TRANS-EUROPE EXPRESS (Italy, 1987)

Capitol 54 1851104


Finally I present Trans-Europe Express on my blog, here in an Italian re-edition from 1987. I expect the record company enjoyed a renewed interest in the band's back catalogue after their first new album in five years had come the year before? Or who knows, maybe they just thought a new cover design would help them shift some more units.

Italy is an interesting country to collect Kraftwerk cassettes, there's a lot of variants with each release, often a bit of care has gone into the design, and - best of all to the aspiring collector - if you're lucky, some of them can be found quite cheap. 1970s editions come in different coloured shells and cases, with 1 or 2-panel J-cards, and surprising amounts of variations in small details. (As far as I can gather, all Italian cassettes carry a "S.I.A.E" stamp on the spine, I suppose for tax reasons? Not sure though, I should look into it.)

Then there's the 1987 series of reissues, where at least three albums came in similar design - this, The Man Machine and Computer World. (Autobahn I suppose didn't need a reissue, since it was re-released in 1985, and there was also an Italian reissue of Radio-Activity in 1983 or so, but with the same design as the original). 

On the front, a small facsimile of the original LP sleeve is presented at the top, with the track listing placed underneath. The "nice price" feel is fairly strong here, with just a simlpe 1-panel J-card with print on one side, and clear shells with on-body print. Not least, they have disregarded the album title on the spine, opting instead for a barcode next to the band name. Still, it looks a little different, and nicely compliments the 1977 variants with its updated graphics.






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