Electric Cafe is a music album by the group Kraftwerk. It is mildly infamous for taking the band almost half a decade to produce: work is said to have begun on the album as early as 1982 (with the working titles of Technicolor and then Techno Pop), but the project was delayed due to band member Ralf Hütter suffering a near-fatal cycling accident, and then due to concerns within the band that the production quality of the album was not sufficiently cutting-edge, necessitating much re-work. The album, mastered by Bob Ludwig, finally saw release in 1986.

The album was initially released in English, German and Spanish language versions. It was the first Kraftwerk LP to be created using predominantly digital equipment. The song named "Der Telefonanruf" ("The Telephone Call") was the first and only Kraftwerk song to feature Karl Bartos on lead vocals.

Audiences generally appeared to find the music somewhat more sterile and less engaging than that of its conceptually more cohesive predecessor, Computer World. Compared to the band's four preceding albums, some critics have pointed to the lack of a strong and sufficiently intriguing theme to tie the Electric Café material together. Furthermore the near half-decade hiatus in the band's record releases and performance activity lost them crucial momentum in their career. Whatever the possible influence of these factors, Electric Café did not meet with any great commercial success.

Two singles were released from the album, "Musique Non-Stop" and "The Telephone Call". Both were accompanied by promotional videos. "Musique Non-Stop" showcased a computer animated representation of the band. The animation, which was complex for its time, was created by Rebecca Allen, using state-of-the-art facial animation software developed by the Institute of Technology in New York. Though both singles went on Billboard dance chart in 1987, neither of the singles performed well in the charts. However, "Musique Non-Stop" has been the closing piece of Kraftwerk's concerts ever since.

In the proposed remastered album collection The Catalogue, the Electric Cafe album has been renamed Techno Pop.

Source : http://en.wikipedia.org