DAFT PUNK Random Access Memories

[o.m.]

Wow, what an absolute masterpiece!!! Good to hear one from time to time, it kind of restores faith in Pop Music!!!! Here's a snapshot of the 10/10 NME review...Last albums that received this top note that I remember were in descending order:

LET ENGLAND SHAKE
EMBRYONIC
WHATEVER PEOPLE SAY I AM, THAT'S WHAT I'M NOT
IS THIS IT?
THE GREY ALBUM

http://www.nme.com/reviews/daft-punk/14423

Oh, and here is the 5 star review from Q Magazine...

http://thedafthouse.tumblr.com/post/496 ... s-memories

[Matski]

It's certainly racking up acclaim with the critics, as its ratings on Metacritic testifies to. However the attitude amongst those on various music forums seems to be a lot more divided. I do wonder whether people will come around to the critic's viewpoint over time or vice versa.

One interesting side-idea your post raises is the topic of what albums from the last ten years we consider to be masterpieces. Perhaps that's a topic for a completely new thread...

[Romain]

One interesting side-idea your post raises is the topic of what albums from the last ten years we consider to be masterpieces. Perhaps that's a topic for a completely new thread...

Very very good idea.

[Henrik]

A couple of days ago I would never have thought I would write this, as I've never been a huge Daft Punk fan before, but I completely agree that RAM is a masterpiece. I really like their move towards a laidback West Coast sound. Superb collaborations with Neil Rodgers, Gonzales (now "Chilly Gonzalez" I've learned), Julian Casablancas and Pharrell Williams.

I've never loved "One More Time". The auto-tuned vocals annoy me. But the vocoder used in for example "The Game of Love" is so warm and tender that I just love it.

My first love with the album was "Giorgio by Moroder". First I thought that, well he tells an interesting story but I probably won't like to listen to this track more than a few times. But I just loved it more and more, especially the tone in Giorgio's voice. And today I suddenly realised why I like it so much - it reminds me of Honorio!

Now, Honorio's English grammar is a lot better than Giorgio's...that's not what I'm talking about, although the foreign accent probably helps the similarity. And it's not really the voice either. It's the friendly and curious way of speaking, that encourages me to listen. The best example is at 1:19-1:27 where he says
"And I thought: Wait a second? I know the synthesizer, why don't I use the synthesizer, which is the sound of the future."

Honorio, I hope you read this and that you didn't mind me doing this comparison. I don't know if Nicolas makes the same connection. Anyway, I love having a song that reminds me of you!

[irreduciblekoan]

My reactions to this album are interesting. When I'm in the mood for it, it's a masterpiece to me. Every track does something interesting and the whole thing is magnificently paced. But when I'm not in the mood for it, I see it exactly like the bad reviews saw it: a dull dance album. It's one of those albums I simply need to be in the right mindset for, whereas my very favorite albums (including Daft Punk's own Homework) I can pop in at anytime and enjoy.

The result is that I see both sides of the debate for RAM. I can understand why some critics have called it perfect and why others have been massively disappointed. On a side note, I am very interested in finding out how it will fare in the EOY spreadsheet. I suspect it will be high, but it's difficult to gauge how many have been disappointed and how many love it.

[Kingoftonga]

I think it's definitely Daft Punk's best album. It has a great track order, and each song somehow leads logically to the next, even though the styles can be all over the map. However, I think Homework and Discovery, despite both sounding more fragmented and less like a cohesive album, have better individual tracks. There's nothing on RAM that matches "Around the World" or "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" for me.

Henrik, I'm also surprised by how much I enjoy "Giorgio by Moroder." I thought it would be like Kanye West's "Last Call," another song with a long monologue about someone's professional history. "Last Call" was interesting the first time but then got dull. But "Giorgio by Moroder" has stayed interesting, and I think the music complements the monologue very well. The line "Once you free your mind about a concept of harmony and music being correct, you can do whatever you want" gives me chills.

[nicolas]

After one listen, I'm not really as impressed as most of you seem to be . It's good, but a bit too long. Good songs (Giorgio) in the beginning but it gets a little boring in the end (except the last track which is ok)
But it's just a first listen.
ANd, no, Giorgio didn't make me think of Honorio, sorry Henrik

[Honorio]

Hi, I’m Honorio Moroder. My name is Giovanni Honorio but everybody calls me Honorio.

My first love with the album was "Giorgio by Moroder". First I thought that, well he tells an interesting story but I probably won't like to listen to this track more than a few times. But I just loved it more and more, especially the tone in Giorgio's voice. And today I suddenly realised why I like it so much - it reminds me of Honorio!

Now, Honorio's English grammar is a lot better than Giorgio's...that's not what I'm talking about, although the foreign accent probably helps the similarity. And it's not really the voice either. It's the friendly and curious way of speaking, that encourages me to listen. The best example is at 1:19-1:27 where he says
"And I thought: Wait a second? I know the synthesizer, why don't I use the synthesizer, which is the sound of the future."

Honorio, I hope you read this and that you didn't mind me doing this comparison. I don't know if Nicolas makes the same connection. Anyway, I love having a song that reminds me of you!

Henrik, of course I don't mind at all the comparison, in fact I’m quite infatuated and I found it so charming from your part. Even if my English grammar (at least when I speak) is not as good as you said. Many thanks anyway. And I hadn’t noticed that I speak English with Italian accent (lol). About the tone on my voice maybe you're right but you know that there is a big difference between our own voice as we listen ourselves and the way everybody else does. It's always shocking when you listen to your own voice on a recorded tape. In my case I remember listening to an interview on the radio and thinking: “impossible, that’s not me”.

Right now I’m beginning to listen to the Daft Punk album thanks to your recommendation. Obviously the first song I listened was the third track, "Giorgio by Moroder". The first part with me talking (lol) and the instrumental techno (Giorgio Moroder-style) is great but I got completely shocked for the second part, with a jazz fusion sound and a terrific drum work from Omar Hakim. Wonderful collaborations on other songs from Gonzales (great piano intro on "Within"), Julian Casablancas and especially Nile Rodgers (those Chic guitars!). Right now I'm only listening to track 6 and I got to stop listening (my son needs my help with maths) but I'm enjoying so far a lot the retro sound, the influences of late 70s yacht-rock, early 80s sophisti-pop and even some AOR, styles usually despised by the critics. Maybe they can change their minds after this post-modern approach to it.

Wonderful recommendation, Honorio Moroder said.

[Nick]

The first time I heard the album I was slightly disappointed. The second time I heard it I fell in love. This album is Daft Punk's third straight masterpiece. Everyone is talking about how the album is referencing sounds like disco and yacht rock and I have to wholeheartedly agree. Some of these songs sound more like The Doobie Brothers or the Bee Gees than the band that made "Around the World" or "Da Funk". And that's okay. In fact, that's more than okay, that's fantastic. It's great to see Daft Punk evolve from the old school house of "Homework", to the futuristic disco pop of "Discovery" (and forgetting the misstep that is "Human After All") to the retro influenced sounds of "Random Access Memories", an album that is as much 1977 as it is 2013. My favorite songs on here are "Give Life Back to Music", "Get Lucky", and "Doin' It Right", though they're all good songs in their own right. If "Get Lucky" isn't the song of the summer, I don't know what is.

I can see why some fans/critics aren't a fan of the album though, at least "Discovery" sounded like a "Daft Punk" album, the only way you would ever know a good number of these songs were by Daft Punk is if you looked at the artist name beforehand. Some people say that this album seems stuck in the past, but I think the genius of this album is the way it takes the influences, wears them proudly on its sleeve, and still manages to look into the future. Songs like "Contact", "Giorgio by Moroder", "Doin' It Right", and others would never be mistaken for songs from the disco era, yet the fit together perfectly with the other, more traditionally "disco/yacht rock" songs of the album.

Overall the only things I could nitpick over are the track sequencing (putting "The Game of Love" as the second track kind of kills the momentum the album had after the opening song) and some of the guest vocalists (though most of them are spot on). This album will easily be in my top ten of the year when all is said and done though.

[Amoux]

Just listened through it once and I love it. Probably the only album this year that I've thoroughly enjoyed, although I can agree with the opinion that it's a little too long. Favourite tracks for me would be "Get Lucky" and "The Game of Love".

[Nassim]

I don't share your enthusiasm. My opinion is fairly simple, while most of the music is good and the production brilliant, I find most of the vocals dreadful. It's not just the vocoder treatment (which I don't like) but most of all the vocal melodies, Give Life Back to Music especially is completely ruined by its, but Get Lucky or Instant Crush could also be much better with different vocals. That leaves me to really enjoy the tracks with no (or "non-sung" like Giorgio by Moroder) vocals.

On a related note : "wowop on Mexican Monkey"

[Mattceinicram]

Listening to it...and loving it. I too am very intrigued by Giorgio by Moroder. I wouldn't be surprised to see this album towards the top of the Metacritic chart within the next few weeks.

[Matski]

Yeah, it's been settled on 87 for quite some time now. Considering it's been out for a nearly month I don't think there will be any more reviews that'll budge it from that score. It's very respectable result, putting it on par with mbv.