, in 21 Western countries: the US, the UK, France, Germany, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland.With star-studded collaborations with Pharell Williams, Nile Rodgers, Giorgio Moroder, Paul Williams and Todd Edwards the most eagerly anticipated album of 2013 does live up to expectations. Here are some reviews of the album.
Guardian: The hottest French music of 2013
Ever since their 1995 single Da Funk first appeared, a pattern has emerged: Daft Punk do something, vast numbers of other people try and copy it, but by the time everyone else has caught up, the duo have moved on. You can complain about the hype surrounding Random Access Memories if you want, but you can hardly blame people for being eager to see what Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo do next.HitFix Music: B+
Right from the start, the duo seemed entirely unconcerned with fitting in: it was as if French pop's lowly global standing enabled them to disregard accepted notions of cool and create their own version, relying entirely on their own tastes and instincts. Their 1997 debut album, Homework, came in a gatefold sleeve that loudly proclaimed the duo's love of Peter Frampton, Andy Gibb and Kiss – names that would have brought about an attack of the vapours in most dance artists of the time.
Similarly, Random Access Memories almost entirely abandons their computer-generated sound in favour of slick disco, performed by crack LA session musicians. It has had a mixed reception: curiously, the very thing people love about it – its luxurious, expensive-sounding glossiness – is exactly what its detractors hate. But whatever you make of it, past experience suggest you shouldn't bet against vast swathes of other artists sounding exactly like it in 18 months' time.
Daft Punk are no strangers to homage, and their newest album "Random Access Memories" is an all-out history lesson -- and not just in genre. Of course, there's heapings of disco along with their house music, soul with their '70s soft rock and party-starting anthems along with the saddies. But the duo Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo go out of their way to introduce the influencers of their own brand of heart-beating beats, as well as collaborate with the new school of producers and music-makers that carry the banner. With that perspective, this album isn't just a spin of a globe or as "random" as the title insinuates.TIME
Though, on first listen, it seems that way.
Random Access Memories proves that Daft Punk remain masters of their domain, who defend their array of superlatives because of, rather than in spite of, unconventional sound choices. The strings, the drum kits, and yes, even the clarinets, were not expected from the electronic duo, but somehow it all works. In 1968, Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey taught that man became who he is by mastering his tools, not by being a slave to them. Perhaps too, robots can only pretend to be human for so long before parting from their synthetic origins and embracing the tangible.Billboard
Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo have made an analog album that’s less of a “throwback” and more of a salute to the idols that would now do anything to hop on the duo’s full-length. There are wide eyes underneath those robot helmets, and music fans have waited a long time to peer through them for 74 minutes; let go of the mammoth expectations, dance and feel all rightMetacritic Score: 87 out of 100
Our favorite tracks: Doin’ It Right, Give Life Back to Music, and Instant Crush
Buy Random Access Memories - Daft Punk
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