Alive 2007

For the concert tour, see Alive 2006/2007.
Alive 2007
Live album by Daft Punk
Released
  • 19 November 2007
  • 4 December 2007 (North America)
  • 25 February 2008 (United Kingdom)
Recorded 14 June 2007
Studio AccorHotels Arena
(Paris, France)
Genre House
Length
  • 74:04
  • 84:03 (with encore)
Label Virgin
Producer
Daft Punk chronology
Musique Vol. 1 1993–2005
(2006)		 Alive 2007
(2007)		 Tron: Legacy
(2010)
Singles from Alive 2007
  1. "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (Alive 2007)"
    Released: 15 October 2007

Alive 2007 is a live album by French house duo Daft Punk, first released on 19 November 2007.[1] It is the second album recorded live by the duo, following Alive 1997. Alive 2007 features their performance at Bercy in Paris from 14 June 2007.[2][3]

The physical release in North America was delayed to 4 December due to production issues,[4] but the album became available as a digital download on 20 November 2007.[1] A special edition of the album was released that includes the encore from the Alive 2007 tour on a second disc. It also includes a 50-page book containing photographs from the tour taken by DJ Falcon.[5] The first single from the album, "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (Alive 2007)" was released digitally on 15 October 2007.[1]

The album won the Grammy Award for Best Electronic/Dance Album in 2009.[6]

Structure

The Alive 2007 set used Ableton Live software on "custom made super-computers"[7] for the show. Daft Punk accessed the hardware remotely with Behringer BCR2000 MIDI controllers and JazzMutant Lemur touchscreen pads within the central pyramid. Minimoog Voyager RME[7] units were also implemented for the live performances. The four Voyager units and two Behringer mixers allowed Daft Punk to "mix, shuffle, trigger loops, filter, distort samples, EQ in and out, transpose or destroy and deconstruct synth lines." The majority of the equipment was stored away during the live sets within offstage towers.[7]

The recording of Alive 2007 was derived from Daft Punk's live performance at their Bercy show on 14 June 2007.[5] Reviews of the set noted how Daft Punk manipulated and reworked their established material. One report spotted vocal elements from the song "Too Long" mixed with newly generated accompaniment.[8] The overlapped mixtures of "Television Rules the Nation" with "Crescendolls", "Around the World" with "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" and "Superheroes" with "Human After All" were reported to be well received by the audience.[9] The set itself was considered a collection of Daft Punk's most popular recordings.[10] The performances heavily featured tracks from Daft Punk's album Human After All, prompting critics to reconsider what they felt about the album.[11]

Daft Punk performing at Bercy during the Alive 2007 tour

The performances for the Alive 2007 tour were an expansion of Daft Punk's 2006 live sets. Noted additions include elements of the tracks "Burnin'" and "Phoenix" as well as an encore.[8] Bangalter explained that the 2006 sets were initially designed for performances within larger festivals, but later refined to accommodate Daft Punk-specific shows. "The goal was to try and bring a complete global experience to the audience."[12] The introduction for the live show featured the five-note sequence used in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.[13]

The album includes elements of the Busta Rhymes song "Touch It", the original version of which was produced by Swizz Beatz featuring a sample of "Technologic". Also featured are elements of Gabrielle's "Forget About the World", the original version of which was remixed by Daft Punk for her single. The encore of the Alive 2007 set features Bangalter's side projects: Stardust's "Music Sounds Better with You" and Together's self-titled track "Together".[2]

Reception

Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
Metacritic78/100[14]
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[15]
The A.V ClubB+[16]
Robert ChristgauA−[17]
Entertainment WeeklyA−[18]
IGN9.2/10[19]
NME7/10[20]
The Phoenix[21]
Pitchfork Media8.5/10[22]
PopMatters9/10[23]
Rolling Stone[24]
Slant Magazine[25]
Spin8/10[26]
Toronto Star[27]

