''Discovery'' is the second studio album by the 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 12 March 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 marked a shift from the

Chicago house Chicago house refers to house music produced during the mid to late 1980s within Chicago. The term is generally used to refer to the original house music of DJs and producers from the area, such as Ron Hardy and Phuture History and origins D ...

of their first album, ''

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 ...

'' (1997), to a house style more heavily inspired by

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

post-disco Post-disco is a term and genre to describe an aftermath in popular music history circa 1979–1986, imprecisely beginning with the backlash against disco music in the United States, leading to civil unrest and a riot in Chicago known as the Dis ...

, garage house, and R&B.

Thomas Bangalter Thomas Bangalter (; born 3 January 1975) is a French musician. He is best known as one half of the former French house music duo Daft Punk, alongside Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo. He has recorded and released music as a member of the trio Music S ...

of Daft Punk described ''Discovery'' as an exploration of song structures, musical forms and childhood

nostalgia Nostalgia is a sentimentality for the past, typically for a period or place with happy personal associations. The word ''nostalgia'' is a neoclassical compound derived from Greek language, Greek, consisting of (''nóstos''), a Homeric word me ...

, compared to the "raw" electronic music of ''Homework.'' ''Discovery'' was recorded at Bangalter's home in Paris between 1998 and 2000. It features extensive sampling; some samples are from older records, while others were created by Daft Punk. The electronic musicians Romanthony, Todd Edwards, and

DJ Sneak Carlos Sosa (born November 5, 1969), known as DJ Sneak, is a Puerto Rican-born American DJ and record producer raised in Chicago, Illinois, United States. He is noted as being one of the second wave of Chicago house producers, (alongside Derrick ...

collaborated on some tracks. For the music videos, Daft Punk developed a concept involving the merging of

science fiction Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space ...

with the

entertainment industry Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and Interest (emotion), interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but it is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have deve ...

. Inspired by their childhood love for Japanese

anime is a Traditional animation, hand-drawn and computer animation, computer-generated animation originating from Japan. Outside Japan and in English, ''anime'' refers specifically to animation produced in Japan. However, , in Japan and in Ja ...

, the duo collaborated with

Leiji Matsumoto was a Japanese manga artist, and creator of several anime and manga series. His widow Miyako Maki is also a manga artist. Matsumoto was famous for his works such as ''Space Battleship Yamato'' and ''Galaxy Express 999''. His style was chara ...

to produce '' Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem'', an anime film with ''Discovery'' as the soundtrack. Before ''Discovery''s release, Daft Punk adopted robot costumes. They also launched Daft Club, a website which featured exclusive tracks and other bonus material. ''Discovery'' peaked high across several charts internationally on release. Critics praised Daft Punk for innovating in house music as they had done with ''Homework''. The album produced six singles; " One More Time" was the most successful and became a club hit. ''Discovery'' is credited with influencing pop production over subsequent decades. In 2020, ''

Rolling Stone ''Rolling Stone'' is an American monthly magazine that focuses on music, politics, and popular culture. It was founded in San Francisco, California, in 1967 by Jann Wenner and the music critic Ralph J. Gleason. The magazine was first known fo ...

'' included it at number 236 in its updated list of "

The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time "The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time" is a recurring opinion survey and music ranking of the finest albums in history, compiled by the American magazine ''Rolling Stone''. It is based on weighted votes from selected musicians, critics, and indu ...

Background and recording

After their debut album, ''

,'' was released,

and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo spent most of 1997 touring on the Daftendirektour. For the first half of 1998, the duo were focused on their own personal labels while also working on the video collection '' D.A.F.T.: A Story About Dogs, Androids, Firemen and Tomatoes''. In 1999 and 2000, their time was split between making music for their own labels and recording ''Discovery''. Bangalter noted that ''Homework'' influenced many other artists to mimic its sound, prompting Daft Punk to pursue a different direction to better distinguish themselves. Daft Punk recorded ''Discovery'' in their studio, Daft House, in Bangalter's home in Paris.''Discovery'' (

liner notes Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or cassette j-cards. Origin Liner notes are descended from the prog ...

