By:Shahan Arif  5/14/13

 

                                       Overall Rating 4.5/5


1. Give Life Back to Music – This is a great track to open the album with as it sets the tone with a catchy hook, and an infectious bass line. The classic vocoder is present, as well as elements of  Daft Punk's newfound obsession with disco. At times it does seem a bit similar to the premiere track “Get Lucky,” but the song also has its own unique character and sets the stage for the rest of the tracks.



                                1.Give Life Back to Music

2. The Game of Love – This track is one of my favorites. It has a smooth and mellow feel, and provides us with a different sound than we are accustomed to with Daft Punk. The spacey synth pads in the background paired with the drowsy hook will hypnotize you.

3. Giorgio by Moroder – This piece begins with Giorgio Moroder, one of the pioneers of electropop and modern day synthesizers, talking about his musical process. This song has a funky bass line, paired with phasers and arpeggiattors and many of the basic tools associated with using synthesizers. Its becomes more appealing as the monologue fades out. Overall a solid track for number 3.

4. Within- A classy piano riff starts this song off, and then the vocals come in with yet another vocoder. The song begins  “There are so many things that I don’t understand…” and that’s exactly how I feel after listening to this song. Such a simple beat, yet the vocals get you hooked and you can’t stop listening. This is another example of how the robotic duo changed pace and went with a more mellow feel. This song is another of my favorites on the album.

5. Instant Crush- Being a huge Julian Casablancas fan I had high hopes for this song, and  it lived up to my expectations. The track begins with a simple and catchy drumline and bass riff, and then Casablancas’ familiar voice comes in with an unfamiliar vocoder filtering it, and it is not surprisingly magic. Probably one of the best songs on the album, it changes pace throughout as well as straying from the disco theme of the album and reverting to a rock n roll feel. Julian Casablancas did justice to the high profile collaboration with Daft Punk by bringing the feel from his solo album and combining it with Daft Punks musical production prowess.



                               5. Instant Crush ft. Julian Casablancas

6. Lose Yourself to Dance – Once again the duo brings back that disco feel on this collaboration with Pharrell. Niles Rodgers is also here again as the 3 artist provide us with another album favorite to go with the premiere single “Get Lucky”.  The musical production of the duo is at its finest in this track as there is a chorus of vocals with all sorts of different effects and filters accompanied by a dancy rhythm and excellent guitar work.



                               6.Lose yourself to Dance ft, Pharrell, Niles Rodgers                                  

7. Touch – Paul Williams is going to go down in history as one of the more famous and influential composers of the last 50 years, but Daft Punk could have benefited from working with someone more contemporary on this one. Williams influence is overpowering and takes away from what you expect of Daft Punk, but there are undoubtedly fans out there who will find this to be the best track on the album. For me it is at the bottom, sounds too much like an 80s showtune.

8.  Get Lucky- # 1 in England and France, and this track keeps rising around the world. Daft Punk chose to promote the album with this track for a reason, and it’s starting to look like a really good choice.

9. Beyond- This one begins with an orchestral pattern, and then completely changes paces back to the familiar feel of the album. Another Paul Williams collaboration, yet this one does not fail to impress as the elements of disco and vocoder are present as well as that recurring smooth and placid feel.

10. Motherboard- Tribal hand drumming combined with various synthesizers, this track provides us with journey through the minds of the robots. This song has many twists and turns, and uses a lot of the basic synth elements found in the track with Giorgio Moroder.

11. Fragments of Time-  This song also brings a rock vibe to the album, but nowhere near as potent as Instant Crush. The chorus is catchy, and the breakdown towards the end makes the song, otherwise this track would be disappointing.

12. Doin’ it Right- Panda Bear of Animal Collective lends his voice to Daft Punk on this track, and he brings his mastery of electro-folk to provide a potential chart topper. The song starts with a robotic voice singing, “Doing it right, Everybody will be dancing and be doing it right…” Whether or not everybody is dancing, this collaboration was certainly done right. This is another of the classic tracks on the album, as it brings originality, a famous cameo, and the potential to be a huge success. This is definitely one of the 5 best on the album.



                            

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

​

13. Contact- The finale of the album is a colossal track that brings in pads, synths, samples, arpeggiators, and countless other elements combined over an electrifying percussion set. The cathedral organ blaring in the background gives it a historic feel fused with the modern synthesizers and an escalating build up that embodies what electro has become but still manages to be unique in style.



​

​

​

​

​

*Disclaimer: All songs, pictures & videos are property of Daft Punk and do not belong to INZ sports. To listen to the full album, please visit the live stream on iTunes  at: 

​https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/random-access-memories/id617154241