Human After All (album)

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Professional reviews
Human After All

Studio album by Daft Punk
Released	March 9, 2005 (Japan) March 14, 2005 (UK) March 15, 2005 (U.S.)
Recorded	September 13 - November 9, 2004
Genre	Dance, Electronica
Length	45:34
Label	Toshiba-EMI (Japan) VJCP 68735 (CD) Virgin V2996 (UK 2LP) CDV2996 (UK CD) 63562 (U.S. CD)
Producer(s)	Daft Punk, Cédric Hervet, Gildas Loaëc
All Music Guide link Pitchfork Media (4.9/10) 03/15/05 PopMatters 04/11/05 Rolling Stone 04/07/05 Stylus Magazine (A-) 3/14/05 The A.V. Club 3/15/05 NME (7/10) link Sputnikmusic link Robert Christgau link Piero Scaruffi (4.5/10) link
Daft Punk chronology
Daft Club (2003)	Human After All (2005)	Musique Vol. 1 1993-2005 (2006)

Human After All is the third studio album by French duo Daft Punk, first released on March 14, 2005 internationally and a day later in the United States. With it, Daft Punk apply minimalism and rock music to their French house music style. It received mixed reviews noting its reported 6-week creation, which is particularly short compared to previous albums Discovery and Homework.

This album has been released with the Copy Control protection system in some regions.

1 Conception
2 Reception
3 Track listing
4 Personnel
5 Remix album
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Conception

The Japanese edition of the album features a quote from Daft Punk stating: "We believe that Human After All speaks for itself." In a later statement, Daft Punk considered Human After All to be the favorite of their three studio albums and regard it as "pure improvisation." The album's brief creation and minimal production had been decided upon beforehand as counterpoint to their previous album. As Thomas Bangalter stated, "We were definitely seduced at the time by the idea of doing the opposite of Discovery." Human After All was created mainly with two guitars and without synthesizers.^[1] Furthermore it was produced in two weeks and mixed in four, a session in sharp contrast to their older material.^[2]

Thomas Bangalter has stated that the album is an attempt to discover where human feelings reside in music.^[3]

[edit] Reception

When the album was leaked on the Internet several months before release, fans speculated that it was a fake designed to foil online filesharing.^[4] Reviews noted that the album's tracks were overly repetitive and of primitive quality. Critics also felt that, despite the re-affirmation of humanity suggested in its title, the album remained overtly mechanical.

Nevertheless, Human After All is seen as a strange and gutsy musical statement. One review in Stylus stated, "It’s the same story, track after track, willfully mistaking alternation for variation, intensification for development and dynamics. In other words, a shining example of pop songcraft in the 21st Century."^[5]

The first single "Robot Rock" received moderate attention, reaching #32 in the UK and #15 on the U.S. dance charts, but was not a major hit. The second single "Technologic" only hit #40 in the UK but did considerably better in airplay. The track has also been featured on The O.C. and in an iPod commercial. A sample of the track has also been used as the chorus for Busta Rhymes' single "Touch It".

Human After All was nominated for the 2006 Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album.

[edit] Track listing

"Human After All" – 5:19
"The Prime Time of Your Life" – 4:23
"Robot Rock" – 4:47
"Steam Machine" – 5:22
"Make Love" – 4:48
"The Brainwasher" – 4:08
"On/Off" – 0:19
"Television Rules the Nation" – 4:47
"Technologic" – 4:44
"Emotion" – 6:57

[edit] Personnel

Daft Punk - Guitars, Keyboards
Cédri Hervet - Production coordination
Gildas Loaëc - Production coordination
Nilesh "Nilz" Patel - Mastering

[edit] Remix album

Human After All: Remixes was released on March 29, 2006 exclusively for Japan. It features numerous remixes previously unavailable on CD in a limited pressing of 3,000 copies. A limited edition of the album included a set of Daft Punk kubricks.