Human After All | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | 14 March 2005 | |||
Recorded | 13 September – 9 November 2004 | |||
Studio | Daft House (Paris) | |||
Genre | Dance-rock [1] | |||
Length | 45:38 | |||
Label | Virgin | |||
Producer | ||||
Daft Punk chronology | ||||
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Singles from Human After All | ||||
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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.
Human After All received mixed reviews from critics, who were wary of it's minimalistic, repetitive nature and considered the record to be inferior to their previous works. However, it did receive some favorable notices for the darker, experimental tone, unique from the duo's other records and the more moodier, menacing direction. Some of the singles "Robot Rock" and "Technologic" charted in several countries, while the title track charted in France. Daft Punk incorporated the songs into their Alive 2006/2007 tour, which received critical acclaim. Human After All reached number one on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums chart, and was nominated for the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album.
An early press release stated that the record "[retained] their trademark Daft Punk sound, this time with a more spontaneous and direct quality to the recording". [2] Human After All's brief creation and minimal production had been decided upon beforehand as a counterpoint to Discovery , which had been produced in two years. [3] Thomas Bangalter said that they were "definitely seduced at the time by the idea of doing the opposite of" their previous studio album. [4] He compared the deliberately unpolished record to "a stone that's unworked". [5]
Human After All was created primarily with two guitars, two drum machines, a vocoder and one eight-track machine. [6] It was produced in six weeks [7] from September to November 2004, [8] with four of those weeks spent mixing. [9] A majority of the album's sound and timbre was crafted by using a DigiTech synth wah effect pedal. [10] Bangalter stated that the album was "about this feeling of either fear or paranoia" and "not something intended to make you feel good". [11] He said that both it and the 2006 film Daft Punk's Electroma are "extremely tormented and sad and terrifying looks at technology, but there can be some beauty and emoting from it". [12] He acknowledged the perceived mechanical quality of the record, but felt that it expressed "the dance between humanity and technology". [6]
At the time of Human After All's release, Daft Punk considered it their favourite of their albums, and described it as "pure improvisation". [4] Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo said that every album they made was "tightly linked with our lives" and that "the internal, personal stuff Thomas went through during Human After All made it closer to where he was at the time". [13]
Leading up to the release of Human After All, promotional CDs of the album were distributed with tamper-evident seals, as well as individual watermarks to identify each recipient. [14] Retail copies on CD also implemented Copy Control protection against unauthorized duplication. Nevertheless, the album leaked online several months before release. Fans confused by its radically different style initially speculated that it was a fake designed to foil online filesharing. [15] [16]
In 2013, Spin wrote that the official release of the album had been ill-timed, as it occurred after the end of the "major-label electronica movement" of the 1990s, but before the rise of independent dance labels such as DFA Records and Ed Banger. [17] Daft Punk gave no interviews to promote the album, as they felt this would run contrary to the album's theme of the media as an oppressive force. [18] The only official statement given by Daft Punk at the time was: "We believe that Human After All speaks for itself". [19] [14] De Homem-Christo later said that choosing to be silent was the biggest mistake they had ever made. [18]
Bangalter emphasized that their only promotion for the album would be through its music videos. To that end, Daft Punk directed the videos for "Robot Rock" and "Technologic", having previously directed the video for their song "Fresh". [20] Tony Gardner directed the video for "The Prime Time of Your Life", though Bangalter predicted that it would be impractical for promotional use due to its graphic content. [21] [20] Daft Punk intended to make a video for the song "Human After All" as well, but the footage they shot for it was expanded to create the film Daft Punk's Electroma instead. [22] Songs from Human After All also appear in the Daft Punk compilation Musique Vol. 1 1993–2005 [23] and the live album Alive 2007 . [24]
The cover image of Human After All features the Daft Punk logo displayed on a television screen. Each single from the album features a cover with a different image on a similar screen. Bangalter cited the novel Nineteen Eighty-Four by George Orwell as an inspiration for the record. [18]
The album topped the Billboard Top Dance/Electronic Albums chart [25] and peaked at number 98 on the Billboard 200. [26] It peaked at number three in France [27] and received a double gold certification from the Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (SNEP) one month after its release. [28] It also received a silver certification from the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) in the United Kingdom, [29] where it peaked at number 10. [30] As of May 2013, the album has sold 127,000 copies in the US [31] and 80,838 copies in the UK. [32] The first single from the album, "Robot Rock", received moderate attention, reaching number 32 in the UK and number 15 on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart, but was not a major hit. [33] [34] The second single, "Technologic", only hit number 40 in the UK but did considerably better in airplay [35] and was featured in an iPod commercial. [36] The title track "Human After All" reached number 93 in France. [37]
