After a collection of rumors and some teaser videos, the news was out; Daft Punk is back with another fully-fledged album. With 13 Songs and a lot of funk, it’s hard to stop listening. I have listened to each song and made a mini-review of it (You can comment if you agree or disagree with any of my personal opinions).
1. Give Life Back to Music:
A rocketing opener that excites and is sure to fill the room with passion for music. Amazing Riffs and great vocoder work.
Michael’s Rating: 9/10
2. Game of Love:
A laid back track that after GLBTM seems like a let down. Remember after One More Time how Aerodynamic took you further down an awesome journey? GoL doesn’t do that. A whiny/passionate vocoder lyric goes over throwback instruments. It’s a grower.
Michael’s Rating: 7/10
3. Giorgio by Moroder
Strap in, bros. Words don’t explain how awesome this track is. Starting with an exclusive interview with Giorgio, and ending with an up-beat, catchy (and long) synth rhythm.
Michael’s Rating: 10/10
4. Within
What was that? No, I didn’t need those feelings anyway. Beautiful piano work and extremely moving lyrics. Made me cry.
Michael’s Rating: 8/10
5. Instant Crush
Arguably the most “radio ready” track on here other than the instant classic Get Lucky. Julian Casablanca’s vocals roboticized (is that even a word?) brings you to a danceable beat about moving on.
Michael’s Rating: 8.5/10
6. Lose Yourself to Dance
This guitar riff is catchy! Teased in the Nile Collaborator video, this is the sound of the West coast that Daft Punk tried so hard to capture. Over William Pharrell’s amazing vocals and the vocoder telling you to “c’mon”, you’ll probably end up actually losing yourself to dance when this song comes on.
Michael’s Rating: 9.5/10
7. Touch
The most ambitious track on the record. It’s mighty weird and hard to get into it at first – but then again, I appear to be the only one out of the other fans I know who has issues with it. If it wasn’t Daft Punk, I wouldn’t give it a second look.
Michael’s Rating: 7.5/10
8. Get Lucky
Instant classic, but everyone already knows that. Do I even need to explain how good this song is?
Michael’s Rating: 10/10
9. Beyond
The follow up to a a song like Get Lucky is important. It keeps the flow of the album going and keeps us interested. This song does not do that, unfortunately. Fairly boring, but has some nice lyric work. Meh.
Michael’s Rating: 7.5/10
10. Motherboard
I would say that this song would be a “meh” extension to a “meh” track, it does get me into a groove and I think that the transition between parts of the song fit in nicely.
Michael’s Rating: 8/10
11. Fragments of Time
All of the sudden, there was a twangy track on the Daft Punk album. Well. i didn’t see this one coming, to be honest, since Todd Edwards is known for what he doesn’t do on this song. It’s not necessarily a bad song, just different what people would expect. Lyrics are neat-o, though, and the strange background vibes start to grow on you.
Michael’s Rating: 8.5/10
12. Doin’ it Right
Funky as ever. The beautiful vocoder track narrates the song throughout it all, and the song really picks up when Panda Bear’s voice soars in a very Animal Collective-esque fashion. It’s begging for a remix, and I’d love to see a rap-over. A personal favorite.
Michael’s Rating: 10/10
13. Contact
This is it. The song that will be played at the end of every upcoming (rumered) Daft Punk concert and everyone will loose their marbles to. Theatrical and magnificent, this closer really brings the album up quite a bit. The ending is very Downward Spiral esque, closing on a static and random noises until eventually, a silence; a wonderful end to one heck of a journey.
Michael’s Rating: 9.5/10
Overall Rating: 9/10
This album may not be for everyone, as there are few elements that remind us of the Discovery- or Homework-era Daft Punk, but we were warned that it was a departure from that scene. I feel that Daft Punk does a good job of going back to the roots and getting that human touch to dance back. Without the drops. Without the headbangers. Just nice, groovy jams. Album of the year right here. Deserves everyone to go check it out and listen to it one time through, and more.
