- JUSTICE AUDIO VIDEO DISCO
2011 album from the French Electronic duo. The duo is known for incorporating a strong Rock and Indie influence into their music and image. Features the singles 'Civilization' and 'Audio Video Disco'.
List Price: $ 13.98
Price: $ 6.97 
Definitely not Cross, but most definitely Justice,
Before you read the negative reviews about this album, because I am sure there will be many, keep the following in mind: Most people who will have listened to this song will be EXPECTING the same songs from Cross. You have to listen to this album without dwelling on Justice’s first album. Don’t let that become a hang up. Also they probably listen through it once and then gripe about it rather than listening to it a couple times and really soaking it in. This is completely new material and at first I was taken aback and thought “Where’s my Justice?” but the more I listened to it the more I could hear them.
Now on to my personal review. This album is a great synthesis of classic 70s rock and electronica. Truly a match made in heaven. You still get your great heavy synth parts that Justice is known for, but there is a lot lighter synth play in this album. They said their previous album was intended for night and this one is intended for day. It’s fun and it’s lively. It doesn’t take itself too seriously. That being said there is still a lot of depth. Rather than relying on a bunch of samples they focus on melodic structures of rock songs. Seriously if you love ELO and bands like them you’ll love this album.
I’ve been listening to it non-stop today already and I almost enjoy it more than their first album.
Give it a chance and enjoy this fun new direction. If you want the same old music over and over, listen to the same album. Don’t complain about artists not progressing and sounding the same and then go crazy about it when they actually do.
Best songs: Helix, Civilization, Horsepower, and the hidden track at the end of Audio Video Disco. The album is worth that hidden track alone!
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|Going track by track,
It’s been four years since the French electronic duo Justice delivered their masterpiece, Cross, and today they’re back with their highly anticipated follow-up, Audio, Video, Disco. The lead single from the album, “Civilization” was classic Justice, with a pounding beat and a theatrical epicness that one would expect from Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay. Since “Civilization” debuted, though, snippets of other songs have leaked to mixed reactions. Now, with today’s release of the full album, I’ll go track by track to see just how Audio, Video, Disco stacks up to Justice’s other work.
1. “Horsepower”: It starts out nice, with a growling guitar much like that on “Civilization”, the song it proceeds. Along with some brighter synth portions as well as some darker strings, it’s a good way to kick off the album. The song’s good, but it acts as a prelude to Civilization and doesn’t stand out on its own quite enough.
2. “Civilization”: You’ve all heard this one before, but it bears repeating that “Civilization” is just a damn good anthem. The guitars erupt and scream on the track, and the whole thing has a brilliant grinding tension in the first minute of the song that ends up in an electronic explosion, with a heavy beat kicking in and sending this song into outer space. This one’s better than a good number of songs on Cross, and will definitely be spinning at clubs for years to come.
3. “Ohio”: …the can’t be all great, though, right? It’s really the lyrics that mess up the song. Repeating “Ohio, Tennessee, California, Endlessly…right on” over and over again, just what are they trying to say? I know electronic music isn’t exactly known for having lyrical depth, but the lyrics just feel so disjointed from the song underneath. And that’s a shame, because the instrumental part of the song is quite nice, something that you can enjoy in the (mostly) lyricless last minute of the song.
4. “Canon – Primo”: Just a little harpsichord-ish intro to the proper “Canon”
5. “Canon”: This one reminds me a little bit of Daft Punk’s “Robot Rock” with its heavy guitar riff (something that seems to be a trend on this album). The song has a real drive to it, with synths, guitars and thunderous drums fighting for sonic space throughout the track.
6. “On’n'On”: The singing on the track sounds like some long lost vocal from a forgotten 70s vocalist, combined with a strings happy Justice dropping something a lot more melodic than the previous tracks behind it. It works really well, and is probably one of the most newcomer-friendly tracks Justice has done so far. It also ends with a huge outro that glides seamlessly into the next track…
7. “Brianvision”: Not a whole lot going on in this track. It’s not that it’s bad or anything, but it’s also not good. Seeing that “Canon” and “On’n'On” really delivered the goods previously, this song can be forgiven for being a bit of a lull.
8. “Parade”: I’m really getting a Queen vibe from this album as I get deeper into it. Aping the stomps and hand-claps from “We Will Rock You” as they do on this track, I’m guessing it was intentional. The song also includes some welcome weirdness, with the audio inexplicably dropping out for a couple of seconds right before the end and a glitchy, staccato intro, but the middle feels a little limp, like it’s trying to get by on the Queen vibe they set the song up with.
9. “New Lands”: This one starts off sort of uninteresting, without a whole lot going on at first other than a falsetto vocal on top of what sounds like an alternate take of “Civilization”, but at around the 2:30 mark, the song shifts gears and starts accelerating on its own and really working by the time it’s done.
10. “Helix”: The chopped up vocal snippets on this are nice, giving the song a vocal punch without dominating the song. But the guitar that does dominate the song sort of sounds like a variation on the same riff that has been pervading the rest of the songs. The riff itself is good enough on its own, but I feel like Justice is leaning on it way too hard, especially at this point, ten tracks in. Even though the song does another gear change toward the end, it just doesn’t deliver
11. “Audio, Video, Disco”: The harpsichord from “Canon-Primo” returns here on the final track to lead us into a chaotic, heady, bass drum heavy send-off in the final track on the album. All that chaos burns off by the end of the song, but I’m not sure if it’s the best way to go. I would have liked for Audio, Video, Disco to spend its last few minutes really blowing the windows off, but it doesn’t. It instead chooses to ease into something quieter and quieter until it’s just done. Maybe if there had been some more real bangers on this album it would have been a welcome come down, but as it stands, it’s more disappointing than relaxing.
So, there we go, all eleven tracks laid…
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|Justice Returns…to the Past,
Here’s the thing….
A.) If you bought Cross, loved it, and are expecting the exact same album (i.e. some really awesome, but super-heavy slammin’ electro) then there’s a really good chance you’re going to be disappointed.
B.) If however you generally like Justice’s sound, and can expand that past the strict definition of the first album, then you’re going to like this.
C.) If you’re a “B” and you also happen to like classic prog-rock like Yes, Asia, and Rush. Then prepare to totally absolutely love this album more than life itself.
Me, I am somewhere betwixt B+C. So while I would have loved a Cross “2.0″ I still really, really dig this album.
Whereas Cross was an in your face mesh of classic Parisian house and heavy electro, this album is more of an homage to classic progressive rock. Which makes this a little bit more heady on the conceptual level. The “problem” with that is that you end up with a mix of songs that you can’t exactly dance to…from a group that got big on the dance floor. And while I like to dance to Justice, I also just like to listen to them.
So if you really like good interesting music the latest offering from Justice will totally float your boat.
Best tracks to check out are in my opinion Helix, Civilization, On’n'On. For a taste of what I mean by prog-rock homage check out “Parade”.
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