Radio-Activity combines catchy melodies with interesting sound experiments. Sounds good from start to finish, just a coherent concept album; just a bit too short.
The remastered version does not necessarily offer a bonus, some things are even a little worse, e.g. with ‘Antenne’ the effects are too loud so that the voices are hopelessly drowned out (which is generally a problem with older Kraftwerk albums, that the voices were recorded too quietly and the vocals are hopelessly pushed into the background in good systems with strong basses).
For this album, Kraftwerk used for polyphonic sounds (choirs, strings, flutes) an Orchestron of Vako brand (also used by the Swiss Patrick Moraz in the Relayer of Yes), it was a kind of mellotron using sounds stored on optical discs (you can see it on Youtube).
A true benchmark in electronic music applied to pop. The remastering is splendid and the presentation of the vinyl, a conceptual work of art. At this point, this album is an object for exquisite palates and vinyl fetishists.
Otherwise, however, a good, self-contained album, suitable for people who also like sound experiments and not just input melodies (as in Die Mensch-Maschine). So highly recommended and must not be missing on the CD shelf of a real Kraftwerk fan.
You can listen to the full album below: