Search - Daft Punk :: Alive 1997

Julie S. from LA MESA, CA
Reviewed on 6/14/2007...

GREAT CD! Very upbeat..I love it!

One of the best live albums EVER.

Christian Zimmerman | 02/29/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Although I love electronic music, I have never put much stock in live electronica. By live electronica, I don't mean a DJ spinning at a club or party, but an artist playing his or her music in the context of a rock concert. All too often, the results are dissapointing, amounting to little more than an hour or so of extended versions of studio cuts, due to the sample-and-loop nature of the genre. On ALIVE 1997, however, Daft Punk prove themselves to be an exception, much to my delight.Granted, the 45 minutes of ALIVE 1997 consist of extended versions of 3 songs ("Da Funk," "Rollin' and Scratchin'," and "Alive," all from HOMEWORK), but Daft Punk does much more than simply loop the hooks for longer periods of time. Instead, they twist and distort their songs until they're beyond recognition, as well as including extended periods of free improvisations. However, what makes this album truly amazing is that the artistic showmanship never overshadows the music's danceable quality. The sheer inventiveness this duo exhibits makes this album interesting even to a headphone-loving rock fan like me; in fact, Daft Punk is one of the few artists of ANY genre that can hold the casual listener's attention for longer than 15 minutes.ALIVE 1997 isn't just the best live electronica album in history, it's one of the best live albums ever released, one of the few that even comes close to rivaling Kiss' ALIVE. It takes a lot of chutzpah to name a live album after that seminal 1975 album, but Daft Punk has more than enough talent to back it up."

Great beginning and end... to bad the middle drones on....

Jeff | Davis, CA United States | 07/23/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Daft Punk made themselves the kings of marathon mixing with this 45 minute "live" performance; the single track on the disc lasts for the whole duration of the performance (something I don't quite appreciate - more on that later).The beginning of the performance is incredible with many fluid shifts in the tempo and underlying bass-beat give the music an 80s club/breakdancing feel. The woos and cheers from the crows are scattered throughout the 45 minutes and wholly reflect the quality of the music being played.With 45 minutes of continuous mixing it's hard to believe that every minute will be packed with explosive and provocative music; unfortunately, Daft Punk didn't escape this belief. As early as 17 minutes the music starts to drone, nearly driving away the attarctiveness of the mix (if you like pure trance music though, you might be able to appreciate the middle section of the track). Either way, the crowd seems to reflect the attractiveness of the music in this section. This middle section only draws attention to the fact that the CD is only ONE TRACK, it would be have been nice to be able to skip through the section and continue to the highly attractive final 15 minutes where the music regains some of the qualities of the first third of the track. Overall a good listen!"