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Daft Punk are a curious bunch, never letting their faces be seen in public or in magazine articles (save for a black and white photo on their debut album in 1996). Instead, they have adopted the ploy of dressing up like a cross between sci-fi astronauts and robots. It's ironic then, that their third 'proper' album (i.e. not counting live albums and remix projects) in nine years - great hit rate there, is titled Human After All. The album feels like a cross breed of the previous two albums, the funky house of 1996's debut Homework, blessed with the more digital and futuristic sounding Discovery from 2000. Human vocals are a definite no-no on the album, as are conventional sounding instruments, although the album does have a definite bent towards using the guitar, as is proudly stated on the album sleeve - 'all guitars by Daft Punk' - well done! Although the album has received a very mixed reception, it's true to say this is far from Daft Punk's best work, but at the same time, it's far from their worst (that honour has to go, at least in part, to their involvement on some of the woeful remixes on the Daft Club remixes CD released in 2003). Opening track Human After All sounds like a potential single, opening the album with a crisp beat (reminiscent of the intro from Electric Light Orchestra's Don't Bring Me Down) and the synthesised guitar riffs that signal that this IS a Daft Punk recording - it just sounds like them, which is an enviable position for any band to be in, having carved out their own niche. Although the track is undeniably repetitive, with the repeated refrain of 'we are human after all', but it never jars or grates. The Prime Time Of Your Life, while opening with a moody, synthesised riff and vocodered vocal, descends into the mire of 'not really knowing how to end a track' and falls victim to the trick of speeding a song up until it ends. Depending on your opinion, this is either genius or not, but it doesn't stand well with the rest of the track, and feels like a bit of a cop out.
First single Robot Rock is a fairly standard chunk of what Daft Punk do best, an infectious disco-funk riff (that once you've heard, will stick in your head for days!) that again, doesn't get on the nerves even though it sounds like they've recorded the main riff once, left the keyboards playing, and occasionally battered the 'drum fill' button. Steam Machine marks the first real point where the album falters - a rather irritating and forgettable melody, with a whispered vocal implying the title of the track over and over. This shaky track however is redeemed somewhat by the laidback groove of Make Love (not a cover the Oliver Cheatham track...) a relaxed affair with elegantly twanging guitars and a subtle rhythm. If ever a song was crying out for a vocal track, however, it's this one - some lyrics would have improved this cut no end (it's perhaps worth mentioning that for those agreeing with this statement, there is a bootleg mix floating around on the internet featuring long-forgotten bad boy Mark Morrison's Return Of The Mack shoehorned over it). Sadly, Make Love is the filling of a rather bland sandwich, as the dire The Brainwasher assaults the ears. With perhaps the most annoying vocal ever committed to tape by the group (think a mad uncle trying to be scary and a Dalek and you're not far off) twinned with a rolling, predictable techno backing, and it doesn't really enthral. A brief television-themed interlude follows with On/Off, with the duo flicking through the channels, before returning to work with Television Rules The Nation - a rather dark sounding diatribe against the power of television. Although it's a long way from stone cold classics like Around The World and One More Time, it's a more rock-infused track featuring that guitar 'By Daft Punk!' (don't forget to congratulate them on that, will you).
The first bars of next track Technologic do not offer much in the way of faith, an almost child-like voice ranting on in a similar way to the chorus of Harder Better Faster Stronger, before an almost electro-esque beat comes in, and the track kicks off, although it does sound similar in style to Television Rules The Nation, which we have just heard. The album closes (after a rather short 45-minutes) with the gentle sounding Emotion - maybe an elegy to how human the band have become, layers of filtered vocals building up until a slower-paced beat envelopes them. It's a nice enough close to an album, nothing grand or epic, although again, it does tend to sound rather repetitive. For lovers of previous Daft Punk efforts, this album will be essential listening, although to the more casual listener of dance music, it may well baffle and beg the question 'what's new?'. In fairness, not a lot, although the duo did record the ten tracks on offer here in a single six-week period in late 2004.
Due to this, it has the feel of a stop-gap project rather than a fully completed album, but fans will hope this isn't the last we hear of the band for another four year stretch. This is an album that grows on you, and after repeated listens, is one that fares well in the review stakes - although not deep or offering much on repeated listens, it's an easily accessible dance album that doesn't hide what it is. Daft Punk want us to believe that, after all this time in the music business, they are human after all. They may well be, but with the mechanical rhythms, trademark disco style and overuse of the voice synthesiser, the music most definitely is not..
First single Robot Rock is a fairly standard chunk of what Daft Punk do best, an infectious disco-funk riff (that once you've heard, will stick in your head for days!) that again, doesn't get on the nerves even though it sounds like they've recorded the main riff once, left the keyboards playing, and occasionally battered the 'drum fill' button. Steam Machine marks the first real point where the album falters - a rather irritating and forgettable melody, with a whispered vocal implying the title of the track over and over. This shaky track however is redeemed somewhat by the laidback groove of Make Love (not a cover the Oliver Cheatham track...) a relaxed affair with elegantly twanging guitars and a subtle rhythm. If ever a song was crying out for a vocal track, however, it's this one - some lyrics would have improved this cut no end (it's perhaps worth mentioning that for those agreeing with this statement, there is a bootleg mix floating around on the internet featuring long-forgotten bad boy Mark Morrison's Return Of The Mack shoehorned over it). Sadly, Make Love is the filling of a rather bland sandwich, as the dire The Brainwasher assaults the ears. With perhaps the most annoying vocal ever committed to tape by the group (think a mad uncle trying to be scary and a Dalek and you're not far off) twinned with a rolling, predictable techno backing, and it doesn't really enthral. A brief television-themed interlude follows with On/Off, with the duo flicking through the channels, before returning to work with Television Rules The Nation - a rather dark sounding diatribe against the power of television. Although it's a long way from stone cold classics like Around The World and One More Time, it's a more rock-infused track featuring that guitar 'By Daft Punk!' (don't forget to congratulate them on that, will you).
The first bars of next track Technologic do not offer much in the way of faith, an almost child-like voice ranting on in a similar way to the chorus of Harder Better Faster Stronger, before an almost electro-esque beat comes in, and the track kicks off, although it does sound similar in style to Television Rules The Nation, which we have just heard. The album closes (after a rather short 45-minutes) with the gentle sounding Emotion - maybe an elegy to how human the band have become, layers of filtered vocals building up until a slower-paced beat envelopes them. It's a nice enough close to an album, nothing grand or epic, although again, it does tend to sound rather repetitive. For lovers of previous Daft Punk efforts, this album will be essential listening, although to the more casual listener of dance music, it may well baffle and beg the question 'what's new?'. In fairness, not a lot, although the duo did record the ten tracks on offer here in a single six-week period in late 2004.
Due to this, it has the feel of a stop-gap project rather than a fully completed album, but fans will hope this isn't the last we hear of the band for another four year stretch. This is an album that grows on you, and after repeated listens, is one that fares well in the review stakes - although not deep or offering much on repeated listens, it's an easily accessible dance album that doesn't hide what it is. Daft Punk want us to believe that, after all this time in the music business, they are human after all. They may well be, but with the mechanical rhythms, trademark disco style and overuse of the voice synthesiser, the music most definitely is not..
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