Daft Punk - Random Access Memories
Ooo! Futuristic!
I’ve said before it’s hard for a band, or artist to radically change their sound late into their careers. Especially when that band brought a genre to mainstream listeners. If the Foo Fighters went from being a rock band to a reggae band, people would probably lose their minds. Fans might get pissed, and not buy the new album, even though it might be good. I bring this point up because today we have the highly anticipated new album from Daft Punk, Random Access Memories. Fans of Daft Punk need to be told before listening or reading, this is not the same Daft Punk that released “Touch It”, or “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger.” It’s not fast paced electronic songs anymore that got them famous. Instead, Random Access Memories sees Daft Punk taking a bold step musically by stepping back in their speed, and looking at older music as an influence. The result is something that people could either not enjoy because of their association with Daft Punk's older songs, or see as the game changer as I do for modern electronic music.
Daft Punk had a challenge ahead of them. Since their last album back in 2005, a lot has changed in the electronic music genre. Pop music has taken strong cues from it by incorporating it in most of their songs, and dubstep took the idea of bass drops and fast beats and amplified it for better or for worse. So for Daft Punk to do something different, they had to go back and look at a time that wasn’t really explored in electronic music.
Much of the album is influenced from the disco and soul era with the albums themes of love, intimacy, and promiscuity. While the lyricism isn’t that strong on the album because there isn't a lot of it, except for the lead single “Get Lucky”, the composition by Daft Punk gives the album a strong soulful quality that shines in songs like “Give Life Back To Music” and “Lose Yourself To Dance”. It pays off in spades as it feels fresh and different for electronic music. Every electronic album seems to work on the idea that the louder, and faster the music is, the better. Daft Punk take the opposite approach and simply take the mentality of lets make a song that will get people moving, not fast, just moving and having fun.
I do have one slight problem with the album though...I do wish it was more consistent towards the end. The last 2 songs (“Doin’ It Right”, and “Contact”) are fantastic don’t get me wrong, but they don’t fit with the whole soul feel the rest of the album has. Instead, they sound like songs that would have fit perfectly in any other album in Daft Punk’s back catalog. It might be nit picky, but it unfortunately is something that keeps this album from being perfect in my opinion.
The final verdict: Daft Punk realized that they needed to do something different for the electronic genre, and they mostly succeeded. Toning back and taking time to just craft great songs with a soul influence pays off in spades for most of the album. Even the two songs that don’t feel like they fit on the album are fantastic, and I’m sure people will love them. To me though, I wish the whole album would have been songs with a soul influence, and the album would have perfectly succeeded in being a game changer. I still highly recommend Random Access Memories for everyone though. If you’re a Daft Punk fan that can’t get past the fact that the band changed their sound, you really are missing out on a great electronic album. Now we hopefully get to see the fun part of how this might change the electronic genre in the next couple of years. I get the feeling a bunch of dubstep artist just all screamed AHH S$%T!
FINAL GRADE: A
CHOICE CUT: “Lose Yourself To Dance”
Daft Punk had a challenge ahead of them. Since their last album back in 2005, a lot has changed in the electronic music genre. Pop music has taken strong cues from it by incorporating it in most of their songs, and dubstep took the idea of bass drops and fast beats and amplified it for better or for worse. So for Daft Punk to do something different, they had to go back and look at a time that wasn’t really explored in electronic music.
Much of the album is influenced from the disco and soul era with the albums themes of love, intimacy, and promiscuity. While the lyricism isn’t that strong on the album because there isn't a lot of it, except for the lead single “Get Lucky”, the composition by Daft Punk gives the album a strong soulful quality that shines in songs like “Give Life Back To Music” and “Lose Yourself To Dance”. It pays off in spades as it feels fresh and different for electronic music. Every electronic album seems to work on the idea that the louder, and faster the music is, the better. Daft Punk take the opposite approach and simply take the mentality of lets make a song that will get people moving, not fast, just moving and having fun.
I do have one slight problem with the album though...I do wish it was more consistent towards the end. The last 2 songs (“Doin’ It Right”, and “Contact”) are fantastic don’t get me wrong, but they don’t fit with the whole soul feel the rest of the album has. Instead, they sound like songs that would have fit perfectly in any other album in Daft Punk’s back catalog. It might be nit picky, but it unfortunately is something that keeps this album from being perfect in my opinion.
The final verdict: Daft Punk realized that they needed to do something different for the electronic genre, and they mostly succeeded. Toning back and taking time to just craft great songs with a soul influence pays off in spades for most of the album. Even the two songs that don’t feel like they fit on the album are fantastic, and I’m sure people will love them. To me though, I wish the whole album would have been songs with a soul influence, and the album would have perfectly succeeded in being a game changer. I still highly recommend Random Access Memories for everyone though. If you’re a Daft Punk fan that can’t get past the fact that the band changed their sound, you really are missing out on a great electronic album. Now we hopefully get to see the fun part of how this might change the electronic genre in the next couple of years. I get the feeling a bunch of dubstep artist just all screamed AHH S$%T!
FINAL GRADE: A
CHOICE CUT: “Lose Yourself To Dance”
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