Since 2021 began I have been listening to Daft Punk non-stop. I made a Spotify Playlist of their biggest hits, watched multiple videos on their history, watched their 2007 Alive tour show and their animated film based on their 2nd album, Discovery and I pretty much been obsessed with the electronic music duo. I have loved this French duo since I was 10 and after listening and going on a Daft Punk hole for about a month now I think it is fair to say I wanted to make a Top 10 list on their best songs of all time. Now the robots or in this case Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo and Thomas Bangalter, the men behind the robot masks, have been making music together since 1993 and after 4 albums, a soundtrack for Tron: Legacy, 2 world tours and of course 6 Grammy Awards it’s pretty fair to say that this duo is one of the biggest electronic DJ’s and producers in the world. Now for this list I will not be counting songs that they were featured in like Stronger by Kanye West and StarBoy/I Feel It Coming by The Weeknd. I love these guys and think they are one of the greatest music acts in the world. Now if you never have heard of their songs then please do as they are music geniuses and their songs are so engaging and peaceful, well to me of course. If you have then please comment below your favorite Daft Punk song of all time and let’s get Harder, Better, Faster and Stronger while we try to Get Lucky and let’s countdown the Top 10 Daft Punk Songs of All Time.
Top 10 Daft Punk Songs of All Time
10. Touch (featuring Paul Williams) – The 7th track in the 2013 album Random Access Memories is one of their most beautiful songs when it comes to the melody and song wise. The song’s biggest strength however is the beautiful vocals from American composer/singer Paul Williams. Homem-Christo said in an interview that “Touch is the core of Random Access Memories” and he also states that “the memories of the other tracks are revolving around it”. Paul Williams’ vocal work is known as the “protagonist” of the track as he is the only known “human” vocal in the song. Now as I said before Paul Williams’ vocal work in the song is the biggest strength of the song but the melody of the song is very amazing and to me I feel like I am on a peaceful world for 8 minutes listening to beautiful melodies and music with the phenomenal vocal work from Paul Williams. Is it their most well known song, no, but its one hell of a song. Plus the track is so beautiful that when it ends it makes you want more. This is a track that I feel like can make you a big fan of Daft Punk. Even though it’s not completely how they make their melodies or beats, it still is a reminder that they can put on a masterpiece inside this one song. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Gkhol2Q1og
9. Robot Rock – The lead single in their 3rd studio album, Human After All, has become one of their most popular songs over the years. When it first debuted in the UK and the States it found moderate success, even hitting number one in the UK Dance chart. Robot Rock was not a favorite to the critics as they found it overly repetitive when comparing the song to some of their chart topping songs. The song however is a cult favorite from Daft Punk fans and has a very rock n roll tone inside the beats of the song. The song is built around a sample of “Release the Beast” by Breakwater, while also using a robotic chant of “Robot, Robot Rock”. Now while the song might have had mixed reviews from critics that didn’t stop it from being relevant and gain popularity. The song is featured in a scene in Iron Man 2 and is featured in the game DJ Hero mixed with Queen’s “We Will Rock You”. It’s not one of their most critically loved songs but it is one of their well known songs and it has become a very beloved song over the years. Plus it has a very cool music video with the robots performing while the video is in VHS form. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFZjqVnWBhc
8. Technologic – Daft Punk might have created an earworm track with Technologic. The song Technologic was the 2nd single from Human After All and it did very well in the music charts including coming in number one in the UK Dance charts. Now while the song has a very great beat and very interesting electronically pitched raised vocals from Thomas Bangalter, it is the music video directed by Daft Punk that makes this song very memorable. The video includes an animatronic puppet that is center of the main attention and pretty much vocalizes the lyrics. The video also features Daft Punk as stand ins. The song when it first came out was very popular with electronic dance and Daft Punk fans but it has been used in a lot of different uses of media. It was featured in a 2005 Itunes commercial, it was featured in the video game DJ Hero being mixed with Gary Numan’s “Cars”, it was featured in an episode of The O.C, it was used in a 2009 commerical for the Lincoln MKS, became a playable track on the IOS game Tap Tap Revenge and Tap Tap Dance and the song itself has been sampled in multiple songs including Busta Rhymes “Touch It and Dua Lipa’s “Hallucinate”. The song is by far one of their most popular songs of all time and it continues to play a big role in Daft Punk’s success. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqmTWg0z9v0
