#236 Daft Punk, 'Discovery' (2001)

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Between the two Daft Punk entries, the band broke up (although I have opinions about a band that’s been inactive for years announcing that they cease to exist, but I’ll leave that rant for another day). ‘Discovery’ was their second album and the one on which they adopted their now iconic robot costumes. It was also the first time they’d used vocoders on their vocals, which would become a part of their signature sound. Their sound on this record was a shift to perhaps a more radio-friendly type sound. Where ‘Homework,’ their debut was a raw electronic album, the songs on ‘Discovery’ more structured. 

This album was absolutely huge. Hit after hit; ‘One More Time,’ ‘Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger’ (which was sampled by Kanye on ‘Stronger’), ‘Digital Love’ & ‘Aerodynamic,’ amongst others. I found the album to be quite frontloaded and the deeper you went into the album, the deeper the House music became. Songs like ‘Voyager’ and ‘Face to Face’ could be from a completely different record. ‘Short Circuit’ could be an ‘80s Hip Hop song. The album ends on ‘Too Long,’ a 10-minute club banger. It really is a fitting song to end the album on, because it sums up my feelings on it perfectly. Regardless, it’s a great album and I did enjoy it but it does feel like two records spliced together.

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