Aggregate scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Metacritic | 57/100 [38] |
Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Blender | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Entertainment Weekly | C [39] |
The Guardian | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Mojo | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
NME | 7/10 [41] |
Pitchfork | 4.9/10 [42] |
Q | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Rolling Stone | ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Spin | C− [45] |
At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, Human After All received an average score of 57, indicating "mixed or average reviews", based on 28 reviews. [38] In his review for Blender magazine, Simon Reynolds said that Discovery's blissful and "open-hearted" music had been replaced by "an archly ironic dance-rock that feels desultory and numb – verging on autistic". [1] Q felt that it lacked the "fun" of Daft Punk's previous work. [43] Barry Walters of Rolling Stone said that the duo generally "repeats rather than elaborates its riffs", and that they "exaggerate their band's own robotic tendencies here, much to the detriment of its grooves". [44] Dorian Lynskey of The Guardian called the album "a joyless collection of average ideas stretched desperately thin". [16] Robert Christgau from The Village Voice graded the album a "dud", [46] indicating "a bad record whose details rarely merit further thought". [47]
In a positive review, Matthew Weiner of Stylus Magazine stated, "it's the same story, track after track, willfully mistaking alternation for variation, intensification for development and dynamics. In other words, a shining example of pop songcraft in the 21st century". [48] Mojo magazine said that it "strips out the most flamboyant frills to create a more incisive sound". [40] Human After All was nominated for the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album, but lost to the Chemical Brothers album Push the Button . [49]
The Alive 2006/2007 tour, which featured songs from Human After All, caused many to reassess the album. [50] [51] Pedro Winter, Daft Punk's manager at the time, stated, "When we put out Human After All, I got a lot of bad feedback, like, 'It's so repetitive. There's nothing new. Daft Punk used to be good.' Then they came back with the light show, and everyone shut their mouths... People even apologized, like, 'How could we have misjudged Daft Punk?' The live show changed everything. Even if I'm part of it, I like to step back and admire it. Me, I cried." [52] Bangalter said that the album "was the music we wanted to make at the time we did it. We have always strongly felt there was a logical connection between our three albums, and it's great to see that people seem to realize that when they listen now to the live show". [50]
All tracks are written by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, except where noted
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
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1. | "Human After All" | 5:20 | |
2. | "The Prime Time of Your Life" | 4:23 | |
3. | "Robot Rock" | Bangalter, de Homem-Christo, Kae Williams | 4:48 |
4. | "Steam Machine" | 5:21 | |
5. | "Make Love" | 4:50 | |
6. | "The Brainwasher" | 4:08 | |
7. | "On/Off" | 0:19 | |
8. | "Television Rules the Nation" | 4:48 | |
9. | "Technologic" | 4:44 | |
10. | "Emotion" | 6:57 | |
Total length: | 45:38 |
Adapted from the Human After All liner notes. [8]
Human After All: Remixes | ||||
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Remix album by | ||||
Released | 29 March 2006 | |||
Length |
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Label |
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Producer | Various | |||
Daft Punk chronology | ||||
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Human After All: Remixes is an album consisting of various remixes of songs from Human After All by musicians such as Soulwax and Justice. It was originally released on 29 March 2006 [54] exclusively in Japan. [55] On 17 June 2014, a reissue of the album was released, also exclusive to Japan. The new edition featured four additional bonus tracks. [56] On 9 August 2014, this version of the album was silently released internationally for the first time, containing an additional remix of "Technologic" by Le Knight Club. [55]
No. | Title | Length |
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1. | "Robot Rock" (Soulwax remix) | 6:31 |
2. | "Human After All" (SebastiAn remix) | 4:47 |
3. | "Technologic" (Peaches No Logic remix) | 4:37 |
4. | "The Brainwasher" (Erol Alkan’s Horrorhouse dub) | 6:05 |
5. | "The Prime Time of Your Life" (Para One remix) | 3:51 |
6. | "Human After All" ("Guy-Man After All" Justice remix) | 4:00 |
7. | "Technologic" (Digitalism’s Highway to Paris remix) | 6:00 |
8. | "Human After All" (Alter Ego remix) | 9:25 |
9. | "Technologic" (Vitalic remix) | 5:26 |
10. | "Robot Rock" (Daft Punk Maximum Overdrive mix) | 5:57 |
Total length: | 56:42 |
No. | Title | Length |
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11. | "Human After All" (The Juan MacLean remix) | 6:41 |
12. | "Technologic" (Basement Jaxx Kontrol Mixx) | 5:30 |
13. | "Technologic" (Liquid Twins remix) | 4:10 |
14. | "Human After All" (Emperor Machine version) | 6:03 |
Total length: | 1:19:06 |
No. | Title | Length |
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15. | "Technologic" (Le Knight Club remix) | 5:28 |
Total length: | 1:24:34 |
Weekly charts
| Year-end charts
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Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
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France (SNEP) [28] | 2× Gold | 200,000* |
United Kingdom (BPI) [29] | Gold | 100,000‡ |
* Sales figures based on certification alone. |
Daft Punk were 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. The duo garnered further acclaim and commercial success and are now regarded as one of the most influential acts in dance music history.