, a division of

Universal Music Group Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as Universal Music Group or Universal Music) is a Netherlands, Dutch–United States, American multinational Music industry, music corporation under Law of the Netherlands, ...

. 2001. Work started in 1998 and lasted two years. Bangalter and Homem-Christo made music together and separately, in a similar process to ''Homework''. Rather than rely on the

drum machine A drum machine is an electronic musical instrument that creates percussion sounds, drum beats, and patterns. Drum machines may imitate drum kits or other percussion instruments, or produce unique sounds, such as synthesized electronic tones. A d ...

s typical for house music, the

Roland TR-808 The Roland TR-808 Rhythm Composer, commonly known as the 808, is a drum machine manufactured by Roland Corporation between 1980 and 1983. It was one of the first drum machines to allow users to program rhythms instead of using preset patterns. ...

and the TR-909, Daft Punk used an

Oberheim DMX The DMX is a programmable Digital data, digital drum machine manufactured by Oberheim Electronics, Oberheim. It was introduced in 1980 at a list price of and remained in the company's product line until the mid-1980s. The Oberheim DMX was the se ...

, a

LinnDrum The LinnDrum, often erroneously referred to as the LM-2, is a drum machine manufactured by Linn Electronics between 1982 and 1985. About 5,000 units were sold. Development The LinnDrum was designed by the American engineer Roger Linn. It was ...

and a Sequential Circuits Drumtraks. They used samplers including the

Akai MPC The Akai MPC (originally MIDI Production Center, now Music Production Center) is a series of Music workstation#Third generation music workstations, music workstations produced by Akai from 1988 onwards. MPCs combine Sampler (musical instrument), ...

and

E-mu SP-1200 The E-mu SP-1200 is a sampling drum machine designed by Dave Rossum and released in August 1987 by E-mu Systems. Like its predecessor, the SP-12, it was designed as a drum machine featuring user sampling. The distinctive character of its so ...

Fender Rhodes The Rhodes piano (also known as the Fender Rhodes piano) is an electric piano invented by Harold Rhodes, which became popular in the 1970s. Like a conventional piano, the Rhodes generates sound with keys and hammers, but instead of strings, t ...

and

Wurlitzer The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...

electric pianos,

vocoder A vocoder (, a portmanteau of ''vo''ice and en''coder'') is a category of speech coding that analyzes and synthesizes the human voice signal for audio data compression, multiplexing, voice encryption or voice transformation. The vocoder wa ...

s including a

Roland Roland (; ; or ''Rotholandus''; or ''Rolando''; died 15 August 778) was a Frankish military leader under Charlemagne who became one of the principal figures in the literary cycle known as the Matter of France. The historical Roland was mil ...

SVC-350 and a DigiTech Vocalist, and various phaser effects. They used the pitch-correcting software

Auto-Tune Auto-Tune is audio processor software released on September 19, 1997, by the American company Antares Audio Technologies. It uses a proprietary device to measure and Pitch correction, correct pitch in music. It operates on different principles ...

on vocals "in a way it wasn't designed to work." Bangalter said: "We're interested in making things sound like something other than what they are. There are guitars that sound like synthesizers, and there are synthesizers that sound like guitars." ''Discovery'' was mastered by Nilesh Patel, who also had mastered ''Homework''. One of the first tracks to come out of the ''Discovery'' sessions, " One More Time", was completed in 1998 and was left "sitting on a shelf" until its single release in 2000. After completing "Too Long" early in the album's production, Daft Punk decided that they "didn't want to do 14 more house tracks" in the way the genre is usually defined and thus set out to incorporate a variety of styles for the record. The album features musical contributions from Romanthony, Todd Edwards, and

. Homem-Christo noted that Romanthony and Edwards were two of the producers that had a big influence on Daft Punk. The duo had wanted to work with them on ''Homework'' but found it difficult to convince them to do so since Daft Punk were still relatively unknown. DJ Sneak wrote the lyrics to "Digital Love" and assisted in the song's production.

