In 1990, Kraftwerk had made a return to the stage, following a nine-year hiatus from touring.
Ralf Hütter stated in interviews that he regarded
The Mix as a type of "live" album, as it captured the results of the band's continual digital improvisations in their
Kling Klang Studio. The versions of songs on
The Mix subsequently became staples of the band's live set.
Karl Bartos stated in a 1998 interview with
Sound on Sound that the original idea for
The Mix was to release a
"best of" compilation, a suggestion from
Bob Krasnow at the band's U.S. record label, Elektra Records. Bartos elaborated that the idea "didn't really appeal to [Ralf], so he came up with the idea of making a
remix record. He was really thinking ahead, but I think if you made the original record, you shouldn't do the remix yourself. Somebody else should have done it." In a 1991 interview with
Melody Maker, Hütter said that "Kraftwerk is always a work-in-progress. We have no five-year plan. It's all about what's happening in the music, the
zeitfenster at the time. So our
Mix album is about these times, the remixing, cutting up and regeneration of old tracks." During this period, the band was converting their Kling Klang studio to digital, transferring its sound library from 24-track analogue tape to disc, which factored into the album's creation. This conversion project proved to be an ongoing task, as new upgrades and equipment were continually made available in the years following the album project. Bartos stated that he was responsible for "all of the
programming" on the record but went uncredited. The prolonged production period for the album led band members
Wolfgang Flür and, later, Bartos to leave the group before its release. They were replaced by
Fritz Hilpert and
Fernando Abrantes. ==Reception==