''Alive 1997'' is the first live album by French

electronic music Electronic music broadly is a group of music genres that employ electronic musical instruments, circuitry-based music technology and software, or general-purpose electronics (such as personal computers) in its creation. It includes both music ...

duo

Daft Punk Daft Punk were a French electronic music duo formed in 1993 in Paris by Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. They achieved popularity in the late 1990s as part of the French house movement, combining house music, funk, disco, tech ...

, released on 1 October 2001 by

Virgin Records Virgin Records is a British record label owned by Universal Music Group. They were originally founded as a British independent record label in 1972 by entrepreneurs Richard Branson, Simon Draper, Nik Powell, and musician Tom Newman (musician), ...

. It contains a 45-minute excerpt of a live performance recorded during Daftendirektour at

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

's Que Club on 8 November 1997. The album was generally positively received by critics. ''Alive 1997'' peaked at number 25 on the French Albums Chart.

Background

The album was initially released online as part of the Daft Club service. Early pressings of the Daft Punk album ''

Discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...

'' contained a card that would allow access to the Daft Club website containing remixes and the live recording. The Daft Club service ended in 2003. The performance at Birmingham's Que Club was considered by Daft Punk to be one of their favorite live sets at the time of its release.Hot Press review
/ref> ''Alive 1997'' prominently features elements of " Daftendirekt", "

Da Funk "Da Funk" is an instrumental track by French electronic music duo Daft Punk, initially released as a 12-inch single in May 1995 by Soma and Virgin and later included on their debut album, ''Homework'' (1997). Prior to its inclusion on the albu ...

", " Rollin' & Scratchin'" and " Alive" from their ''

Homework Homework is a set of tasks assigned to students by their teachers to be completed at home. Common homework assignments may include required reading, a writing or typing project, Exercise (mathematics), math problems to be completed, informatio ...

'' album. There are also prominent elements of Armand Van Helden's "Ten Minutes of Funk" remix of "Da Funk". The live performance also contains elements of what would later become the track "

Short Circuit A short circuit (sometimes abbreviated to short or s/c) is an electrical circuit that allows a current to travel along an unintended path with no or very low electrical impedance. This results in an excessive current flowing through the circuit ...

" featured in ''Discovery''. ''Alive 1997'' contains the 45-minute excerpt as a continuous track. The physical releases contain no tracklisting. The CD and vinyl packaging included a set of Daft Punk stickers. The layout for the album was done by Åbäke, and the photography by Serge Paulet. In 2022, the album was reissued for the 25th anniversary of ''Homework''.

Critical reception

Reception to ''Alive 1997'' was generally positive upon release. John Bush of

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

noted how "radically different" the live versions of Daft Punk's tracks are compared to the originals, and that the release accurately captured the energy of the stage show. Fiona Reid of ''

Hot Press ''Hot Press'' is a monthly music and politics magazine based in Dublin, Ireland, founded in June 1977. The magazine has been edited since its inception by Niall Stokes. History ''Hot Press'' was founded in June 1977 by Niall Stokes, who cont ...

'' felt that the audible audience enhanced the record, making it reminiscent to sound effects heard in ''Homework''. An ''

NME ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming and culture website, bimonthly magazine, and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a "Rock music, rock inkie", the ''NME'' would be ...

'' review called ''Alive 1997'' "an immaculately executed product", expressing that it was preferred over the "sleek sophistication" of ''Discovery''. Sputnikmusic also felt that it was superior to the duo's later live album '' Alive 2007'', in particular highlighting the singular continuous flow of the 1997 performance. '' Q'' called ''Alive 1997'' "45 minutes of breathless electronic excitement" while '' Uncut'' wrote that it "has a shrill rawness that vividly captures a night of sweat-stained gymnastics".

Personnel

Adapted from the ''Alive 1997'' liner notes. * Daft Punk – production, writing * Serge Paulet – photography * Åbäke – layout * Janvier – photo retouching

Charts

References

External links

* {{Authority control Daft Punk live albums 2001 live albums Virgin Records live albums Albums produced by Thomas Bangalter Albums produced by Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo