Maps of Music

Homework (1997)

Where the lyrics of Homework take you, and where it was really made.

Daft Punk named the album Homework because they made the record at home, very cheaply and very quickly.

Key places

Daft House, Paris (1997)

Recording site Pathé Marconi studios — The album was mixed and recorded in the duo's studio, Daft House in Paris. The point sits at the city centre, since the source does not give the exact building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Daftendirekt recorded in Ghent (1995)

Live show Ghent — Daftendirekt is an excerpt of a live performance in Ghent, Belgium, at the first I Love Techno event on 10 November 1995. It opened the album and was the introduction to Daft Punk's live shows. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• Homework: debut studio album by French electronic duo Daft Punk
• Released 20 January 1997 by Virgin Records and Soma Quality Recordings
• Released in the US on 25 March 1997
• Title refers to the album being recorded in a home studio
• Charted in 14 countries
• Sold more than two million copies worldwide by February 2001
• Influential on dance music; brought worldwide attention to French house

Background

• Popular singles on Soma Quality Recordings drew attention from major labels
• Signed to Virgin Records in 1996
• Originally planned to release the music as separate singles, then decided there was enough material for an album
• Duo: Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo
• 1993 demo presented to DJ Stuart Macmillan at a rave at Disneyland Paris
• Virgin re-released Da Funk in 1996, a year before the album

Recording

• Mixed and recorded in the duo's studio, Daft House in Paris
• Name comes from making the record at home, cheaply and quickly
• Mastered by Nilesh Patel at the London studio the Exchange
• Tracks were produced over about five months before the album order was set

Cover

• Front cover and inner sleeve artwork conceived by Daft Punk
• Photographed by artist and film producer Nicolas Hidiroglou

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Tracklist

Disc 1

Disc 2

Sources: musicbrainz.org

Artist

Formation

• Daft Punk is a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo.
• The duo grew out of their earlier band Darlin', which disbanded after around six months. The name Daft Punk came from a Melody Maker review of Darlin' that called their music "a daft, punky thrash."
• They were managed from 1996 to 2008 by Pedro Winter, head of Ed Banger Records.

Members

• Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo are the two core members.
• From 1999 to 2021 they performed in robot personas, with Bangalter in a silver helmet and Homem-Christo in gold.

Career

• The debut album Homework (1997) on Virgin Records was backed by the singles "Around the World" and "Da Funk".
• Discovery (2001) earned acclaim and hit singles including "One More Time", "Digital Love" and "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger". It became the basis for the animated film Interstella 5555 (2003).
• Human After All (2005) received mixed reviews. The duo also directed the film Electroma (2006).
• The Alive 2006/2007 tour is credited with broadening the appeal of dance music in North America. Alive 2007 won a Grammy.
• They composed the score for Tron: Legacy (2010).
• Random Access Memories (2013), released on Columbia Records, won five Grammy Awards in 2014, including Album of the Year. Its single "Get Lucky" was their first UK number-one.
• "Starboy" with the Weeknd (2016) was their only US Billboard Hot 100 number one.
• They announced their split in February 2021 after 28 years.
• Rolling Stone ranked them the 12th-greatest musical duo of all time in 2015.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Entertainment Weekly: David Browne described the playful, hip-hopping ambient techno and called Homework ideal disco for androids
• Drop-D Magazine: Darren Gawle wrote that the duo sounded amateurish at best
• The Village Voice: Robert Christgau named Da Funk a choice cut on an album not worth your time or money
• Slant Magazine: Sal Cinquemani said a few tracks were more daft than deft, and Da Funk inspired acts such as the Avalanches
• AllMusic: Sean Cooper called the album an almost certain classic

Reappraisal

• Pitchfork (2003): named Homework the 65th-greatest album of the 1990s
• 2004 Rolling Stone Album Guide: Douglas Wolk awarded three out of five
• 2005 book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Alex Rayner said the album tied club styles to big beat
• Stylus Magazine: Ian Mathers wrote that the album holds a core of unimpeachably classic work
• IGN (2009): Brian Linder called it a groundbreaking achievement
• BBC Music (2010): Chris Power compared its less-is-more compression to a sonic tribute to FM radio
• eMusic (2011): Hua Hsu praised the feeling of discovery and exploration
• Clash (2012): described the album as an entry point of accessibility
• Rolling Stone (2012): named it the greatest EDM album of all time
• Pitchfork (2018): Larry Fitzmaurice awarded 9.2 out of 10

Records

• France: number three on the French Albums Chart, on the chart for 82 weeks
• UK Albums Chart: number 8
• US Billboard 200: number 150
• Australia: number 37
• Sold 220,000 copies worldwide by October 1997
• France: gold in 1999 for more than 100,000 copies
• US: gold on 11 July 2001 for 500,000 copies
• Two million copies sold worldwide by February 2001, per Virgin Records
• US: 605,000 copies sold by September 2007

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The initial CD run was only 50,000 copies, because the duo wanted most pressings on vinyl; production was then sped up to meet demand
• Bangalter said the B-side of the Da Funk single was basically used to make the single a double-feature
• Daftendirekt, the album's opener, was an excerpt from a live show that served as the introduction to Daft Punk's live shows
• The final track, Funk Ad, is a reversed clip of Da Funk
• The Indo Silver Club single lacked an artist credit and was thought to have been made by nonexistent producers

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

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