Hearing you say you can’t pinpoint a genre made me chuckle a bit, because that’s when I realized this song is so perfect for SHINee, as a group that has played around with genre for 15 years. They can’t be put in a specific genre box and I love that about them. Thanks for the reaction!

The genre is SHINee! Album is a masterpiece 🎉

The whole reason why they chose "Hard" for their title track is because they wanted to show everyone that SHINee can do any genre, including hip-hop. Although, just to make sure you didn't forget that this was a SHINee song, they couldn't just do straight hip-hop. They had to create this hybride mashup of pop, rock and retro hip-hop, etc. to give this song that SHINee flavor. They killed this!! This will definitely be a contender for album of the year. You can't tell me that you're not singing "hard like a criminal, hard like the beat, hard like ma flow ..." over and over again in your head after hearing this song. LOL We can definitely add this to SHINee's earworm song list. And the rest of the songs on the album are just as catchy. "Hard" isn't that trippy if you know SM Entertainment's and SHINee's style. Switching up the beat and style of the song in the middle of the song is pretty much how the majority of SM's songs are structured. It's kind of SM's signature style. You will hear that same thing happen in a lot of the songs you listen to from SM. The song was wrote by Kenzie, who, as you may know, is an SM songwriter and producer that has wrote a large majority of SM songs, so it has that signature SM design, and, yet, it's also very uniquely SHINee. The fact that this song is nothing like anyone expects, and different than anything out there, is exactly what makes it a SHINee song. SHINee were designed to be SM Entertainment's experimental boy group, so everything they do is meant to be the first, and they are expected to create the trend. With every new song SHINee produces, it's supposed to be different than the last, so you will never hear the same style or sound from them. But it will somehow always have that SHINee feel. Notice how Key was singing through his clenched teeth in the last part of the song, when they were all dressed in black. And he still sounded perfect while giving off the "Hard" vibes that the song required. Just one of the many unique elements of this song that only SHINee can pull off. This is really just SHINee going back to their roots. As you may remember, before debut, SHINee was actually training to be a hip-hop group. However, as Key tells it, they just didn't have the swag to pull off hip-hop full time, so last minute SM decided to change up their style to the contemporary R&B style of "Replay" that they have now become known for. "Hard" just proves that, SM wasn't wrong, and SHINee has no problem in the world of hip-hop. But their destiny and calling was to be a group that never ties themselves down to just one style or genre. They were meant to show the world that they can be diverse and unique and never do the same thing twice. With every release that SHINee has, they are expected to flip the script and change things up in the Kpop industry. That's why, when SHINee makes a comeback, everyone pays attention because they are looking to SHINee to show them what the industry's next song style and dance trend will be. It is actually said that within 3 months of SHINee making a comeback, you will see that same sound and dance style being duplicated across the industry with every comeback to follow for both boy groups ad girl groups. When SHINee does something, the industry takes note and follows suit. There's been a lot of debate whether "Hard" or "Juice" should be the lead/title track on SHINee''s Hard album -- SM wanted "Juice," to be the lead track, but the SHINee members insisting on "Hard." At this point, I think we all just need to trust SHINee knows what they are doing. Over the years, we have seen them prove time and time again that they know how to be one step ahead of the trend. For example, Jonghyun wanted his song "Deja Boo" to be his solo debut song, but SM insisted on his song "Crazy (Guilty Pleasure)." And in the end, Jonghyun was right. "Deja Boo" became so popular as a b-side track that it had SM scrambling to find ways to showcase the song, proving Jonghyun knew what he was doing. And, "View" -- which is one of SHINee's most popular songs -- wasn't even a contender for SHINee's Odd album, until Jonghyun rewrote the lyrics and the members pushed SM to make it their lead track. In their recent reality show, Key, Minho and Taemin revealed that they all spent a lot of extra time making sure everything felt right with their Hard album. They wanted to release the album on May 25, the day of their 15th anniversary, but things needed work. For example, there was a section in "Hard" that needed some tweaking. So, instead of just rushing to get it done, they took the time to make it perfect. Key said that when they heard the final version of "Hard" -- which was sent to them while they were in Japan filming "The Feeling" MV -- his legs went numb and he knew "Hard" had to be their title track. LOL If you watch the full "SHINee's - 15m Roadtrip comeback show," you will get to see new performances of some of their classic hits, as well as a mini fan concert where they also perform their other new songs, "Hard," "Juice" and "10X." And in between it all, you get to see Key, Minho and Taemin on a roadtrip camping excursion as they look back on their 15 year career. It was really fun. I encourage everyone to check it out. And to see them preparing for this comeback, watch Taemin and his manager Nam Eui Soo on The Manager TV show that aired last weekend. You will get to see all 4 of the members in the dance studio practicing the choreography for "Hard." They showed a preview/short version of their dance practice video on the show. Unfortunately, Onew is currently on hiatus due to his health. Therefore, he won't be participating in any of their comeback activities, including the 3 day opening of their SHINee World Concert VI (SWC6) in Seoul that they just held. It was announced June 9 when Onew was hospitalized for a short time that he would take a doctor recommended rest. You only saw him in part of the "Hard" MV because he went on hiatus in the middle of filming and wasn't able to participate in the rest of the shoot.

