This is the supposed date for the highly anticipated Kraftwerk remasters-still no clue as to content or if they will really surface or not.
I suppose any other Kraftwerk remaster talk could be thrown under this banner as well.
The albums are:
05-Oct-09 Kraftwerk Autobahn CD
05-Oct-09 Kraftwerk Radio-Activity CD
05-Oct-09 Kraftwerk Trans-Europe Express CD
05-Oct-09 Kraftwerk The Man Machine CD
05-Oct-09 Kraftwerk Computer World CD
05-Oct-09 Kraftwerk Techno Pop CD
05-Oct-09 Kraftwerk The Mix CD
05-Oct-09 Kraftwerk Tour de France CD
05-Oct-09 Kraftwerk Boxset 8CD

Note-I updated this to list the box set, where for now only, you can get all 8 CDs. As mentioned below, the latter 3 will not be in the box set here in the States anyway.
I'd put in the cover art, but I can never do that right for some reason, but I'll try!

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Product Description
"For one group to lay claim to being one of the pioneers of experimental music, and then to gain a No. 1 UK hit single, as well as exerting a tremendous influence on numerous other artists for more than thirty years is remarkable. Kraftwerk occupy a unique position in popular music." --Record Collector

From David Bowie to Daft Punk, Depeche Mode to Radiohead, Dr. Dre to LCD Soundsystem, and even to the likes of the Sex Pistols, The Cars, Nine Inch Nails and almost everyone in between, the influence of Kraftwerk is remarkable.

Electro Pioneers, living legends and globally revered masters of electronic sound, Kraftwerk now celebrate the 35th anniversary of their landmark 1974 hit "Autobahn" by releasing newly remastered editions of their 8 classic albums in a deluxe box set.

The first ever complete remastering of Kraftwerk's 8 classic studio albums, covering all their releases on the Capitol, Warner Brothers and Astralwerks labels: Autobahn, Radio-Activity, Trans Europe Express, The Man Machine, Computer World, Techno Pop, The Mix, Tour De France.

In 2009 Kraftwerk have upgraded their Kling Klang masters with the latest studio technology and these eight magnificent recordings still sound like nothing else in the history of music. Kraftwerk are unique, pristine, profound and beautiful. Decades may pass, but their streamlined synthetic symphonies stand outside time, as fresh as tomorrow, transcendent and sublime.

The 12" x 12" box set features all 8 albums, exclusively created just for this box set in mini-LP style album packaging complete with inner sleeves. Restored and newly expanded artwork is presented in the form of 8 large format 12 to 20 page booklets, housed inside a rigid board slipcase portfolio.

Manufactured in Germany.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B002LCOQTG/?tag=imwan-20

I'm guessing that the 8-CD box set is just the individual titles all boxed together.

I'm glad it is in October, The Beatles boxes are going to wipe me out financially as it is. :}

Rick A.

I'm interested how these will turn out if they indeed do show up.

Hopefully they stick to the original mixes. Could've sworn I read rumours that the albums were being remixed.

Oh, I hope not!

Rick A.

I assume from the titles that we're getting the English-language versions. I was really hoping for the German versions. I'd also like to see the original mix(es) of "Tour De France" reissued.

Just found some very intriguing quotes from Ralf Hutter regarding the rare tracks and the packaging:

We've been digitally transferring all of Kraftwerk's original recordings and sound sources from our badly degrading master tapes while our engineers, Fritz and Henning, have been working in parallel to remaster our early albums for re-release. So for the first time, our recordings will be available in crisp, clear Kling Klang sound with all the fold-out covers and images our label at the time either messed up or wouldn't pay for. There will be some alternate mixes of tracks and some unedited versions, but unfortunately we don't have much unreleased material. We never recorded extra songs or twenty different versions of the same song. We would complete a song and then move forward, always keeping very focused on one Kling Klang project at a time.

