Discovery (Daft Punk album)

Discovery
Studio album by Daft Punk
Released 26 February 2001 (2001-02-26)
Recorded Early 1998–Late 2000
Studio Daft House, Paris, France
Genre
Length 61:20
Label Virgin
Producer
Daft Punk chronology
Homework
(1997)		 Discovery
(2001)		 Alive 1997
(2001)
Japanese standard release
The Japanese cover featured the characters from the Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem musical film produced for the album.
Singles from Discovery
  1. "One More Time"
    Released: 13 November 2000
  2. "Aerodynamic"
    Released: 28 March 2001
  3. "Digital Love"
    Released: 11 June 2001
  4. "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger"
    Released: 13 October 2001
  5. "Face to Face"
    Released: 10 October 2003
  6. "Something About Us"
    Released: 14 November 2003

Discovery is the second studio album by the French electronic music duo Daft Punk, released on 26 February 2001 by Virgin Records. It marks a shift in the sound from Chicago house which they were previously known for to disco, post-disco,[3] garage house,[1] and synthpop-inspired house. The album later became the soundtrack of the anime film Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem, a collaboration between Daft Punk, Leiji Matsumoto, and Toei Animation. All of the music videos for the tracks on the album are segments of the film, which follows a story of a kidnapped extraterrestrial band. Discovery is recognized as a concept album in reviews by New Musical Express and Spin magazines.[4][5] Early versions of the album included a "Daft Club" membership card. The card included a code which granted access to an online music service, which featured tracks later released on the album of the same name and Alive 1997.

Background

Discovery relates strongly to Daft Punk's childhood memories. It's more-so about their time spent growing up rather than a tribute to music from the 1975 to 1985 era. The album was designed to take a playful look at music, relating to the simple and honest relationship a listener can have with it. Thomas Bangalter compared it to being a child when you don't judge or analyze music, "you just like it because you like it."[6] Bangalter compared the stylistic approach of the album to that of their previous effort. "Homework [...] was a way to say to the rock kids, like, 'Electronic music is cool'. Discovery was the opposite, of saying to the electronic kids, 'Rock is cool, you know? You can like that.'"[7] He elaborated that Homework had been "a manifesto for electronic music at the time and a rough and raw thing" focused on sound production and texture, whereas the goal with Discovery was to explore song structures and new musical forms.[8]

Music videos

When developing ideas for music videos, the duo recalled watching a lot of Japanese anime as children, including favorites such as Captain Harlock, Grandizer, and Candy Candy. The duo reached out to Leiji Matsumoto, who had created Captain Harlock, looking to do a collaboration. Eventually Matsumoto responded and was willing to work with them. The result of the collaboration was Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem, an anime film featuring the entirety of Discovery as the soundtrack.[9]

Recording

Discovery was recorded in the duo's own studio Daft House, located at Bangalter's home in Paris, France. Daft Punk started work on the album in the spring of 1998, and produced it over the course of two years. Although they used the same equipment as they had for Homework, the duo sought to record tracks that were more concise than their previous album. One of the first tracks to come out of the sessions, "One More Time" was completed in 1998 and was left "sitting on a shelf" until its single release in 2000. After completing "Too Long" early in the album's production, Daft Punk decided that they "didn't want to do 14 more house tracks" in the way the genre is usually defined, and thus set out to incorporate a variety of styles for the record.[8][10]

The album features musical contributions from Romanthony, Todd Edwards, and DJ Sneak. Romanthony and Edwards were some of the producers that had the most influence on Daft Punk. The duo had wanted to work with them on Homework, but was difficult to convince them since they were still relatively unknown.[6] DJ Sneak wrote the lyrics to "Digital Love" and assisted in the song's production.[11]

Composition

Discovery is a departure from Daft Punk's previous house sound.[12] In his review for Allmusic, John Bush wrote that "if Homework was Daft Punk's Chicago house record," Discovery is "definitely the New York garage edition", and that Daft Punk produced a "glammier, poppier sound of Eurodisco and late R&B" by over embellishing their pitch-bend, and vocoder effects, including loops of divas, synth-guitars, and electric piano.[1] Stylus Magazine's Keith Gwillim asserted that it is not an electronica or house album, but instead a disco album that draws on the genre's "danceable" and "sappy" elements, including "ultra-processed vocals" and "prefabricated guitar 'solos'".[2] Andrew Burgess of musicOMH said that the album is "more like disco, or even post-disco than house", particularly in its second half.[13]
"Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger"
"Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" is the fourth single from the album and features a sample of "Cola Bottle Baby" by Edwin Birdsong; the song itself was sampled in rapper Kanye West's hit single "Stronger".
Problems playing this file? See media help.

