Justice - Audio, Video, Disco
Record Label - Ed Banger
Release Date - October 24, 2011
The anticipation for a new Justice album has been great. Since the release of their fantastic debut Cross in 2007, fans of the Ed Banger duo have wondered how Gaspard Auge and Xavier de Rosnay could follow up to what has been considered one of the best albums of the 00s.
4 years later and the French-house pioneers are back with Audio, Video, Disco, an album crafted not for 2011, but for 1984. Clearly the duo have taken an instrumental based approach to their sophomore release, tracks such as 'Newlands' and 'On'n'On' could well have been written by any 80s hair rock band with a keyboardist, while the bouncy guitar solo work of 'Helix' will no doubt be compared to Daft Punk - Aerodynamic for its similarities. Yet despite the different sound Justice have opted for, they swear to only have used four keyboards and a guitar during the writing process, testament to their technical abilities.
The common theme throughout Audio, Video, Disco is; guitar solos. There are a lot of them. So much so that certain tracks such as 'Brianvision' become overkill and unnecessary. Justice claim to have written an album that felt natural to them, they did not set out to make an album that was different, yet after listening to 'Audio, Video, Disco' it feels as if they have indeed forced themselves into unfamiliar territory with no way back.
There is no doubt that this second album has disappointed fans of 'Cross', and has not set the electronic world alight as their debut so rightfully managed. Yet that feels unfair to the duo, as this is an exceptional piece of music which will no doubt be criminally overlooked in many end of the year lists.
"an album crafted not for 2011, but for 1984" so true. I think the synths stick out more than anything on here, and the guitar part on "Helix" doesn't have as much as an overbearing role as on the other tracks; they found a way to blend it in and match it with the different sounds going on. Overall, it still screams "Justice", and it's definitely one of those "decide for yourself" albums that will separate the very critical fans from the ones who aren't so much.
That said, I'm still not sure of what I think about the metamorphosis yet.
I think this album is incredible. The first album tackled more disco/pop/70's era music, while still keeping a modern electronic/house feel, and now this album, which captures progressive rock. They're going after every style.
That being said, I hope Justice steers clear of dubstep, in all ways.
Would rather hear them explore new sounds than try to do throwback shit.
/end thread.
Love Cross but I burned the hell outta it. Only so many times one can listen to "you were such a PYT...ABC and 123" before wanting to pull out their hair.
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