No question that Kraftwerk are shackled to the past. Their original "Tour de France" single came out twenty years ago, and four of the twelve tracks on their first new album in a dozen years are (clever) versions of it. But on records such as Trans-Europe Express, masterminds Ralf HŸtter and Florian Schneider mapped out the continent of electronic pop, and even now they belong and thrive there as much as anyone. It's apt that this album appears almost simultaneously with the final classic-style Volkswagen Beetle rolling off the assembly line in Mexico. If you're the sort who would feel fuddy-duddy driving a perfect, new VW Beetle, avoid Tour de France. If you're one who would proudly point out the offbeat grace and unlikely persistence of a vivid personality in a machine, Kraftwerk endure. On the canny French-house-style tracks such as "Aero Dynamik," you can even claim it contains Porsche components.

“Youth Knows No Pain”

“Like on 'Youth Knows No Pain' — we are the ones that should demonstrate, because we can take it,” Likke Li said. “We can pierce ourselves, take Ecstasy, dance all night and still go to work at our McDonald's jobs.” Despite the hedonistic sentiment in the song, the Swedish singer also admitted in hindsight her youth had repercussions. “I remember when I was 18-19 and feeling that I know it all,” Li said. “I always feel that I know it all. But that song is about realizing you don’t, and reflecting, ‘Boy, if I only knew what would follow.’”