Music

Theme

''Discovery'' is recognised as a

concept album A concept album is an album whose tracks hold a larger purpose or meaning collectively than they do individually. This is typically achieved through a single central narrative or theme, which can be instrumental, compositional, or lyrical. Som ...

. It relates strongly to Daft Punk's childhood memories, incorporating their love of cinema and character. Bangalter specified that the album deals with the duo's experiences growing up in the decade between 1975 and 1985, rather than it just being a tribute to the music of that period. The record was designed to reflect a playful, honest and open-minded attitude toward listening to music. Bangalter compared it to the state of childhood when one does not judge or analyse music. Bangalter noted the stylistic approach of the album was in contrast to that of their previous effort. "''Homework'' ..was a way to say to the rock kids, like, 'Electronic music is cool'. ''Discovery'' was the opposite, of saying to the electronic kids, 'Rock is cool, you know? You can like that.'" He elaborated that ''Homework'' had been "a rough and raw thing" focused on sound production and texture; in contrast, the goal of ''Discovery'' was to explore song structures and new musical forms, which was inspired by Aphex Twin's " Windowlicker".

Composition

In his review for

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 ...

, John Bush wrote that ''Discovery'' is "definitely the New York garage edition" of ''Homework''. He said Daft Punk produced a "glammier, poppier" version of

Eurodisco Eurodisco (also spelled as Euro disco) is a genre of electronic dance music that evolved from disco in the middle 1970s, incorporating elements of pop music, pop and rock music, rock into a disco-like continuous dance atmosphere. Many Eurodisco ...

and R&B by over-embellishing their pitch-bend and vocoder effects, including loops of divas, synth-guitars, and electric piano. ''

Stylus Magazine ''Stylus Magazine'' was an American online music and film magazine, launched in 2002 and co-founded by Todd L. Burns. It featured long-form music journalism, four daily music reviews, movie reviews, podcasts, an MP3 blog, and a text blog. Addi ...

''s Keith Gwillim described ''Discovery'' as a

album, with disco's "danceable" and "sappy" elements, including its processed vocals and "prefabricated" guitar solos. Other critics described the album as

and

electro-funk Electro (also known as electro-funk, and sometimes referred to as electro-pop)
Gl ...

. ''

Uproxx Uproxx Studios (stylized as ''UPROXX'') is an American music, entertainment and popular culture website and content studio. It was founded in 2008 by Jarret Myer and Brian Brater. The website was acquired in 2014 by Woven Digital (which later ...

'' said the album also incorporates

French house French house (also referred to as French touch, filter house, or tekfunk) is a style of house music devised by French musicians in the 1990s. It is a form of Eurodisco and a popular strand of the late 1990s and 2000s European dance music s ...

. The opening track, " One More Time", features heavily

d and compressed vocals from Romanthony. "

Aerodynamic Aerodynamics () is the study of the motion of atmosphere of Earth, air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dynamics and its subfield of gas dynamics, and is an ...

" has a

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

groove, electric guitar solo, and ends with a separate "spacier" electronic segment. The solo, which contains guitar

arpeggio An arpeggio () is a type of Chord (music), chord in which the Musical note, notes that compose a chord are individually sounded in a progressive rising or descending order. Arpeggios on keyboard instruments may be called rolled chords. Arpe ...

s, was compared to

Yngwie Malmsteen Yngwie Johan Malmsteen (; born Lars Johan Yngve Lannerbäck, on 30 June 1963) is a Swedish-American guitarist. He first became known in the 1980s for his neoclassical metal, neoclassical playing style in heavy metal music, heavy metal, and has ...

by '' Pulse!''. " Digital Love" contains a solo performed on Wurlitzer piano, vintage synthesisers and sequencers; it incorporates elements of pop, new wave,

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

, funk and disco. " Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" is an electro song. It is followed by "Crescendolls", an instrumental. "Nightvision" is an ambient track. "Superheroes" leans toward the "

acid An acid is a molecule or ion capable of either donating a proton (i.e. Hydron, hydrogen cation, H+), known as a Brønsted–Lowry acid–base theory, Brønsted–Lowry acid, or forming a covalent bond with an electron pair, known as a Lewis ...

minimalism In visual arts, music, and other media, minimalism is an art movement that began in the post-war era in western art. The movement is often interpreted as a reaction to abstract expressionism and modernism; it anticipated contemporary post-mi ...

