The Daftest of Punks are Back

So, Random Access Memories, the new album from Daft Punk has hit the shelves, and here's my take. I won't be long. First off, the album overall is fantastic. Secondly (and negatively for some), this is NOT your daddy's Daft Punk.

So let's start with #1: The fantastic album. There's thirteen songs on here, eight of which I have lumped in my "best of" DP collection (which is only nineteen tracks, so RAM has more songs in there than any of their previous albums).

Notice I said "songs" and not "tracks". This is a much more mature effort than their previous albums, with a real attempt to push into full-blown mainstream song releases and not just techno/funk/dance music that highlighted their first album. It's also much "softer" sounding, without the thumping bass that we've heard before (it's still there, but much subdued). The closest thing in style from their previous albums is the track "Verdis Quo" from their second album Discovery, but imagine that woven with a full song's worth of lyrics, rather than just a repeating segment or sample.

The overall sound is something I would describe as a mix of 80s soft rock (think Toto or Asia, maybe Kansas) and jazz, with some mild electronica here and there.

So, in tone, this album is a severe departure from their previous work. But, surprisingly, it still feels like Daft Punk. You can instantly tell that this is put together by the same minds that rocked the house in 2007's Alive live album. The instant I heard "Get Lucky", I knew this was Daft Punk, despite it being so different in tone and sound.

Oddly enough, I find myself at odds with the majority of the user reviews I've read, which state that their favorite tracks are "Lose Yourself to Dance", and "Touch". These are the tracks I actually liked the least, and my favorites include the first two tracks, "Give Life Back to Music" and "The Game of Love" (actually "sang" by Daft Punk's own Thomas Bangalter instead of one of the guest artists), "Instant Crush" (which has a truly addictive chorus), the first single "Get Lucky", "Motherboard" (strongly reminiscent of their work on Tron: Legacy), "Doin' it Right", and "Contact", which is the most "old-school" track on the album.

So what's in store for Daft Punk after this? Word is that Random Access Memories was supposed to be a hell of a lot bigger. According to the Wikipedia article, they recorded enough material for four CDs. Which means there's another three hours or so of material that we haven't heard yet. Maybe they'll release it bit by bit over the next few years, maybe it'll end up in their live shows, who knows. Maybe some of that sounds different than what we finally got on the album. Maybe some of it's more "old school". Can't wait to find out.

So yeah.. it's different. But you know what?

I like it.