Alive 2007 | ||||
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Live album by | ||||
Released | 19 November 2007 | |||
Recorded | 14 June 2007 | |||
Venue | Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy (Paris, France) | |||
Genre | ||||
Length | 81:23 | |||
Label | Virgin | |||
Producer | ||||
Daft Punk chronology | ||||
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Singles from Alive 2007 | ||||
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Alive 2007 is the second live album by the French electronic music duo Daft Punk, released on 19 November 2007 by Virgin Records. It features Daft Punk's performance at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy arena in Paris on 14 June 2007 during their Alive tour. [1] [2] The set features an assortment of Daft Punk's music, incorporated with synthesisers, mixers and live effects. [3]
The retail release of Alive 2007 in North America was delayed to 4 December 2007 due to production problems. [4] It was released as a download on 20 November 2007, and was released in the United Kingdom on 25 February 2008. [5] A performance of "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" was released as a single. The album won a Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album in 2009. [6]
Alive 2007 is taken from Daft Punk's performance at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy, Paris, on 14 June 2007. [7] The performance includes remixed versions of many of their most popular tracks [8] such as mixing vocal elements from "Too Long" with new music, [9] and mixed elements of "Television Rules the Nation" with "Crescendolls", "Around the World" with "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" and "Superheroes" with "Human After All". [10] The album includes elements of the Busta Rhymes song "Touch It", the original version of which was produced by Swizz Beatz featuring a sample of "Technologic". Also featured are elements of Gabrielle's "Forget About the World", the original version of which was remixed by Daft Punk for her single. The encore of the Alive 2007 set features Bangalter's side projects: Stardust's "Music Sounds Better with You" and Together's self-titled track "Together". [11] The special edition of the album includes a 50-page book containing photographs from the tour taken by DJ Falcon, as well as the encore on a second disc. [7]
In December 2014, two vinyl editions of the album were released. [12] The first is standard black dual LP, while the second is a limited edition collectors box set. The box set edition was shipped along with a reissued Alive 1997 vinyl with stickers, dual vinyls in white in a threefold sleeve, and a separate white LP containing the encore. Also included is a large hardback 52-page photo book, an Alive 2007 concert pass replica, a Daft Punk printed slipmat, and a download code for the digital versions of the songs.
In early 2006, Daft Punk announced a number of shows. On 29 April, they performed at the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California, their first US performance since 1997. [13] Thomas Bangalter initially suggested there would be a DVD release of the show, [14] but later said he felt amateur footage shared online was more compelling. [15] Daft Punk later announced shows at Bercy, Paris, [16] Wireless Festival and RockNess in June 2007, the Oxegen festival in July and Lollapalooza in August. [17] [18] [19] [20]
Daft Punk announced a world tour, Alive 2007.[ citation needed ] They played at the RockNess Festival by the banks of Loch Ness, Scotland, on 10 June 2007 as the headline act in the 10,000 capacity Clash tent. Part of the tent was removed to allow thousands of people outside to see the show. [21] On 16 June, Daft Punk headlined the third day of the O2 Wireless Festival. [22] Daft Punk headlined Stage 2/NME Stage at the Oxegen music festival on 8 July 2007. Their live set was preceded by a showing of the trailer for the film Daft Punk's Electroma . [23] [24] Four days later, the duo played at Traffic Torino Free Festival in Parco della Pellerina in Turin, Italy. [25]
