Cross (Justice album)

Cross was recorded in Paris during 2005 and 2006.[5] The concept for the album was for it 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.[6]

Two songs were released as singles before the album's release. "Waters of Nazareth" was the first single released by the group in 2005 and featured "Let There Be Light" as its B-side. "D.A.N.C.E." was the second single from the album released on 23 April 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 this album. The song "D.A.N.C.E." is about and dedicated to Michael Jackson.[7] A music video for the song "Stress", directed by Romain Gavras, was released on 1 May 2008 through the website of rapper Kanye West.[8] It was subject to heavy criticism upon release and received a ban from French television due to its violent content.[8][9]

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 Simonetti-Morante-Pignatelli was sampled for "Phantom" and "Phantom Pt. II", and "Night on Disco Mountain" by David Shire was sampled for "Stress". However, it also incorporates unrecognisable "microsamples" from hundreds of albums.[6] De Rosnay stated:

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 Cross], 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 tiny pieces of vocals.[10]

In August 2018 Nike, Inc. used the track "Genesis" in an advertisement for the launch of a football boot.

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
Metacritic	81/100[11]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[12]
The A.V. Club	A−[13]
Blender	[14]
The Guardian	[15]
The Irish Times	[16]
NME	6/10[17]
The Observer	[18]
Pitchfork	8.4/10[19]
Rolling Stone	[20]
Uncut	[21]

Cross was released to critical acclaim. On Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews and ratings from mainstream critics, the album received a metascore of 81 based on 25 reviews, which indicates "universal acclaim".[11] Rob Sheffield of Rolling Stone stated that "with loads of melodrama and not a moment of subtlety, Justice define the new-jacques swing."[20] Jess Harvell of Pitchfork called the album a "harsh and mostly instrumental set that nonetheless plays like the ideal crossover electronic-pop record", noting that "Justice knows how to sequence a dance album to avoid drag and boredom."[19] Michaelangelo Matos of The A.V. Club described it as "an engaging study in contrasts and a killer party record."[13] MSN Music critic Robert Christgau gave the album a two-star honorable mention () rating,[22] indicating a "likable effort consumers attuned to its overriding aesthetic or individual vision may well enjoy".[23] 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."[22]

At the 50th Grammy Awards, Cross was nominated for Best Electronic/Dance Album, while "D.A.N.C.E." was nominated for Best Dance Recording and Best Video. The album was also nominated for the 2007 Shortlist Prize, eventually losing out to The Reminder by Feist. Cross was ranked at second place by Planet Sound in their Best Albums of 2007 list.[24] Pitchfork placed Cross at number 15 on their Top 50 Albums of 2007 list,[25] as well as at number 107 on their list of the top 200 albums of the 2000s.[26] Rolling Stone ranked it at number 24 on their list of the 30 Greatest EDM Albums of All Time.[27] The album has been included in the book compilation 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.[28]

In October 2020, EDM artist Zedd stated "if there was ever one album I would recommend combining production and musicality; it would be Justice's Cross. I still feel it sounds better than most electronic made today."[29]

• † (Cross) at Discogs (list of releases)