Justice - A Cross The Universe (Review)

Cross by Justice was easily one of the best debut albums I will hear during my lifetime.  No exaggeration.  It was one of those albums that just swept me right off my feet.  The first time I heard "Waters of Nazareth" drop...let's just say I'm happy no one else was in the car.  For me, '07 belonged to Justice.

After such a great album, expectations stay high.  It doesn't matter whether it's a remix here or there or an EP teaser for a new album.  That success is almost expected to be duplicated.  I'm sure you can think of more than a few albums that came across this way for you.

When I got this live set of Justice, I kept my expectations low so my disappointment would be low as well.  Like an idiot, I browsed through the 14 or so tracks, listening to the first couple seconds, fast-forwarding a bit, then skipping to the next song.  It sounded mediocre at best, so I put this CD in the "better luck next time" pile and just kept it moving.

I had a long drive to do (Northeast PA to Pittsburgh, roughly 5 hours), so I put in some CDs to ride out with.  I got a 6 disc changer in the car, and I burnt about 4 CDs, so I threw them in and pushed the other two to the back of the changer.  3 or so hours in, after skipping around from track-to-track on the first couple CDs, I told myself, "Wayman, you have music ADD, next CD that comes on, you can't skip a single song" (I said this in my head, I don't talk to myself).  This CD comes on...

This is probably the album that proved to me one quick scan through doesn't give you much at all.  From start to finish, I felt like I was a part of the crowd.  When the crowd roared, so did I.  When it got quiet, you got quiet.  You could almost feel the tension when the track was building, and when it dropped, you'd go nuts (i.e. end of "We Are Your Friends (Reprises)" is BANANAS!).  Instead of just yapping on and on about it, here's one of their big singles (care of Youtube) so you can see if the album does anything for you:

This live set definitely isn't quite as bright and as happy as D.A.N.C.E. or DVNO, but it hits a good balance between the two.  Stuff you can dance to, and songs that should be playing in a fight club.  As a matter of fact, the last track ("Final") sounds like it ties into a metal song (Iron Maiden maybe?).  Trust me, it blends together very well.  Do yourself a favor:  look it up on iTunes, buy it, and enjoy!

Rating : 4 out of 5 stars (just because I didn't catch how sweet it was the first time around!)

New album review coming soon.  Check back!