Sometimes one can look at the discography of a musical act and find that their masterwork is where everything came together at the right moment; that the albums preceding and following it show the same talent only not used quite as effectively. Logically, it makes sense: the musical act starts out with this talent on their first album but it is not yet perfected, then it pretty much is on the second album, then that third album shows glimpses of the perfected talent but it is not as cohesive. This generalization stretches across genres: for example, I find this is true with classics such as The Shins’ Chutes Too Narrow, Clipse’s Hell Hath No Fury and The Jesus Lizard’s Goat, to name a few. Ditto for Daft Punk. If 1997’s Homework was the sound of an undeniably French House-party, then Discovery is what invited the entire world to experience elation in front of their dazzling pyramid lights.
Discovery is as singularly unique in its brilliance as it is universally appealing. I will say that the run of Discovery’s first four songs counts as one of the greatest stretches of singles on any album ever made. “One More Time”, “Aerodynamic”, “Digital Love” and “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” all flow seamlessly from one track to the next. Just how much unmitigated, unparalleled, ecstatic joy is contained within these first 17 minutes? Well, “One More Time” is one of three tongue-in-cheek songs on Discovery, (the other two being “Veridis Quo” [say it five times fast and you should hear the album title] and the gratuitous 10-minute closer “Too Long”) starting the show off with guest singer Romanthony’s gleefully repetitive mantra that encourages listeners to keep dancing, as if they had been for hours. The vocal breakdown plays out in slow motion, Romanthony’s ridiculous ad-libs (“Need! Yeahhh… c’mon!!! Alright!” etc.) floating in space awesomely. “Aerodynamic” sounds downright silly on paper: a massive bell, an instrumental loop and solo-guitar shredding. But it works perfectly, all before fading into the fantastic vocoder pop dream that is “Digital Love”. This track and “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” both rely heavily on funk samples from the 70s, but they easily oust the originals.
Clearly, these tracks comprise the biggest highlight of the album, but digging into the deeper cuts proves just as rewarding. The vocal loops of “Crescendolls” and “High Life” are instantly pleasurable, the former track succeeding especially with its wicked bass drum and turntable scratches. “Something About Us” and “Face to Face” are embedded with lyrical poignancy, despite their appropriate placement on an outwardly fun dance album and the fact that “Something About Us” nearly falls straight into a realm of overdone tackiness. It manages to not cross that line, remaining instead a stand-out track and an impressive respite from Discovery’s more overtly-danceable songs. This relative calm lasts through “Voyager” and the beautiful “Veridis Quo”, before being powerfully broken with “Short Circuit”’s exploding-robot freak-out. “Short Circuit” is a killer jam, thrashing wildly for its first half before breaking into deflated synth crunches in the second. Closer “Too Long” may be true to its title, but it barely matters if so: it rides out on a smooth groove, Romanthony’s presence adding cohesiveness to the album as a whole (ending Discovery with the same voice that began it).
Almost precisely 4 years after Discovery, Daft Punk released Human After All, a shockingly flawed follow-up. It presented good ideas, like the grind of “Steam Machine” and the slow-burning closer “Emotion”, but they were either too flimsy or repetitive to work nearly as well as their older tracks. Only time will tell if the duo will release a 4th album that might capture the same electronic glory that makes Discovery an undeniable delight to listen to, 10 years later.
