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[ItAintEasyBeinCheesy]

Just started

Give Life Back to Music makes me think of Michael Jackson dancing in heaven in a silver suit. The grounds lighting up where he walks like in his clip.

 

[jokkir]

"My name is Hansjörg Giovanni, but everyone calls me Giorgio"

*synth kicks in*

 

[scoobs]

first listen ... yuck. Hope its a grower cuz i'm super disappointed

 

[enzo_gt]

Theres no confusion, I'm assuming they were playing it straight- which is my problem with it. Having that monologue over that music, followed by the drop... The cheese is off the charts.

I don't think it's completely serious, and I think there is a super cheesy way to do it, but that wasn't it.

I like how as the monologue builds the synthesizer is tweaking and tuning and is building up to the start of the song proper, and how it ties into the end of the song too.

 

[tanuki]

There's pretty much no way that Touch should work in the context of this album or as a Daft Punk song, but there's something about it that really works. Totally stupid but heartfelt at the same time.

I think sequencing it between two bangers is pretty good too.

 

[MikeHaggar]

The earnestness is kinda jarring though, when the music they are evoking is, imho, cheesy. Its a fine line, which they toe pretty well, but there are moments when its just too much.

I don't want to get painted as a hater, because I really like it, but its a critique that came up in some early reviews, and I can accept that view point.

now that's a critique i can understand and i agree that it's a fine line. i suppose a big part of it is each individual's perception of what types or styles of music are cheesy. personally, i find some of the lyrics more cheesy than most of the music on the album.

musically, the slower songs and the middle section of touch (where it sounds like a musical) are cheesy to me, but the last 3rd of touch is just so fucking awesome that i now respect the middle third. they made it work. i personally don't find anything cheesy about any of the music in giorgio so that's probably why we don't see eye to eye on it and that's cool.

 

[K.Sabot]

I just saw someone compare Giorgio by Moroder to "Scarface chasing Dracula through Castlevania", and I have to agree.

Also the singer on Touch sounds a bit like Dan Bejar which I appreciate.

 

[Drahcir]

This album is great. The "cheesy," "elevator/shopping music," disco is turrble," criticism I've read in this thread....I don't get it. All the disco + lounge + 70s-80s touches are class.

And Contact is straight "2001 + Contact (film) stargate/wormhole sequences in audio form" music. A+ final track.

After my second complete play through of RAM, I have to throw my 2 cents to this opinion. I really don't know where the impression of "cheese" and "elevator music" are coming from. It sounds awfully sincere to me. I've heard myself throw "cheesy" to a lot of things before when there is a sense of, I don't know, deliberate intent? I just can't see it here with RAM. Or perhaps I just like cheese.

The first play through was definitely jarring. Currently listening to it for a third time and the album seems to just sound better when you let it sink in. I was initially pessimistic when I was reading all the twitter chatter about it earlier in the day when I was at work and couldn't listen to it. Tonight, right now, I can't stop listening to it.

 

[Antiwhippy]

Lose yourself to dance is totally stuck in my head.

 

[ItAintEasyBeinCheesy]

I just saw someone compare Giorgio by Moroder to "Scarface chasing Dracula through Castlevania", and I have to agree.

Also the singer on Touch sounds a bit like Dan Bejar which I appreciate.

Blackula also and you got a deal.

 

[DominoKid]

damn this is better on headphones than speakers.

Instant Crush is probably my favorite

 

[olympia]

I really dig Touch. It totally is an un-Daft Punk song, but it works with the overall concept of the album.

RAM is totally a rebuttal to the old Late 70's/80's cynicism towards disco. Those bright ass guitars are sweet as fuck and that is what totally hooked me on this album.

 

[Hieberrr]

I really dig Touch. It totally is an un-Daft Punk song, but it works with the overall concept of the album.

RAM is totally a rebuttal to the old Late 70's/80's cynicism towards disco. Those bright ass guitars are sweet as fuck and that is what totally hooked me on this album.

Touch is absolutely fantastic after the vocals. It perfectly sets you in that time period. Then, it gets sad/hopeful sounding. So good.

 

[victreeb3l]

damn this is better on headphones than speakers.

Instant Crush is probably my favorite

for sure. "motherboard" is definitely a track whose awesomeness jumps a few points going from speakers to headphones

touch as well. yeah, im a little obsessed with that song.

 

[Net_Wrecker]

The earnestness is kinda jarring though, when the music they are evoking is, imho, cheesy. Its a fine line, which they toe pretty well, but there are moments when its just too much.

I don't want to get painted as a hater, because I really like it, but its a critique that came up in some early reviews, and I can accept that view point.

