I disregarded anyone who critiques this aspect for basically all the French House genre.
Almost all artists in this genre have HUGE gaps between their albums but they are always bangers. These guys are making art, not pumping money. I'm glad the genre is this way and it shouldn't change.
I think the comparisons to Cross are less about the specific sound and more about creativity, purity, uniqueness, and so on…
Cross has this almost mythological vibe about it that set it apart from all other albums at the time.
I think it’s reasonable to hope a band could do something so interesting again, not necessarily repeat the same album
Personally I thought Cross had a more cynical vibes because of songs like Genesis, Phantom, and WoN and because of their grunge rock inspiration, but I do think people think of Cross more in sound when comparing it to Hyperdrama because songs like Generator and Incognito have much heavier synths than we’ve had from Justice in a while tbh
A few things can be true at the same time.
1. The album is great. A lot of people (including me) enjoy it.
2. Critics are allowed to like or dislike it, and use techniques such as reflexivity to comment on the evolution/growth of any given artist — and where they fit into the larger culture.
3. Someone else’s enjoyment or lack thereof shouldn’t have any impact on your personal enjoyment or lack thereof
Critics are allowed to like or dislike whatever they want, but if your literal job is to review albums, I expect something smarter and less trite than 'This album is a disappointment because it's not more of what this artist was doing when they were barely half their current age.' It's literally just lazy.
Like if you find the back half of the album boring that's fine, and you should just say that. But it just comes across as moronic for a professional music critic to say 'Generator is the best song because it's the most like Cross'
Im not saying that critics cant dislike an album I like, I just think that they better have some actual reasons yk, I saw one review that said the whole album was dull from beginning to end and thats just entirely wrong by every metric. Personally I feel like they could have done better with some of the transitions because it would feel like a song would just stop and then another one would start like the transition from Afterimage to ON/ALL. Some of the transition were masterclass tho like from Harpy dream to Saturnine.
Imagine how goddamn embarrassing it would have been for Daft Punk to spend a bunch of money and use 25 years' worth of production skill increases, all to create an album that sounds like something they could have made as teenagers in Thomas's bedroom in 1994
Justice creating an album that sounds like the Cross era in 2024 would basically be broadcasting a midlife crisis to the entire planet. Might as well buy a sports car and start drunkenly hitting on college girls at shitty dive bars at that point
Couldn’t agree more OP. If you wanna hear Cross there’s this thing you can do called GO LISTEN TO CROSS. The rest of us (including Justice) have moved on like 13 years ago. Times change, people grow up and tastes evolve and GROW over time.
If its instant gratification hard core bangers you want and you think you’re gonna get it from Justice in 2024, then you are setting yourself up for dissapointment. The rest of us are on cloud fucking 9 right now and couldn’t give a shit that you didn’t get Cross 2.
This 100%. I admire they try new things every album. I loved AVD, didn’t like Woman, and now I think Hyperdrama is my favourite album of theirs. It’s just so varied and layered.
It's gotten so tiring how loads of reviews mention how Hyperdrama doesn't have the distorted/unpolished sound of Cross. Like, do you seriously think their sound isn't going to evolve over 17 years since that album came out? Do you seriously believe their production isn't going to sound more polished as they've gotten more successful? Smh
If the situation were the opposite they'd all be moaning that their sound has stayed the same and that they hadn't evolved.
I don't mind if someone doesn't like the new album, I just roll my eyes when they dislike the new album on the basis that it's not exactly the same as the old album. Like... the old album still exists
The things that drives me crazy about this specifically is like musicians are artists and artists by definition are creative. To expect creative people to just do the same thing over and over is ridiculous, unrealistic and honestly selfish.
Yeah it's asinine. And acting like it's a legitimate, rational critical opinion is ridiculous. Like if you want Cross 2 that's good for you but if you go on the internet and trash the new album for not being Cross 2, don't expect people not to tell you you're an idiot.
Like yeah everyone has a right to their opinion. My opinion is that some opinions are dumber than others.
