Spring Break
Daft Punk Lives On
CD Review
Rebecca Richardson
Issue date: 12/6/07 Section: Focus
If two French robots got together to make dance music and then recorded a CD of a live show, it would be "Alive 2007" - the newest album by Daft Punk. In June of this year, Daft Punk played to a full house at the Palais Omnisports de Paris-Bercy, a sport arena in Paris. "Alive 2007" does not even begin to capture the high energy, multi-media show that Daft Punk is known for. However, it is a pretty good attempt.
The album contains 2 discs, the first of which contains the 12 tracks played at the show. Don't expect to hear any of the familiar versions of songs from any of their earlier albums, though. All of the songs are remixed, which alone is impressive.
The fifth track on the album, entitled "Around the World / Harder Better Faster Stronger," is a mix of one of Daft Punk's earliest U.S. hits, "Around the World." It will be instantly recognizable to anyone who listened to the radio in the late nineties, and their most recent hit, "Harder Better Faster Stronger." While each song is fun on its own, when remixed together, it ends up feeling a little too much like a generic club remix than one would expect from a group as innovative as Daft Punk.
One of the other most recognizable tracks on the album to novice Daft Punk fans is probably "Touch it / Technologic," a basic remix of the song "Technologic," off Daft Punk's last CD, "Human After All." Because the remix is so simple, there is no loss of the song's original, fun danceability.
The only other song that the average American listener would probably recognize and play more than once is the track "One More Time / Aerodynamic," again because of its incorporation of one of Daft Punk's earlier U.S. hits. "One More Time" on its own is a really fun club song, and the remix retains most of that appeal.
The other songs, though good, all end up sounding very similar as none of them are really stand-out hits. That's not to say they aren't great songs. They definitely begged to be played in clubs around the world for large crowds of really sweaty people to dance to under lots of flashing lights. The CD unfortunately loses some of its appeal when listened to in sweatpants at the computer.
The album contains 2 discs, the first of which contains the 12 tracks played at the show. Don't expect to hear any of the familiar versions of songs from any of their earlier albums, though. All of the songs are remixed, which alone is impressive.
The fifth track on the album, entitled "Around the World / Harder Better Faster Stronger," is a mix of one of Daft Punk's earliest U.S. hits, "Around the World." It will be instantly recognizable to anyone who listened to the radio in the late nineties, and their most recent hit, "Harder Better Faster Stronger." While each song is fun on its own, when remixed together, it ends up feeling a little too much like a generic club remix than one would expect from a group as innovative as Daft Punk.
One of the other most recognizable tracks on the album to novice Daft Punk fans is probably "Touch it / Technologic," a basic remix of the song "Technologic," off Daft Punk's last CD, "Human After All." Because the remix is so simple, there is no loss of the song's original, fun danceability.
The only other song that the average American listener would probably recognize and play more than once is the track "One More Time / Aerodynamic," again because of its incorporation of one of Daft Punk's earlier U.S. hits. "One More Time" on its own is a really fun club song, and the remix retains most of that appeal.
The other songs, though good, all end up sounding very similar as none of them are really stand-out hits. That's not to say they aren't great songs. They definitely begged to be played in clubs around the world for large crowds of really sweaty people to dance to under lots of flashing lights. The CD unfortunately loses some of its appeal when listened to in sweatpants at the computer.
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