Alive 2007

Structure

The Alive 2007 set used Ableton Live software on "custom made super-computers" for the show. Daft Punk accessed the hardware remotely with Behringer BCR2000 MIDI controllers and JazzMutant Lemur touchscreen pads within the central pyramid. Minimoog Voyager RME units were also implemented for the live performances. The four Voyager units and two Behringer mixers allowed Daft Punk to "mix, shuffle, trigger loops, filter, distort samples, EQ in and out, transpose or destroy and deconstruct synth lines." The majority of the equipment was stored away during the live sets within offstage towers.

The recording of Alive 2007 was derived from Daft Punk's live performance at their Bercy show on 14 June 2007. Reviews of the set noted how Daft Punk manipulated and reworked their established material. One report spotted vocal elements from the song "Too Long" mixed with newly generated accompaniment. The overlapped mixtures of "Television Rules the Nation" with "Crescendolls", "Around the World" with "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" and "Superheroes" with "Human After All" were reported to be well received by the audience. The set itself was considered a collection of Daft Punk's most popular recordings. The performances heavily featured tracks from Daft Punk's album Human After All, prompting critics to reconsider what they felt about the album.

The performances for the Alive 2007 tour were an expansion of Daft Punk's 2006 live sets. Noted additions include elements of the tracks "Burnin'" and "Phoenix" as well as an encore. Bangalter explained that the 2006 sets were initially designed for performances within larger festivals, but later refined to accommodate Daft Punk-specific shows. "The goal was to try and bring a complete global experience to the audience." The introduction for the live show featured the five-note sequence used in Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

The album includes elements of the Busta Rhymes song "Touch It", the original version of which was produced by Swizz Beatz featuring a sample of "Technologic". Also featured are elements of Gabrielle's "Forget About the World", the original version of which was remixed by Daft Punk for her single. The encore of the Alive 2007 set features Bangalter's side projects: Stardust's "Music Sounds Better with You" and Together's self-titled track "Together".

Critical reception

Alive 2007 was met with critical acclaim upon release. Pitchfork Media regarded the recording as "the Ultimate Daft Punk Mixtape", specifically noting how songs from the album Human After All had been "constantly improved and born anew" for the live set. The sentiment was also shared by Allmusic, stating that "It has the feel of a greatest-hits-live concert, but energized by Daft Punk's talents at weaving songs in and out of each other." The publication ultimately considered Alive 1997 the stronger of their two live albums, however. A review by The Star noted that the release and Daft Punk's concurrent tours cumulatively restored the duo's reputation following Human After All.

Dave de Sylvia of Sputnikmusic gave the album a score of four stars out of five and said, "Despite a few individual disappointments, Alive 2007 is as exciting a collection of music as any released this year." Entertainment Weekly felt that the live crowd enhanced the positive mood of the performance. Rolling Stone stated that Alive 2007 "loses some of the essential experience" of attending the live Daft Punk events. The Phoenix also felt that the album package would have benefited from more video content, expressing that a key factor of the live show was its implementation of visual elements. In his first positive review for a Daft Punk album, Robert Christgau believed that a full video representation was avoided because "too much scale, flesh and bodily effluvia would be lost." Thomas Bangalter expressed his reasons of not releasing a DVD by stating "the thousands of clips on the internet are better to us than any DVD that could have been released."

On 3 December 2008, Alive 2007 and its single "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger" received Grammy Award nominations for Best Electronic/Dance Album and Best Dance Recording, respectively. Both the album and the single were announced as winners during the 51st Grammy Awards pre-telecast ceremony.

Track listing

All tracks written by Daft Punk.

Bonus disc

1. Encore: "Human After All" / "Together" / "One More Time (reprise)" / "Music Sounds Better with You"  – 9:59
2. Music video: "Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger (Alive 2007)"

Vinyl editions

In December 2014 over seven years after the performance, two vinyl editions of the album were released. The first being standard black dual LPs and the second being a limited edition collectors boxset. The boxset edition was shipped along with a reissue Alive 1997 vinyl with stickers, Dual Alive 2007 Vinyls in white in a three fold sleeve and a separate white LP with the ‘Encore’. Also included is a large hardback 52-page photo book, Alive 2007 concert pass replica, Daft Punk printed slipmat and a download card to download digital versions of the songs.