A significant amount of sampling is present on the album. Rather than creating new music using only the samples, Daft Punk worked with them by writing and adding instrumental performance.[14] The Discovery liner notes specify permitted use of samples for four tracks on the album: Part of George Duke's "I Love You More" is featured in "Digital Love"; Edwin Birdsong's "Cola Bottle Baby" was sampled for "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger"; The Imperials song "Can You Imagine" is used for "Crescendolls"; Barry Manilow's "Who's Been Sleeping In My Bed" is credited for "Superheroes".[15]

Several websites list many other samples present on the album, but Bangalter has stated that half of the samples he had seen listed are not true. He also stated the sampling they do is legitimately done, not something they try to hide.[16] Bangalter elaborated that the newly recorded elements were implemented in a way that was equivalent to "creating fake samples [...] where people think there are samples from disco records or funk records."[17] Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo estimated that half of the sampled material on Discovery was played live by the duo, and emphasized that the resulting quality of the music was more important than the ego of who played which instruments.[18]

Several songs from the album would later be sampled by other artists. Kanye West's song "Stronger" from the album Graduation features a vocal sample of "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger". "Stronger" was later performed live at the 2008 Grammy Awards with Daft Punk in their trademark pyramid while Kanye West was on stage rapping.[19] Wiley's song "Summertime" from the album See Clear Now features a sample of "Aerodynamic".[20] Jazmine Sullivan's song "Dream Big" from the album Fearless features a sample of "Veridis Quo".[21]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Entertainment WeeklyB[22]
The Guardian[23]
Mixmag[24]
NME9/10[4]
Pitchfork6.4/10[25]
Q[26]
Rolling Stone[27]
Spin8/10[5]
The Village VoiceC+[28]

Discovery received generally positive reviews from critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 74, based on 19 reviews.[29] AllMusic's John Bush said that, with their comprehensive productions and loops of manifold elements, Daft Punk developed a sound that was "worthy of bygone electro-pop technicians from Giorgio Moroder to Todd Rundgren to Steve Miller."[1] Q magazine wrote that the album was vigorous and innovative in its exploration of "old questions and spent ideals", hailing it as "a towering, persuasive tour de force" that "transcends the dance label" with no shortage of ideas, humor, or "brilliance".[26] Joshua Clover, writing in Spin, dubbed Discovery disco's "latest triumph" and said although it "flags a bit" before the end, the opening stretch of songs was on-par with albums such as Sign "O" the Times (1987) by Prince and Nirvana's Nevermind (1991).[5] Stephen Dalton from NME found the record's pop art ideas enthralling and credited Daft Punk for "re-inventing the mid-'80s as the coolest pop era ever."[4] In Entertainment Weekly, Will Hermes wrote that the "beat editing and EQ wizardry" still excite after Homework, despite the newly imbued sense of humor.[22] Mixmag called it "the perfect non-pop pop album" and said Daft Punk had "altered the course of dance music for the second time".[24]

Ben Ratliff from Rolling Stone was less impressed and wrote that few songs on Discovery were on-par with the grandiosity of "One More Time". He found most of them "muddled - not only in the spectrum between serious and jokey but in its sense of an identity."[27] In The Guardian, Alexis Petridis felt Daft Punk's attempt to "salvage" older musical references resembled Homework, but was less coherent and successful.[23] Pitchfork critic Ryan Schreiber found their "prog and disco" hybrid "relatively harmless" and claimed that it was not "meant to be judged on its lyrics", which he dismissed as amateurish and commonplace.[25] Robert Christgau, writing in The Village Voice, facetiously said the album may appeal to young enthusiasts of Berlin techno and computing, but it was too "French" and "spirituel" for American tastes.[28] In a retrospective review for The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004), Douglas Wolk gave Discovery three-and-a-half stars and wrote that "the more [Daft Punk] dumb the album down, the funkier it gets" with an emphasis on hooks over songs.[30]