Daft Punk headlined the AT&T stage on 3 August 2007, the first night of the Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago. Their show there was praised by Pitchfork, which wrote that it "was a much-needed reminder of the still-potent power of communicative pop." [26] On 5 August, Daft Punk performed at the International Centre in Toronto followed by a 9 August performance at KeySpan Park in Brooklyn, New York. [27] They headlined the Vegoose festival in Las Vegas on 27 October, along with Rage Against the Machine, Muse and Queens of the Stone Age. [16] At the end of October, Daft Punk performed in Mexico City. [28] They also performed on Friday 2 November 2007 at the Arena Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico and Guadalajara. [29]
Modular Records announced that Daft Punk would appear in Australia for an event in December 2007 called Never Ever Land. [30] Daft Punk were supported by their regular acts SebastiAn and Kavinsky at the appearances, which had been announced as an extension to the Alive 2007 tour. [16] Never Ever Land toured to Melbourne at the Sidney Myer Music Bowl, Perth at the Esplanade, Brisbane at the Riverstage and finally Sydney at the Sydney Showground Main Arena. [31] A Triple J interview with Pedro Winter (Busy P) revealed that Daft Punk's Sydney appearance on 22 December would be their final show for 2007 and the last to feature the pyramid light scheme. [32] Tickets for the Australian tour sold more quickly than for any Daft Punk-related event in their history. [33]
For the 2007 shows, Daft Punk added the tracks "Burnin'" and "Phoenix" and an encore. [9] Bangalter explained that the 2006 sets were initially designed for performances within larger festivals, but later refined to accommodate Daft Punk shows, saying "The goal was to try and bring a complete global experience to the audience." [34] The introduction for the live show featured the five-note sequence used in Close Encounters of the Third Kind . [35]
For the performances, Daft Punk used Ableton Live software on "custom made supercomputers" [3] controlled remotely with Behringer BCR2000 MIDI controllers and JazzMutant Lemur touchscreen pads. They also used Minimoog Voyager RME [3] units, which, with the mixers, allowed them to "mix, shuffle, trigger loops, filter, distort samples, EQ in and out, transpose or destroy and deconstruct synth lines". The majority of the equipment was stored within offstage towers during the performances. [3]
The tour visuals were set up by XL Video. [36] The company provided eight-core Mac Pro units running Catalyst v4 and Final Cut Pro. Daft Punk approached the company with their visual concept for the shows. "They came to us with a pretty fixed idea of what they wanted", said head of XL Video, Richard Burford. "They wanted to mix live video with effects. Using the eight-core Mac Pros, we were able to take in eight digital sources and treat them as video streams. Then they could use Catalyst to coordinate the video with lighting effects and add their own effects in on the fly. The final digital video streams ran to LED screens." [36]
The Alive 2007 tour was acclaimed. [37] The Times described the set as a "memorable sensory spectacle, both dazzling and deafening" and ThisisLondon declared it "an almost faultless set of relentless electro euphoria". [22] [38] NME wrote that the performance was "a robotic spectacular", while Shoutmouth described the set as "typically triumphant". [23] [24] The tour is credited for bringing dance music to a wider audience, especially in North America. [39] [40] The Guardian journalist Gabriel Szatan likened it to the Beatles' 1964 performance on The Ed Sullivan Show , which brought British rock and roll to the American mainstream. [39]
Date | City | Country | Venue |
---|---|---|---|
North America | |||
29 April 2006 [a] | Indio | United States | Empire Polo Club |
Europe and Asia | |||
30 June 2006 [b] | Belfort | France | Lac de Malsaucy |
14 July 2006 [c] | Barcelona | Spain | Parc del Fòrum |
15 July 2006 [c] | Madrid | Boadilla del Monte | |
26 July 2006 [d] | Stratford-upon-Avon | United Kingdom | Long Marston Airfield |
5 August 2006 [e] | Zambujeira do Mar | Portugal | Herdade da Casa Branca |
12 August 2006 [f] | Chiba | Japan | Makuhari Messe |
13 August 2006 [f] | Osaka | WTC Open Air Stadium | |
19 August 2006 [g] | Hasselt | Belgium | Domein Kiewit |
28 August 2006 | Dublin | Ireland | Marlay Park |
