The piece begins with an industrial noise that echoes distantly, being nearly comparable to a drum, and then a hypnotic melody that escalates into a sound that wouldn't be out of place emitting from an arcade game. After this beginning, the floating, cosmic sensation of Kraftwerk's "Spacelab" comes to life, through rising and falling tones that gradually become more drawn out in pace, before the synthesizer's bass instrumentation comes into effect. By this point, there is a danceable medley of synthesizer arrangements backed by the occasional chants of "Spacelab," which utilize the robotic vocoder most associated with "The Robots," also in The Man-Machine album. The entire piece is one that brings to mind the enthusiasm of space exploration, yet it also represents the more chaotic side as well. By 2:17 in the track, the melody stops abruptly, to immediately bring on an ominous movement that represents the dangerous risks of space, bringing to mind inhospitable environments in which life is either disrupted or cut short. I have been thinking of the astronauts aboard the International Space Station experiencing problems, for example. Perhaps even an alien attack is implied by the music at this point? Later at 2:41, the music once again becomes upbeat, featuring the danceable rhythm that characterized much of the first half of "Spacelab," as though those aboard the space lab are safe and ready to continue their scientific endeavors. At the end, the piece also features the whirling electronic sound from around the start. "Spacelab" is a mesmerizing, almost completely instrumental piece, and a great way to continue The Man-Machine album after starting with "The Robots," a revolutionary for the time of 1978 vocoder song deliberately meant to evoke the imagery and sounds that characterize robots.
10/10
