Critical Reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | |
| Robert Christgau | A− |
| Drowned In Sound | (10/10) |
| The Independent | |
| Mojo | |
| Q | |
| Rolling Stone | |
| Slant Magazine | |
| Spin | (9/10) |
| Uncut | |
Initial reviews for the Trans-Europe Express were positive. Music critic Robert Christgau gave the album an A- rating, stating that the album's "textural effects sound like parodies by some cosmic schoolboy of every lush synthesizer surge that's ever stuck in your gullet—yet also work the way those surges are supposed to work". Trans-Europe Express charted in the Village Voice's 1977 Pazz & Jop critics poll, placing at number 30.
Modern reception has been very favorable. Trans-Europe Express has the highest possible ratings from publications including Allmusic, Mojo, Rolling Stone and Slant Magazine. Steve Huey of Allmusic wrote that the album "is often cited as perhaps the archetypal (and most accessible) Kraftwerk album ... Overall, Trans-Europe Express offers the best blend of minimalism, mechanized rhythms, and crafted, catchy melodies in the group's catalog". Sal Cinquemani of Slant described the album's influence as "unprecedented, reaching as wide as rock (Radiohead's Kid A), hip-hop (Afrika Bambaataa's classic "Planet Rock", Jay Dee's recent "Big Booty Express") and pop (Madonna's Drowned World Tour, which incorporated samples of "Metal on Metal")". The British press also looked favorably on the album. Q gave the album four stars out of five, stating that the album "changed the face of American dance music" and that it was one of the most compelling beats of this or any other era". In 2009 Drowned in Sound gave the album a perfect rating of 10 out of 10, stating that "Trans-Europe Express is all at once antique, timeless, retro and contemporary. Its status as modern electronic music's birth certificate is well-earned, but its hallowed reputation should never be allowed to disguise its true value and power as a work of art. Nor should it obscure a longevity that, 32 years on, we might as well start calling by its real name: immortality".
Trans-Europe Express has also appeared on top album lists from a variety of sources. In 2001, TV network VH1 placed Trans-Europe Express at number 56 on their list of "100 Greatest Albums (of Rock & Roll) of All Time". In 2002, Slant Magazine placed the album at number one on their list of the greatest electronic albums of the 20th century. In 2003, Rolling Stone placed the album at number 253 on their list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. Channel 4 placed the album at number 71 on their list of top 100 Greatest albums. In 2004, the online music website Pitchfork Media listed Trans-Europe Express as 6th best album of the 1970s, stating that "the day will soon come, if it hasn't already, that Trans-Europe Express joins the ranks of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Exile on Main Street as a record that simply cannot be written about".
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