9 September 2006 [h] | Warsaw | Poland | Służewiec Racetrack |
South America | |||
27 October 2006 [i] | Rio de Janeiro | Brazil | Marina da Glória |
29 October 2006 [i] | São Paulo | Tom Brasil | |
2 November 2006 [j] | Santiago | Chile | Espacio Riesco |
4 November 2006 [k] | Buenos Aires | Argentina | Club Ciudad de Buenos Aires |
North America | |||
11 November 2006 [l] | Miami | United States | Bicentennial Park |
Europe | |||
10 June 2007 [m] | Inverness | Scotland | Clunes Farm |
14 June 2007 | Paris | France | Palais Omnisports Bercy |
16 June 2007 [n] | London | England | Hyde Park |
17 June 2007 [n] | Leeds | Harewood House | |
23 June 2007 | Istanbul | Turkey | Turkcell Kuruçeşme Arena |
26 June 2007 | Nîmes | France | Arena of Nîmes |
29 June 2007 | Düsseldorf | Germany | Philips Halle |
30 June 2007 | Berlin | Velodrom | |
4 July 2007 | Amsterdam | Netherlands | Heineken Music Hall |
6 July 2007 | Esch-sur-Alzette | Luxembourg | Rockhal |
8 July 2007 [o] | Naas | Ireland | Punchestown Racecourse |
12 July 2007 [p] | Turin | Italy | Parco della Pellerina |
North America | |||
21 July 2007 | Los Angeles | United States | Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena |
27 July 2007 | Berkeley | Hearst Greek Theatre | |
29 July 2007 | Seattle | WaMu Theater | |
31 July 2007 | Morrison | Red Rocks Amphitheatre | |
3 August 2007 [q] | Chicago | Grant Park | |
5 August 2007 | Mississauga | Canada | Arrow Hall |
7 August 2007 | Montreal | Bell Centre | |
9 August 2007 | New York City | United States | KeySpan Park |
27 October 2007 [r] | Las Vegas | Sam Boyd Stadium | |
31 October 2007 | Mexico City | Mexico | Palacio de los Deportes |
2 November 2007 | Monterrey | Monterrey Arena | |
4 November 2007 | Zapopan | Telmex Auditorium | |
Asia | |||
6 December 2007 | Kobe | Japan | World Memorial Hall |
8 December 2007 | Chiba | Makuhari Messe | |
9 December 2007 | |||
Australia | |||
13 December 2007 | Melbourne | Australia | Sidney Myer Music Bowl |
14 December 2007 | |||
16 December 2007 | Perth | The Esplanade | |
20 December 2007 | Brisbane | Riverstage | |
22 December 2007 | Sydney | Showground Main Arena |
Aggregate scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 78/100 [41] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [42] |
The A.V. Club | B+ [43] |
The Boston Phoenix | [44] |
Entertainment Weekly | A− [45] |
The Guardian | [46] |
MSN Music (Consumer Guide) | A− [47] |
NME | 7/10 [48] |
Pitchfork | 8.5/10 [49] |
Rolling Stone | [50] |
Spin | [51] |
On the review aggregator Metacritic, Alive 2007 has a score of 78 out of 100, indicating "generally favourable reviews". [52] Pitchfork regarded it as "the Ultimate Daft Punk Mixtape", finding that songs from Human After All had been "constantly improved and born anew" for the live set. [49] The sentiment was also shared by AllMusic, stating that "It has the feel of a greatest-hits-live concert, but energized by Daft Punk's talents at weaving songs in and out of each other." [42] AllMusic considered it weaker than Alive 1997 . [42] A review by The Star noted that the release and Daft Punk's concurrent tours restored the duo's reputation following the mixed reception for Human After All. [53] Critics also reconsidered songs from Human After All after they were integrated into the tour. [54]
Dave de Sylvia of Sputnikmusic gave Alive 2007 a score of four stars out of five and said, "Despite a few individual disappointments, Alive 2007 is as exciting a collection of music as any released this year." [55] Entertainment Weekly felt that the live crowd enhanced the positive mood of the performance. [45] Rolling Stone stated that Alive 2007 "loses some of the essential experience" of attending the live Daft Punk events. [50] The Boston Phoenix also felt that the album package would have benefited from more video content, expressing that a key factor of the live show was its implementation of visual elements. [44] In his first positive review for a Daft Punk album, Robert Christgau wrote that a full video representation was avoided because "too much scale, flesh and bodily effluvia would be lost". [47] Thomas Bangalter expressed his reasons of not releasing a DVD by stating "the thousands of clips on the internet are better to us than any DVD that could have been released." [49]
