Date Released: October 24, 2011
Album Genre: Electronic Rock, House
Album Rating: 7/10
I have to get this off my chest before I start, if you liked anything about the hits from Justice‘s debut album then you’ve got another thing coming. That especially goes for those of you who only listened to Cross for the electro-pop tracks D.A.N.C.E., DVNO, or Tthhee Ppaarrttyy or the harsh electro tracks Genesis, Phantom, Stress or Waters of Nazareth. Did I just name off all the tracks from the first album? Pretty much! This album is more like Audio, Video, Disco, not enough Electro, but to be honest when has Justice ever described themselves as solely electro? We just assumed it as they were riding the French House movement and are signed with Ed Banger who seems to be the principal French label for releasing electronic-house music internationally, but looking at it now I feel this album is more true to Justice than the last one ever was. If you’ve ever heard any of Justice’s mixes, I’m talking about their famous Fabric Rejected Mix, or gone to their off-tour shows where half the people asked “wait, aren’t they going to play D.A.N.C.E.? What is this stuff they’re play now?!”, then you’d understand that they’ve always been this.
The album starts off with Horsepower and Civilization, which you assume is the direction they’re starting to take with all this talk about the album being so different. It is in a sense still similar to some of the harsher sounding electro tracks from their first album, which I actually think sounds great. Little do you know they’re only easing you into how much they’ve changed as you come across Ohio and Canon, which I had to double check that my iTunes wasn’t on shuffle and that I was listening to a Pink Floyd track I had never heard before. I actually had to triple check, so now we hit the 80′s progressive rock section. The tracks are awesome, but sadly I have a feeling they will be criticized for not being “Justice” enough, in other words no one is playing these tracks in clubs. Then we come across the synth rock section with On’n'On, Brainvision, Parade, and Newlands. They’re definitely tracks I’d prefer to chill out or work out to than rock out to in a club. And ending off with one of the better tracks in the album, Helix which actually sounds like Justice and Daft Punk had a child, an awesome child. It’s the only track from this album I’d consider truly electro, it also sounds like it should be in the opening cinematic of a Halo game. The last track to end off the album is Audio, Video, Disco which I have to admit I wasn’t very impressed with when I first heard it. It lacked a lot of what I liked about Justice but it totally grew on me since first listening to it.
Favorite tracks would have to be Horsepower, Civilization, Parade, and Helix, which all seem to be the harder sounding tracks of the album. I’ve never really liked the soft ballad sounding songs in any music so it’s not that the other tracks are bad, just my taste in music. I’ll have to finish this review off by saying you shouldn’t listen to this album expecting the Justice you’ve heard before. Walk in with a blank slate and you’ll enjoy it a lot, the album is solid once you do that. Or maybe you’ll hate it!
1. Horesepower (4/5)
2. Civilization (5/5)
3. Ohio (3/5)
4. Canon (Interlude)
5. Canon (3/5)
6. On’n'on (3/5)
7. Brainvision (3/5)
8. Parade (4/5)
9. Newlands (4/5)
10. Helix (5/5)
11. Audio, Video, Disco (3/5)
Justice – Horsepower
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Justice – Helix
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
Amazon | AmazonMP3 | iTunes
