Esperanto (Elektric Music album)

Esperanto, released in 1993, was the first album by Elektric Music, initially a collaboration of Karl Bartos (formerly of Kraftwerk) and Lothar Manteuffel (formerly of Rheingold), but later only Bartos worked under this name. The project begun after Bartos ended his involvement with Kraftwerk in 1991. The songs "Show Business" and "Kissing the Machine" were co-written with Andy McCluskey of Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, with McCluskey performing vocals on the latter track. "Crosstalk" and "Overdrive" were co-written with Kraftwerk associate Emil Schult, who was also the art director of the cover graphics of the early Elektric Music releases.

Esperanto
Studio album by
Elektric Music
Released1993
GenreSynthpop
Length43:43
LabelSPV
ProducerKarl Bartos
Elektric Music chronology
Esperanto
(1993)		 Electric Music
(1998)
Singles from Esperanto
  1. "Crosstalk"
    Released: 1992
  2. "Lifestyle"
    Released: 1993
  3. "TV"
    Released: 1993

About half the songs are similar to Kraftwerk, and the others more to contemporary techno. Many Kraftwerk fans were dissatisfied by the techno elements, while others claimed the album was an unexpected masterpiece. Later Kraftwerk releases would, however, feature similar elements.

Reception
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic

Allmusic gives the album a four out of five star rating, commenting "A fine slice of electronica, Esperanto demonstrates that in 1993, the teacher was quite willing to learn some things from his students."[1]

Track listing
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."TV"Karl Bartos, Lothar Manteuffel5:44
2."Show Business"Bartos, Manteuffel, Andy McCluskey3:20
3."Kissing the Machine"Bartos, McCluskey5:05
4."Lifestyle"Bartos4:46
5."Crosstalk"Bartos, Manteuffel, Emil Schult5:52
6."Information"Bartos8:35
7."Esperanto"Bartos4:41
8."Overdrive"Bartos, Schult5:23
Bonus tracks for the Japanese remastered reissue (1999).
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
9."Lifestyle" (Radio-Style)Bartos3:42
10."Lifestyle" (Club-Style)Bartos6:02
11."Lifestyle" (Phoneme-Style)Bartos3:35
12."Lifestyle" (Edit-Style)Bartos7:32
13."Crosstalk-Intercomix"Bartos, Manteuffel, Schult4:08
14."Baby Come Back"Eddy Grant4:13

Release history
Region Date Label Format Catalog
Germany 1993 SPV limited edition CD in digipack SPV 084-92892[2]
CD in jewel case SPV 084-92832[3]
Europe East West CD 4509-92999-2[4]
United States Atlantic CD 82604-2[5]
Japan 1999 Nippon Crown CD, remastered, with 6 bonus tracks, titled Esperanto_plus CRCL-4711[6]

References
  1. Henderson, Alex. "Esperanto > Review". Allmusic. Retrieved 2010-09-19.
  2. "Elektric Music - Esperanto (Germany, Limited Edition, Digipak)". Discogs. Retrieved 2010-09-19.
  3. "Elektric Music - Esperanto (Germany)". Discogs. Retrieved 2010-09-19.
  4. "Elektric Music - Esperanto (Europe)". Discogs. Retrieved 2010-09-19.
  5. "Elektric Music - Esperanto (US)". Discogs. Retrieved 2010-09-19.
  6. "Elektric Music - Esperanto_plus (Japan)". Discogs. Retrieved 2010-09-19.
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