At the 51st Grammy Awards, Alive 2007 won the Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album, and the single "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" won for Best Dance Recording. [56]
All tracks are written by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, except where noted. [11]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Robot Rock / Oh Yeah" | Bangalter, de Homem-Christo, Kae Williams | 6:27 |
2. | "Touch It / Technologic" | Bangalter, de Homem-Christo, Trevor Smith, Swizz Beatz | 5:29 |
3. | "Television Rules the Nation / Crescendolls" | Bangalter, de Homem-Christo, Dwight Brewster, Aleta Jennings | 4:50 |
4. | "Too Long / Steam Machine" | Bangalter, de Homem-Christo, Anthony Moore | 7:01 |
5. | "Around the World / Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" | Bangalter, de Homem-Christo, Edwin Birdsong | 5:42 |
6. | "Burnin' / Too Long" | Bangalter, de Homem-Christo, Anthony Moore | 7:11 |
7. | "Face to Face / Short Circuit" | Bangalter, de Homem-Christo, Todd Imperatrice | 4:55 |
8. | "One More Time / Aerodynamic" | Bangalter, de Homem-Christo, Anthony Moore | 6:10 |
9. | "Aerodynamic Beats / Forget About the World" | Bangalter, de Homem-Christo, Gabrielle, Ben Barson, Andy Dean, Ben Wolff | 3:31 |
10. | "Prime Time of Your Life / Brainwasher / Rollin' & Scratchin' / Alive" | 10:22 | |
11. | "Da Funk / Daftendirekt" | 6:36 | |
12. | "Superheroes / Human After All / Rock'n Roll" | Bangalter, de Homem-Christo, Barry Manilow, Marty Panzer | 5:41 |
13. | "Human After All / Together / One More Time / Music Sounds Better with You" | Bangalter, Stephane Quême, Keith Nash, Anthony Moore, Benjamin "Diamond" Cohen, Alain Quême, Frank Musker, Dominic King | 9:59 |
Total length: | 83:54 |
Note: The physical standard edition of the album omits track 13.
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
|
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Australia (ARIA) [73] | Gold | 35,000^ |
Belgium (BEA) [74] | Platinum | 30,000* |
France (SNEP) [75] | 2× Platinum | 200,000* |
United Kingdom (BPI) [76] | Silver | 60,000* |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Daft Punk was a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. They achieved early popularity in the late 1990s as part of the French house movement, combining elements of house music with funk, disco, techno, rock and synth-pop. They are regarded as one of the most influential acts in dance music.
Homework is the debut studio album by the French electronic music duo Daft Punk, released on 20 January 1997 by Virgin Records and Soma Quality Recordings. It was released in the US on 25 March 1997.
Discovery is the second studio album by the former French electronic music duo Daft Punk, released on 12 March 2001 by Virgin Records. It marked a shift from the Chicago house of their first album, Homework (1997), to a house style more heavily inspired by disco, post-disco, garage house, and R&B. Thomas Bangalter of Daft Punk described Discovery as an exploration of song structures, musical forms and childhood nostalgia, compared to the "raw" electronic music of Homework.
Daft Club is the first remix album by the French electronic music duo Daft Punk, released on 1 December 2003 by Virgin Records. The album features numerous remixes of tracks from their second album, Discovery (2001), and one from their debut, Homework (1997).
Alive 1997 is the first live album by French electronic music duo Daft Punk, released on 1 October 2001 by Virgin Records. It contains a 45-minute excerpt of a live performance recorded during Daftendirektour at Birmingham's Que Club on 8 November 1997.
"Technologic" is a song by French duo Daft Punk from their third studio album, Human After All (2005). It was released as the second single on 14 June 2005. The music video for "Technologic" was directed by Daft Punk.
Human After All is the third studio album by French electronic music duo Daft Punk, first released on 14 March 2005 through Virgin Records. Unlike their previous studio album Discovery (2001), whose sound was inspired by disco and garage house and produced over the period of two years, Human After All was more minimalistic and improvisational with a mixture of heavier guitars and electronics, and was produced in six weeks.
