix, floating in a metaverse of defined absolutes. Far from the inclusive celebration of Computer World, Electric Cafe (which has subsequently been re-released under original working title, Techno Pop) was an unflinching glimpse at the dark side of the digital future. A more modern analog is Daft Punk's grim Human After All, which many fans found to be a betrayal after the euphoria of previous LP, Discovery. The unsettling feelings that permeate both Human After All and Techno Pop have come into much clearer focus over the benefit of time: the future just ain't what it used to be.