Wolfgang Flür: Eloquence: The Complete Works | Album Review

Eloquence – the Complete Works
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Artist: Wolfgang Flur
Genre: Electronic
Label: Cherry Red

From 1973 to 1987, Wolfgang Flür was a member of Kraftwerk, the Dusseldorf electronic group that changed the face (and the genes) of pop music.

Perhaps his fate is to be known primarily as an integral part of one of the most influential bands in music history, but there is enough evidence on this collection of his electropop compositions from 2002 onwards to single him out as an innovator of the genre.

Rugged electronica bursting with melody is the name of the game here – from I Was a Robot, Cover Girl, Blue Spark, Staying in the Shadow and Beat Perfecto to the metallic Axis of Envy ("greed and envy is my poetry") and the jazz-lounge-pop-spoken-word of Golden Light,

Flür effectively disengages from the past while simultaneously recognising his own crucial part in it.

Tony Clayton-Lea

Tony Clayton-Lea

Tony Clayton-Lea is a contributor to The Irish Times specialising in popular culture