I listened to the leaked album yesterday and yeah, it's not really what I was expecting. "Get Lucky" is pretty much the fastest, "danciest", groovy-like track that they've got on the album, and I think a lot of people are expecting the rest of the album to be like it.
Now....having said that, it's still a pretty good album. It's full of funky guitar riffs, and smooth synths. It's got a retro feel to it that reminds me of early disco (it SHOULD after all with an entire track dedicated to Giorgio Moroder, and with Nile Rodgers doing most of the guitar riffs).
True a lot of the tracks are slower, and deeper than Daft's previous 4/4 beat, club sound...HOWEVER if you were to play the "Homework" album from front to back, and then "Human After All" you'd find just as drastic of a change in sound as people are comparing this new album to prior albums.
Daft Punk is doing what any good artist should do, which is evolve and broaden their sound. I think "Random Access Memories" might turn off a lot of the casual fans who liked "One More Time" or "Around The World" and were expecting more of the same.
The slower, groovier sounds on "Random Access Memories" are going to make the inevitable remixes and re-works better IMO, and after listening to the newest album back-to-back 3 times now I can hear that many of the tracks have similar back-beats and are in the same key, which means that many of the tracks can be "merged" together like Daft Punk does in their live shows or notably on their "Alive 2007" album creating a new sound, and song all together.
Overall I'd rate the newest album 7 out of 10. It's not my personal favorite album of theirs, and I think a lot of casual fans aren't going to like it but I'm still going to purchase the tracks that I like, and you can BLOODY guarantee I will see their live show when they come around in my neck of the woods again (Red Rocks + Daft Punk = orgasm)
I have listened to the second half a few times now and although at times it is trying, I have grown fond. I think contact is my favorite Daft Punk song now. You could throw that on the NIN Fixed disc and still be on the same road.
I will give the first half another chance or two but if I remember correctly it was painful.