Alive 2007 was met with critical acclaim upon release. Pitchfork Media regarded the recording as "the Ultimate Daft Punk Mixtape", specifically noting how songs from the album Human After All had been "constantly improved and born anew" for the live set.[22] The sentiment was also shared by Allmusic, stating that "It has the feel of a greatest-hits-live concert, but energized by Daft Punk's talents at weaving songs in and out of each other."[15] The publication ultimately considered Alive 1997 the stronger of their two live albums, however.[15] A review by The Star noted that the release and Daft Punk's concurrent tours cumulatively restored the duo's reputation following Human After All.[27]

Dave de Sylvia of Sputnikmusic gave the album a score of four stars out of five and said, "Despite a few individual disappointments, Alive 2007 is as exciting a collection of music as any released this year."[28] Entertainment Weekly felt that the live crowd enhanced the positive mood of the performance.[18] Rolling Stone stated that Alive 2007 "loses some of the essential experience" of attending the live Daft Punk events.[24] The Phoenix also felt that the album package would have benefited from more video content, expressing that a key factor of the live show was its implementation of visual elements.[21] In his first positive review for a Daft Punk album, Robert Christgau believed that a full video representation was avoided because "too much scale, flesh and bodily effluvia would be lost."[17] Thomas Bangalter expressed his reasons of not releasing a DVD by stating "the thousands of clips on the internet are better to us than any DVD that could have been released."[22]

On 3 December 2008, Alive 2007 and its single "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" received Grammy Award nominations for Best Electronic/Dance Album and Best Dance Recording, respectively.[29] Both the album and the single were announced as winners during the 51st Grammy Awards pre-telecast ceremony.

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Daft Punk. 

Original track listing
No. Title Length
1. "Robot Rock / Oh Yeah"   6:28
2. "Touch It / Technologic"   5:30
3. "Television Rules the Nation / Crescendolls"   4:51
4. "Too Long / Steam Machine"   7:02
5. "Around the World / Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger"   5:43
6. "Burnin' / Too Long"   7:12
7. "Face to Face / Short Circuit"   4:55
8. "One More Time / Aerodynamic"   6:11
9. "Aerodynamic Beats / Forget About the World"   3:32
10. "The Prime Time of Your Life / The Brainwasher / Rollin' & Scratchin' / Alive"   10:22
11. "Da Funk / Daftendirekt"   6:37
12. "Superheroes / Human After All / Rock'n Roll"   5:41
Total length:
 74:04

Bonus disc

  1. Encore: "Human After All" / "Together" / "One More Time (reprise)" / "Music Sounds Better with You"  – 9:59
  2. Music video: "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (Alive 2007)"

Chart positions

Weekly charts

Charts (2007) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[30] 14
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)[31] 6
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia)[32] 6
French Albums (SNEP)[33] 2
Mexican Albums (Top 100 Mexico)[34] 25
Dutch Albums (MegaCharts)[35] 47
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[36] 17
UK Albums (OCC)[37] 86
US Dance/Electronic Albums (Billboard)[38] 1
US Billboard 200[39] 169

Certifications

Region Certification Sales/shipments
France (SNEP)[40] Gold 75,000*
Australia (ARIA)[41] Gold 35,000^

*sales figures based on certification alone
^shipments figures based on certification alone
xunspecified figures based on certification alone

