Justice - Access All Arenas ALBUM REVIEW

Half of what makes electronic music so great is the live performance. It's the genre that's most open to experimentation, especially live. Whether it's being spun by a DJ or meticulously put together on the fly, electronic music opens up new doors for live experiences. A perfect example is Justice, whose A Cross The Universe live album (along with Daft Punk's Alive 2007 and The Chemical Brothers' Don't Think) is perfectly engineered to create the best experience possible for the audience.
Alive 2007 and Don't Think drew material from the bands' relatively large discographies, while Justice only had one album to use for A Cross The Universe. Justice easily jumped over this hurdle, however, by reconstructing and extending their material, and throwing in some remixes and re-edits as well. Now that Justice have another full-length under the belt, they've been given time to formulate a new live show that covers the best of both albums.

Despite the laid-back nature of their second album, Access All Arenas is louder and heavier than the previous live album - the drums are punchier, the build-ups are more spectacular. Tracks like "Waters Of Nazareth" and "Phantom" have been noticeably re-tooled to go down even harder live, yet they still manage to fit in with the band's newer material. Justice's approach is to give the concert a more "rock concert" feel to it. The crowd is given moments of participation via singalongs, and there a couple moments of silence to give the audience a breather.

The new live set isn't entirely new, of course. Many elements of A Cross The Universe are brought back - the remix of the Soulwax remix of "Phantom Pt. II", the Auto remix of "Stress" (with a new funk bassline!), the rehearsal version of "D.A.N.C.E" (with Gaspard on piano this time!). Those instances are okay, because they were some of the best moments of the last live show, and they deserved to be brought back. Some elements don't work nearly as well - the "DVNO" vocal is awkwardly pitched down and thrown onto "Horsepower", the "disco, disco" chant from their "Skitzo Dancer" remix is placed oddly between "New Lands" and "Stress". One of Justice's best works, "We Are Your Friends", is also tragically underused. Some of the best moments from the 2012 tour have been left out, such as the live versions of "Parade" and "NY Excuse", as well as a sweet acid-house deconstruction of "Horsepower". These additions might have made the album more memorable.

Was there really any reason for Justice to release another live album? A live DVD would make a lot more sense, considering the emphasis the band has put on the light show for this tour. Still, it has it's memorable moments (Playing a snippet of Jay-Z's "On To the Next One" in the middle of "D.A.N.C.E" is a stroke of genius), but overall, the experience isn't quite as rewarding as A Cross the Universe. I have no doubt, however, that Justice can still throw an epic party, and I'd still do near-anything to catch them live.

Favorite tracks: "D.A.N.C.E", "On'n'On", "Helix", "Phantom", "Audio, Video Disco", "Civilization"

Least favorite track: "Encore" (obviously)

My score: 6 out of 10.


Note: I will eventually review Phoenix's new album, when my CD comes.