Thomas Bangalter is a French musician, record producer, singer, songwriter, DJ and composer. He is best known as one half of the former French house music duo Daft Punk, alongside Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. He has recorded and released music as a member of the trio Stardust, the duo Together, as well as a solo artist. Bangalter's work has influenced a wide range of artists in various genres.
The Raconteurs are an American rock band from Detroit, Michigan, formed in 2005. The band consists of Jack White, Brendan Benson, Jack Lawrence, and Patrick Keeler (drums). Lawrence and Keeler were originally members of the Greenhornes, while White and Lawrence went on to become members of the Dead Weather.
"Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" is a song by French duo Daft Punk, released on 13 October 2001 as the fourth single from their second studio album Discovery. A live version of "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" was released as a single from the album Alive 2007 on 15 October 2007. This version won a Grammy Award for Best Dance Recording in 2009. In October 2011, NME placed it at number 132 on its list "150 Best Tracks of the Past 15 Years".
Guillaume Emmanuel "Guy-Manuel" de Homem-Christo is a French musician, record producer, singer, songwriter, DJ and composer. He is known as one half of the former French house music duo Daft Punk, along with Thomas Bangalter. He has produced several works from his now defunct record label Crydamoure with label co-owner Éric Chedeville.
"Aerodynamic" is an instrumental track by French duo Daft Punk, featuring a prominent guitar solo. The track was released on 28 March 2001 as the second single from the Discovery album. "Aerodynamic" hit the U.S. dance charts through club play as the B-side to "Digital Love".
Musique Vol. 1 1993–2005 is an anthology by Daft Punk released in Japan on 29 March 2006, in the United Kingdom on 3 April 2006, and in the United States on 4 April 2006. A special edition includes a bonus DVD with 12 music videos—two of which are new, "The Prime Time of Your Life" and "Robot Rock ". Due to time constraints on the audio CD, some of the tracks are shorter edits. The song "Digital Love" appears only in the digital release and Japan edition. The DVD edition was rated 15 by the BBFC, due to the content of "The Prime Time of Your Life" video.
French electronic music duo Daft Punk released four studio albums, two live albums, three compilation albums, one soundtrack album, five remix albums, two video albums, twenty-two singles and nineteen music videos. Group members Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo met in 1987 while studying at the Lycée Carnot secondary school. They subsequently recorded several demo tracks together, forming Daft Punk in 1993. Their debut single "The New Wave" was released the following year on the Soma Quality Recordings label. Daft Punk first found commercial success with the release of their second single "Da Funk", which peaked at number seven in France and topped the United States Billboard Hot Dance Club Play chart.
Daft Punk's Electroma is a 2006 avant-garde science fiction film directed by the French electronic music duo Daft Punk. The story revolves around the quest of two robots to become human.
Avant que l'ombre... à Bercy is the fourth live album by Mylène Farmer, released on 4 December 2006.
Tron: Legacy is the soundtrack album to the 2010 film of the same name, released by Walt Disney Records on December 3, 2010. It is the only film score by French music duo Daft Punk.
"One More Time" is a song by the French electronic music duo Daft Punk, released as the lead single from their second studio album, Discovery (2001), on 13 November 2000. It was shipped to radio in January 2001. It is a French house song featuring an auto-tuned vocal performance by Romanthony and a sample of "More Spell on You" by Eddie Johns. The music video forms part of the 2003 anime film Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem. "One More Time" reached number one on the French Singles Chart, number two on the UK Singles Chart, and number 61 on the US Billboard Hot 100.
Random Access Memories is the fourth and final studio album by the French electronic music duo Daft Punk, released on 17 May 2013 through Columbia Records. It pays tribute to late 1970s and early 1980s American music, particularly from Los Angeles. This theme is reflected in the packaging and promotional campaign, which included billboards, television advertisements and a web series. Recording sessions took place from 2008 to 2012 at Henson, Conway and Capitol Studios in California, Electric Lady Studios in New York City, and Gang Recording Studio in Paris, France.
Daftendirektour was the first concert tour by the French electronic music duo Daft Punk. The tour spanned from February to December 1997.