Vinyl editions

In December 2014[42] over seven years after the performance, two vinyl editions of the album were released. The first being standard black dual LPs and the second being a limited edition collectors boxset. The boxset edition was shipped along with a reissue Alive 1997 vinyl with stickers, Dual Alive 2007 Vinyls in white in a three fold sleeve and a separate white LP with the ‘Encore’. Also included is a large hardback 52-page photo book, Alive 2007 concert pass replica, daft punk printed slipmat and a download card to download digital versions of the songs.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Daft Punk's YouTube channel youtube.com. Retrieved on 16 September 2007.
  2. 1 2 Exclusive: Daft Punk Unveil Live Album Details Spin.com. Retrieved on 16 September 2007.
  3. ↑ Alive 2007 teaser daft-musique.com. Retrieved on 16 September 2007.
  4. ↑ Daft Punk's Newsletter EMI. Retrieved on 2 November 2007.
  5. 1 2 Live Album To Chronicle Daft Punk Tour Billboard.com. Retrieved on 17 August 2007.
  6. ↑ "53rd Annual Grammy Awards nominees list". Los Angeles Times (Tribune Company). Retrieved 2 December 2010.
  7. 1 2 3 "Daft Punk's Magical Pyramid/Spaceship: Infiltrated!". pitchfork.com. Retrieved on 10 December 2007
  8. 1 2 Bercy Review thedaftclub.com. Retrieved on 13 September 2007.
  9. ↑ Daft Punk Embrase Bercy (French) lejdd.fr. Retrieved on 13 September 2007.
  10. ↑ "French Touch Is Back in Its Homeland". mycow.eu. Retrieved on 13 September 2007.
  11. ↑ "Daft Punk and the Rise of the New Parisian Nightlife". Paper Magazine. Retrieved on 3 November 2007.
  12. ↑ Buy It Use It Break It Fix It LA Weekly. Retrieved on 6 November 2007.
  13. ↑ "Daft Punk thrill massive LA crowd". NME. Retrieved on 14 November 2007.
  14. ↑ Critic reviews at Metacritic
  15. 1 2 3 Bush, John. "Alive 2007 - Daft Punk". Allmusic. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
  16. ↑ The A.V. Club review
  17. 1 2 Christgau, Robert. "Consumer Guide: March 2008". Robert Christgau.
  18. 1 2 Vozick-Levinson, Simon (23 November 2007). "Alive 2007 Review". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved on 3 September 2008.
  19. ↑ Gilchrist, Todd (17 January 2008). "Daft Punk - Alive 2007". IGN. Retrieved 26 November 2011.
  20. ↑ Richards, Sam (16 November 2007). "Album Reviews – Daft Punk: 'Alive 2007'". NME. Retrieved 26 November 2011.
  21. 1 2 The Phoenix review
  22. 1 2 3 Dombal, Ryan (20 November 2007). "Daft Punk: Alive 2007". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved on 3 September 2008.
  23. ↑ PopMatters review
  24. 1 2 Sheffield, Rob (16 November 2007). "Alive 2007". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
  25. ↑ Slant Magazine review
  26. ↑ Walters, Barry (18 January 2008). "Daft Punk, 'Alive 2007'". Spin. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
  27. 1 2 Rayner, Ben (4 December 2007). "Daft Punk redemption". The Star. Retrieved on 3 September 2008.
  28. ↑ de Sylvia, Dave (4 December 2007). "Daft Punk - Alive 2007 Review". Sputnikmusic. Archived from the original on 12 December 2007. Retrieved 17 June 2013.
  29. ↑ "EMI Music's Coldplay Earns Seven Grammy Nominations Including Record of the Year, Album of the Year and Song of the Year". EMI. 4 December 2008. Retrieved 9 February 2009.
  30. ↑ "Australiancharts.com – Daft Punk – Alive 2007". Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
  31. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Daft Punk – Alive 2007" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
  32. ↑ "Ultratop.be – Daft Punk – Alive 2007" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
  33. ↑ "Lescharts.com – Daft Punk – Alive 2007". Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
  34. ↑ "Mexicancharts.com – Daft Punk – Alive 2007". Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
  35. ↑ "Dutchcharts.nl – Daft Punk – Alive 2007" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
  36. ↑ "Swisscharts.com – Daft Punk – Alive 2007". Hung Medien. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
  37. ↑ "Chart Stats – Daft Punk – Alive 2007". UK Albums Chart. Chart Stats. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
  38. ↑ "Daft Punk – Chart history" Billboard Dance/Electronic Albums for Daft Punk. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
  39. ↑ "Daft Punk – Chart history" Billboard 200 for Daft Punk. Retrieved 30 May 2012.
  40. ↑ "French album certifications – Daft Punk – Alive 2007" (in French). Syndicat National de l'Édition Phonographique.
  41. ↑ "ARIA Charts – Accreditations – 2008 Albums". Australian Recording Industry Association.
  42. ↑ NME Announcement

External links

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