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 later released in the United States on 25 March 1997. As the duo's first project on a major label, they produced the album's tracks without plans to release them, but after initially considering releasing them as separate singles, they considered the material good enough for an album.
Discovery is the second studio album by the 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).
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.
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.
"Robot Rock" is the lead single from Daft Punk's third studio album Human After All. The single was released initially on 11 April 2005 with a music video, directed by and featuring the duo, preceding the single's release. While the single reached a moderately high chart position, many critics found the song overly repetitive when compared to songs from their other studio albums at the time. It features a sample of "Release the Beast" performed by Breakwater.
"Da Funk" is an instrumental track by French electronic music duo Daft Punk, initially released as a 12-inch single in May 1995 by Soma and Virgin and later included on their debut album, Homework (1997). Prior to its inclusion on the album, "Da Funk" received little attention and was limited to 2,000 copies. The song and its accompanying music video directed by Spike Jonze are considered classics of 1990s house music. It went on to sell 30,000 copies in 1997. A reversed clip of "Da Funk" was also released on Homework as "Funk Ad", which is the final track on the album.
"Music Sounds Better with You" is the only record by the French house trio Stardust, released on 20 July 1998. Stardust comprised the producer Thomas Bangalter, the DJ Alan Braxe and the vocalist Benjamin Diamond.
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.
Alive 2007 is the second and final 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. The set features an assortment of Daft Punk's music, incorporated with synthesisers, mixers and live effects.
"Face to Face" is a single by French electronic music duo Daft Punk, featuring vocals and co-production by American house music producer Todd Edwards. It was released on their second studio album, Discovery, in 2001, before being released as a promotional single in 2003. The track uses Edwards' distinctive "cut-up" production style, incorporating over 20 uncredited samples from various soft rock and folk music songs. As part of Discovery, the song appears in the film Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem, and the section of the film in which the song appears serves as its music video.
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.
Tron: Legacy Reconfigured is a remix album of music by Daft Punk, released by Walt Disney Records on April 5, 2011. The album features remixes of selections from the Tron: Legacy film score by various contemporary electronic musicians. Tron: Legacy Reconfigured charted in several countries and peaked at number one in the Billboard Dance/Electronic chart. The album was released to mixed reviews.
"Derezzed" is an instrumental song written, produced and performed by Daft Punk for the soundtrack of the motion picture Tron: Legacy, available on the album of the same name. As a pre-order bonus for the album on the iTunes Store, "Derezzed" was released by Walt Disney Records as a single on December 8, 2010. It was remixed by The Glitch Mob and Avicii for the remix albums Tron: Legacy Reconfigured and Dconstructed. "Derezzed" was also included on a 4-track vinyl EP titled Translucence, released by Walt Disney Records.
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 album's packaging, as well as its 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.
"Contact" is a song by French electronic music duo Daft Punk. It is the thirteenth and final track from the duo's fourth studio album Random Access Memories, released on 17 May 2013. The track was written and produced by the duo, with additional writing and co-production by DJ Falcon. Daryl Braithwaite, Tony Mitchell, and Garth Porter are also credited as writers due to the song containing a sample of "We Ride Tonight" by Australian rock band The Sherbs. The song includes audio from the Apollo 17 mission, courtesy of NASA and Captain Eugene Cernan. Due to digital downloads of Random Access Memories, the song charted at number 46 on the French Singles Chart and at number 24 on the Billboard Dance/Electronic Songs chart.
"Lose Yourself to Dance" is a song by French electronic music duo Daft Punk featuring American singer Pharrell Williams. Like their previous collaboration with fellow American musician Nile Rodgers, "Get Lucky", the song was written for Daft Punk's fourth studio album Random Access Memories (2013).
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: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)In fact we did it in 2 weeks, and it took us 4 weeks to mix it.
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)The low budget and slightly creepy music video for 'Prime Time Of Your Life' is directed by Tony Gardner.