Q listed Discovery as one of the best 50 albums of 2001.[31] The album was later ranked number 12 on Pitchfork Media's Top 100 Albums of 2000–04 and number three on their Top 200 Albums of the 2000s.[32][33] In 2009, Rhapsody placed the album at number twelve on its 100 Best Albums of the Decade list.[34] It was also named the fourth best album of the decade by Resident Advisor.[35] In 2012, Rolling Stone included Discovery at number eight on their list of The 30 Greatest EDM Albums of All Time.[36]

Commercial performance

The album peaked at number two in the United Kingdom[37] and France,[38] and number twenty-three in the United States.[39] The album was certified triple platinum in France (in 2007) for shipments denoting 600,000 copies.[40] As a result of sales, Discovery was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on 11 October 2010.[41] As of May 2013, the album has sold 802,000 copies in the US.[42] The album's lead single "One More Time" was its most successful, peaking at number one on the French charts[43] and the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs charts, and peaked within the top ten on seven other charts. It remained the group's most successful single until the release of "Get Lucky" in 2013. The album's fifth single, "Face to Face," reached number one on the Billboard Hot Dance Club Songs chart in 2004. The album also was included on BBC Radio 1's Masterpieces in December 2009 presented by Zane Lowe, highlighting the increased reception of the album over the decade.[44] Discovery has sold at least 2.6 million copies as of 2005.[45]

Track listing

All tracks written by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, except where noted. 

No. TitleWriter(s) Length
1. "One More Time" (featuring Romanthony)
 5:20
2. "Aerodynamic"    3:27
3. "Digital Love"  
 4:58
4. "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger"  
  • Bangalter
  • de Homem-Christo
  • Edwin Birdsong
 3:45
5. "Crescendolls"  
  • Bangalter
  • de Homem-Christo
  • Dwight Brewster
  • Aleta Jennings
 3:31
6. "Nightvision"    1:44
7. "Superheroes"  
 3:57
8. "High Life"    3:22
9. "Something About Us"    3:51
10. "Voyager"    3:47
11. "Veridis Quo"    5:44
12. "Short Circuit"    3:26
13. "Face to Face" (featuring Todd Edwards)
 3:58
14. "Too Long" (featuring Romanthony)
  • Bangalter
  • de Homem-Christo
  • Moore
 10:00

Personnel

Adapted from Discovery liner notes:[15]

Charts

Weekly charts

Chart (2001) Position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[46] 7
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[47] 6
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[48] 1
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[49] 3
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[50] 2
French Albums (SNEP)[51] 2
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[52] 5
Italian Albums (FIMI)[53] 8
New Zealand Albums (RMNZ)[54] 8
Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)[55] 3
Swedish Albums (Sverigetopplistan)[56] 7
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[57] 6
UK Albums (OCC)[58] 2
US Billboard 200[59] 23
US Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)[60] 3
US Top Catalog Albums (Billboard)[61] 1

Year-end charts

Chart (2001) Position
Australian Albums Chart[62] 100
Austrian Albums Chart[63] 69
Belgian Albums Chart (Flanders)[64] 33
Belgian Albums Chart (Wallonia)[65] 20
Dutch Albums Chart[66] 81
French Albums Chart[67] 15
Swiss Albums Chart[68] 54

Certifications

Region Certification Certified units/Sales
Australia (ARIA)[69] Gold 35,000^
Belgium (BEA)[70] Gold 25,000*
Canada (Music Canada)[71] Gold 50,000^
France (SNEP)[72] 3× Platinum 548,662[73]
Germany (BVMI)[74] Gold 150,000^
Japan (RIAJ)[75] Platinum 200,000^
Switzerland (IFPI Switzerland)[76] Gold 20,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[77] 2× Platinum 600,000^
United States (RIAA)[78] Gold 805,000[42]
Summaries
Europe (IFPI)[79] Platinum 1,000,000*