" of ''Homework''. It begins with a drum roll and includes arpeggios that are said to resemble those in the soundtrack to the 1980 film ''

Flash Gordon Flash Gordon is the protagonist of a space adventure comic strip created and originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by, and created to compete with, the already established ''Buck Rogers'' ...

''. "High Life" is built over a "gibberish" vocal sample and contains an organ-like section. " Something About Us" is a

downtempo Downtempo (or downbeat) is a broad label for electronic music that features an atmospheric sound and slower beats than would typically be found in dance music. Closely related to ambient music but with greater emphasis on rhythm, the style may ...

song, with digitally processed vocals and lounge rhythms. "Voyager" has guitar

riff A riff is a short, repeated motif or figure in the melody or accompaniment of a musical composition. Riffs are most often found in rock music, punk, heavy metal music, Latin, funk, and jazz, although classical music is also sometimes based ...

s, harp-like 80s synths, and a funky bassline. "Veridis Quo" is a "faux-orchestral" synthesiser

baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

song; according to Angus Harrison, its title is a pun on the words "very disco". "Short Circuit" is an electro-R&B song with

breakbeat Breakbeat is a broad type of electronic music that uses drum breaks, often sampled from early recordings of funk, jazz, and R&B. Breakbeats have been used in styles such as Florida breaks, hip-hop, jungle, drum and bass, big beat, breakbeat ...

s and programmed drum patterns. " Face to Face" is a

dance-pop Dance-pop is a Music genre, genre of electronic dance music that originated in the late 1970s to early 1980s. It is generally uptempo music intended for nightclubs with the intention of being danceable but also suitable for contemporary hit ra ...

song featuring vocals from Todd Edwards and is more pop-oriented than the other tracks on ''Discovery''. In the context of the album, Bangalter noted that the preceding track "Short Circuit" represented the act of shutting down and that "Face to Face" represents regaining consciousness and facing reality. "Too Long", the album's closer, is a ten-minute-long electro-R&B song. ''Discovery'' uses a number of samples. The liner notes credit samples from "I Love You More" by

George Duke George Martin Duke (January 12, 1946 – August 5, 2013) was an American keyboardist, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer. He worked with numerous artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and as ...

on "Digital Love", "Cola Bottle Baby" by

Edwin Birdsong Edwin L. Birdsong (August 22, 1941 – January 21, 2019) was an American keyboardist and organist, known in the 1970s and 1980s for his experimental funk/disco music. Birdsong did not achieve much chart success, but developed a strong fan base. ...

on "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger", "Can You Imagine" by

The Imperials The Imperials is an American contemporary Christian music group that has been active for over 60 years. Originating as a southern gospel quartet, the innovative group would become pioneers of contemporary Christian music in the 1960s. There ...

on "Crescendolls", and "Who's Been Sleeping In My Bed" by

Barry Manilow Barry Manilow ( ; born Barry Alan Pincus on June 17, 1943) is an American singer, songwriter and record producer with a career that spans over sixty years. His hit recordings include "Could It Be Magic", "Looks Like We Made It", "Brandy (Scott ...

on "Superheroes". "One More Time" contains a sample of the 1979 disco song "More Spell on You" by Eddie Johns. Daft Punk pay royalties to the publishing company that owns the rights, but Johns has never been located; as of 2021, he was owed an estimated "six-to-seven-figure sum" based on streams. Bangalter said Daft Punk also created their own "fake samples", which listeners assumed were from disco or funk records. Homem-Christo estimated that Daft Punk played half of the sampled material on ''Discovery'' themselves.