I look at it in the same way I look at films that pay homage to eras or styles of film from decades past that might look cheesy now, but the director does it without nudging the audience constantly, or winking every step of the way. Just a totally straightforward love letter to the times, because honestly, a lot of those 70s-80s films people love for their cheese weren't trying to be cheesy. That's what makes them so good. RAM feels 100% honest, which allows me to get past any "cheese factor" and appreciate the music more for it.

And like MikeHaggar said, it just depends on where you come from on the whole "cheesy" thing. I tend to see older media as products of their time, not necessarily cheesy in the worst sense of the word. From that perspective, an artist going back to a particular sound or look, not for kicks and giggles, but out of love for the style is something I can completely understand. Hell, it's one of the reasons I love the 80s electro-pop/synthpop/sci-fi synth revival. This album might not be for someone coming in for traditional EDM Daft Punk, but man, it's good stuff to me.

 

[Cassius]

Paul Williams voice on the track made me instantly think of the Dexter's Lab episode with him on it.

I was like, wait a minute I know this voice!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vst6DXDnzKw

 

[tanuki]

The talkbox solo in Fragments of Time is soooooo good.

 

[yogloo]

The ending song is digital nuclear blast.

 

[D23]

wow dat build up for contact is intense yo, i can see dj's playing this on a festivals and seeing all the hands going up..

 

[Nyx]

Probably the worst album I'll hear this year.

Be honest, if the exact same album was released by Unknown Band A, no one would have cared.

Very generic beats, way too much use of the vocoder and just too many vocals, hardly electronic, what happened to the French house duo that released Homework?

But hey, to each his own, for all fans I hope the album will last for years.

 

[Fjordson]

Probably the worst album I'll hear this year.

Be honest, if the exact same album was released by Unknown Band A, no one would have cared.

Very generic beats, way too much use of the vocoder and just too many vocals, hardly electronic, what happened to the French house duo that released Homework?

But hey, to each his own, for all fans I hope the album will last for years.

I love the vocoder for some reason. Like I can't get enough of it.

But I agree, some of the vocals are a negative. Paul Williams, Pharrell and Panda Bear add absolutely nothing for me. Especially Panda Bear. Not a fan of his track.

 

[cdyhybrid]

what happened to the French house duo that released Homework?

They're back in 1997. They said in interviews that they weren't too interested in going back to stuff they've already done, so that version of them is probably gone forever.

 

[AnkhWeasel]

The sequencing of this album (closing with Contact) has me wondering if they've already got a heavier, dancier sequel or something in the works. Huge ending.

 

[Hieberrr]

Motherboard!!!!!!!!!!

This album really needs something like Interstella. Visuals really need to accompany this album.

 

[olympia]

Very generic beats, way too much use of the vocoder and just too many vocals, hardly electronic, what happened to the French house duo that released Homework?

Hey man, that's cool that you like what you like, but saying that this album isn't like anything that they released 16 years ago isn't really a thoughtful or unique criticism.

Also, the Todd Edwards track is pretty good too.

 

[DominoKid]

It honestly never crossed my mind that people thought disco was cheesy. It makes me sad knowing people actually think that.

Then again this is the music of my childhood. My dad loves dance music which is funny because I've never seen him bust a move in my life.

 

[PBY]

The sequencing of this album (closing with Contact) has me wondering if they've already got a heavier, dancier sequel or something in the works. Huge ending.

I like the interpretation that someone posted earlier- this is a prequel that leads into their other work.

I actually don't want a sequel in this vein (although I doubt we'll get another album anytime soon)- I think the whole disco/lounge/prog theme was fully explored.

 

[Douglas Quaid]

Man, Daft Punk has always had a disco/funk undercurrent mixed in with their electronic style, they just shifted the knobs more towards the disco direction this time around. I can't see how this is "elevator music", to me its a masterpiece by two artists in their prime.

 

[CharminUltra]

Currently finishing my second listen. As it stands, I'm liking it more than Discovery which is my absolute favorite. It might change over time of course, but right now RAM is easily my favorite Daft Punk album of all time.

Oh, Contact just started. See ya laters ya'll.

 

[dmshaposv]

Pharrell ruined 'Lose Yourself to Dance' for me. Iugh.

Touch is so good, it feels like it belongs on Broadway.

if anything, pharell is better on this then get lucky.

 

[PBY]

It honestly never crossed my mind that people thought disco was cheesy. It makes me sad knowing people actually think that.

Then again this is the music of my childhood. My dad loves dance music which is funny because I've never seen him bust a move in my life.

Disco is very cheesy at times. Lounge, imho, is also undeniably cheesy. That isn't a criticism, its just sort of the genre- and for me it works and excels when it leans into the cheese and turns up the brightness. For me, the strongest moments on RAM do the same.

