Autobahn is the fourth studio album by German electronic music band Kraftwerk, released in November 1974 by Philips Records.

The album marked several personnel changes in the band, which was initially a duo consisting of Florian Schneider and Ralf Hütter; later, the group added Klaus Röder on guitar and flute, and Wolfgang Flür on percussion.

The album also completed the group's transition from the experimental krautrock style of their earlier work to an electronic pop sound consisting mostly of synthesizers and drum machines.

The song was inspired by the group's joy of driving on Germany's autobahns, and recorded music that reflected a trip emulating the sounds of a vehicle.

"Autobahn" was released as a single and received airplay at a Chicago radio station, leading it to spread across the United States.

Initial reception to Autobahn was mixed; receiving negative reviews, from Rolling Stone and Village Voice, who felt the music was inferior to earlier electronic music from Wendy Carlos and Mike Oldfield, and positive reviews that praised the title track as hypnotic and arresting for its imagery of driving on the autobahn.

[4] Prior to Autobahn, electronic music did not develop a popular following in the United States with a few exceptions such as Michael Oldfield's Tubular Bells and the works of fellow German band Tangerine Dream.

[5] Comparing the albums sounds to the group's earlier work, Michael Hooker of the Los Angeles Times noted the music of Ralf und Florian is more traditional compared to that of Autobahn, noting its resemblance to the works of composers Morton Subotnik and Edgar Froese rather than the "monotonous pulse" of Autobahn.

[4] In a 1975 interview published in Melody Maker, Karl Dallas noted Kraftwerk's music and look were "as far as you get from the Gothic romanticism of Tangerine Dream" and that "visually they also present a completely different image", comparing Tangerine Dream's Froese's "untidy red locks", and bandmates Peter Baumann's and Christopher Franke's "long, lank tresses".

[8] In early 1974, like their German contemporaries, Kraftwerk purchased a Minimoog synthesizer,[9] which they used alongside customized versions of the Farfisa Rhythm Unit 10 and Vox Percussion King drum machines on the album.

"[19] Flür later described "Autobahn" as a journey from Düsseldorf to Hamburg and said that the route included musical pieces such as the industrial sounds of the Ruhr valley, the conveyor belts of the mining towns such as Bottrop and Castrop-Rauxel, and the rural Münster region, which is symbolized by the flute in the song.

[21] The song's lyrics are in German; Schneider reflected on this, stating: "Part of our music is derived from the feeling of our language ... our method of speaking is interrupted, hard-edged if you want; a lot of consonants and noises".

Bartos noted poor ticket sales for the British shows, recalling the group played to mostly empty halls in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, London, Bournemouth, Bath, Cardiff, Birmingham, and Liverpool.

[40] According to Kraftwerk biographer Uwe Schütte, on its initial release in Germany, Autobahn was generally ignored by the mainstream German music press.

[46][45] Flür said of the album's initial critical reception: "In Germany, artists are often not well regarded unless they've scored great achievements abroad" and "Our success in the US finally brought good headlines in the German newspapers".

[47] Village Voice critic Robert Christgau gave the album a C+ rating, comparing it with the music of Mike Oldfield but said it was made "for unmitigated simpletons, sort of, and yet in my mitigated way I don't entirely disapprove".

[48] Provick said the album "works on two levels – as pleasing background atmosphere" and "upon closer listening as lovely escape route for the mind", finding "Kraftwerk opting for calm competence rather than spectacular gimmickry – a nice change in the world of electronic music".

[3] Witter said: "In the glam era of glitter and guitars, Kraftwerk were four besuited squares playing keyboards", and that the group was "Mentally and sonically decades ahead of their contemporaries", noting their unique rhythms, textures and melodies.

[3] Simon Reynolds wrote in the Spin Alternative Record Guide (1995): "Esoterics will claim they prefer the first three albums: they're excellent, but truthfully Autobahn is when Kraftwerk's muzak-of-the-sphere starts to matter".

[57] David Cavanagh gave the 2009 remaster of Autobahn a five-star rating in Uncut, saying the title track is its main attraction and called the tracks "freckled with warmth: sunny vocal harmonies ("...mit Glitzerstrahl"), a carefree flute solo (Schneider) and clever modulations (denoting gear-changes) to break the tension", Cavanagh called the remastering of the album a fiasco, and said it is worse than the compact discs previously released by EMI.

[42] In the 2005 book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, Stephen Dalton called Autobahn "...a landmark in avant-garde pop minimalism".

[60] Kraftwerk did not repeat the high sales of Autobahn on any subsequent album in the 1970s but were one of the most commercially successful groups in their style, selling well throughout Europe.

[28][63] In his review of Sequencer (1976) by Synergy, critic Michael Hooker noted the increasing interest in synthesizer composition since the release of Autobahn.

[65] Producer Arthur Baker first heard Kraftwerk's "Autobahn" when working at record store in high school; he later used a medley of the group's songs for "Planet Rock" for Afrika Bambaataa.

[66] According to Patrick Codenys of the band Front 242, in the early 1970s most "creative groups, were virtuosos like King Crimson and Yes whose music was based around sophisticated jam sessions.

"[69] In 2014, it was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, a diverse collection to represent historically significant recordings that reflect the changing climate of music through the decades.

[70] All tracks are written by Ralf Hütter & Florian Schneider[71]A remastered edition of Autobahn was released on CD, digital download and heavyweight vinyl in October–November 2009.