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(They also did the Soundtrack for Tron:Legacy, basically their fifth studio album) Anyway, I keep remembering how panned 'Human After All' was, and how bad the

(They also did the Soundtrack for Tron:Legacy, basically their fifth studio album) Anyway, I keep remembering how panned 'Human After All' was, and how bad the reviews were because the album was too "mechanical" and was "missing the warmth of House", while this is EXACTLY how the genre evolved in the years to come and none of those music experts saw this. Many journalists did a retrospective of it a few years later and admitted that they misjudged it. It's not that Daft Punk drove the industry in this direction, the album wasn't well-received by most at that time. They showed the destination of a journey while people didn't even realize they are traveling... In the end, it appears that 'Random Access Memories' is one of their least innovative and "lasting" albums. It's probably their most successful one, the most complex to conceptualize and produce, but IMO it has the least unique character of all their productions. Looking at the whole picture, the product of "Random Access Memories" is less the music, but the duo celebrating the process of production itself...

bongodongobob 1y ago
Random Access Memories was such a letdown. It's an OK disco album that doesn't innovate at all. Masterful recording, it sounds great of course, but it didn't take any risks. I listened to it twice and that was it.
- rickdeckard 1y ago
  Exactly, fully agree. If it would have been released as a Pharrell Williams Album "produced by Daft Punk", it woul have been met with different expectations. And especially now it would perfectly blend with other Pharrell Williams Albums (i.e. "Happy" could have been on "Random Access Memories" without standing out at all...)
- spcebar 1y ago
  RAM brought back that funky sound which had been completely absent from contemporary dance music. It was a revival of old elements, mixed with modern electronic sound. A masterful mingling of elements of the past and the future coming together to form something not quite as good as either, but listenable and danceable, and most importantly impactful, because after that album there was a wave of artists emulating that sound. We wouldn't have gotten Uptown Special if we hadn't gotten Random Access Memories. That's my feeling on it anyway.
- mzs 1y ago
  Guess you didn't listen to it on shuffle. There are multiple stories to be discovered depending on the order of tracks, like the one about the alien robot that crash lands on earth and strives to experience humanity. The album is RANDOM ACCESS Memories after all.
  - maplant 1y ago
    The stories are maybe 1/10000th the importance of the quality of the music, which is simply Ok.
- TacticalCoder 1y ago
  [dead]
_DeadFred_ 1y ago
Tron:Legacy still lives in my head. I'm still chasing the music I imagined after seeing the movie/hearing the soundtrack. Also half of Daft Punk Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo's work in Kavinsky’s 'Nightcall'.
- morsch 1y ago
  Check out Tron: Legacy Reconfigured if you haven't (you probably have).
- DHPersonal 1y ago
  The composer who assisted them also worked with M83 for the Oblivion soundtrack, which I think is also pretty spectacular.
  - marcedwards 1y ago
    The Oblivion soundtrack is amazing! Love it. I’ve listened to it so many times. I haven’t seen the movie yet. I should do that.
    - TheOtherHobbes 1y ago
      Ah. Now it starts to make more sense. Yes, both soundtracks are amazing. But I wonder how amazing they'd have been without his input.
  - sneak 1y ago
    His name is Joseph Trapanese and I always wondered who worked with them on the album (for basically no credit) because, while I adore Daft Punk, very few pure dance music producers have the traditional-music/composer chops to pull off a film score. I didn’t know until you pointed it out that he worked on Kosinski’s other film too. There are definitely some huge similarities, especially with the end title tracks.
    - marcedwards 1y ago
      You may already know this, but Junkie XL/Tom Holkenborg has done some great film soundtracks, too.
dfxm12 1y ago
how bad the reviews were because the album was too "mechanical" and was "missing the warmth of House" FWIW, I wouldn't call myself a particular fan of house or dance music in general. This mechanicalness and lack of warmth is probably what I like about the album.
swivelmaster 1y ago
The reason that I dislike Human After All is that, quite simply, it's not fun. It's dour. It's depressing. And it's repetitive in a way that feels tiresome; You can't dance to most of it or even really tap your foot to it. What happened was that Daft Punk challenged themselves to make an album in six weeks and ended up with a showcase for a few neat guitar pedals and two fun songs (Robot Rock and Technologic), one of which consists almost entirely of a barely-changed sample (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFwGQAEYqHs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFwGQAEYqHs). Electronic music certainly evolved in ways that made it less warm, but that didn't make it less fun. Case in point, Skrillex's early music is weird and playful despite relying on 'cold' synth sounds. Human After All is just cold.
- coldtea 1y ago
  >And it's repetitive in a way that feels tiresome; You can't dance to most of it or even really tap your foot to it. Being robotic and repeatitive never stopped people dancing like crazy to techno all night. In fact, that's its very allure.
  - swivelmaster 1y ago
    "in a way that feels tiresome" is the operative phrase here. I like the throwaway tracks on Homework that are twice as long and half as interesting more than I like most of Human After All. They're fun.
  - sneak 1y ago
    Not to be that guy, but techno is only repetitive if you are a) listening to boring/uninspired techno (the same kind of complaint being leveled here against HAA), or b) not paying attention.
    - coldtea 1y ago
      or (c) done right
    - marcedwards 1y ago
      Agreed! Also, context matters. How and where you’re listening matters.
marcedwards 1y ago
I really, really like Human After All. It’s probably their second most cohesive album, given how much they used the DigiTech Talker and DigiTech Synth Wah all over it. (Second to Random Access Memories in terms of being cohesive.)
moomin 1y ago
I have a standard joke about Random Access Memories that, although I'm not saying that Daft Punk contributed nothing to Get Lucky, I'm saying that if _I_ made a record with Niles Rodgers and Pharrell Williams it would be a top 10 hit as well. R.A.M. is more that they'd decided to finish and made one last album that was as much fun as possible. It's a bit like "Accelerate" by REM in that respect.

