Discovery (Daft Punk album)

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Discovery
Discovery cover
Studio album by Daft Punk
Released March 13, 2001
Recorded 1998–2000
Genre House
Length 61:00
Label Virgin
Producer Daft Punk
Professional reviews
Daft Punk chronology
Homework
(1997)		 Discovery
(2001)		 Alive 1997
(2001)
Alternate cover
Limited-edition Japanese cover
Limited-edition Japanese cover
Singles from Discovery
  1. "One More Time"
  2. "Aerodynamic"
  3. "Digital Love"
  4. "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger"

Discovery is the second studio album by the French house duo Daft Punk, released on March 13, 2001. It marks a shift in the sound from Chicago house, which they were previously known for, to disco and synthpop styles. The album also provided itself as a soundtrack to the anime film Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem.

Early versions of the album included a "Daft Club" membership card. The card included a code which granted access to an online music service, which featured tracks later released on the album of the same name and Alive 1997.

Contents

[edit] Theme

According to an interview with Remix Magazine Online, Thomas Bangalter states:

This album has a lot to do with our childhood and the memories of the state we were in at that stage of our lives. It's about our personal relationship to that time. It's less of a tribute to the music from 1975 to 1985 as an era, and more about focusing on the time when we were zero to ten years old. When you're a child you don't judge or analyze music. You just like it because you like it. You're not concerned with whether it's cool or not. Sometimes you might relate to just one thing in a song, such as the guitar sound. This album takes a playful, fun, and colorful look at music. It's about the idea of looking at something with an open mind and not asking too many questions. It's about the true, simple, and honest relationship you have with music when you're open to your own feelings.

—[1]

A significant amount of sampling is present on this album. The sampled tracks reinforce Thomas Bangalter's statement about Discovery's theme. Rather than simply creating new music out of the samples, Daft Punk actually worked with them by writing and adding instrumental performance.[2] The Discovery liner notes specify permitted use of samples for four tracks on the album: Part of George Duke's "I Love You More" is featured in "Digital Love"; Edwin Birdsong's "Cola Bottle Baby" was sampled for "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger"; The Imperials song "Can You Imagine" is used for "Crescendolls"; Barry Manilow's "Who's Been Sleeping In My Bed" is credited for "Superheroes". Several websites list many other samples present on the album, but Bangalter has stated that half of the samples listed are not true. He also stated the sampling they do is legitimately done, not something they try to hide.[3]

[edit] Reception

Upon release, critics noted the immediate style differences of Discovery from Homework. The change in aesthetic was a notably jarring move for fans of Daft Punk's earlier work and initially caused some critics to pan the album, but it would gain a great amount of praise in later years.[citation needed]

Discovery has sold at least 2.6 million copies as of 2005.[4] Two cult hits were spawned from this album: "One More Time" (featuring Romanthony), and "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger". The song "Face to Face" (featuring Todd Edwards) reached #1 on the Billboard Club chart in 2004.

[edit] Track listing

  1. "One More Time" – 5:20
  2. "Aerodynamic" – 3:27
  3. "Digital Love" – 4:58
  4. "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" – 3:45
  5. "Crescendolls" – 3:31
  6. "Nightvision" – 1:44
  7. "Superheroes" – 3:57
  8. "High Life" – 3:22
  9. "Something About Us" – 3:51
  10. "Voyager" – 3:47
  11. "Veridis Quo" – 5:44
  12. "Short Circuit" – 3:26
  13. "Face to Face" – 3:58
  14. "Too Long" – 10:00

[edit] Personnel

  • Daft Punk – sequencers, samples, synthesizers, vocals, vocoders, drum machines, programming, production, concept, art direction
  • Romanthony – lyrics, vocals on "One More Time" and lyrics, vocals, co-production on "Too Long"
  • DJ Sneak – lyrics on "Digital Love"
  • Todd Edwards – lyrics, vocals, co-production on "Face to Face"
  • Nilesh Patel – mastering
  • Alex & Martin – concept, art direction
  • Cedric Hervet – concept, art direction
  • Gildas Loaëc – concept, art direction
  • Simon Scott – concept, art direction
  • Daniel Vangarde – concept, art direction
  • Pedro Winter – concept, art direction
  • Mitchell Feinberg – liquid metal photos
  • Luis Sanchis – piano photo
  • Tony Gardner & Alterian – bionics engineering
  • Tamiyuki "Spike" Sugiyama – Tokyo connector

[edit] References

  1. ^ Chris Gill, "ROBOPOP - An Interview with Daft Punk"
  2. ^ Bryan Reesman, Interview at mixonline.com
  3. ^ Daft Punk speak out on sample sources: 'half of this list is not true' Retrieved on July 18, 2007.
  4. ^ Daft Punk Embraces Universal Themes... PR Newswire. Retrieved on July 25, 2007.

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Daft Punk
Thomas Bangalter · Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo
Studio albums
Homework · Discovery · Human After All
Other albums
Singles
Film and
home video
Related