† (album)

†
Studio album by Justice
Released	June 11, 2007
Genre	Electro house, disco house
Length	48:13
Label	Ed Banger Records
Producer	Gaspard Augé and Xavier de Rosnay
Justice chronology
† (2007) A Cross the Universe (2008)
Singles from †
"Waters of Nazareth" Released: September 2005 "D.A.N.C.E." Released: April 23, 2007 "DVNO" Released: 2007 (France)/May 19, 2008 (UK) "Phantom II" Released: November 2007 "Tthhee Ppaarrttyy" Released: November 2008

†, alternatively known as Cross, is the debut album of the French electro house duo Justice, released on June 11, 2007. It was certified as Silver in the UK March 13, 2009 for sales of 60,000 copies.^[1]

Recording history

The concept for † was to be an "opera-disco" album. Xavier de Rosnay stated about the opera disco concept:

We stuck to our original idea to make a 2007 opera-disco album, even if we are conscious that some tracks don't sound like proper disco at first listen. The best example is the song “Waters of Nazareth,” which does not sound like disco when you listen to it for the first time. But if you forget that everything is distorted, the bass lines are just really basic disco patterns.^[2]

Several songs were released as singles before the album's release. "Waters of Nazareth" was the first single released by the group in 2005 and also featured "Let There Be Light" as its B-side. "D.A.N.C.E." was the second single from the album and released on April 23, 2007. The single also featured the song "Phantom", which was also released on the Ed Rec Vol. 2 compilation album prior to the release of the album. The song "D.A.N.C.E." is about and dedicated to Michael Jackson.^[3]

There are three credited samples present on the album: "You Make Me Wanna Wiggle" by The Brothers Johnson was sampled for "Newjack", "Tenebre (main theme)" by Goblin was sampled for "Phantom" and "Phantom Pt. II", and "Night on Disco Mountain" by David Shire was sampled for "Stress". However, the band has stated there are many samples in the form of "microsamples" present on the album in which the author of the original composition would not recognize their work was sampled.^[2] De Rosnay stated that as many as 400 albums were used as sampled material and spoke about the microsampling process:

...we do sample really small bits of things that nobody can recognize. "Say we use the 'In Da Club' hand clap - not even 50 Cent would notice but if you listen to 'Genesis,' the first track [on †], there are samples of Slipknot, Queen and 50 Cent, but they are such short samples no one can recognize them. The ones from Slipknot, for example, are just tiny bits of the voice."^[4]

Reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
Allmusic	[5]
Drowned in Sound	8/10[6]
The Guardian	[7]
IGN	(9.1/10)[8]
NME	(6/10)[9]
Pitchfork Media	(8.4/10)[10]
PopMatters	(8/10)[11]
Rolling Stone	[12]
Stylus Magazine	(B+)[13]
Yahoo! Music UK	(8/10)[14]

The album received positive reviews from most music critics.^[15] Rolling Stone said, "With loads of melodrama and not a moment of subtlety, Justice define the new-jacques swing."^[12] It came in at number 15 on Pitchfork's Top 50 Albums of 2007 list,^[16] stating in their review of the album that "Cross is a harsh and mostly instrumental set that nonetheless plays like the ideal crossover electronic-pop record. Justice knows how to sequence a dance album to avoid drag and boredom."^[17] The A.V. Club called it "An engaging study in contrasts and a killer party record."^[18] In his consumer guide for MSN Music, critic Robert Christgau gave the album an honorable mention () rating,^[19] indicating a "likable effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well enjoy".^[20] Christgau stated "As dance music, not my idea of a good time, but as electronic pop, so much trickier, sillier and more kinetic than Kraftwerk".^[19] It holds an 81 rating (out of 100) on Metacritic.^[15]

The album was nominated for Best Electronic/Dance Album ultimately losing to The Chemical Brothers, Best Dance Recording ("D.A.N.C.E."), and Best Video ("D.A.N.C.E") for the 50th Grammy Awards. They were also nominated for 6 PLUG Independent Music Awards including "Album of The Year". The album was also nominated for the 2007 Shortlist Prize, eventually losing out to The Reminder by Feist. It was ranked at No. 2 by Planet Sound in their Best Albums of 2007 list.^{[citation needed]} Online music magazine Pitchfork Media placed † at number 107 on their list of the top 200 albums of the 2000s.^[21]

Usage in media

The track "Genesis" has been sampled several times throughout mainstream media. It was featured in an episode of the television series Shark and in television advertisements for Cadillac and Levi's. The song also appears in the video game Electronic Arts' Need for Speed: Undercover, and used in a gameplay trailer for Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed II, "Genesis" also appears in the trailer and ending credits of the film Echelon Conspiracy, and in the film Punisher: War Zone. It was featured in episodes of Top Gear, in series 13, episode 3, where Jeremy Clarkson tests the Mercedes-Benz SL65 AMG Black Series and series 17, episode 1, where he tests the BMW 1 Series M Coupe. It was used for a BMW promotional video of the M3. It is also featured on the cinema advertisement for series 3 of the E4 comedy The Inbetweeners. "Genesis" also appeared on the Season 5 Top 10 of America's Got Talent for Fighting Gravity's act.

"Phantom Pt. II" was used for a Telus commercial in 2007, as the intro music to Channel 5's Football Italiano, sampled by Swizz Beatz for a 2010 Gucci Mane song called "Gucci Time", and featuring in Richard Hammond's review of the Holden Maloo ute during an episode of Top Gear. The Soulwax remix of the track was the final boss track in Tap Tap Dance.