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Bush, John. "Discovery - Daft Punk". Allmusic. Archived from the original on 20 April 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  2. 1 2 Gwillim, Keith (1 September 2003). "Daft Punk - Discovery - Review". Stylus Magazine. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  3. ↑ (2001) CMJ New Music Monthly - Best New Music - Daft Punk (Discovery): "Although it's only fair to credit Chicago with the post-disco dance style's paternal rights, the French [Daft Punk] have (at the very least) earned covered weekend privileges." Publisher: CMJ Network, Inc. No. 93. p. 71. ISSN 1074-6978
  4. 1 2 3 Dalton, Stephen (10 March 2001). "Daft Punk : Discovery". NME. London: 31. Archived from the original on 20 April 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  5. 1 2 3 Clover, Joshua (June 2001). "Daft Punk: Discovery". Spin. New York: 145. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  6. 1 2 Chris Gill, "ROBOPOP - An Interview with Daft Punk". Archived from the original on 3 May 2008. Retrieved 28 January 2011.
  7. ↑ Baron, Zach (May 2013). "Daft Punk Is (Finally!) Playing at Our House". GQ. 83 (5): 76–82.
  8. 1 2 "Daft Punk Embark On A Voyage of Discovery" at the Wayback Machine (archived 27 March 2006) MTVe.com. Retrieved 22 February 2007.
  9. ↑ Daft Punk Interview at the Wayback Machine (archived 27 June 2004) cartoonnetwork.com, archived from 27 June 2004. Retrieved on 16 September 2007.
  10. ↑ Dombal, Ryan (15 May 2013). "Daft Punk: Cover Story Outtakes". Pitchfork. Retrieved 15 May 2013.
  11. ↑ DJ SNEAK aka Carlos Sosa Retrieved January 8, 2010.
  12. ↑ Dickinson, John. "Stereo IQ: Human After All: Daft Punk's Random Access Memories". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 1 June 2013.
  13. ↑ Burgess, Andrew (12 March 2001). "Daft Punk - Discovery". musicOMH. Retrieved 31 May 2013.
  14. ↑ Bryan Reesman, Interview at mixonline.com
  15. 1 2 Discovery (liner notes). Daft Punk. Virgin Records, a division of Universal Music Group. 2001.
  16. ↑ Daft Punk speak out on sample sources: 'half of this list is not true' Retrieved on 18 July 2007.
  17. ↑ Nadeau, Cheyne and Nies, Jennifer (July–August 2013). "The Work of Art Is Controlling You". Anthem (29): 36–37.
  18. ↑ Daft Punk
  19. ↑ Daft Punk Make Surprise Grammy Appearance with Kanye West. NME. IPC Media. Retrieved on 10 February 2008.
  20. ↑ Grime Music Cleans Up in the Charts. The Independent. Retrieved on 21 August 2008.
  21. ↑ Cinquemani, Sal (December 21, 2008). "Jazmine Sullivan - Fearless". Slant Magazine. Retrieved December 24, 2015.
  22. 1 2 Hermes, Will (30 March 2001). "Discovery Review". Entertainment Weekly. New York (589). Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  23. 1 2 Petridis, Alexis (8 March 2001). "CD of the week: Daft Punk: Discovery". The Guardian. London. Friday Review section, p. 16. Archived from the original on 20 April 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  24. 1 2 "Daft Punk: Discovery". Mixmag. London: 163. April 2001.
  25. 1 2 Schreiber, Ryan (13 March 2001). "Daft Punk: Discovery". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  26. 1 2 "Daft Punk: Discovery". Q. London: 97. April 2001.
  27. 1 2 Ratliff, Ben (5 March 2001). "Daft Punk: Discovery". Rolling Stone. New York: 59–60. Archived from the original on 28 April 2009.
  28. 1 2 Christgau, Robert (20 November 2001). "Turkey Shoot 2001". The Village Voice. New York. Archived from the original on 20 April 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  29. ↑ "Discovery Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on 20 April 2013. Retrieved 20 April 2013.
  30. ↑ Wolk, Douglas; et al. (2004). Brackett, Nathan; Hoard, Christian, eds. The New Rolling Stone Album Guide (4th ed.). Simon & Schuster. p. 207. ISBN 0743201698.
  31. ↑ "The Best 50 Albums of 2001". Q. December 2001. pp. 60–65.
  32. ↑ "The Top 100 Albums of 2000-04". Pitchfork Media. 7 February 2005. Retrieved 2 October 2009.
  33. ↑ "The Top 200 Albums of the 2000s: 20-1". Pitchfork Media. 2 October 2009. Retrieved 2 October 2009.
  34. ↑ "100 Best Albums of the Decade, 11-20". Rhapsody. 4 December 2009. Retrieved 12 January 2010.
  35. ↑ "Top 100 albums of the '00s". Resident Advisor. 25 January 2010. Retrieved 19 March 2010.
  36. ↑ Dolan, Jon; Matos, Michaelangelo (2 August 2012). "The 30 Greatest EDM Albums of All Time". Rolling Stone. Wenner Media. Retrieved 4 October 2012.
  37. ↑ "Daft Punk - Artist - Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  38. ↑ "Daft Punk - Discovery". Lescharts. Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  39. ↑ "Daft Punk - Chart History". Billboard. Prometheus Global Media. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  40. ↑ "SNEP". Retrieved 23 December 2009.
  41. ↑ "American album certifications – Daft Punk – Discovery". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved 30 December 2015.
