Granted, the 45 minutes of ALIVE 1997 consist of extended versions of 3 songs ("Da Funk," "Rollin' and Scratchin'," and "Alive," all from HOMEWORK), but Daft Punk does much more than simply loop the hooks for longer periods of time. Instead, they twist and distort their songs until they're beyond recognition, as well as including extended periods of free improvisations. However, what makes this album truly amazing is that the artistic showmanship never overshadows the music's danceable quality. The sheer inventiveness this duo exhibits makes this album interesting even to a headphone-loving rock fan like me; in fact, Daft Punk is one of the few artists of ANY genre that can hold the casual listener's attention for longer than 15 minutes.

ALIVE 1997 isn't just the best live electronica album in history, it's one of the best live albums ever released, one of the few that even comes close to rivaling Kiss' ALIVE. It takes a lot of chutzpah to name a live album after that seminal 1975 album, but Daft Punk has more than enough talent to back it up.


Great beginning and end... to bad the middle drones on....   July 23, 2003
Jeff (Davis, CA United States)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful

Daft Punk made themselves the kings of marathon mixing with this 45 minute "live" performance; the single track on the disc lasts for the whole duration of the performance (something I don't quite appreciate - more on that later).

The beginning of the performance is incredible with many fluid shifts in the tempo and underlying bass-beat give the music an 80s club/breakdancing feel. The woos and cheers from the crows are scattered throughout the 45 minutes and wholly reflect the quality of the music being played.

With 45 minutes of continuous mixing it's hard to believe that every minute will be packed with explosive and provocative music; unfortunately, Daft Punk didn't escape this belief. As early as 17 minutes the music starts to drone, nearly driving away the attarctiveness of the mix (if you like pure trance music though, you might be able to appreciate the middle section of the track). Either way, the crowd seems to reflect the attractiveness of the music in this section. This middle section only draws attention to the fact that the CD is only ONE TRACK, it would be have been nice to be able to skip through the section and continue to the highly attractive final 15 minutes where the music regains some of the qualities of the first third of the track. Overall a good listen!


Turns Homework's house beats into techno wonderland   July 4, 2002
Stefanie A Cangiano (NYC)
4 out of 4 found this review helpful

Wow. I bought this and was blown away.

OK, if you're expecting Homework all over again, you can forget it. If there's one thing I learned from this it's that when Daft Punk performs, they rip their stuff to shreds.

It starts off cheesey, give it until they start the real stuff, Da Funk and the Rollin' & Scratchin' parts will get you moving. Personally, I think this is worth the money just for the last ~5 minutes of it, where Alive is performed. If you thought the album version was amazing, all I can say is brace yourself. There's also, a lot of improv. Nothing to be worried about, it's all well within the lines of Homework-quality house and techno beats.

Well, the cheers of the people during the performance say it all, each song they introduce gets whistles and cheers.


For Daft Punk Fans   January 25, 2003
J. M. Zuurbier (Canada)
7 out of 9 found this review helpful

This is a live recording from 1997, when HOMEWORK was released, this was a concert to promote it. First thing you should know, there is no tracklisting to this cd, it is just one track of all the songs on HOMEWORK remixed together. It runs for approx. 45 minutes. You might be thinking that 45 minutes is long to listen to, but it's never quite boring. Fans of Daft Punk will love it, hearing the originals is one thing, but when you listen to this CD you get a sense of being there in the crowd, as there is a lot of audience participation. At times it seems to slow down but it's always building up to a crescendo of funk that will make you want to dance and go crazy. Overall its a nice CD for hardcore Daft Punk fans, but not necessarily essential to own for casual listeners or fans.


Pretty good CD, but I liked Homework and Discovery better.   December 28, 2001
Maia Elena Gray (Gilbert, AZ, United States)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful

I got this CD after owning Homework - and I loved it SO MUCH! Well, I thought - Live CD, from 1997 (same year Homework was released) Must be great! - well, it's pretty good I guess. I don't regret my purchase at all, let's just say it doesn't stay in any of my CD players as often as Homework does or Discovery will (ordered it; haven't got it yet; heard most of it). But it's pretty cool, still. It's kind of like a megamix of some Homework tracks and some original stuff just for this concert, plus the fans screaming and it's 45 minutes of entertainment. My only nitpick is that they didn't do Around the World - must have done this concert before they made that track - cause it's the best song in the world, it really is. =) Oh well, at least we hear Da Funk (the second best song in the world)!

If you aren't sure whether to buy or not, compromise and get it used for half the price - but it's worth getting new just for the neat lil stickers!! =)