And on Wikipedia (yeah, I know, but this is legit stuff), this:

In March 2009, Ralf Hütter said to Brazilian television that after its 2008–2009 tour, Kraftwerk would continue the work on the boxed set.[3] An advertisement leaflet for the recent Manchester Velodrome concert stated that the back catalogue would be "digitally remastered" and released on Mute Records in September. Pictures of The Catalogue were also shown on the packaging for the concert's 3D glasses.

It has also been stated that Kraftwerk will reissue its first three albums in a separate collection after the release of The Catalogue.

“ We've just never really taken a look at those albums. They've always been available, but as really bad bootlegs. Now we have more artwork. Emil has researched extra contemporary drawings, graphics, and photographs to go with each album, collections of paintings that we worked with, and drawings that Florian and I did. We took a lot of Polaroids in those days.

This all could be very, very promising, cool and...expensive!

I would love to see the single edit of "Autobahn" as a bonus track on the album.

A box set? If the sound quality is good, I'm so there.

This is incredibly promising! Nice to see that the remix thing was a rumour. Curious to see what the boys do with Computer World and Electric Cafe since the current Elektra CD's of those sound quite good, IMO.

Really excited to see the first three albums getting a legitimate release.

From Pitchfork.
I'm curious about paragraph in red

Kraftwerk, the German legends that pretty much invented electronic pop music as we know it, are due to reissue eight of their albums in a massive box set called 12345678: The Catalogue. Five of the albums will also be reissued as individual titles.

The box is due October 6 in the U.S. from EMI. That's the cover art above. It'll feature the following discs: 1974's Autobahn, 1975's Radio-Activity, 1977's stone classic Trans-Europe Express, 1978's The Man Machine, 1981's Computer World, 1986's Techno Pop, the 1991 remix comp The Mix, and 2003's Tour De France. (The band's first three albums are not included.)

We can argue about those last three LPs all day, but the first five are total pantheon material, huge influences on everyone from David Bowie to Afrika Bambaataa to Daft Punk to basically anybody that ever made dance music in the past four decades. Kraftwerk have remastered these albums themselves, so they should sound great.

Licensing issues prevent EMI from reissuing Computer World, Techno Pop, or The Mix in the U.S. as individual titles. So if you want those, you'll have to spring for the full box. The other five albums will be available on CD, vinyl, or digital download. The box set will be available on CD only.

Those latter albums were on Warner Bros. so it makes sense. I'm sure they'll all be available as imports at decent prices from EMI anyway, or you can get the box.
Looks like this is really happening though!

In the US, Autobahn was originally issued on LP by Vertigo. My old CD was issued by Elektra, so distribution of that album, at least, has bounced around a few times.

Wonder what the vinyl will be sourced from. I'm guessing digital masters.

But, please understand that the Kraftwerk albums(probably) from "Computer World" onwards were digital recordings.

Updated info with failed attempt at cover art-I give up!

fanatics may also want the German version:

http://www.amazon.de/Katalog-German-Box ... 170&sr=8-1

Still no info for certain whether there are any bonus tracks, though Ralf Hutter has implied that there are.

To my knowledge only one bonus track on Electric Cafe/Techno Pop, but hopefully that's not right.

Updated the new date-we'll see if these make it out before the year ends!

A review of these remasters in the November issue of UNCUT has me just a little concerned. The reviewer is a longtime fan and gives almost all the albums 4 or 5 stars, but he gives the remastered box only two stars. Some tidbits below:

"Computer World": Sadly, the remaster is a fiasco. The soft tones of "Computer Love" become sharp, the wide spaces of "Home Computer" contract into tunnels and "Pocket Calculator" bears down on us like a spiked ceiling in a horror film.

"Radioactivity": ...atmospheric crackles and hisses have been removed by noise reduction software. For pity's sake, they're part of the music!

"Autobahn", "Trans-Europe Express" and "The Man-Machine" have less sound quality issues but are all inferior to the original EMI CDs.

Yikes! I wonder...