Why Alive 2007 is one of the greatest live albums of all time.

For all intents and purposes Daft Punks Alive 2007 might of been the greatest live album of all time. Alive 2007 is this wonderful explosion of some of the duo’s greatest hits that are perfectly blended together to create this sort of museum of their perfection on display for those who were lucky enough to see it 12 years ago. Unfortunately, I was only 7 years old when this legendary tour occurred so I wasn't’ able to experience it first hand. However, thanks to the wonderful invention of this website called youtube I've been able to enjoy this great live album. But if you’re like me and weren’t lucky enough to be in attendance for this legendary tour run than this is for you! I’ll try my absolute best to go in-depth in this run of live shows into how this tour started, how the production side of the tour went, and why it is my favorite live experience of all time.

So let's take it back, before the unveil in 2006 at Coachella, before the performance at the Bercy Arena in 2007, and before the release of the album. Let’s take a step back and look at what Daft Punk had accomplished and where they were at the time. Daft Punk was riding high having released 3 studio albums all critically acclaimed and beloved by the fanbase. 1997’s Homework was a magnificent display of french house and techno at a time where French House was relatively unknown to the general public. The worldwide success of this album destroyed the notion that much of the general public had at the time that electronic music was nothing more than people pushing buttons and barely playing a keyboard. Songs like Da Funk and Around The World are still praised today for being innovative and exciting at a time when EDM needed a stern kick in the ass to wake up to the creativity that other genres were evolving into. And riding off the innovative high they took it a step forward with 2001’s Discovery, a massive and grand look into the world of disco and the music that preceded Guy-Manuel and Thomas. The album is a love letter to ’70s with these lush synths, rich texture, and samples from the era it was unlike anything we had heard at the time. And while their follow up Human After All isn’t exactly my favorite album it is much more aggressive and if your face than it’s predecessor. Just these combative and intrusive synthesizers that feel like they are coming full speed at your face with these very robotic and less soul era-inspired vocal samples/performances it is definitely a unique experience that is essential in the duo’s discography.

So where does that leave us? Well, there is a bit of story that I left out intentionally in between the duos 3 acclaimed albums. Around the time between their Discovery and Human After All Daft Punk decided to release a live performance of a 1997 show in Birmingham. Comprised of only songs from their debut album Homework and several remixes the duo released Alive 1997 in October of 2001. Calling it one of their favorite live performances in their career they decided to share it exclusively with members of their online service “Daft Club. It was later released on other mediums and was critically praised for its unique style and just how different it was from the original tracks on the debut record. Now lets fast forward a few years to 2005, 4 years after the release of their first live album Guy-Manuel and Thomas are looking into creating another live experience as they prepare to go on tour for the first time since 1997. They enlist the help of XL Video UK to create a never before seen state of the art on stage design as a one-off for their debut concert at Coachella in 2006. And while it may look like a deceptively easy to make pyramid with a few screens by today's standards it was no fucking joke 13 years ago. Comprised of over 1500 custom pixel mapped Barco O’Lite LED tiles, 170 Versa Tubes and programmable switches for the duo to improvise on the lighting in real-time this monolith was astonishing to look at and worked like a charm. The music aspect of the pyramid was just as complicated to be created. Constructed around Ableton Live and ran on Mac Pro supercomputers remotely controlled with MIDI controllers, the duo would see what was going on live with screens implanted in the middle of their mini studio. Alongside these screens, there were multiple synthesizers and other hardware to be able to loop filter and distort samples in real-time. All of this equipment of course surrounded by lights and visuals to better enhance the experience. The entire rig would need 10 people working at once to pull off without a hitch. Designed by XL Videos and engineer Paul Maddock-Jones the structure itself was complete and now needed its visuals. With the help of their art company “Daft Arts” and LA film effects producers Baptiste Andrieux and Martin Phillips the duo created a stunning beginning for what would eventually become the Coachella set.

So here we are, it’s 2006 and the stage is set for one of the most iconic shows in the duo's career. And… it was amazing. As soon as the pyramid is unveiled you can see the astonishment into the crowds' reaction. Described as breathtaking, and the greatest live show of their lives, those in attendance had nothing but praise for the robots new innovative show. Based on the reception of that legendary show the duo decided to take the pyramid and the music on tour across the globe. While the tour certainly wasn’t without mistakes (partly due with the trouble transporting such a high tech live set across the world), it was praised by almost every concertgoer and regarded as a must-see for any fan of the duo or music in general.