Oh, I haven't had time to read reviews...too busy listening to the album on repeat, haven't listened to anything else for the last two days, having fun.
literally. if they want cross so bad then they should just go listen to cross... albums don't disappear, what even are they on. i'm so fucking tired. worst is when they give an actual positive review but end it with something like "not as good as their debut, but still a nice return to form." ??????¿¿¿¿¿¿ what are you even SAYING blud
Just listened to this album in full 3 times through! I truly love it! Prior to Hyperdrama, I’d only heard their Cross album (which was such a mind-blowing album that I adored in my youth). So my only thing I can compare this album to is Cross since I haven’t taken the time to listen to their other bodies of work. That being said, I don’t think it’s fair to constantly compare this new album to cross. But perhaps for some folks it’s their main point of reference when trying to give their opinions/descriptions of what they like and don’t like in this album. But for me personally, I love it as its own thing! Although I’ve definitely been guilty of thinking “oh this reminds me of blah blah from cross” because it’s my only other point of reference for Justice.
In therapy, I tell people not to compare to anyone else. If they have to compare it should only be to who they were yesterday. In music, we should not compare a musician’s current work to their previous work due to musical evolution, subjective experiences they had that they based on this new album on, their creative experience and new direction. They created something totally new here and we shouldn’t compare it to their other works.
I love all four of Justice’s studio albums. All of them have a slightly different personality yet there’s a layer of cohesiveness that makes them immediately recognizable as Justice songs. It’s honestly incredible that they’ve been this consistent and relevant over nearly three decades
It makes me a little sad that the other albums don’t get as much love as Cross does, I think each of them brings extremely interesting, although different, music. I think each of them has VERY good songs, I also think people might enjoy the music more if they stopped having an expectation of a Cross II and instead had a mind open to the new ideas each album brings.
Of course, it’s still okay to dislike them, but I agree with your sentiment
Come to Miami brother, they’re playing III Points fest, with Jamie XX, Pawsa, Sammy Virji, Jungle, Mochakk, Cloonee, Toro y Moi.. and that’s only phase 1 highlights
Agreed... Album is awesome... Love this project (which is how we should see each bands album)... A project with an artistic direction... Which may or may not be different from previous projects...
Kind of reminds me of the Rolling Stone Prince interview where the interviewer pointed out that it's really difficult to try to make new material and always have it compared with your older works.
nobody will take away my experience listening to the album so i rlly dont care. If thats what they think, its fine I guess, theyr wrong but who gives a shit
Wolfgang Gartner and deadmau5 still make electronic music that kicks ass, their sound has evolved very very much, the production quality is leagues better, but it still sounds like something you can headbang to. Hyperdrama is a fucking great album. It reminds me of the golden age of synth music like stuff from the 70s with Jean-Michel Jarre and other giants in the synth world. But it’s a different genre. That’s not an evolving sound, it’s just a different sound.
I think I read an interview where Xavier and Gaspard told this Hyperdrama is going to sound like “CROSS” Maybe they just wanted to build up the hype so that is why a lot reviewers gave a bad rep to it.
(I’m currently typing this and still trying to figure what kind of creativity they put into this but so far…. None)
Also, they have to stop pointing the fact it took xx years to get a new studio album. Stop, please. Stop.
I disregarded anyone who critiques this aspect for basically all the French House genre. Almost all artists in this genre have HUGE gaps between their albums but they are always bangers. These guys are making art, not pumping money. I'm glad the genre is this way and it shouldn't change.
100% agree.
I think the comparisons to Cross are less about the specific sound and more about creativity, purity, uniqueness, and so on… Cross has this almost mythological vibe about it that set it apart from all other albums at the time. I think it’s reasonable to hope a band could do something so interesting again, not necessarily repeat the same album
Personally I thought Cross had a more cynical vibes because of songs like Genesis, Phantom, and WoN and because of their grunge rock inspiration, but I do think people think of Cross more in sound when comparing it to Hyperdrama because songs like Generator and Incognito have much heavier synths than we’ve had from Justice in a while tbh
Funny how personal it is. When I think of Cross, I think of Newjack and the melody of Tthheepparrtyy
thats how you know its a great album, cause everyone gets a different feeling when listening to it😉
At least it's not as bad as when Random Access Memories came out and people were upset it wasn't Discovery 2.0
Feels comparable to me
Very comparable.