7. Face to Face (featuring Todd Edwards) – Face to Face is one of Daft Punk’s most lesser known song, even though it topped the US Billboard Dance Club Songs Chart way back in 2004. The song has a very techno like vibe and is has a very peaceful melody that will take clutch of your brain and make you fall in love. The song features vocals from American house music producer Todd Edwards. The song was the 5th single released from their 2nd studio album, Discovery. The song’s music video is featured in Daft Punk’s animated film for the album Discovery, Interstella 5555: The 5tory of the 5ecret 5tar 5ystem. As I said earlier this is one of their lesser known songs as it is very underrated and to me I consider it obviously one of their best songs, but I feel like this song should be featured more in the public as it has such a great melody and I love Todd Edward’s vocals/singing in this song. Daft Punk and Todd Edwards did a very great job in creating this track and it’s one of Daft Punk songs that I have continuously been listening to this past month. There is no question why this song did very well in the Dance Club Songs charts and if you have never heard this song then this is a “must listen to song”. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKJfJMMsqX4
6. Digital Love – The 3rd single from Discovery, Digital Love is one of Daft Punk’s most beloved songs as it has such a gorgeous melody, an amazing sampling of George Duke’s “I Love You More” and the beats in this song is so beautifully done by the French duo. While the song never reached number one in the charts, it was very successful all over the world, reaching #9 in the US Hot Dance Music/Club Play, 14th in the UK Singles chart and it reached number 67 in Australia. It received such high reception from critics and its popularity evolved once it was featured in different types of media. It has been featured in a GAP television advertisement where both Daft Punk members are wearing their robotic helmets and gloves while they are wearing denim shirts and jeans and dancing with Juliette Lewis, it was also used in the Nokia 5300 commercial as well as being a part of several MTV programs including Pimp My Ride and Date My Mom. The song was so popular that American Pop Rock band Hellogoodbye uses the first two verses of the song in place of the second verse of their song “Here in Your Arms” while performing live. There is a reason why this is one of Daft Punk’s most beautiful songs of all time but also one of their most popular songs of all time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4whD6uAryMs
5. Da Funk – Da Funk was Daft Punk’s first released single and it helped to put Daft Punk on the map. Da Funk is a 5 and a half minute long track that was included in their first studio album, Homework. This song is one of Daft Punk’s most well known songs, but it also the first song from the duo that became a chart topper. It reached #1 in Canada’s Dance/Urban charts and # 1 in the US Dance Club Songs on the Billboard Hot 100. Not only that but it ranked at #26 in the US Hot Dance Singles Sales, talk about a big debut for the new French duo. Now the song isn’t complete without its very interesting music video. The music video is directed by Spike Jonze and instead of it including the robots or animated Interstella characters, this video instead includes an anthropomorphic dog roaming the streets of New York City with a boom box. The video and song are considered classics of 1990’s house music and without this song there would be no Daft Punk. In 2010, Pitchfork Media named the song the 18th best song on their Top 200 songs of the 1990’s. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmi60Bd4jSs&t=2s
4. Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger – It could be argued that this song is their most well known song that has been a part of pop culture. Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger is the 4th single released from their 2nd studio album, Discovery and it has become one of the most popular dance tracks of the last 20 years. In fact it was so popular that Kanye West featured samples of the song in his song “Stronger”. The song was also featured in a viral video on YouTube back in 2007. The video is called Daft Hands and includes the song in the background and back in 07 the video/song was then featured on the Ellen DeGeneres Show. The song has since won a Grammy Award in 2009 for Best Dance Recording and has been featured in the Ralph Breaks the Internet trailer, an episode of Grey’s Anatomy and will be featured in the new Ryan Reynolds film, Free Guy. What makes this song so popular is just the randomness of it. The song has the same lyrics being repeated but it is the way it blends with the beat of the song and how Daft Punk uses their genius DJ skills and mixes the vocals throughout the track that make this song so loveable and memorable. There is a reason why this song is still being beloved 20 years later and why it continues to be known as one of their best songs ever. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2cYWfq--Nw
