"Robot Rock" is the third track and the first single from Daft Punk's third studio album Human After All. It was released on April 11, 2005.
The song is built around a sample of "Release the Beast" by Breakwater, intertwined with a robotic voice chanting "Rock. Robot Rock."
A mix made by Daft Punk was released in the album Human After All: Remixes, entitled "Robot Rock (Maximum Overdrive) in which the original song is heavily looped. Conceding with release of the album, a music video for the remix was created as well.
The track was also used as the opening of the Alive 2006/2007 tour, alongside of the Homework track, "Oh Yeah".
Music video
The music video, directed by Daft Punk themselves, features Daft Punk performing the song on a heavily lit stage, with various televisions emblazoned with the Daft Punk logo surrounding them. Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo plays the drums, while Thomas Bangalter plays the double-necked guitar featured on the "Robot Rock" single cover.
Robot Rock (Maximum Overdrive Daft Punk mix)
A music video was also made for the Daft Punk remix of the song.
The video features Daft Punk themselves, with the same instruments, playing instruments in front of a green screen while video "echo" effects are in the background. The entire video is in black and white
| CD single | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | |||||||
| 1. | "Robot Rock" (Radio Edit) | ||||||||
| 2. | "Robot Rock" (Soulwax Remix) | ||||||||
| 3. | "Robot Rock" (Maximum Overdrive) | ||||||||
| 4. | "Robot Rock" | ||||||||
| 12" single | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. | Title | Length | |||||||
| 1. | "Robot Rock" | ||||||||
| 2. | "Robot Rock" (Soulwax Remix) | ||||||||
| 3. | "Robot Rock" (Maximum Overdrive) | ||||||||
| 4. | "Rockapella" | ||||||||
Samples used
- "Release the Beast" by Breakwater
Reception
"Robot Rock" had moderate success on the UK and U.S. dance charts, (Number 1 in the UK Dance Charts) but it did receive some criticism. Rolling Stone declared "nothing builds to achieve the prior glories of 'Da Funk' or 'One More Time'"[1] and Pitchfork Media noted that the single "is a poor man's 'Aerodynamic'."[2] However, a Sputnikmusic review noted that "although annoying in nature, [it] is also very rewarding to listen to."[3]
Other media
The song was indirectly sampled in the song "Rock It" by Sub Focus.
It was used in the movie Iron Man 2, when DJ AM drops the song during a fight scene.
The song is also featured on the game DJ Hero mixed with band Queen's "We Will Rock You" and Hashim's "Al-Naafiysh (The Soul)"
References
External links
- LW The lyrics of Robot Rock at LyricWikia.
- W Media related to Robot Rock at Wikipedia.
Media related to Robot Rock at YouTube.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||