So we get it right? After months of planning, development, and ultimately this culmination at Coachella we got this grand show. But one thing we have yet to touch on is the damn music itself. We’ve got a few hundred words but nothing about the music! So let’s dive as deep as possible into what makes this live album so magical to me. The album starts with this thunderous roar of applause and cheering from the crowd before these two interlocking robot voices start battling it out. “Robot. Human. Robot. Human. Robot. Human” The Robot Rock sampled guitar slowly building up like the part of the movie where the badass walks away from a burning car. And finally the explosion, a swell of noise hits the crowd and you get this nice mix leaning heavy on Robot Rock but also including the original vocal sample from their 1997 song Oh Yeah. Where the real mixing really begins in the song that follows it. Essentially borrowing back a remix of their own song for this track, the Swizz Beats produced Touch It is used for this track with a chopped and screwed version of their own 2005 track Technologic. And while I probably will go on to repeat this as we get more in-depth but one of the most important parts and what really brings this record together is the duos ability to perfectly mix these seemingly distinct songs and make them sound almost as if they’ve always been meant to be played at the same time. Just hearing the words Television Rules The Nation gets a big pop from the crowd, and when you get that loud and abrasive guitar grouped in with the synth-heavy Crescendolls it becomes actual magic to the ears. Skipping just a tad bit ahead we get to this brilliant mix of Around The World and Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger. It begins a little slow with just Around The World but you slowly get these rising synthesizers that give the song a much more uplifting tone. Throw in those iconic chopped Faster Stronger vocals and heavy kick drum and you get a song that practically radiates energy. You can practically feel the excitement and hype that people felt in that arena. Moving along to what is probably my personal favorite on the record, Face to Face / Short Circuit is what I consider to be a perfect song. The morphed and twisted Todd Edwards vocals that slowly unravel and become more recognizable alongside the Stronger Faster vocals which have become so effect heavy that they essentially become the accompanying synthesizer make for an incredible introduction. The track settles into the soothing chord progression that is the end of Short Circuit just as the crowd fades in for the next legendary track.

That bell. That damn bell that is instantly recognizable to essentially every fan of house music. And while most people were probably initially a little thrown off by hearing the introductory horns to One More Time you knew that if the robots could pull off this insane mix than this would go down as a mythical moment in music history. Now it’s only fair that you let One More Time run for a few minutes I mean it’s an iconic song on its own, but the real beauty of this track and what makes it stand independently from both One More Time and Aerodynamic is when that guitar comes in. And then the synth begins to rise, like a conductor slowing raising his baton. The crowd grows with excitement as the Romanthy led One More Time vocals accompany the instrumental. Sure this track doesn’t exactly have that explosive moment that some people would’ve wanted I'm glad that both tracks were able to blend so seemingly to create this array of dynamic sounds. Moving a little forward we get a throwback in time. 10 years after the release of both of these songs we get an absolute killer mix of “Homework” tracks Da Funk and Daftendirekt. This is the track where you really get a feel of what the robots wanted to do with this record. It is absolutely perfect for a live environment and it shows in the crowd's reaction at every moment. From when that iconic Da Funk synth first arrives in the track to when the track deconstructs itself into just the Daftendirekt vocals and you hear the people cheering alongside, the duo practically had the audience eating out of the palm of their hands. It really is magnificent to be able to hear the excitement in the crowd and it adds a lot to the overall experience of the record. And that same excitement, of course, bleeds right into the next track on this project. Superheroes has always been a personal favorite track of mine and hearing that iconic Human After All distorted synthesizer with it makes both songs even more exceptional. When both songs slowly become more emphatic and chaotic, essentially clashing with each other culminating into this magnificent swell of noise that gets your head bobbing every time.

And then, of course, we get to one of the biggest high points of the record and perhaps one of the greatest album closers of all time. Enlisting the help of some of Bangalters independent discography the duo creates this 10-minute long highlight reel of some of the most energetic and lively songs in electronic music. When that synth slowly fades in from Bangalters Music Sounds Better With You and masterfully blends in with the rest of the track you can hear the crowd erupt and can almost feel the amount of energy occurring in the stadium. Then the One More Time vocals come in and it just feels like bliss. And just like that, the project ends how it began, with thunderous applause.

Alive 2007 is a record that will stand the test of time and ultimately be remembered as not only of the greatest live performances and records in electronic music but is music history as a whole. In between the futuristic light show, the perfectly crafted staging, and the complicated yet rewarding process it took to make all this come together lies something a little more special. A point in history where Daft Punk was seemingly at the height of their careers and delivered a masterful performance for the ages. Now eventually the duo would return for the soundtrack to Disney’s Tron Legacy and their fourth studio Random Access Memories. But with all that being said I hope you may have learned a little bit about how the performance came to be or if you’re completely new to this record that you give it a chance because it really is a marker in music history.

As always thank you guys for reading! As always I wish I could really do more of these but school and other things have really taken up a good majority of my time. In the meantime, I figured I would announce the last few things I'll be working on for the end of the year. Next months issue will be an in-depth look into the history of hip hop group Brockhampton post saturation. November looking at getting the best of the decade list out followed by our 2nd annual best of the year list in December. Thank you guys again for reading this means a lot to me. Twitter @SampledThis