Greatest Albums of All Time: Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories

Daft Punk built their career on contradiction. The group, which was recently dissolved, was made up of two musicians, Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, who performed an idiosyncratic blend of house and disco while wearing robot helmets. The helmets removed a layer of humanity from their music and performances by concealing the faces behind the art and imbuing them with a mechanical and stoic quality. Their music, however, is an entirely different story; throughout four studio albums, the duo transitioned from a warm and accessible version of French house to grandiose and lengthy disco and funk tracks. 

On 1997’s Homework, Daft Punk’s earliest music is almost mind-numbingly repetitive, an aspect of the group that would remain constant throughout their nearly 30-year run. On 2001’s Discovery, the duo branched out to include more vocals within songs. The vocals were never clean; despite the instrumentals’ frequently warm feeling, the voice was always masked under layers of cold vocoders and distortion. However, the lyrics were filled with subtly veiled desperation, like on “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger,” which, on the surface, appears to be a boastful display of strength and ambition; however, upon closer examination, it reveals itself to be a desperate cry of burn-out and fatigue. On 2005’s Human After All, the group takes this juxtaposition of the mechanical and human to the next level, as the instrumentals reach the coldest and harshest point the group has ever achieved. The lyrics continue to be intensely human and, while repetitive, deal with themes of identity and belonging. On their final album, 2013’s Random Access Memories, the group completely synthesized their sound into something that was at once intensely human and steeped in mechanical computerization; it suggested that these two sides of their sound are not as different as they may appear.

The opening track, “Give Life Back to Music,” serves as the album’s thesis statement. While much of their previous work was overwhelmingly robotic, Daft Punk now wants to do exactly what the song’s title says; They urge the audience to “Let the music in tonight/Just turn on the music/Let the music of your life/Give life back to music.” The duo suggest that music can only be fully human once the artist has let their own life influence the art they create. These lyrics are sung over a bombastic funk track with an infectious rhythm guitar line. The vocals, of course, are filtered through the same vocoder which the group is famous for; however, they don’t feel remotely cold in the presence of the uplifting instrumentation and lyrics. 

On the next track, “The Game of Love,” the robotic vocals continue, this time about lost love and a broken heart. Concerning the use of AutoTune and vocoders in this track, Bangalter stated in a Rolling Stone article:  “There’s this thing today where the recorded human voice is processed to try to feel robotic… Here, we were trying to make robotic voices sound the most human they’ve ever sounded, in terms of expressivity and emotion.” He succeeds tremendously, making the mechanical vocal track sound desperate and lost over the slow and smooth syncopated guitar line and keyboards.

After the epic and primarily instrumental disco track “Giorgio by Moroder”, “Within” begins with a grand piano line that would not sound out of place on a Billy Joel record; however, before the vocals even start, the acoustic piano is slowly replaced with a brooding synthesizer, reflecting the robotic nature of the speaker. The lyrics reflect the uncertain identity that a supposed android might experience, as Bangalter sings, “I’ve been, for some time/Looking for someone/I need to know now/Please tell me who I am.” Daft Punk makes the case that, in the future, a lack of purpose and defined identity will not be a problem only experienced by humans.

On the synth-pop track  “Instant Crush,” the duo brings on guest vocalist Julian Casablancas of The Strokes. This track’s vocals are so layered and distorted that it can become challenging to determine what exactly Casablancas is singing; however, the continued desperation in his voice is unmistakable. The chord progression is intensely melancholy and lends a bittersweet feeling to the song. Following this is the disco track “Lose Yourself To Dance,” the first track to feature non-distorted vocals. The song returns to the opening track’s message, encouraging the audience to give themselves up to music’s transformative power. In the chorus and bridge, Pharrell William’s clean vocals blend with Bangalter’s vocoded vocals to reinforce the intersection of humanity and computers. 

The next track, “Touch,” serves as the centerpiece of the album. The themes of lost identity and longing for connection continue, as Paul Williams sings, “Where do I belong?/Tell me what you see/I need something more” with non-distorted vocals. After lengthy instrumental interludes and genre change-ups, the narrator finally finds purpose as Bangalter’s robotic voice and a choir sing: “Hold on, if love is the answer, you’re home.” Undoubtedly cliched, the song revels in the pure idealism of love. The focal point on love is an incredibly risky move; done the wrong way, it could have come off as unoriginal and tacky. However, Daft Punk is able to create a genuinely moving and emotional moment out of an age-old cliche.

After continuing to advocate for allowing music to move you on the disco track “Get Lucky,” the robotic protagonist fully embraces the message of love and once again expresses traditionally human feelings, singing, “Remember, love’s our only mission/This is a journey of the soul.” After the instrumental “Motherboard” and soft-rock “Fragments of Time,” the electro-pop track “Doin’ it Right” begins with guest vocalist Panda Bear, known for his work in the experimental pop band Animal Collective. The track continues the group’s long-running theme of music’s near-magical power to transform and move. As Bangalter’s mechanical vocals chant, “Everybody will dancing and we’ll feeling it right/Everybody will be dancing and be doing it right,” Panda Bear’s desperate voice sings, “If you do it right/Let it go all night/Shadows on you break/Out into the light.” Daft Punk truly believes in the power of music. 

On Random Access Memories, Daft Punk synthesizes the human and the mechanical; the two elements had long been part of the duo’s presentation, but it wasn’t until their final studio album that the two would become inextricably linked until one was practically unrecognizable from the other. Bangalter and Homem-Christo masterfully created an album that made music into something that was both intimately human and staggeringly powerful. Daft Punk did exactly what they said they were going to do on the opening track. They gave life back to music.

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