bongodongobob 1y ago

Random Access Memories was such a letdown. It's an OK disco album that doesn't innovate at all. Masterful recording, it sounds great of course, but it didn't take any risks. I listened to it twice and that was it.

rickdeckard 1y ago
Exactly, fully agree. If it would have been released as a Pharrell Williams Album "produced by Daft Punk", it woul have been met with different expectations. And especially now it would perfectly blend with other Pharrell Williams Albums (i.e. "Happy" could have been on "Random Access Memories" without standing out at all...)
spcebar 1y ago
RAM brought back that funky sound which had been completely absent from contemporary dance music. It was a revival of old elements, mixed with modern electronic sound. A masterful mingling of elements of the past and the future coming together to form something not quite as good as either, but listenable and danceable, and most importantly impactful, because after that album there was a wave of artists emulating that sound. We wouldn't have gotten Uptown Special if we hadn't gotten Random Access Memories. That's my feeling on it anyway.
mzs 1y ago
Guess you didn't listen to it on shuffle. There are multiple stories to be discovered depending on the order of tracks, like the one about the alien robot that crash lands on earth and strives to experience humanity. The album is RANDOM ACCESS Memories after all.
- maplant 1y ago
  The stories are maybe 1/10000th the importance of the quality of the music, which is simply Ok.
TacticalCoder 1y ago
[dead]

_DeadFred_ 1y ago

Tron:Legacy still lives in my head. I'm still chasing the music I imagined after seeing the movie/hearing the soundtrack. Also half of Daft Punk Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo's work in Kavinsky’s 'Nightcall'.

morsch 1y ago
Check out Tron: Legacy Reconfigured if you haven't (you probably have).
DHPersonal 1y ago
The composer who assisted them also worked with M83 for the Oblivion soundtrack, which I think is also pretty spectacular.
- marcedwards 1y ago
  The Oblivion soundtrack is amazing! Love it. I’ve listened to it so many times. I haven’t seen the movie yet. I should do that.
  - TheOtherHobbes 1y ago
    Ah. Now it starts to make more sense. Yes, both soundtracks are amazing. But I wonder how amazing they'd have been without his input.
- sneak 1y ago
  His name is Joseph Trapanese and I always wondered who worked with them on the album (for basically no credit) because, while I adore Daft Punk, very few pure dance music producers have the traditional-music/composer chops to pull off a film score. I didn’t know until you pointed it out that he worked on Kosinski’s other film too. There are definitely some huge similarities, especially with the end title tracks.
  - marcedwards 1y ago
    You may already know this, but Junkie XL/Tom Holkenborg has done some great film soundtracks, too.

dfxm12 1y ago

how bad the reviews were because the album was too "mechanical" and was "missing the warmth of House" FWIW, I wouldn't call myself a particular fan of house or dance music in general. This mechanicalness and lack of warmth is probably what I like about the album.

swivelmaster 1y ago

The reason that I dislike Human After All is that, quite simply, it's not fun. It's dour. It's depressing. And it's repetitive in a way that feels tiresome; You can't dance to most of it or even really tap your foot to it. What happened was that Daft Punk challenged themselves to make an album in six weeks and ended up with a showcase for a few neat guitar pedals and two fun songs (Robot Rock and Technologic), one of which consists almost entirely of a barely-changed sample (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFwGQAEYqHs https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PFwGQAEYqHs). Electronic music certainly evolved in ways that made it less warm, but that didn't make it less fun. Case in point, Skrillex's early music is weird and playful despite relying on 'cold' synth sounds. Human After All is just cold.

coldtea 1y ago
>And it's repetitive in a way that feels tiresome; You can't dance to most of it or even really tap your foot to it. Being robotic and repeatitive never stopped people dancing like crazy to techno all night. In fact, that's its very allure.
- swivelmaster 1y ago
  "in a way that feels tiresome" is the operative phrase here. I like the throwaway tracks on Homework that are twice as long and half as interesting more than I like most of Human After All. They're fun.
- sneak 1y ago
  Not to be that guy, but techno is only repetitive if you are a) listening to boring/uninspired techno (the same kind of complaint being leveled here against HAA), or b) not paying attention.
  - coldtea 1y ago
    or (c) done right
  - marcedwards 1y ago
    Agreed! Also, context matters. How and where you’re listening matters.

marcedwards 1y ago

I really, really like Human After All. It’s probably their second most cohesive album, given how much they used the DigiTech Talker and DigiTech Synth Wah all over it. (Second to Random Access Memories in terms of being cohesive.)

moomin 1y ago

I have a standard joke about Random Access Memories that, although I'm not saying that Daft Punk contributed nothing to Get Lucky, I'm saying that if _I_ made a record with Niles Rodgers and Pharrell Williams it would be a top 10 hit as well. R.A.M. is more that they'd decided to finish and made one last album that was as much fun as possible. It's a bit like "Accelerate" by REM in that respect.