 

[Hieberrr]

Touch @ 3:00

 

[cdyhybrid]

I like the interpretation that someone posted earlier- this is a prequel that leads into their other work.

I actually don't want a sequel in this vein (although I doubt we'll get another album anytime soon)- I think the whole disco/lounge/prog theme was fully explored.

That's the impression I got too. Contact is...someone leaving Earth searching for something (the UFO mentioned) and at the end they find it. The alien robots give them DP's next album (presumably the much more up-tempo remix album).

Or something like that

 

[Nyx]

Hey man, that's cool that you like what you like, but saying that this album isn't like anything that they released 16 years ago isn't really a thoughtful or unique criticism.

Also, the Todd Edwards track is pretty good too.

I'm stuck in the past man, but it's all good here though!

 

[PBY]

Man, Daft Punk has always had a disco/funk undercurrent mixed in with their electronic style, they just shifted the knobs more towards the disco direction this time around. I can't see how this is "elevator music", to me its a masterpiece by two artists in their prime.

I love their album, but there are moments when the guitars get a little too indulgent for my tastes. Game of love, for example, feels like an extended jam session, which is cool but also lends to some of that criticism.

 

[tanuki]

People who think the disco tunes on here are cheesy haven't listened to enough disco.

Don't know how you can hate on disco. Without disco, there'd be no French touch.

 

[olympia]

That's the impression I got too. Contact is...someone leaving Earth searching for something (the UFO mentioned) and at the end they find it. The alien robots give them DP's next album (presumably the much more up-tempo remix album).

Or something like that

Daft Punk's ability to tantalize your imagination is definitely part of the magic they've got going on.

E: There's some Disco that's way too saturated and surface. Like Poolside.

 

[Cyklops]

After a few listenings of the album, I think the best songs are 'Give Life Back To Music', 'The Game of Love', 'Giorgio by Moroder', 'Instant Crush', 'Lose Yourself To Dance' and 'Motherboard'. 'Touch' and 'Contact' are good too, but not the best IMO. The rest are just ok.

 

[flippedb]

Fragments is the best song, hands down.

 

[PBY]

Fragments is the best song, hands down.

Lol its the one that I really have a hard time listening to all the way through. I find it just too... light.

But thats the cool thing about this album.

 

[Cheesemeister]

"Beyond" reminds me of an auto-tuned Carl Sagan and Stephen Hawking.

 

[Hieberrr]

Fragments is the best song, hands down.

The way he sings the verses <3

 

[UnluckyKate]

Contact is amazing. It has pure moment of bliss. I don't like that very final part that much. Too shattered

 

[tanuki]

This album has so many highlights. Hard to pin down the best track, but Giorgio by Moroder is up there with the best they've done.

 

[BeeDog]

Not feeling this album at all. "Giorgio By Moroder" is the proper highlight of the album, and "Contact" is pretty good too. Already grown bored by "Get Lucky". The rest are completely unremarkable in my eyes, but maybe I'm just not a fan of this disco stuff.

 

[aznpxdd]

Blah, work is going so slow today.

I just wanna head back home, smoke some weed, then lose myself in this album with headphone on.

 

[Fjordson]

Lol its the one that I really have a hard time listening to all the way through. I find it just too... light.

But thats the cool thing about this album.

Fragments is honestly on some cornball shit, but I like it :lol pretty catchy.

The Paul Williams track is also really corny, but not in a good way like Fragments (in my opinion). Mainly his vocal sections, the other parts sound okay. I mean I respect him and it's neat Daft Punk got him to collaborate on the album, but those sections of the song are so jarring to me.

 

[jambo]

This alternate track order seems to work very well

01. Contact
02. Get Lucky
03. Give Life Back to Music
04. Fragments of Time
05. Giorgio By Moroder
06. Lose Yourself to Dance
07. Beyond
08. Instant Crush
09. The Game of Love
10. Within
11. Motherboard
12. Doin' It Right
13. Touch

Not feeling this album at all. "Giorgio By Moroder" is the proper highlight of the album, and "Contact" is pretty good too. Already grown bored by "Get Lucky". The rest are completely unremarkable in my eyes, but maybe I'm just not a fan of this disco stuff.

I already love disco and funkier stuff, but I did find that it took 3-4 listens for some tracks to click.

 

[PBY]

Not feeling this album at all. "Giorgio By Moroder" is probably the proper highlight, and "Contact" is pretty good too. Already grown bored by "Get Lucky". The rest are completely unremarkable in my eyes, but maybe I'm just not a fan of this disco stuff.

Its not reaaaally a disco album. It has heavy lounge influences dips into prog at times, plus there is a really cinematic undercurrent to whole thing. A lot slower and more ballady than you'd expect from a straight disco album.

 

[yogloo]

Instant crush is one of those songs that you don't want to end.