To follow up the peerless 'Trans-Europe Express' was an unenviable task for Kraftwerk and to release the next album a mere one year after was a major surprise for a group so concerned with detail and perfection. Granted, 'Man Machine' isn't quite the equal of its predecessor; opener 'The Robots' became a kind of signature for them but neither this nor the similarly clinical and repetitive title track clarify the human quality integral to their best work. The same can't be said for 'Spacelab' and 'Metropolis', both beautifully realised moments of futurism. 'The Model' became a surprise hit single three years after the album's release; infused with a desperate longing for the unobtainable "object" in the song, it still made 1981's school of electro-pop seem amateurish in comparison. Finally there's the gorgeous nine minutes of 'Neon Lights', noteworthy for its extraordinary six minute instrumental coda redolent of the chimes of Christmas time. Another album blessed with a warm heart beneath its computerised pioneering exterior.