"Waters of Nazareth" appears in the video game Grand Theft Auto IV under the Electro Choc radio station and in DJ Hero 2. Jay-Z's song "On to the Next One" from the album The Blueprint 3 features a sample of "D.A.N.C.E.". The Game has also used a sample of "Genesis" in his song "American Dreams". "Genesis" appears in multiple setlists in the DJ Hero video game. "Newjack" has been featured in the Cartoon Network block, "You Are Here", at the beginning of the program. "Let There Be Light" is featured in the video game Gran Turismo 5 Prologue. "D.A.N.C.E" is also featured in Dance Dance Revolution Hottest Party 2 and Just Dance 2. The song was also used in college basketball commercial for ESPN as part of its "It's Not Crazy, It's Sports" promotion.

Track listing

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Genesis"	3:54
2.	"Let There Be Light"	4:55
3.	"D.A.N.C.E."	4:02
4.	"Newjack"	3:36
5.	"Phantom"	4:22
6.	"Phantom Pt. II"	3:20
7.	"Valentine"	2:56
8.	"Tthhee Ppaarrttyy" (featuring Uffie)	4:03
9.	"DVNO" (featuring Mehdi Pinson)	3:56
10.	"Stress"	4:58
11.	"Waters of Nazareth"	4:25
12.	"One Minute to Midnight"	3:07

Japanese bonus track
No.	Title	Length
13.	"D.A.N.C.E." (rehearsal version)	4:29

Chart performance

Chart (2007)[22]	Peak position
Austrian Albums Chart	71
Belgium Albums Chart (Flanders)	33
Belgium Albums Chart (Wallonia)	29
Dutch Albums Chart	77
French Albums Chart	11
Norwegian Albums Chart	25
Swiss Albums Chart	36
UK Albums Chart[23]	49

References

1. ^ http://www.bpi.co.uk/certifiedawards/Search.aspx
2. ^ ^{a b} cross examinations. Remix Magazine Online. Retrieved on July 5, 2009.
3. ^ The DJ Q&A with Justice dailyrecord.co.uk. Retrieved on June 18, 2007.
4. ^ French Duo Justice Reveal Songwriting, Sampling Secrets: 50 Cent, Slipknot Take Note! MTV Canada. Retrieved on July 11, 2009.
5. ^ Lymangrover, Jason. Justice - Justice at Allmusic. Retrieved 16 June 2011.
6. ^ Kharas, Kev (19 June 2007). "Justice - † (Cross)". http://drownedinsound.com/releases/10476/reviews/2101363-justice-%E2%80%A0-cross. Retrieved 16 June 2011. 
7. ^ Lynskey, Dorian (8 June 2007). "Justice, †". The Guardian (London). http://music.guardian.co.uk/reviews/story/0,,2097661,00.html. Retrieved 16 June 2011. 
8. ^ Gilchrist, Todd (20 July 2007). "Justice - Cross Review". http://uk.music.ign.com/articles/806/806895p1.html. Retrieved 16 June 2011. 
9. ^ Naylor, Tony (June 1, 2007). "Justice - Justice". http://www.nme.com/reviews/justice/8619. Retrieved 16 June 2011. 
10. ^ Harvell, Jess (June 12, 2007). "Justice: †". http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/43488. Retrieved 16 June 2011. 
11. ^ Sawdey, Evan (2 July 2007). "Justice: Cross". http://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/justice-cross/. Retrieved 16 June 2011. 
12. ^ ^{a b} Sheffield, Robert (1 August 2007). "Cross: Justice (electro)". Archived from the original on 28 December 2008. http://web.archive.org/web/20081220082304/http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/album/15354435/review/15605596/cross. Retrieved 16 June 2011. 
13. ^ Orme, Mike (June 13, 2007). "Justice - †". http://www.stylusmagazine.com/reviews/justice/5010.htm. Retrieved 16 June 2011. 
14. ^ Poletti, James (19 June 2007). "Justice - †". http://uk.launch.yahoo.com/070619/33/21bt1.html. Retrieved 16 June 2011. 
15. ^ ^{a b} Metacritic page metacritic.com Retrieved on May 30, 2008.
16. ^ "Pitchfork Feature: Top 50 Albums of 2007". http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/feature/47446-staff-list-top-50-albums-of-2007/page_4. 
17. ^ Pitchfork Media review pitchforkmedia.com Retrieved on May 30, 2008.
18. ^ The A.V. Club review avclub.com Retrieved on August 24, 2008
19. ^ ^{a b} Christgau, Robert (June 2008). Consumer Guide: †. MSN Music. Archived from the original on 2010-11-20.
20. ^ Christgau, Robert. CG 90s: Key to Icons. Robert Christgau. Retrieved on 2009-11-20.
21. ^ Pitchfork staff (September 28, 2009). "The Top 200 Albums of the 2000s: 200-151". Pitchfork Media. http://pitchfork.com/features/staff-lists/7707-the-top-200-albums-of-the-2000s-150-101/5/. Retrieved October 1, 2009. 
22. ^ "† - Justice, Charts at lescharts.com". http://lescharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Justice&titel=%86&cat=a. 
23. ^ http://www.chartstats.com/release.php?release=35788

External links

• † at Discogs
• † at Metacritic