Daft Punk - Human After All
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Free Music Notes for Human After All
Free Music Review: A Hypnotic Trip
Hit: 5 Stars
I noticed quite a few reviewers claim this album is too repetitive. Our French androids' last record, "Discovery," was a very fun and poppy collection of songs that made you just want to dance and have a good time. This new record is less danceable perhaps, and it's certainly not something you can sing along to, but this album has a certain beauty that puts you in a completely different state of mind. That has always been the magic of Daft Punk.
The music is harder, darker, and filled with a broader range of emotion than Daft Punk has previously expressed. The opening track, "Human After All," becomes progressively more tense and seems to speak of a desperate search for identity in a cold world where technology is dehumanizing us, and I would call it my favorite Daft Punk song of all time. This theme continues into tracks like "Television Rules The Nation." There are some dancey, active tracks as well, such as "Robot Rock" and the better known "Technologic" that flows like a well-oiled machine. Tracks such as "Steam Machine" and "The Brainwasher" are harsh and busy like faceless cities where people are all plugged into their electronics and completely disconnected from what they were born with inside. Then there are soft songs that surprised me, "Make Love" and "Emotion." These are dream-like melodies that remind one of simple times, simples touches, simple connections, memories that bring us hope on lonely nights while also reminding us that we are imperfect and in need of love.
"Human After All" is not something you can play at a party. It is something you can zone out on, something that can put you in another world. It is something to listen to while you are drawing or writing, while driving alone at night, while staring up at your ceiling in your room and wondering if you're the only person alive. It is a powerful, introverted, emotional work and deserves another listen or two before you throw it back on the shelf.
Free Music Review: The most misunderstood album in recent memory
Hit: 5 Stars
"Human After All" is a concept album. The title is "Human After All", but the music couldn't be more robotic and cold. From my perspective, the album seems to be about a robot who is analyzing humans. What is their function, their purpose, their fascination with technology, their relationship with it, their relationships with one another, etc.
The tracks seem to each focus on a specific theme. One moment, it's about robots making music ("Robot Rock"), the next it's about our fascination with technology and all the things we do to it and it does to us ("Television Rules The Nation", "Technologic").
Daft Punk releases music only every 4 years or so, and making an album like this made the fans wonder what exactly happened to them. Did they rush release a demo album? Did they loose their minds? The answer is no. They have merely tried to make an artistic statement. Their first album was, as Thomas Bangalter of Daft Punk put it, "making something out of nothing". The second album was an experiment into the world of emotion, I think, and really was their try at making a more "human" album. If anything, "Human After All" is an artistic statement. It may have alienated a few fans, but after giving the album a few listens, the music starts to grow on you. It really feels like a progression, despite the repetitive and cold nature of the album. The tracks seem to have gained popularity over the past year, especially when Daft Punk played a now legendary set at this year's Coachella festival.
Perhaps the album will make more sense when Daft Punk release their upcoming film, "Electroma", which centers on two robots (Bangalter and de Homem-Christo) in their quest to become human. In the meantime, let the album grow on you and you might just "get it".
Key tracks: "Human After All", "The Prime Time Of Your Life", "Robot Rock", "The Brainwasher", "Television Rules The Nation", "Technologic".
Free Music Review: Robot Rock
Hit: 5 Stars
I am giving this album 5 stars because, although it has its flaws, I have never seen any cd blend electronics with rock and roll so well. Songs like "Television Rules the Nation" and "Human After All" sound like hard rock fused with catchy techno. I will admit, this cd is a bit repetitive, but it manages to make that work for it. It is extremely danceable, and the songs retain their catchiness all the way through. This entire cd is indeed "robot rock"
This cd is NOTHING like discovery, and most people seem to criticize for that reason. I think thats just stupid. Discovery was like robot pop, and thus it appealed to a lot of people who like pop. This cd, however, does not appeal to the masses. Daft Punk is doing something original and different on this cd. Many fans of discovery like the song "make love" just because it sounds more like something from discovery, and yet they criticize this cd for being repetitive. Well, make love is probably the MOST REPETITIVE song on this cd, which just goes to show that this cd isn't really too repetitive. Its juts not what everyone expected it to be. I think its good for a band to change, and that people should just let go of the past. I do not feel like this is the end of daft punk or that they failed their fans somehow. I simply think they have changed.
I love the raw power of this cd and its groovy house beats. I personally like it much more than discovery, because I never really liked the electronic pop stuff on it. I do however think that this cd could use a little more variety of sounds, and a little more variations of melody within most of the songs. Still, people should stop comparing this to discovery and look at the album for what it is. Its not perfect, but its not in any way worse than their other albums. Everytime a band goes in a different direction, lots of fans are bound to dissaprove. But change isn't always bad.
Free Music Review: The Inner Structure
Hit: 5 Stars
I first have to admit that this album is fairly repetitive.
There, now that I've laid out the base, I can honestly explain what makes this album excellent.
The limited lyrics.
I find these fascinating because it allows you to concentrate on one phrase for an entire song. You can either ignore the repetition, or you can really think about it. In my opinion, this whole album is very negative in its view of the effect of technology on modern life. From track two, "Prime Time of your Life," I interpreted this as a call for people to realize that now, right now, they're living their life. Prime time on TV shouldn't even be worthy of your notice because you're already involved in a much more interesting story yourself. Certainly I'm reading a lot into this, but their lack of definite lyrics gives a lot of freedom to the listener. I enjoy being able to think about their songs like this.
The loops.
If you notice carefully, these are not really looped, but elements are introduced and removed at different times. There is a very subtle interaction between all the elements, and I enjoy listening for these changes. Even the timing of when the samples are introduced and re-introduced is very interesting.
This album probably works on two very different levels. One, if you're really dumb and just like the repetition. Or two, if you're willing to listen for all the subtleties in the music. I wouldn't rate this album as high as Discovery, but I think it's a work that can stand on its own. Before you trash it, give a good listening to someplace without too much noise where you can hear and concentrate on the details. Once you've done this, then if you don't like it, point taken. But at least look for the skillful structure Daft Punk wove into these songs.
Free Music Review: Open your mind a bit.
Hit: 5 Stars
Some reviewers seem to see the title "Human After All" as an ironic statement, since this album contains lots of repetitions and could be described as very sequenced and robotic. I think the statement Daft Punk is trying to make with this album is deeper than that. This is a very emotional album. On this album they've picked out choice hooks that provoke a certain emotions in us, and looped them. An emotion, repeated over and over and over. Whatever you feel when you are told "Television rules the nation" Daft Punk apparently wants you to feel over and over for four minutes. And that is beautiful. Whatever you feel when you hear the song "Make Love" (The melody sounds very sad to me) Daft Punk wants you to feel that over and over. In many ways this album is about exploring the depth and meaning behind how something makes you feel. It encourages the mind. You're forced the weigh and analyze the feeling you get when you hear something looped on this album. In this respect, "Human After All" might mean that it is human to philosophize about things. The sculpture "The Thinker" comes to mind. Daft Punk wants us to think about the melodies and hooks and why they make us feel a certain way. "Technologic" is a stream of tons of "___ it" thrown at us, and the second we start to think about one, we are given another one and we can't remember the last one we were told. The statement they might be trying to make in this song is that it's all the same damn thing. It all doesn't mean anything, it all means the same thing, and what does that mean to us? The last track is "Emotion," where we are given simply the word "Emotion" to ponder on. A fitting closer to an album about emotion. How can we leave without pondering on the word for what we feel, and what we feel when we hear THAT word? This album is beautiful and brilliant.