Promotion and release

Daft Punk initially planned to release every song on ''Discovery'' as a single, according to Orla Lee-Fisher, who was head of marketing for Virgin Records UK at the time, although this plan was eventually shelved. "One More Time" was released in 2000, ahead of the album's release. The album was available on 12 March 2001, with singles of "Aerodynamic", "Digital Love", "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger", "Something About Us", and "Face to Face" launched afterward. The ideas for the album's music videos formed during the early ''Discovery'' recording sessions. The album was originally intended to be accompanied by "a live-action film with each song being a part of the film", according to Todd Edwards. The band decided instead to concentrate on an anime production. Daft Punk's concept for the film involved the merging of science fiction with

culture.''Interstella 5555'' DVD insert, 2003. The duo recalled watching Japanese

as children, including favourites such as ''

Captain Harlock Captain Harlock may refer to: * ''Captain Harlock'' (manga) ** Captain Harlock (character) {{disambiguation ...

'', ''

Grendizer , also known as '' Grandizer'', ''Ufo Robot Grendizer Raids'', ''Goldrake'' and ''Goldorak'', is a Japanese manga and animated television series created by Go Nagai. The series is the third entry in the '' Mazinger'' series, later rel ...

'', and ''

Candy Candy is a Japanese series created by Japanese writer Keiko Nagita under the pen name Kyoko Mizuki. The main character, Candice "Candy" White Ardley, is a blonde girl with freckles, large emerald green eyes and long hair, worn in pigtails wi ...

''. All three brought the album and the completed story to Tokyo in the hope of creating the film with their childhood hero,

, who had created ''Captain Harlock''. After Matsumoto joined the team as visual supervisor, Shinji Shimizu had been contacted to produce the animation and Kazuhisa Takenouchi to direct the film. With the translation coordination of Tamiyuki "Spike" Sugiyama, production began in October 2000 and ended in April 2003. The result of the collaboration was an anime film, '' Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem'', which features the entirety of ''Discovery'' as the soundtrack. Daft Punk adopted robot costumes in the lead-up to ''Discovery''s release. The group told the press they were working in their studio at 9:09 am on 9 September 1999, when their sampler exploded. They had to undergo reconstructive surgery, and, regaining consciousness, they realised they had become robots. Shortly before the album's release, the group launched Daft Club, a website that offered exclusive tracks and other bonus material. Every ''Discovery'' CD included a Daft Club membership card bearing a unique number that provided personalised access to the website. Bangalter said this was "our way of rewarding people who buy the CD". The service provided by the site ended in 2003; most of the tracks were then compiled into the remix album '' Daft Club''. For the 20th anniversary of ''Interstella 5555'', Daft Punk reissued ''Discovery'' with Japanese artwork, stickers, and Daft Club membership cards.

Commercial performance

''Discovery'' reached number two on the

UK Albums Chart The Official Albums Chart is the United Kingdom's industry-recognised national record chart for album, albums. Entries are ranked by sales and audio streaming. It was published for the first time on 22 July 1956 and is compiled every week by the O ...

and the French Albums Chart and number 23 on the US ''

Billboard 200 The ''Billboard'' 200 is a record chart ranking the 200 most popular music albums and EPs in the United States. It is published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists. Sometimes, a rec ...

''. It debuted at number two on the

Canadian Albums Chart The ''Billboard'' Canadian Albums is the official record chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music according to certain criteria during a given ...

, selling 13,850 copies in its first week. It was certified triple platinum in France in 2007 for shipments of 600,000 copies and certified gold by the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...

on 11 October 2010. As of May 2013, ''Discovery'' had sold 802,000 copies in the US. " One More Time" was its most successful single, reaching number one on the French charts and the ''Billboard''

Hot Dance Club Songs The Dance Club Songs (also known as National Disco Action, Hot Dance/Disco Club Play, and Hot Dance Club Play) was a chart published weekly between 1976 and 2020 by ''Billboard (magazine), Billboard'' magazine. It used club disc jockeys set list ...

charts and reaching the top ten on seven other charts. It remained Daft Punk's most successful single until the release of " Get Lucky" in 2013. The album's fifth single, " Face to Face", reached number one on the ''Billboard''

chart in 2004. ''Discovery'' had sold at least 2.6 million copies as of 2005.