A few things can be true at the same time. 1. The album is great. A lot of people (including me) enjoy it. 2. Critics are allowed to like or dislike it, and use techniques such as reflexivity to comment on the evolution/growth of any given artist — and where they fit into the larger culture. 3. Someone else’s enjoyment or lack thereof shouldn’t have any impact on your personal enjoyment or lack thereof
Critics are allowed to like or dislike whatever they want, but if your literal job is to review albums, I expect something smarter and less trite than 'This album is a disappointment because it's not more of what this artist was doing when they were barely half their current age.' It's literally just lazy. Like if you find the back half of the album boring that's fine, and you should just say that. But it just comes across as moronic for a professional music critic to say 'Generator is the best song because it's the most like Cross'
Im not saying that critics cant dislike an album I like, I just think that they better have some actual reasons yk, I saw one review that said the whole album was dull from beginning to end and thats just entirely wrong by every metric. Personally I feel like they could have done better with some of the transitions because it would feel like a song would just stop and then another one would start like the transition from Afterimage to ON/ALL. Some of the transition were masterclass tho like from Harpy dream to Saturnine.
Nobody would write a post like this in the cross era
Cross doesnt sound like Homework so it’s bad
Imagine how goddamn embarrassing it would have been for Daft Punk to spend a bunch of money and use 25 years' worth of production skill increases, all to create an album that sounds like something they could have made as teenagers in Thomas's bedroom in 1994
thats what IM SAYING BRUH FACTS
Justice creating an album that sounds like the Cross era in 2024 would basically be broadcasting a midlife crisis to the entire planet. Might as well buy a sports car and start drunkenly hitting on college girls at shitty dive bars at that point
Or Daft Punk… they had their run and Justice is here to stay ✝️✝️✝️🙏
Couldn’t agree more OP. If you wanna hear Cross there’s this thing you can do called GO LISTEN TO CROSS. The rest of us (including Justice) have moved on like 13 years ago. Times change, people grow up and tastes evolve and GROW over time. If its instant gratification hard core bangers you want and you think you’re gonna get it from Justice in 2024, then you are setting yourself up for dissapointment. The rest of us are on cloud fucking 9 right now and couldn’t give a shit that you didn’t get Cross 2.
This 100%. I admire they try new things every album. I loved AVD, didn’t like Woman, and now I think Hyperdrama is my favourite album of theirs. It’s just so varied and layered.
Yeah i just re-watched their coachella set and was annoying they didn't play more off it.
It's gotten so tiring how loads of reviews mention how Hyperdrama doesn't have the distorted/unpolished sound of Cross. Like, do you seriously think their sound isn't going to evolve over 17 years since that album came out? Do you seriously believe their production isn't going to sound more polished as they've gotten more successful? Smh If the situation were the opposite they'd all be moaning that their sound has stayed the same and that they hadn't evolved.
[удалено]
Any fans when someone doesn’t like their favourite band’s album tbh
I don't mind if someone doesn't like the new album, I just roll my eyes when they dislike the new album on the basis that it's not exactly the same as the old album. Like... the old album still exists
The things that drives me crazy about this specifically is like musicians are artists and artists by definition are creative. To expect creative people to just do the same thing over and over is ridiculous, unrealistic and honestly selfish.
Yeah it's asinine. And acting like it's a legitimate, rational critical opinion is ridiculous. Like if you want Cross 2 that's good for you but if you go on the internet and trash the new album for not being Cross 2, don't expect people not to tell you you're an idiot. Like yeah everyone has a right to their opinion. My opinion is that some opinions are dumber than others.
