Few records combine sonic innovation with veneration for what came before as succinctly as Daft Punk’s 1997 debut, Homework. The title itself implies this duality: It’s a reference to both the bedroom studio where musicians Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo recorded their early house and techno productions, and a nod to the older artists the duo studied in preparation for their dance music breakthrough. Many of those musical ancestors are name-checked on the Homework track “Teachers,” on which Bangalter and Homem-Christo salute the (mostly) electronic music producers and DJs who inspired their work. That includes plenty of semi-obscure Chicago house music heroes and Detroit and UK techno champions, many of whom predated Daft Punk by a decade—but who were still active in the late-1990s rave scene. By tagging their peers, the members of Daft Punk were expressing solidarity with the many BIPOC artists whom they’d obsessed over for years. It was a declaration of belonging that could have come off as appropriation, had Homework not so fully elevated the genre. Bangalter and Homem-Christo might wear their influences on their sleeve, but their music transcends mere tribute; it’s some of the most unforgettable hook-laden house and techno ever put to wax. When it comes to the dance floor, if a record’s hot, that record is hot. And DJs across the globe pumped Homework’s 16 tracks, which included everything from playful filtered disco (“Revolution 909”) to throttling acid techno (“Rollin’ & Scratchin’”). Meanwhile, radio jocks and MTV programmers on the lookout for format-friendly versions of popular rave sounds swooned over Homework cuts like “Da Funk” and “Around the World,” which became breakout hits, thanks to inventive videos directed, respectively, by Spike Jonez and Michel Gondry. That near-impossible confluence of talent and timing allowed Homework to achieve its position atop every list of 1990s electronic music. As time went on, the members of Daft Punk would prove themselves worthy of every accolade Homework received as they continued to evolve from students to teachers to masters—elevating the state of electronic music every step of the way.
January 20, 1997 16 Songs, 1 hour, 14 minutes Distributed exclusively by Warner Music France / ADA France, ℗ 1997 Daft Life Ltd.
Other Versions
Music videos, more by daft punk, featured on.
Apple Music Electronic
Apple Music ’90s
Apple Music Dance
Apple Music Alternative
Apple Music Hits
You Might Also Like
The Chemical Brothers
Africa, Middle East, and India
- Côte d’Ivoire
- Congo, The Democratic Republic Of The
- Guinea-Bissau
- Niger (English)
- Congo, Republic of
- Saudi Arabia
- Sierra Leone
- South Africa
- Tanzania, United Republic Of
- Turkmenistan
- United Arab Emirates
Asia Pacific
- Indonesia (English)
- Lao People's Democratic Republic
- Malaysia (English)
- Micronesia, Federated States of
- New Zealand
- Papua New Guinea
- Philippines
- Solomon Islands
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- France (Français)
- Deutschland
- Luxembourg (English)
- Moldova, Republic Of
- North Macedonia
- Portugal (Português)
- Türkiye (English)
- United Kingdom
Latin America and the Caribbean
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Argentina (Español)
- Bolivia (Español)
- Virgin Islands, British
- Cayman Islands
- Chile (Español)
- Colombia (Español)
- Costa Rica (Español)
- República Dominicana
- Ecuador (Español)
- El Salvador (Español)
- Guatemala (Español)
- Honduras (Español)
- Nicaragua (Español)
- Paraguay (Español)
- St. Kitts and Nevis
- Saint Lucia
- St. Vincent and The Grenadines
- Trinidad and Tobago
- Turks and Caicos
- Uruguay (English)
- Venezuela (Español)
The United States and Canada
- Canada (English)
- Canada (Français)
- United States
- Estados Unidos (Español México)
- الولايات المتحدة
- États-Unis (Français France)
- Estados Unidos (Português Brasil)
- 美國 (繁體中文台灣)
IMAGES
VIDEO