Critical reception

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which assigns a normalised rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, ''Discovery'' has an average score of 74, based on 19 reviews.

's John Bush said that, with their comprehensive productions and loops, Daft Punk had developed a sound that was "worthy of bygone electro-pop technicians from

Giorgio Moroder Giovanni Giorgio Moroder (, ; born 26 April 1940) is an Italian composer and music producer. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Father of Disco", Moroder is credited with pioneering Euro disco and electronic dance music. His work ...

Todd Rundgren Todd Harry Rundgren (born June 22, 1948) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and record producer who has performed a diverse range of styles as a solo artist and as a member of the bands Nazz and Utopia. He is known for his sophistica ...

to Steve Miller." '' Q'' wrote that ''Discovery'' was vigorous and innovative in its exploration of "old questions and spent ideals", hailing it as "a towering, persuasive tour de force" that "transcends the dance label" with no shortage of ideas, humour, or "brilliance". ''Q'' named ''Discovery'' one of the best 50 albums of 2001.

Joshua Clover Joshua Clover (December 30, 1962 – April 26, 2025) was an American poet, writer, professor of English and comparative literature at the University of California, Davis, and revolutionary. Clover was a published scholar, poet, critic, and jour ...

, writing in '' Spin'', dubbed ''Discovery'' disco's "latest triumph". He felt that while it "flags a bit" near the end, the opening songs were on par with albums such as

Prince A prince is a male ruler (ranked below a king, grand prince, and grand duke) or a male member of a monarch's or former monarch's family. ''Prince'' is also a title of nobility (often highest), often hereditary, in some European states. The ...

's '' Sign o' the Times'' (1987) and

Nirvana Nirvana, in the Indian religions (Jainism, Hinduism, Buddhism, and Sikhism), is the concept of an individual's passions being extinguished as the ultimate state of salvation, release, or liberation from suffering ('' duḥkha'') and from the ...

's ''

Nevermind ''Nevermind'' is the second studio album by the American rock band Nirvana (band), Nirvana, released on September 24, 1991, by DGC Records. It was Nirvana's first release on a Record label#Major versus independent record labels, major label an ...

'' (1991). Stephen Dalton from ''

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 ...

'' found the pop art ideas enthralling and credited Daft Punk for "re-inventing the mid-'80s as the coolest pop era ever." In ''

Entertainment Weekly ''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American online magazine, digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, ...

'', Will Hermes wrote that the "beat editing and EQ wizardry still wow," but asked Daft Punk for "less comedy, more ecstasy." ''

Mixmag ''Mixmag'' is a British electronic dance and clubbing magazine published in London. Launched in 1983 as a print magazine, it has branched into dance events, including festivals and club nights. History The first issue of ''Mixmag'' was printe ...

'' called ''Discovery'' "the perfect non-pop pop album" and said Daft Punk had "altered the course of dance music for the second time". Ben Ratliff from ''

'' wrote that few songs on ''Discovery'' matched the grandiosity of "One More Time". He found most of them "muddled – not only in the spectrum between serious and jokey but in its sense of an identity." In ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'',

Alexis Petridis Alexis Petridis (born 13 September 1971) is an English journalist. He is the head Rock music, rock and pop music critic for ''The Guardian'', and a regular contributor for ''GQ''. In addition to his music journalism for the paper, he has written ...

felt Daft Punk's attempt to "salvage" older musical references resembled ''Homework'' but was less coherent and successful. The ''

Pitchfork A pitchfork or hay fork is an agricultural tool used to pitch loose material, such as hay, straw, manure, or leaves. It has a long handle and usually two to five thin tines designed to efficiently move such materials. The term is also applie ...

'' editor Ryan Schreiber found the " prog and disco" hybrid "relatively harmless" and said it was not "meant to be judged on its lyrics", which "rarely go beyond sensitive junior high poetry".

