Cross by Justice and Discovery by Daft Punk

I feel like these are the two most important records of the whole house electro scene this decade. For the first time, after Kanye’s “Stronger” came out did I think that Daft Punk made the mainstream. However they have influenced an entire generation of producers, and remain at the top tier of the scene. No album this decade quite showcases just how fun and addicting electro house music could be like "Discovery".

Discovery with songs like “Something About Us” and “Digital Love” showcased their pop sensibilities, and exemplified their diversity and really just how universal house music can be. On the album they also kept their “bangers”, songs like “One More Time” and “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” really can be pumped and take the notions of what house music can be to a new level. Combining pop songs with throbbing beats, Discovery was the anthem for the house/electro scene in the 2000’s.

Justice’s Cross came out in 2007 as a breath of fresh air to a genre that needed it at that point. Six years after Discovery came out; the house scene was diminishing in importance thanks in part Daft Punk’s “Human After All” which turned out to be a very lackluster album that reinforced many preconceptions about house/electro music. Namely the repetitiveness and lack of originality present in many electro songs.

So when Justice came out on the Ed Banger Label, it really turned heads. If I were to describe it one way, it would be the album Daft Punk should have made after “Discovery”. “Cross pulsates throughout beginning with the epic synths that lead off “Genesis”. The album has great flow especially in terms of pacing and fluidity among the tracks.

The two opening tracks “Genesis” and “Let There Be Light” are more reminiscent of big beat electro, relying heavily on pulsing drums and throbbing synthesized beats. After the lead off tracks, the album delves into its disco/dance side with “D.A.N.C.E” and “New Jack” before revolving back into heaver tracks like “Phantom Pt.1 and 2”. These two tracks are turning points in the album and give it a new life as a heavy electro album. The album then again slows down into its more poppy songs like “Valentine”, “The Party” and “DVNO”. The last three songs are staples of the Ed Banger sound. Starting with “Stress” which features a looping sample of Devo, then going into “Water’s of Nazareth” and “One Minute to Midnight” the album turns into heavily distorted beats and strays away from its melodic roots and plants itself firmly into the dirty electro category, serving as a benchmark for similar artists to this day.