Tour de France Soundtracks by Kraftwerk

Tour de France Soundtracks is the tenth studio album by German electronic music band Kraftwerk, released in August 2003. It was re-released in October 2009 under the title Tour de France. The album was recorded for the 100th anniversary of the first Tour de France bicycle race, although it missed its intended release date for the actual tour. It includes a new recording of their 1983 single of the same name, the cover artwork of both releases being nearly identical. The announcement of the release caused much anticipation, as it had been 17 years since the group had put out a full album of new studio material (1986's Electric Café, also known as Techno Pop). Unusually for a Kraftwerk album it did not have separate German and international vocal mixes, but was released only in one version, with a mix of French, German, and English. The lyrics were co-written by Ralf Hütter and Maxime Schmitt, who had previously been manager of the Capitol label at Pathé-Marconi (part of the EMI group, the company that distributed Kraftwerk's music in France) and had been involved with the band since the mid-1970s. The album was a commercial success, as it reached No. 1 in Germany, the top 40 in the UK, as well as No. 3 in the US dance charts. A short jingle was supplied to the television broadcaster Eurosport for use in their coverage of the 2003 Tour de France. A newly remastered edition of the album with the revised title Tour de France was released by EMI Records, Mute Records, and Astralwerks Records on CD and digital download in October–November 2009, with heavyweight vinyl editions released in November–December 2009.