01-06-2013, 13:59
Great review . from the master J !!!!...thanks for this ! I am not saying it's one of my favorite albums ever but I enjoyed listening to it just the same possibly because I really am not a fan of this house/funk genre. I also wanted to know what the big fuss was all about and what obviously attracted millions of young people with regards to pop music ! I've listened to the album twice and will listen thrice but that could possibly be it for me. However I wouldn't hesitate to listen to it again if the mood strikes me...it is an uplifting album for me ! I think the simple sparse lyrics are intentional to create a funky dance groove reminiscent of the seventies ! Repetitive lyrical line on the track Lose Yourself to Dance is infectious and hypnotic.
Too much music old and new, have to move on !
Looking forward to Part Two review from you Jerome !
Too much music old and new, have to move on !
Looking forward to Part Two review from you Jerome !
Jerome Wrote:Busy listening to this (Daft Punk)
Going to do a running commentary as I listen to this
Track 1
Starts off great and then descends into something similar to 70's disco. Awful vocoder/voice with pretty banal lyrics. Not much so far. Some great music breaks inbetween with white noise rising up in the background every now and then. Find the perfunctory handclaps annoying.
Track 2
Has an interesting keyboard intro - Fender Rhodes I suspect (or a VST) with some laid back guitar notes swirling around. So far it's basically just funk. Annoying vocoder effect on another set of banal lyrics. Very little variation in the rhythmn section so far, but some nice effects swirling around. Like the stacatto-like bass.
Track 3
Some talking (Giorgio Moroder I suspect) - another standard disco backing track. Then turns into a synth rhythmn very much like 70's synth instrumntals - remember 'Magic Fly'? Hint of Alan Parsons here as well. Some more Fender Rhodes and funk guitar. Some more narration by Giorgio - now some strings come in - quite a nice change. Now the original rhythmn sounds more rocky with the drummer finally showing some chops, big orchestral buildup the back to the original rhythmn with the drummer underpinning the groove with some great fills. Now just bass and drums - very tight - like this part. Back to synth line with some syncopated drumming. Now some moog and fiery guitar bits and strings too. Ends with a moog swell.
Track 4
Piano opening - very plaintive. Another vocoder effect on the voice (lyrics are still simplistic but a little better than earlier on). Easy drum beat riding along. Nothing special here.
Track 5
Middle of the road rock backing to start off with. Some synth lines accompanying a weak voice/lyric. Rhythmn reminds me of the Police. More vocoder doubling. This is just plodding along - not really developing into anything substantial. Now we have some lead lines, getting a bit more interesting, now back to the original rhythmn - far too repetitive. Not really much of a song. Think they ran out of words on this one. Or ideas. Some bleeping synth lines to fade this one out.
Track 6
This one starts off with some ambient sound and then quickly falls into a funk track. Irritating voice with a disco handclap thrown in for good measure. Some more vocoder effects repeating come on come on over and bloody over. Getting boring now.
Right, that's it for now - that last track just turned me off. First half of the album is basically a mix of disco and funk, with some great instrumental breaks here and there. Have to say the lyrics are banal at best and the constant use of vocoder becomes a bit much after a while. Well recorded and produced but they could have done so much better if they had invested a bit more time in the lyrics department. A lot of the musical ideas here are copied straght out of 70's disco/Giorgio Moroder/Donna Summer material but there are some highlights. Will try the 2nd half some time later. That last track killed the mood for me.
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