So I’ve listened to the entire collection of the newly refurbished and reissued Kraftwerk catalog. Verdict? Well, when you compare it to previous versions, it certainly sounds better. In prior iterations, the CDs from Capital and Cleopatra always sounded kind of hissy and lacked a little clarity for my tastes. But do they sound tons better? Blow your socks off better? Well, not really, no.

Don’t get me wrong, they are certainly the best versions we’ve ever had, but why oh why were these albums not remixed for surround sound? They’re practically crying out for it! Autobahn was issued as a Quad 8-track in 1975. Could that not have been exploited here? It would have been so easy! And there would have been a real reason for fans—hint: it’s called a good value—to repurchase them in the multi-channel format. Man, I’d love to hear Computer World in 5:1 surround. Can you imagine how trippy that would sound? It just seems like a waste to me that they didn’t go the extra mile for one of the most seminal catalogs of 20th century pop music.

At least someone should consider putting out the quad version of Autobahn as a limited edition or something! The Kraftwerk remasters sound great, they really do, but I can’t help thinking that this was a real missed opportunity here.