Human After All is the third studio album by electronic music duo Daft Punk, released on March 14, 2005 through Virgin Records.
As opposed to the duo's previous albums Homework and Discovery, which were more dance-oriented, Human After All has a darker and more minimalistic sound that prominently combines electronics with rock guitars, 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". Thomas Bangalter, one half of the duo, 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 with 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 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 Grammy Award; singles "Technologic" and "Robot Rock" also managed to chart in several countries, and the former single was notably sampled in Busta Rhymes' "Touch It".
Daft Punk did not give interviews to promote the album, as they believed it 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 singles except the Title Track, whose attempts of filming a video led to the content being expanded into a feature-length art film, Daft Punk's Electroma.
Many songs from Human After All 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, 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.
Human After All was supported by four singles: "Robot Rock", "Technologic", "Human After All" and "The Prime Time of Your Life".
Tracklist:
- "Human After All" (5:20)
- "The Prime Time of Your Life" (4:23)
- "Robot Rock" (4:48)
- "Steam Machine" (5:21)
- "Make Love" (4:50)
- "The Brainwasher" (4:08)
- "On/Off" (0:19)
- "Television Rules the Nation" (4:48)
- "Technologic" (4:44)
- "Emotion" (6:57)
Human After All contains examples of:
- Album Title Drop: One of the repeated lines in the Title Track is "We are human after all".
- Darker and Edgier: The album is much more cold, robotic, and unsettling than their other works.
- Epic Rocking: "Emotion" is 6:57 long.
- Every Episode Ending: Inverted. Every music video starts off with SPECIAL PRESENTATION on a TV with a low blaring sound in the background.
- Limited Lyrics Song: Every single song (with the exception of 20-second interlude "On/Off") is built off of repeated lyrics. The only possible exceptions to this trope are the Title Track for having TWO sections with DIFFERENT repeated lines (so shocking) and "Technologic" for having about 50-60 things you can do to 'it' (plus the title).
- Longest Song Goes Last: Closer "Emotion" is nearly 7 minutes long. No other song reaches 5:30.
- Madness Mantra: "The Prime Time Of Your Life" definitely feels like this, especially if you watch the video. (Warning: The video is a source of
Nightmare Fuel for many.) - Mood Whiplash: Throughout the entire album; some of the more poignant examples are the dark, unsettling song "The Prime Time Of Your Life" being followed by the upbeat "Robot Rock" (even more noticeable if you're listening to the album on YouTube where the two music videos are much, much different), soft, serene "Make Love" directly preceding "The Brainwasher", which is straight-up threatening, and "Technologic", an energetic, up-tempo song, directly preceding the slow and melancholy "Emotion".
- New Sound Album: Human After All is much more heavy and emotionless (despite having a song called "Emotion") than their first two albums.
- Performance Video: The video for "Robot Rock" plays this completely straight. This comes across as a little odd comparing it to the other two music videos of songs from the album. (Nightmare Fuel warning for the other two.)
- Sampling: Used much more sparingly than on the two albums preceding it, but "Robot Rock" heavily samples "Release The Beast" by Breakwater, "The Brainwasher" (much less heavily) samples "Iron Man" by Black Sabbath, and "Emotion" samples "Technologic", the song that comes right before it!
- Surprisingly Gentle Song: "Make Love", a soft song with clean guitar and calm, smooth vocals; especially so since it's sandwiched in between "Steam Machine" and "The Brainwasher", two of the most heavy, unsettling songs on the album. "Emotion" too, though less so because it's still electronic-rooted and the fact that it's the album closer as opposed to being shoved in the middle.
- Title Track: The album opener.