Robert Christgau Robert Thomas Christgau ( ; born April 18, 1942) is an American music journalist and essayist. Among the most influential music critics, he began his career in the late 1960s as one of the earliest professional rock critics and later became a ...

, writing in ''

The Village Voice ''The Village Voice'' is an American news and culture publication based in Greenwich Village, New York City, known for being the country's first Alternative newspaper, alternative newsweekly. Founded in 1955 by Dan Wolf (publisher), Dan Wolf, ...

'', facetiously said the album may appeal to young enthusiasts of Berlin techno and computing, but it was too "French" and "" for American tastes. In a retrospective review for ''

The Rolling Stone Album Guide ''The Rolling Stone Album Guide'', previously known as ''The Rolling Stone Record Guide'', is a book that contains professional music reviews written and edited by staff members from ''Rolling Stone'' magazine. Its first edition was published in 1 ...

'' (2004),

Douglas Wolk Douglas Wolk (born 1970) is a Portland, Oregon-based author and critic. He has written about comics and popular music for publications including ''The New York Times'', ''Rolling Stone'', ''The Washington Post'', ''The Nation'', ''The New Republi ...

gave ''Discovery'' three and a half out of five and wrote that "the more

aft Punk This list of ship directions provides succinct definitions for terms applying to spatial orientation in a marine environment or location on a vessel, such as ''fore'', ''aft'', ''astern'', ''aboard'', or ''topside''. Terms * Abaft (prepositi ...

dumb the album down, the funkier it gets", with an emphasis on hooks over songs.

Legacy

In 2020, Petridis said he had reconsidered his ''Guardian'' review, describing the influence of ''Discovery'' on pop production over the following years: "Daft Punk were incredibly prescient: play Discovery today and it sounds utterly contemporary. My review, on the other hand, has not aged so well." In 2021, ''Pitchfork'' included ''Discovery'' on its list of review scores "we'd change if we could", upgrading its score from 6.4 to 10 out of 10. The ''Pitchfork'' critic Noah Yoo wrote, " scores are meant to indicate a work's longevity or impact, the original review is invalidated by the historic record. Daft Punk's second album, ''Discovery'', is the centerpiece of their career, an album that transcended the robots' club roots and rippled through the decades that followed." In 2005, ''Pitchfork'' named ''Discovery'' the 12th-best album of 2000–2004. It was later named the third-best of the decade by ''Pitchfork'', the 12th-best by ''Rhapsody'', and the fourth-best by ''

Resident Advisor ''Resident Advisor'' (also known as ''RA'') is an online music magazine and community platform established in 2001 and dedicated to showcasing electronic music, artists and events across the globe. Its editorial team provides news, music and ev ...

''. In 2012, ''

'' named ''Discovery'' the 30th-greatest EDM album and included it at number 236 in its 2020 list of the "

500 Greatest Albums of All Time 5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. Humans, and many other animals, have 5 digits on their limbs. Mathematics 5 is a Fermat pri ...

". It was included on

BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and Contemporary hit radio, current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including ...

's ''Masterpieces'' in December 2009, highlighting its growing standing over the decade. In 2023, British ''GQ'' ranked ''Discovery'' as the sixth-best electronic album of all time. In 2024,

Apple Music Apple Music is an audio and video streaming service developed by Apple Inc. Users can select music to stream to their device on-demand, or listen to existing playlists. The service also includes the sister internet radio stations Apple Musi ...

included ''Discovery'' at number 23 on their " 100 Best Albums" list. ''

VICE News Vice News (stylized as VICE News) is Vice Media's alternative current affairs channel, producing daily documentary essays and video through its website and YouTube channel. It promotes itself on its coverage of "under-reported stories". Vice Ne ...

