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Human After All

A six-week record of guitars, drum machines and loops that critics disliked on release and many reassessed after the live tour.
Daft Punk, 2005

Released
14 March 2005
Recorded
September to November 2004
Label
Virgin Records

Making it

Daft Punk wanted to do the opposite of Discovery. They made Human After All in six weeks from September to November 2004, with less than two of those weeks spent recording. It uses one sample where Discovery used many, and was built mainly from two guitars, two drum machines, a vocoder and an eight-track machine, with an inexpensive DigiTech synth wah-wah pedal across the record. Bangalter compared its unpolished quality to a stone that is unworked.

Bangalter said it was about fear and paranoia and was not meant to make people feel good. Daft Punk gave no interviews to promote it and offered one statement: "We believe that Human After All speaks for itself." Robot Rock and Technologic were the best-charting singles.

Reception

Metacritic averaged 57 from 28 reviews. The Guardian's Dorian Lynskey called it "a joyless collection of average ideas stretched desperately thin", while Mojo said that cutting the flamboyant frills made a more incisive sound. It reached number 10 in the UK and number 3 in France, topped the Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums chart, and was nominated for a Grammy for Best Electronic/Dance Album.

The Alive 2006/2007 tour put these songs in front of large crowds, and many revisited the record. Pedro Winter said of the live show that everyone shut their mouths. Bangalter said it was the music they wanted to make at the time.

Track listing

  1. Human After All5:20
  2. The Prime Time of Your Life4:23
  3. Robot Rock4:26
  4. Steam Machine5:21
  5. Make Love4:49
  6. The Brainwasher4:08
  7. On/Off0:19
  8. Television Rules the Nation4:46
  9. Technologic4:43
  10. Emotion6:57

Personnel

More from Daft Punk

Homework (1997), Discovery (2001), Random Access Memories (2013)

Sources

  1. Human After All, Wikipedia
  2. Daft Punk were the most influential pop musicians of the 21st century, The Guardian (2021-02-23)