Of course I have acquired the new album from Justice!! Fans have been dying to get their hands on Justice's new material since Adidas gave us a tease of the first single "Civilization" in their big production commercial earlier this year. This album has been 4 years in the making. It's been waiting on the horizon, like a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow... Does it contain golden doubloons? Will Gaspard and Xavier have us dancing like leprechauns?
Their first album † ("Cross") brought some of the craziness and edge back to a French house music scene that seemed to have mellowed into a something mum wouldn't be too averse to listen to in her car on the way to work. House music is supposed to be something that kids listen to in an underground club, in the basement with your mates, while high on alc*[GOD & LIFE]*gs (Blogger auto-censorship?), not something that they play in movie theatres before the movie starts. So Justice brought back the playfulness, the loudness and the attack of a garage band that hasn't yet succumbed to the polished sounds of mainstream music.
So what have they done for their second album "Audio, Video, Disco"? Have they tried to surprise the house music scene again with a new progressive step forward? Or played on the same strings, cementing the "sound" of Justice? I offer my own humble mini-review...
The same audible aggressiveness isn't there this time around. It was probably evident from the start if their first single Civilization was anything to go by. They sound softer and more "pop" than on their first album and because of this reviews and opinions have been varied. Some people probably expected them to raise the house music bar once again but it seems to me as if Justice have made an album that they have wanted to make without concern for causing any kind of special impact or surprise. Just a solid, well produced album with strong tracks which stick.
And I think they've done it right. As a fairly new fan I wasn't sure what to expect. I absolutely loved †, but then again that album is what it is. It seems Justice have aimed for a different direction this time around. The sound give you the feeling of listening to 70s and 80s rock and pop, whereas also paying homage to inspirational sources as Air and Italian disco music.
Some people might find this album a bit more "boring" than the first album simply because it doesn't scar your eardrums and rip into your temporal lobes in the same way that † did, but I've found that I appreciate Audio, Video, Disco for what it is. It's got those songs that stick, make you hit the repeat button and turn the volume up. And surely that's a sure-fire sign of a good album?
Have a listen to one of the tracks that instantly became one of my favourites.
Their first album † ("Cross") brought some of the craziness and edge back to a French house music scene that seemed to have mellowed into a something mum wouldn't be too averse to listen to in her car on the way to work. House music is supposed to be something that kids listen to in an underground club, in the basement with your mates, while high on alc*[GOD & LIFE]*gs (Blogger auto-censorship?), not something that they play in movie theatres before the movie starts. So Justice brought back the playfulness, the loudness and the attack of a garage band that hasn't yet succumbed to the polished sounds of mainstream music.
So what have they done for their second album "Audio, Video, Disco"? Have they tried to surprise the house music scene again with a new progressive step forward? Or played on the same strings, cementing the "sound" of Justice? I offer my own humble mini-review...
The same audible aggressiveness isn't there this time around. It was probably evident from the start if their first single Civilization was anything to go by. They sound softer and more "pop" than on their first album and because of this reviews and opinions have been varied. Some people probably expected them to raise the house music bar once again but it seems to me as if Justice have made an album that they have wanted to make without concern for causing any kind of special impact or surprise. Just a solid, well produced album with strong tracks which stick.
And I think they've done it right. As a fairly new fan I wasn't sure what to expect. I absolutely loved †, but then again that album is what it is. It seems Justice have aimed for a different direction this time around. The sound give you the feeling of listening to 70s and 80s rock and pop, whereas also paying homage to inspirational sources as Air and Italian disco music.
Some people might find this album a bit more "boring" than the first album simply because it doesn't scar your eardrums and rip into your temporal lobes in the same way that † did, but I've found that I appreciate Audio, Video, Disco for what it is. It's got those songs that stick, make you hit the repeat button and turn the volume up. And surely that's a sure-fire sign of a good album?
Have a listen to one of the tracks that instantly became one of my favourites.
