Homework (Daft Punk album)

Homework is an album by Daft Punk, released January 20, 1997. It was recorded from 1993 to 1996 and is the encompassing piece for their last two singles. The album was met with critical acclaim upon release. The album also had a bit of a disco and funk tinge, though this wouldn't become more clear until later on in the band's discography. The album practically revived house music, which was verging on death as a genre.

On closer inspection, the album is actually very linear and is more of the same over and over, although I wouldn't exactly call that a criticism. It feels very much like a concept album but it doesn't tell much of a story nor is it based around anything. It is a solid piece of music that deserves the acclaim that it got, and although not nearly as much, sometimes still does. It falls under the French house and tech house genres.

Daftendirekt, the opening track on side A, is very much a repetitive track. As such, I'd likely end up repeating myself over and over if I went on to try and describe it as more than that. It opens with a muffled voice sample which repeatedly states "da funk back to the punk, c'mon", which eventually leads into drums playing. There is then a funky guitar sound that makes the sound electrifying overlaying the rest of the piece. It does give way to some interest for house fans that are listening. This is just a first taste of how consistent this album feels.

WDPK 83.7 FM is a short piece that acts a bridge between Daftendirekt and Revolution 909. It sounds like it's a music radio station promoting the album that it's on in the first place. It carries on some of the same themes as Daftendirekt, and eventually Da Funk.

Revolution 909 is a very dance-able track on the record, being a conceptual piece. It's a song that critiques France's apparent hatred for nightclubs. It opens with the sound of a group of people talking before a policeman breaks up the group, followed by screaming; then, it segues into the music part, which lasts about four minutes before ending. As I've said before, this album is very much so a constant rehashing. It may not be for a lot of people.

Da Funk is arguably the most well known track from the album, next to Around the World from later on in the record. Of course, it's a "more of the same" thing, yet another rehashing of the themes carried in Daftendirekt although the most dance-able of the trio. This song was originally released on a single in 1995 with Rollin' & Scratchin' as a B-side.

Phœnix is the closest the album comes to being "bad" by any standards. Not to say that the track is bad, it's just the least interesting and isn't very memorable at all. It opens with a percussion piece as a synthesizer sneaks its way into the track later on, about midway through; and then it follows a pattern, just like all the other tracks.

Fresh is probably a song about the ocean, considering all the ocean noises. Surprisingly, this track contains an actual guitar for its intro and outro, quite a step out of line considering the consistence of the rest of the album, which I plan to hammer in very hard by acknowledging it and rehashing it in every one of these because, you know, there isn't a whole lot to say about this album. It may sound like I'm beginning to hate it, but sometimes, such consistence can be a good thing. It makes this album feel like one large suite.

Around the World is up there with Da Funk in popularity, as I've said before. And as it relishes in that popularity, as it tends to do, it receives a matching music video. The music video for this track was debated on for many years in its confusing meaning until it was finally just accepted that it was symbolization of a record spinning, symbolized by oddly dressed people or humanoids walking around on a circle in a flashing room. This is one of the longer tracks on the record, third longest to Rollin' & Scratchin' before, lastly, Rock'n Roll.

Rollin' & Scratchin' is probably the heaviest track on the LP, well placed just in front of Around the World. It features heavy percussion and alarming, squealing synthesizers; it's probably also one of the more varying, avant-garde tracks. Not much else can be said, although it is likely my favourite track on the album.

Teachers is a tribute to everyone to influenced the duo that makes up Daft Punk, purportedly. It's a shorter track, but still warrants a mention here as another one of my favourite tracks on this album. Not a lot can be said.

High Fidelity is also a rather interesting track! It has a funky percussion line and an interesting choice of samples, but nothing much else than that. It, of course, still warrants a mention here just like every other track gets.

Rock'n Roll is the longest track on the album, and one of the most difficult to sit through; it gets very repetitive fast and might ward off the average listener if they don't sit through it and wait until it actually gets to be quite grandiose.

Oh Yeah is another of the shorter tracks on the album. It doesn't warrant a whole lot of attention other than being yet another oddity, of the same dissonant tones that the rest of the album carries.

Burnin' is another one of the more famous tracks on the LP. It doesn't carry much more merit than any other generic track on the record, it just sorta...exists and is somewhat well known and is catchy, just like every other track?

Indo Silver Club is a very dance-able track. This track is, of course, sharing a name with the single; for good reason, mind you. This is part two off of that single. It's very catchy and sounds like something a skater would listen to, if they weren't listening to this whole album.

Alive is also from a previously released single. It's track B2 from The New Wave, a single by Daft Punk released in 1994 (which happens to be their first release ever). This track was the New Wave Final Mix; and it was final for good reason; this track is very much better than the original piece. It's engaging, just like any other track, but it's also one of the better tracks.

Funk Ad is a 51 second sample from Da Funk that is reversed. That's about it.

And that's this entire album.

Track Listing
A1. Daftendirekt - 2:44

A2. WDPK 83.7 FM - 0:28

A3. Revolution 909 - 5:26

A4. Da Funk - 5:28

A5. Phœnix - 4:55

B1. Fresh - 4:03

B2. Around the World - 7:07

B3. Rollin' & Scratchin' - 7:26

C1. Teachers - 2:52

C2. High Fidelity - 6:00

C3. Rock'n Roll - 7:32

C4. Oh Yeah - 2:00 (This track features special guests DJ Crabbe and DJ Deelat.)

D1. Burnin' - 6:53

D2. Indo Silver Club - 4:32 (This is Part Two from the Indo Silver Club single.)

D3. Alive - 5:15 (This is B2 from the The New Wave extended play.)

D4. Funk Ad - 0:51

The album is, overall, 73:31.

The album was mastered by Nilesh Patel.

All songs were written by Daft Punk (Guillaume Emmanuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter).