History Music / HumanAfterAll

Upon the release of ''Human After All'', Daft Punk described it as their favorite of their albums. However, it received mixed reviews from critics, with its repetitive nature and relatively short production time being points of derision for many. When it leaked several months before its release, its sound reportedly confused fans so much that they thought it was a fake album made to combat online filesharing. Despite this, the album reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Dance/Electronic Albums chart and was nominated for a UsefulNotes/GrammyAward; singles "Technologic" and "Robot Rock" also managed to chart in several countries, and the former of which was sampled in Music/BustaRhymes' "Touch It".

Many songs from the album were incorporated into Daft Punk's Alive 2006/2007 Tour, along with songs from their previous albums; the tour alongside its companion live album, ''Alive 2007'', [[VindicatedByHistory caused many to reassess the album]], and public opinions are now more favorable, with many considering it a culmination of the thematic exploration of the dichotomy between man and machine that was integral to the duo's work.

As opposed to the duo's previous albums ''Music/{{Homework}}'' and ''Music/{{Discovery|DaftPunkAlbum}}'', which were more dance-oriented, ''Human After All'' has a [[DarkerAndEdgier darker]] and [[NewSoundAlbum more minimalistic sound]] closer to {{rock}}, with a mixture of electronics and heavy guitars being at the forefront of the album, though the dance influences are still there. Also in contrast to their past works, both produced over several years, ''Human After All'' was produced in six weeks, with four of those weeks spent mixing. The production reportedly made great use of improvisation and was done primarily with two guitars, two drum machines, a vocoder and an eight-track machine.

The duo decided on this process for ''Human After All'' as a deliberate counterpoint to ''Discovery''; an early press release for the album described its sound as "more spontaneous and direct", while Thomas Bangalter, one half of the duo, likened it to "a stone that's unworked". He also stated that the album was designed to convey "this feeling of either fear or paranoia" and "the dance between humanity and technology", and was "not something intended to make you feel good". Such concepts manifest in the album through ample use of repetition and recurring technological imagery juxtaposed by brief evocations of human experiences ("Make Love" at the halfway point, and "Emotion" at the end).

As opposed to the duo's previous albums ''Music/{{Homework}}'' and ''Music/{{Discovery|DaftPunkAlbum}}'', which were more dance-oriented, ''Human After All'' has a [[DarkerAndEdgier darker]] and [[NewSoundAlbum more minimalistic sound]] closer to {{rock}}, with a mixture of electronics alongside heavy guitars being at the forefront of the album, though the dance influences are still there. Also in contrast to their past works, both produced over several years, ''Human After All'' was produced in six weeks, with four of those weeks spent mixing. The production reportedly made great use of improvisation and was done primarily with two guitars, two drum machines, a vocoder and an eight-track machine.

The duo decided on this process as a deliberate counterpoint to ''Discovery''; an early press release for ''Human After All'' described its sound as "more spontaneous and direct", while Thomas Bangalter, one half of the duo, likened it to "a stone that's unworked". He also stated that the album was designed to convey "this feeling of either fear or paranoia" and "the dance between humanity and technology", and was "not something intended to make you feel good". Such themes manifest in the album through ample use of repetition and recurring technological imagery juxtaposed by brief evocations of human experiences ("Make Love" at the halfway point, and "Emotion" at the end).

Upon the release of ''Human After All'', Daft Punk described it as their favorite of their albums. However, it received mixed reviews from critics, with many citing its repetitive nature and relatively short production time as points of derision. When it leaked several months before its release, its sound reportedly confused fans so much that they thought it was a fake album made to combat online filesharing. Despite this, the album reached number one on the ''Billboard'' Dance/Electronic Albums chart and was nominated for a UsefulNotes/GrammyAward; singles "Technologic" and "Robot Rock" also managed to chart in several countries, and the former of which was sampled in Music/BustaRhymes' "Touch It".

Daft Punk did not give interviews to promote the album, as they believed this would contradict the album's depiction of the media; the only official statement they gave was: "We believe that ''Human After All'' speaks for itself". (Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, the other half of the duo, later opined in 2013 that refusing interviews was the biggest mistake they had ever made.) They instead opted to promote it through music videos, which were made for each of the album's four singles except the TitleTrack, whose attempts of filming a video led to the content being expanded into a feature-length art film, ''Film/DaftPunksElectroma''.

Many songs from the album were incorporated into Daft Punk's Alive 2006/2007 Tour, along with songs from their previous albums; the tour alongside its companion live album, ''Alive 2007'', [[VindicatedByHistory caused many to reassess the album]], and public opinions are now more favorable, with many considering it the culmination of the thematic exploration of the dichotomy between man and machine that was integral to the duo's work.