'' placed the album at the top of its list for greatest dance music albums of all time. The site's staff wrote: "When some extraterrestrial race looks back on the artifacts of 21st century dance music, if ''Discovery'' isn’t the most importantly examined fossil, it will at least be the soundtrack to their research. ..Daft Punk brought electronic dance music to the forefront of modern

pop culture Popular culture (also called pop culture or mass culture) is generally recognized by members of a society as a set of practices, beliefs, artistic output (also known as popular art pop_art.html" ;"title="f. pop art">f. pop artor mass art, some ...

, gifting the masses with something that wasn’t just infectious, but for many, lifechanging." Several artists have sampled ''Discovery''.

Kanye West Ye ( ; born Kanye Omari West ; June 8, 1977) is an American rapper, singer and record producer. One of the most prominent figures in hip-hop, he is known for his varying musical style and polarizing cultural and political commentary. After ...

's 2007 single " Stronger" features a sample of "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger"; Daft Punk performed "Stronger" with West at the 2008 Grammy Awards. Wiley's 2008 single " Summertime" features a sample of "Aerodynamic". "Veridis Quo" was sampled in the 2009

Jazmine Sullivan Jazmine Marie Sullivan (born April 9, 1987) is an American R&B singer and songwriter. She has won two Grammy Awards, a ''Billboard'' Women in Music Award, and two BET Awards over the course of her career. In 2022, ''Time'' placed her on their ...

single " Dream Big" and in the 2023

Maluma Juan Luis Londoño Arias (born 28 January 1994), known professionally as Maluma, is a Colombian singer. Born and raised in Medellín, he developed an interest in music at a young age, recording songs since age sixteen. Arias released his debu ...

song " Coco Loco". "One More Time" was sampled in the 2022 single "

Circo Loco "Circo Loco" is a song by Canadian rapper Drake (musician), Drake and British-American rapper 21 Savage from their collaborative studio album ''Her Loss'' (2022). It was sent to Italian contemporary hit radio on November 11, 2022, as the second si ...

" by

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals and creatures * A male duck * Drake (mythology), a term related to and often synonymous with dragon People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family ...

and 21 Savage.

Track listing

Personnel

Adapted from ''Discovery'' liner notes. *

– vocals (tracks 3, 4, 9), vocoders, sequencers, sampling,

synthesizers A synthesizer (also synthesiser or synth) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and ...

Wurlitzer electric piano The Wurlitzer electronic piano is an electric piano manufactured and marketed by Wurlitzer from 1954 to 1983. Sound is generated by striking a metal reed with a hammer, which induces an electric current in a pickup. It is conceptually similar to ...

, guitars, bass,

talkbox A talk box (also spelled talkbox and talk-box) is an effects unit that allows musicians to modify the sound of a musical instrument by shaping the frequency content of the sound and to apply speech sounds (in the same way as singing) onto the so ...

, drum machines, production, concept, art direction * Romanthony – vocals (tracks 1, 14), co-production (track 14) * Todd Edwards – vocals and co-production (track 13) * Nilesh Patel – mastering * Alex & Martin – concept, art direction * Cedric Hervet – concept, art direction * Gildas Loaëc – concept, art direction * Simon Scott – concept, art direction *

Daniel Vangarde Daniel Bangalter (, born 1947), known in his musical career as Daniel Vangarde, is a French former producer, lyricist and songwriter who co-wrote and produced several hit records in the 1970s and 1980s, including " Aie a Mwana" with Jean Kluge ...

– concept, art direction * Pedro Winter – concept, art direction * Mitchell Feinberg – liquid metal photos * Luis Sanchis – piano photo *

Tony Gardner Tony Gardner (born 10 January 1964) is an English actor and doctor. He sits on the national governing body of the actors' trade union Equity. Early life and education He attended St Augustine's Catholic College in Trowbridge. Career Gardne ...

, Alterian – bionics engineering * Tamiyuki "Spike" Sugiyama – Tokyo connector

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Certifications

References

Additional notes

Citations

External links

*
Virgin Records Daft Punk official website for ''Discovery''
{{Authority control 2001 albums Daft Punk albums Albums produced by Thomas Bangalter Albums produced by Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo 2000s concept albums Disco albums by French artists Post-disco albums French house albums Virgin Records albums