3. Around the World – I mentioned earlier that without Da Funk there would be no Daft Punk, but I must say without “Around the World” Daft Punk would have never found their success and become so popular like they are today. This 2nd single released from their debut album, Homework, has become one of their biggest dance tracks ever. It was a major club hit literally “around the world” and reached number one on the dance charts in Canada, the United Kingdom, the United States and later in Iceland and Italy. The song has literally only one lyric but it is composed with one of Daft Punk’s greatest melodies and beats of all time. The music video of the song is by far legendary as it is considered as one of the best music videos of all time. The music video was directed by Michael Gondry and choreographed by Bianca Li. In October 2011, NME named the song the 21st best track of the last 15 years and in 2013 Vibe named it the #1 song of 30 Dance Tracks from the 90’s that changed the game. The song is a trailblazer from dance tracks and it continues to this day to be one of the most influential tracks of all time. Plus this was the song that introduced us to the robotic vocals of Daft Punk that would later be a key feature in most of Daft Punk’s popular songs. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7exajMfNiFQ
2. One More Time – You defiantly have heard this song many times in your life. I remember the first time I heard this song in a party I attended back when I was a kid and since then it has become my favorite Daft Punk song of all time. One More Time was the first released single from their 2nd album, Discovery, and it would become their most beloved dance track of all time. One More Time found critical acclaim and commercial success when it first was released as it hit number one in many Dance charts all around the world including the US, UK, Canada, Portugal, Ireland and even their hometown of France. It also reached number 61 in the US Billboard Hot 100 back in 2001. The track has gone on to become platinum in the United Kingdom. The song even was ranked #33 in the Rolling Stone’s Top 100 Songs of the Decade (2000 – 2009). Fun fact about the song, it was completed back in 1998 but was left on a shelf until 2000 when it was first released publicly. Now while the song does have an amazing beat, it also includes an amazing vocal performance written and sung by Romanthony. The song uses auto filters/auto tunes vocals to give out a little bit more funk. The song has stayed relevant for so long in pop culture that it is known as a classic. The song has been featured in the Wii video game Boogie and PlayStaton 3’s SingStar. It also has been included in the show Daria, Veronica Mars and a cover version of the song was used in Trolls World Tour. The song to me has a very great message that inspires you to get up and feel free and just be yourself. Like I said this is my favorite Daft Punk song and it is by far one of their most popular songs of all time. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGBhQbmPwH8
1. Get Lucky (featuring Pharrell Williams and Niles Rodgers) – 2013/2014 was where Daft Punk broke some records. Get Lucky without a question is their biggest song ever when it comes to record sales, chart topping and the fact that it not only is 4x Platinum, but the fact that it won Daft Punk Record of the Year in the 2014 Grammy’s. Yeah you can say Get Lucky got them a lot more fame and stardom then what they were known for. The song was their 1st released single for their fourth studio album, Random Access Memories, and it went on to become one of the biggest songs of the 2010’s. The song features Pharrell Williams on the vocals and Niles Rodgers on the guitar. The single reached the top 10 in 32 different countries including hitting #1 in many dance charts. Get Lucky has sold over 9.3 million copies, making it one of the best selling songs of all time. The song has also broken records as when it first was released it had the highest number of plays of any song in a single day on Spotify. Not only that but you couldn’t get away from this song as it was at one point one of the most played songs on the radio The song is getting close to its 10th anniversary since being released and it continues to be a beloved song by Daft Punk fans and people all around the world. While the song never did reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100, it still remains to be a number one hit for many and to this day it has become such an iconic song when talking about the greatest songs of the 2010’s. There is no arguing why this song is so iconic and amazing as it has amazing vocals, a great 70’s dance vibe melody/beat and it’s such a great song that you have to dance and sing along with it. The song has reached over 530 million views on YouTube and the song has been played over 527 million times on Spotify. It’s pretty safe to say that this Grammy winning track is going to be played and loved for many more years to come. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lM0h2VM7jpk
Video Visualization Tribute:
Honorable Mentions:
Human After All Lose Yourself To Dance Alive Areodynamic Contact Too Long
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