  42. 1 2 Grein, Paul (29 May 2013). "Week Ending May 26, 2013. Albums: Daft Punk Gets Lucky". Nielsen SoundScan. Yahoo! Music. Retrieved 29 May 2013.
  43. ↑ "Daft Punk - One More Time". Lescharts. Hung Medien. Retrieved 6 January 2016.
  44. ↑ Zane's Masterpieces - Daft Punk: Discovery. BBC Radio 1. 3 December 2009. Retrieved on 6 May 2013.
  45. ↑ Daft Punk Embraces Universal Themes... PR Newswire. Retrieved on 25 July 2007.
  46. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Daft Punk – Discovery". Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
  47. ↑ "Austriancharts.at – Daft Punk – Discovery" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
  48. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Daft Punk – Discovery" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
  49. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Daft Punk – Discovery" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
  50. ↑ "Daft Punk – Chart history" Billboard Canadian Albums Chart for Daft Punk. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
  51. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Daft Punk – Discovery". Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
  52. ↑ "Longplay-Chartverfolgung at Musicline" (in German). Musicline.de. Phononet GmbH. Retrieved 12 March 2015.
  53. ↑ "Italiancharts.com – Daft Punk – Discovery". Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
  54. ↑ "Charts.org.nz – Daft Punk – Discovery". Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
  55. ↑ "Norwegiancharts.com – Daft Punk – Discovery". Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
  56. ↑ "Swedishcharts.com – Daft Punk – Discovery". Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
  57. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Daft Punk – Discovery". Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
  58. ↑ "Daft Punk | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart Retrieved 26 August 2012.
  59. ↑ "Daft Punk – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Daft Punk. Retrieved 30 July 2015.
  60. ↑ "Daft Punk – Chart history" Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums for Daft Punk. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
  61. ↑ "Daft Punk – Chart history" Billboard Top Catalog Albums for Daft Punk. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
  62. ↑ "ARIA Charts - End of Year Charts - Top 100 Albums 2001". aria.com.au. Australian Recording Industry Association. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
  63. ↑ "Austriancharts.at - Jahreshitparade 2001" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
  64. ↑ "Jaaroverzichten 2001". Ultratop (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 25 January 2014.
  65. ↑ "Rapports annuels 2001". Ultratop (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  66. ↑ "Jaaroverzichten – Album 2001" (ASP) (in German). Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  67. ↑ "Classement Albums - année 2001". Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique (in French). Retrieved 1 February 2014.
  68. ↑ "Hitparade.ch - Schweizer Jahreshitparade 2001" (ASP). Swiss Music Charts (in Swedish). Hung Medien. Retrieved 31 January 2014.
  69. ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2001 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association.
  70. ↑ "Ultratop − Goud en Platina – 2001". Ultratop & Hung Medien / hitparade.ch. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  71. ↑ "Canadian album certifications – Daft Punk – Discovery". Music Canada.
  72. ↑ "French album certifications – Daft Punk – Discovery" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
  73. ↑ "Les Albums les plus Vendus de la Décennie (2000–2009)" (in French). InfoDisc. Retrieved 25 August 2012.
  74. ↑ "Gold-/Platin-Datenbank (Daft Punk; 'Discovery')" (in German). Bundesverband Musikindustrie.
  75. ↑ "RIAJ > The Record > October 2002 > Page 14> Certified Awards (August 2002)" (PDF). Recording Industry Association of Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved 20 June 2013.
  76. ↑ "The Official Swiss Charts and Music Community: Awards (Daft Punk; 'Discovery')". IFPI Switzerland. Hung Medien.
  77. ↑ "British album certifications – Daft Punk – Discovery". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 23 December 2012. Enter Discovery in the field Keywords. Select Title in the field Search by. Select album in the field By Format. Select Platinum in the field By Award. Click Search
  78. ↑ "American album certifications – Daft Punk – Discovery". Recording Industry Association of America. If necessary, click Advanced, then click Format, then select Album, then click SEARCH
  79. ↑ "IFPI Platinum Europe Awards – 2001". International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.

Further reading

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