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Track Listings
| 1. One More Time |
| 2. Aerodynamic |
| 3. Digital Love |
| 4. Harder Better Faster Stronger |
| 5. Crescendolls |
| 6. Nightvision |
| 7. Superhereos |
| 8. High Life |
| 9. Something About Us |
| 10. Voyager |
| 11. Veridis Quo |
| 12. Short Circuit |
| 13. Face To Face |
| 14. Too Long |
Product Description
Amazon.co.uk Review
Starting off with the irresistibly hummable "One More Time," Daft Punk's second album, Discovery, blows through a head-spinning array of styles and samples, creating a pop culture stew of funky loops and dance floor anthems, while displaying the characteristics of a million other artists. The keyboard noodlings of Jean Michel-Jarre are in there somewhere, along with the otherworldly imagery and giant hooks of 1970s rock icons like Boston or Electric Light Orchestra. There are dashes of 1999-era Prince and oodles of new wave/disco, from Gary Numan to The Bee Gees, all set off with efficient house beats. "Aerodynamic" eschews breakbeats for a guitar interlude that somehow ends up meshing in a crazy blend of stomping basslines and hyped-up harmonics. "Digital Love" starts off silly and gets sillier, but the monosyllabic lyrics serve to lull the senses enough for the song's summery groove to grab hold with authority. "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" is the definitive salvo in the dance floor retro/vocoder battle that began in earnest with Cher's Believe, spinning a clever groove around an ever-escalating string of computerized seduction. Everywhere on the record, gigantic beats are dropped with pinpoint precision, giving songs momentum that transforms repetitive melodies into sudden revelations. The record's only mis-step, the aptly-named "Short Circuit" utilizes a keyboard riff that is nails-on-a-chalkboard awful, but it can't keep this from being one of the best records of 2001. --Matthew Cooke
Review
French duo, Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter had first burst upon the dance world in 1995 with their hit 'Da Funk' - a tasty homage to Chicago Techno with a typically Gallic twist. The attendant album, Homework proved to be more of the same. So, four years later it came as some surprise when Discovery arrived; chock-full of, well!disco pop. Luckily it was even better.
Morphing (like the power rangers they resembled) into gleaming house robots for their publicity shots, the techno twins had spent the hiatus crafting something at once nostalgic and futuristic - stating that Discovery was their attempt to summon up the innocence of a child's approach to music (ie: a ten-year old had no snobbery about the dreaded word 'disco' - cleverly contained in the title). To do this they blended a selection of late 70s and early 80s tunes (George Duke, Sister Sledge, Barry Manilow etc.) with wonderfully retro vocoder-style effects and some metallic guitars. The formula worked like a dream and even made them household names in the States.
The key element to Discovery is fun. From the opening smash 'One More Time' (featuring New York new-garage legend, Romanthony, on vocals) to fifth track, 'Crescendolls', the album's a rollercoaster ride of cheese and choons. Second hit, 'Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger' is a masterpiece of relentless synth splurge, like Kraftwerk in kindergarden while 'Digital Love' is simply gorgeous pop. Only the needlessly ambient 'Nightvision' slows the pace. The second half's a more mixed bag (you do grow slightly weary of the tinny-AM-radio-into-monster-floor-filler trick that virtually every track uses), though still dotted with gems such as the penultimate 'Face To Face'.
