SHINee (샤이니) - 'HARD' Album First Listen & Reaction

[@aileenexshawol]

Personally, this whole album screams SHINee to me. I can even hear Jonghyun's voice on each one of these tracks. I definitely think HARD and Juice are the more experimental love letters to 1st gen kpop. The rest of the album is 100% SHINee - and I mean, their own music interests combined with the signature SHINee sound. I adore everything about this album.

[@NannThiri]

yes this sounds like 2011 shinee but refined 🎉

[@Sophie-pv4ug]

They’ve done hiphop r&b since their debut days., long before there was nct. They started out with it but then they keep changing genres since they are an experimental contemporary group so they never stick with one specific genre. This time they just woke up and chose to do another hiphop. Maybe next album they’ll do heavymetal who knows 😁. It’s Shinee we’re talking about here.

[@cayacat19]

For me all the song screams SHINee, actually hard and juice remembered me all those experimental and strong songs that shinee always put out there, even in their first two albums, although their vocals is their most obvious talent, their capacity to surprise and make any genre theirs without being stagnant in just vocal songs it’s what made them special. At the end they have a song for everyone, now they just bring out again HIPHOP to their repertoire 😂

[@mariapaulas199]

For me it's more impressive that a group with a 'sound' and style that people call 'SHINee' can perform any kind of music genre. Without despising the other groups, but it seems super strange to me how fans catalog genres, which in principle is black music, as owned by a specific group. Please. And on top of that they enclose a group in a single sound. I find it the saddest thing. In every SHINee comeback there is always the same discourse in the public (and even among Shawols) about the title song, because that is precisely SHINee's goal as a contemporary band, to challenge their limits and break the musical conventions established in the past, and they have been doing hiphop and others genres in their first album maaaany years ago before the 85% of actual groups even debuted 😅

[@evcim02]

10x is my favorite song in the album, it has Jonghyun's essence all over 😊 and Onew is killing it with his adlibs My jongyu❤

[@Auntie67]

Satellite is Taemin’s favorite song from the album :) Thanks for the nice listen, I enjoyed going through the album with you. I have different favorites, but I guess that’s the beauty of SHINee’s discography - it can appeal to so many people. Overall I really like this album and I’m happy to finally hear new music from them :)

[@Lawol]

Wasn't it Sweet Misery?

[@maggie198333]

SHINee's Shout Out from Lucifer album is hip hop, and there are others.

[@dheu]

Honestly Juice isn't my favorite from the album and I can see why people think it sounds more like something NCT would do, but this would not be the first time SHINee has done a sound like Juice and Hard. I mean, they have tracks like Get Down and Get It and other hiphop tracks that sound similar to Juice and Hard, all the way from back in 2009-2010, so it isn't like this sound is new to them. I love the way that Hard is a throwback to not only their earlier sound but also 1st gen hiphop and 90s hiphop. It is very nostalgic for people like me who grew up during that time period. My favorite songs from the album right now are Hard, Sweet Misery, The Feeling, Identity, and Satellite (edit: and also 10x and Like it, lol). Thanks for the reaction! It was interesting to hear your opinions and see which songs you vibed with.

[@aileenexshawol]

100% agree! I think many people who say this sounds nothing like SHINee haven't explored all of their discographies. Get Down is very hip hop, 90s-early 2000s. Shout Out, and last but not least The SHINee World (Doo-Bop). SHINee has ALWAYS had a combo of RnB and Hip Hop. I mean, even Hard and Juice have RnB sections in it.

[@weflexinhoodie]

​@@aileenexshawoli never got to properly vibe with Shout Out even after listening to it for several years now, so that to me will always be the noisisest agressive shinee song, tho the jjong bridge is gold to my ears. on the other hand Doo Bop is so classic simple but quiet hip hop which i immediately liked. Taemin's vocals in Get It i think are one of my all time faves from him. I think Get Down is also very loud noisy and experimental and the most similar to Juice and Hard but the difference is that all those old songs have a raw and authentic feeling sound to it, which none of dont call me, hard, juice have as in they're way too polished. maybe if jjong were around it would have a bit of more organic feeling. at least for me personally.

[@aileenexshawol]

@minhyukiesdolsoe totally understand! I don't think that polished sound comes from them as artists, I think it's SM tbh. I just think they do that in general, which some would argue is good but I prefer SM's sound from a couple of years ago. Like you said, there was more rawness and freedom. It's definitely the opposite now which I guess works for newer groups that have that loud sound. Still, it's so cool to see how SHINee has managed to shine through amidst all these new groups. It's because they've been in the game for so long and have trained themselves so hard that they are still so relevant and popular today.

[@weflexinhoodie]

@@aileenexshawol even if they didnt work hard, cause lets be fair, all the korean idols work harder and harder to the extremes, they would still stand out and they always will for me due to their own personal sounds, their own voices, their own vibration in any music they cover, their sincerity. to me they themselves are music and i can hear their souls in their voices. the industry is more about the perfirmance, the show, the entertainment, the dancing, the visuals. to me shinee has always been about their passion for music and how it always overpowers anything else.

[@edwinatakasaki2258]

The album has a good flow with Juice and 10X following Hard, and Gravity following Insomnia wrapping up the album. The b-sides are very solid - I found the instrumentals were balanced and didn't overpower the vocals, which made me appreciate the production. I just thought the industry better keep up because seriously, SHINee's back with a full-length album and if you haven't seen their concerts yet (three back-to-back-to-back concerts!), then wake up, because promotions just started!

[@sheriballi1424]

I feel the same way about "Identity". You made my day recognizing how Shinee that song feels. Love them.

[@ernanj6992]

Next SHINee “Don’t call me “ full albums

[@mikaelairis9255]

All sound like shinee for me. At top level

[@rafahsbsx10]

My favorite is Juice 😀

[@ShawolBaabyx]

This album is so SHINee coded for me. Absolute standout

[@dojjaang]

love ur reaction

[@javieraopazobriones]

My favorites are the same as yours. The second I heard Identity on the beyond live concert I knew it was going to be my jam. Satellite comes second cause like you said is just a magical experience. Like it got me dancing all day and is the one I have been listening on repeat rn and my top four is 10x I absolute adore it cause it feels like something Jonghyun could have done as a soloist. Such a great album and also yeah, I still have to digest Hard and Juice hahaha but I feel like they are growing on me. Have a great week! ☺️ Thank you so much for your reaction I enjoyed it a lot. I don’t usually search additional information in the credits of the tracks and I really liked the research you did on everything! Also sorry for the awkward English 🤭

[@tancik38]

Sweet Misery my favorite, ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@maggie198333]

27:58 It's the same vibe because they have same chord progression, and so do Dream Girl and Sherlock.

[@ltkpop]

Oh you are SO right, I wonder if that chord sequence just works for me considering both 'Sherlock' and 'Dream Girl' are like my top 2 title tracks from them, and 'Like It' was up there for my top b-side on this album

[@Saikouh]

really enjoyed your thoughts and reaction to this album!

[@NannThiri]

juice was sm song lol. they was gonna make it title track but shinee fought for hard instead. shinee has done songs like that in their earlier days tho.