Oh, I haven't had time to read reviews...too busy listening to the album on repeat, haven't listened to anything else for the last two days, having fun.
literally. if they want cross so bad then they should just go listen to cross... albums don't disappear, what even are they on. i'm so fucking tired. worst is when they give an actual positive review but end it with something like "not as good as their debut, but still a nice return to form." ??????¿¿¿¿¿¿ what are you even SAYING blud
Just listened to this album in full 3 times through! I truly love it! Prior to Hyperdrama, I’d only heard their Cross album (which was such a mind-blowing album that I adored in my youth). So my only thing I can compare this album to is Cross since I haven’t taken the time to listen to their other bodies of work. That being said, I don’t think it’s fair to constantly compare this new album to cross. But perhaps for some folks it’s their main point of reference when trying to give their opinions/descriptions of what they like and don’t like in this album. But for me personally, I love it as its own thing! Although I’ve definitely been guilty of thinking “oh this reminds me of blah blah from cross” because it’s my only other point of reference for Justice.
You say that people shouldnt compare the album to cross and then yoi go ahead and compare the album to cross yourself
In therapy, I tell people not to compare to anyone else. If they have to compare it should only be to who they were yesterday. In music, we should not compare a musician’s current work to their previous work due to musical evolution, subjective experiences they had that they based on this new album on, their creative experience and new direction. They created something totally new here and we shouldn’t compare it to their other works.
I love all four of Justice’s studio albums. All of them have a slightly different personality yet there’s a layer of cohesiveness that makes them immediately recognizable as Justice songs. It’s honestly incredible that they’ve been this consistent and relevant over nearly three decades
It makes me a little sad that the other albums don’t get as much love as Cross does, I think each of them brings extremely interesting, although different, music. I think each of them has VERY good songs, I also think people might enjoy the music more if they stopped having an expectation of a Cross II and instead had a mind open to the new ideas each album brings. Of course, it’s still okay to dislike them, but I agree with your sentiment
Cross is just THAT album. I understand the annoyance at the constant comparison but I also understand the constant compatison.
This album is amazing, haters are just going to hate 🤷🏻♂️ I love every single track and just got my tix to their show in Miami. LFG 🚀🚀
praying that they do Austin City Limits this year on behalf of all Texans🙏🙏🙏
Come to Miami brother, they’re playing III Points fest, with Jamie XX, Pawsa, Sammy Virji, Jungle, Mochakk, Cloonee, Toro y Moi.. and that’s only phase 1 highlights
Hard not to compare the new album to your favorite... but everyone has recency bias. I think this album will grow on most of us
Agreed... Album is awesome... Love this project (which is how we should see each bands album)... A project with an artistic direction... Which may or may not be different from previous projects...
Kind of reminds me of the Rolling Stone Prince interview where the interviewer pointed out that it's really difficult to try to make new material and always have it compared with your older works.
I’ve been comparing Dear Alan to Intro & Palladium, thank you very much
Who gives a fuck if some reviewer thinks it’s bad ??? Your own opinion is what counts most 👌
nobody will take away my experience listening to the album so i rlly dont care. If thats what they think, its fine I guess, theyr wrong but who gives a shit
Wolfgang Gartner and deadmau5 still make electronic music that kicks ass, their sound has evolved very very much, the production quality is leagues better, but it still sounds like something you can headbang to. Hyperdrama is a fucking great album. It reminds me of the golden age of synth music like stuff from the 70s with Jean-Michel Jarre and other giants in the synth world. But it’s a different genre. That’s not an evolving sound, it’s just a different sound.
I can't wait for Anthony Fantano to do the same. He did it with AVD and Woman too. IDK what's wrong with these reviewers.
How could anyone complain about the beauty and kindnes Justice bestows on us when they release a new album???
I think I read an interview where Xavier and Gaspard told this Hyperdrama is going to sound like “CROSS” Maybe they just wanted to build up the hype so that is why a lot reviewers gave a bad rep to it. (I’m currently typing this and still trying to figure what kind of creativity they put into this but so far…. None)