The final icing on the cake was the cinematic tranformation of the album into the soundtrack for the charming Interstella 5555 - Daft Punk's tribute to anime director and hero, Leiji Matsumoto (who produced the film). The blend of children's TV sensibility and glistening house made perfect sense, and the band have never bettered its coherence of vision or joyful playfulness. Daft, maybe, but for a while the world was a brighter place for it. --Chris Jones
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One More Time We're Gonna Celebrate!,
By
This review is from: Discovery (Audio CD)
I've had the songs from the internet for several weeks now but I thought it wouldn't be fair to write a review 'till I bought my own copy (the album's just been released worldwide this very morning).I'm not a Daft Punk fan, let's get that straight. I'm not that much into techno-music, certainly not into disco-funk. And I'm NOT giving this album 5 stars because continental (and more specifically French) music became HOT all of a sudden. Don't worry, Madonna knows what she's doing... Vive L'Europe ET les Etats Unis, prenons le meilleur des deux mondes! 'One More Time' In Europe we all know this track by heart, young and old: Eurodance with transformed vocals by Romanthony. It's really great but the rest of the album's better. Let's move on, now shall we... 'Aerodynamic' A song that consists of two parts: aggresive breakbeats and a really fast guitar solo with some synths. This track is MASSIVE! 'Digital Love' Pure guitar pop with filtered Daft Punk-vocals, folllowed by devastating breaks. Phoenix meets Supertramp. A 100% FM-summer hit! 'Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger' Filtered (again) disco-funk, but not to worry, their sound is ENORMOUS once again (nice 'contre-temps'). This is a clear stand-out track. Love it! 'Crescendolls' Extremely festive electro-house, a real party-track: a recurring gimmick, background voices with special effects and some filters. A Daft Punk-track like only Daft Punk can make 'em. 'Nightvision' Slow with mid-tempo rythms. It's a nice interlude. 'Superheroes' Pure Muscle Music. A mix of a hard house beat and a californian FM chorus, this is 'Star Wars' goes Disco. Easy but good. 'High Life' Real Daft Punk-voices brought up in crescendo. Simple plan but... MY GOD IT WORKS!!!!! 'Something About Us' Downtempo funk with some more delicious vocals by Thomas Bangalter. It's got a real laid back fancy edge to it. 'Voyager' Tender but firm. A very nice bassline with the usual guitar riffs and an 'ambiance mélancolique'. The Dafts show us their music can be subtle as well. It works for me! 'Veridis Quo' This is deep-electro with a sad vibe to it. This is not for the clubs but shows us Daft Punk have a lot up their sleeves... 'Short Circuit' Vintage Electro-funk meets modern electronics. Reminds me of Grand Master Flash (in part one) and the Aphex Twins' 'Windowlicker' (part two). First it SURPRISES, then it SEDUCES. 'Face To Face' The Perfect Daft Pop Song (with vocals by Todd Edwards). Brilliant, one of the best tracks on 'Discovery'! 'Too Long' This is a potential hit single with Romanthony on the vocals, like 'One More Time'. This track is no genious but it really works and delivers... The album ends like it begins: with a sure commercial hit. All in all? PURE GENIOUS, BRILLIANT MUSIC but most of all A TON OF FUN and GROOVY DANCEFLOOR THEMES. Own this album and you (and everyone around you, for that matter) won't regret it. Discovery comes with an exclusive Daft Club membership card, where you get acces to every single new track or remix Thomas and Guy-Man want you to hear. And if that doesn't convince you I don't know what will...
17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A great album - for the non dance fan .... TOP STUFF,
By
This review is from: Discovery (Audio CD)
I'll start by saying that I am no fan of dance music in general. I'm a rocker (anything from Toto, Boston thru Metallica) and guitarist .. but when I heard this album, I had to get it. Whoever made this stuff are obviously talented musicians, as well as being able to wield the samplers and sequencers very skillfully. The tracks are so infectious, and it takes me back to being a little kid when I'd just listen to cheesy pop tunes - and love it. This stuff is so much more original and well crafted than the usual cheesy dance stuff, that usually makes me want to puke. The pop, and rock influence is obvious. The keyboard playing in 'harder faster' is fantastic, and the guitar solo in the wonderful 'Digital Love' is one of my favourite ever (and I'm a Vai and Satriani fan) - WHO PLAYED IT!!? I particularly like the way they use the electronica to warp the sounds of their guitars and keyboards. O.K., I believe they're using other peoples stuff in samples, but they do it so cleverly.All in all, I think ANYONE who likes a nice hook and tune can get off on this stuff, and have a bit of a boogie !! P.S. I think I first heard this album on a Gap Jeans ad with that actress Juliette Lewis (natural born killers) dancing with the daft punk robots (was that the actual guys?) to Digital Love. And they used it on Match of the Day!! LoL!!
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
outstanding, innovative, uplifting.,
By chats102@hotmail.com (Ilkley, West Yorkshire) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Discovery (Audio CD)
What more can be said? One of the best albums I've listened to in a long time. So fine to just relax with, or to spin with a few friends around, the crossover is that good. Sometimes retrospective, always innovative, if you do not like this genre of music or are thinking twice about buying this LP, then have no fear, this will convert you, purely with its gentle yet impulsive flow of uplifting and inspirational sounds that seem somehow familiar, but still always manage to surprise and put a smile on your face.
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