1. Hard // 2. Juice // 3. 10X // 4. Satellite // 5. Identity // 6. The Feeling // 7. Like It // 8. Sweet Misery // 9. Insomnia // 10. Gravity
JUICE
Apparently, this is the song SM fought for as the album’s title track. And if we’re purely deciding between Juice and Hard I might have to give it a slight edge. Even so, it’s not exactly what I hope to hear from SHINee and it’s actually much more NCT-coded than Hard. Producer Dem Jointz brings his trademark style to the track, but Juice is at its best when embracing sounds more familiar to SHINee.
There are elements I enjoy here. The opening verse is assertive and instant, punctuated by aggressive synths. Remove the needlessly skeletal percussion and we’d really be talking! Similarly, the chorus bounds forward with EXO-style vocal force. I really like the briskness of the arrangement.
Unfortunately, Juice also suffers from an obnoxious chanted pre-chorus and messy second verse. These moments make the track feel less focused than it should, interrupting an otherwise enjoyable flow. Somewhere in an alternate universe, there’s a totally different mix that elevates Juice into the SHINee highlight it could be.
| Ā Hooks | 8 |
| Ā Production | 8 |
| Ā Longevity | 8 |
| Ā Bias | 8 |
| Ā RATING | 8 |
Grade: B-
The Bias List // K-Pop Reviews & Discussion 
Hard vs Juice.
That is like choosing between cholera and plague.
But yes, agree Juice feels slighty better, than Hard.
LikeLiked by 7 people
I was sold on Juice after watching their Beyond Live. It really works to get the energy up and the choreo was a big flex for all of them. Not my favourite on the album but I can see why SM wanted it for the title track.
LikeLiked by 3 people
Yes to everything you said. It’s not something I particularly enjoy listening to, but the live performance is quite mind-blowing. I’m assuming this is also what they aim for
LikeLike
Prefer Hard to this, but they’re both around 7-8 for me.
LikeLike
This is on the same level as the other one. Not my favorite but I can see why they exist though. They’re different. Even if I don’t particularly love them at least they try enough to be bad. A lot of songs this year aren’t even interesting enough to be bad. Songs 3-10 are where it’s at for me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I personally prefer ‘Hard’ to this. Glad to see you review the whole album. I think the reason ‘Hard’ was chosen as the title was Onew’s imminent absence and his vocal importance in vocal-driven tracks (I really hope he takes a long rest, he looks exhausted), trend considerations, and the fact the members have a long history with Kenzie, and the production flourishes. Really, this album may not be SHINee’s best, but I like it!
LikeLike
I’m happy to see SHINee talked about, whatever the case. HARD grew on me over time, much like Don’t Call Me and Advice. Although this might not be what you “need from SHINee,” this is what the members wanted to do and had fun doing. My personal favorites are Like It, Insomnia, and Satellite, but that keeps changing and HARD is a serious bias wrecker. My suggestion is to keep playing the songs and see it for what SHINee has done in their genre-breaking way. The piano and harmonies, so SHINee. Enjoy it for what it is, but perhaps hesitate comparing it to other groups.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Agreed! Itās nice to see them still have fun with trying new things and sounds out, even if those experiments donāt always work out for them. This far into their career, I honestly think theyāre past the point of needing to make headlines with groundbreaking sounds. Whatever they feel like dabbing their hands in is just fine, as long as they arenāt stuck in a cycle of same-ness.
LikeLike
This one and Hard are running about dead even for me. I think I’m ending up neutral on both. I don’t dislike them. I don’t think I like them either at the moment. We’ll see what happens with additional listens. I do appreciate the full sung chorus on this one, even if I think the first half of it isn’t super melodically interesting. The song feels messy in a number of places, but the bridge derails me entirely. The guys sound freaking fantastic throughout though.
LikeLike
Again, I hate to go against SHINee themselves, but when I compare the two, this one is more memorable for me even after just a few listens. EXO is my other favorite group besides SHINee (and f(x)!), and now that you point that detail out, I think that might be why I like this one slightly more – SHINee doing an EXO-style chorus is like a match made in heaven to me. Not peak SHINee, but if we’re comparing this to Hard, I think this is the winner for now. We’ll see how time does them both.
However, this would have been harder to make the forefront of the comeback without Onew (and maybe an even more awkward word to slap on all of you album covers).
LikeLiked by 2 people
For me Hard and Juice are the kind of songs that I love listening to for the first time. I usually look up producers first and if I see Kenzie and Dem Jointz I settle in and get myself ready. Because I know I will need to listen to the song several times to get it, to appreciate whats going on and understand where they want to take us .
One thing I always know – I will get interesting production, lots of great ad libs, weird sounds that I will try to identify and always, always some georgeous vocal moments.
And ok, those songs rarely make it on my playlist or if they are on they dont stay on for that long but I love these kind of tracks nonetheless just for the unpredictability, creativity and fun they bring.
LikeLike
Maaaaaaaaaaan I actually really like this one a lot more. Even if it’s still not the sound I was expecting from Shinee I definitely would’ve picked it as the title track over Hard. Sorry members I’m with SM on this oneš
LikeLike
I prefer the production choices in Hard, but Juice is the otherwise stronger song. It has much more punch, more personality and several more memorable moments than Hard does. I still think this is more NCT than SHINee – though some of the melodies remind me of EXO rather.
I don’t mind the chanted pre-chorus actually, it’s a nice little standout moment with a catchy phrase and builds energy, like a pre-chorus should do. The bridge I don’t like – it drags and seems to go nowhere.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think I liiiiiiiiike this, but Hard has started to grow on me quite a bit (and so has the entirety of this album), so I think I prefer that just slightly over this.
LikeLike
Pingback: SHINee HARD: In-Depth Album Review ā Identity – kpopnews.online
I see this song as outlet for SHINee to displaying their versatility. It is their way of saying “We are SHINee. There is nothing we cannot do. Is it a favorite? No, but it’s well done.
LikeLike