When I hear reactor’s describing this song weird and has so many genre is just so interesting to me. I just automatically consider it SHINee and accept it as it is lol. I’m like wow that sounds good and I didn’t even know that it’s 8 genres put together. 🙈🙈🙈

This song was so fun! It reminds me of early Shinee. I just bought the album. It’s good!

I love satellite~~~~

They have been in the industry for 15 years and they always deliver something different and I never question their choices, I just trust them. The choice of songs seems to be very important to them and they certainly compromised in the arrangement so that we could find something for ourselves but at the same time gave the feeling that they are one with the fans regardless of the preferences of each of us SHINee back

SHINee top tier artists 💯👑💎🩵

SHINee always does it right // The songs Identity and Juice (there is a performance version of this song that's fire) are so good from their album. Love SHINee.

I think the storyline in SHINee's "Hard" MV can be interpreted in two ways. If you notice, the whole MV has a piano theme. For example, in the beginning when the scene becomes animated, it showed Taemin being pulled into the piano. And, if you look at the set with the brown walls, you will notice that it looks like the inside of a piano with the wooden hammers that create the sound when the keys are played on the walls behind them. And the lighted white screen is divided like the white keys of the piano with the people's silhouettes representing the black keys, etc. This could represent how music is what controls their lives and its what has trapped them in this world as artists. Which could be similar to the themes within Taemin's solo Never Gonna Dance Again album trilogy -- "2 Kids", "Criminal" and "Idea" -- and his epilogue "Advice." However, I'm also pretty sure that the whole "Hard" MV storyline is connected to SM's SM Culture Universe. The more I watch it, the more I see that seems to indicate that it's all connected. As with all the groups under SM Entertainment, their storylines are all part of a larger concept, kind of like a giant graphic novel or action movie series with a twist. SHINee's story, so far, primarily connects to EXO's and SuperM's storylines. Each group has their own individual storyline and concept, but when you put them all together there are threads of connections between the groups. You could sort of think of it like the Marvel franchise. Each of the Marvel characters has their own storyline, merchandise and fans, but the stories and concepts often overlap and connect. And with each new character that is introduced it expands on the whole Marvel universe. To understand how all of SM's groups are connected, you first need to be aware that it all began with EXO's origin story in 2012. EXO's concept is that they are aliens from Planet Exo who have been sent to Earth on a mission to find and protect the Tree of Life from the Red Force, while also trying to fix all the things that are going wrong in the world, which are believed to be caused by the Red Force. The Red Force is thought to be here on Earth inflicting their evil agenda -- corrupting humanity and causing all the bad things that are happening in the world, such as war, hate and destruction of the environment, etc. And because EXO is trying to undo and prevent the Red Force from accomplishing their goals, the Red Force is also trying to take down EXO by capturing them, corrupting them and standing in their way, etc. With SHINee's "Hard" MV, I think when we first see Taemin in the black sleeveless suit, he looks very similar to what he looked like in his SuperM debut teasers, which could mean that this could be connected to SuperM's storyline. SuperM is the Kpop industry's very first supergroup, which debuted in October 2019, and their concept and storyline is centered around the fact that they are Avengers-like superheros, so SuperM is the group that pretty much connects all of SM's groups together. SuperM is made up of members of SM's other male Kpop groups, such as Taemin from SHINee, Baekhyun and Kai from EXO, Taeyong and Mark from NCT, Ten from WayV and Lucas who is a former member of WayV. This group's storyline is that they are coming together to help EXO battle the Red Force, which is the evil villian or group within EXO's storyline. As "The Avengers," SuperM is taking members from each of SM's groups and joining forces to take down the Red Force. And just like how the movies "Avengers Identity War" and "Avengers Endgame" eventually had each of the Marvel Avengers members recruiting their whole crew to help in the fight, I think SM is setting it up so that all of its groups' members will eventually be brought into the battle. I also think the story in "Hard" even could be connected to Taemin's "Advice" storyline. We see him with his hands painted blue in "Hard," similar to his black ink stained hands and body in "Advice," and in both scenes we see him standing in front of/playing a piano. (Technically, Pearl Aqua is SHINee's color. However, before LED lights were invented, creating a wider range of colors -- making way for SHINee's official Pearl Aqua color -- they used blue and green in things to do with SHINee. That's why we still see blue, green and aqua with most things SHINee related.) Some have pointed out that the scene in "Hard" with the silhouettes behind the screen reminds them of the scene in Taemin's "Criminal" MV, with the people behind a screen pushing their hands into it. However, in "Hard" Taemin is standing in front of the screen, rather than walking through the middle with the two sides reaching for him like in "Criminal". Although, I also think that scene could be connected to EXO's storyline, because we see in EXO's "Tempo" MV a scene where there are silhouettes behind a lighted white wall that looks very similar to this. In EXO's storyline, the people behind the wall are thought to be EXO's alter ego clones, who were created by the Red Force, or they could be the EXO members who are trapped behind the wall. We also see EXO fighting with their silhouette shadows in their live concert performance of their song "Wolf," which is also thought to be EXO battling X-EXO as they search for the Tree of Life. Ever since SHINee came out with "Don't Call Me", I think the storyline in that MV was supposed to be SM bringing SHINee into the SM Culture Universe. In their "Don't Call Me" MV it looks as though the SHINee members go through some sort of wormhole as they are teleported somewhere and we see them all posing in their black outfits like they are getting ready for battle. This looks very similar to the scene in SuperM's debut "Jopping" MV when the SuperM members are coming together at the beginning of "Jopping." Therefore, because Taemin is a member of SuperM, I think SHINee is supposed to be getting ready to join SuperM in the fight against the Red Force. In "Hard" we also see Taemin standing on a grate as he crouches down and looks through it at the "people" in white trapped below, similar to his scene in SuperM's "Jopping" MV. The scene with Key standing with all the dancers in white sitting in a circle around him also seems to be an important part of the story, however I'm not sure what it all means yet. We see Key remove the mask of one of the guys and we discover the guy has a glowing blue earpiece, which seems to be suggesting that they are being controlled by outside forces. However, because they are all just sitting there without moving, it seems to indicate that they are currently "shut-down". Either these people are androids or robots, like in EXO's "Lucky One" MV, or they are people who are under mind control. Although, I don't think they are being controlled by the Red Force necessarily because we don't see any trace of red anywhere in that scene. Instead, the color we see is blue, which usually within EXO's storyline means that it represents something to do with EXO, who are the good guys. Plus, as I said, blue with SHINee usually represents SHINee and their connection as a group. Minho standing on the edge of that rock formation looks similar to the scene with Girls' Generation's Taeyeon standing on the rock in the middle of the ocean in Key's solo "Hate That ..." MV, and it also looks a lot like the scene in SHINee's "Don't Call Me" MV, with Key standing on the submerged phone booth. It all has the same feeling. (Notice how they also are all wearing red in all of those scenes. Red usually represents something to do with the Red Force.) In the next animated scene, we see what looks like Minho in the red jacket fighting with the same piano key ropes that pulled Taemin into the piano in the beginning. To me, it looks like its trying to keep him trapped within the piano and under the control of the music. However, in the following scene, we see the giant piano has been destroyed behind them, which could represent how music no longer controls them, but they now control the music. (As SHINee has said, in the beginning of their career they did whatever they were told to do, however, now that they've been in the industry for more than 15 years, they have learned how to be their own artists and it has afforded them the opportunity to now make their own decisions about their music and to participate in creating the songs and designing their albums, etc. They are now the ones in control.) In the last scene at the end, it reminds me of the same menacing red atmosphere as Minho's rap section in their "Don't Call Me" MV, where we see him in an all red room with chairs hovering above him. Therefore, I think the gloved hand is Minho's hand because it looks like the same gloves that Minho is wearing in the scene right before that where they are dressed in black. Although I don't know what that means yet, I am sure it is something to connect the storyline to something within one of SM's MVs in the future or will make more sense when more of the story is revealed as SM releases the next chapter, etc. But you should also know, that no one really knows for sure what is happening in any of the story. There are well known theories and storylines that are accepted within the fandom, which we think might explain what is happening in each MV. And there are theories about how each MV is connected and where each falls within their larger storyline, but nothing is set in stone. Fan theories are constantly evolving and changing with every introduction of a new piece of the puzzle. New things are revealed with every MV release, concert, event, or appearance, etc., which could either add to or change the storyline.

Next SHINee HARD full albums

Haha, I wrote the following before seeing Kit's comment! But yeah, exactly that! ...You should check out some 1st gen K-pop, like Seo Taiji and the Boys, and H.O.T. The song's meant to be a call back to those groups - Koreans are clocking that right away, especially millennials the same age as the SHINee members - with some 4th gen influence as well. Which is pretty appropriate for a 2nd gen group like SHINee that's still active 15 years post-debut with the same roster, which is super rare. They're bridging two very different eras of the industry. I think you'll enjoy the album. It's super cohesive and a no-skip for me. :)

can't wait for you to hear the album it is so good

I'm hardcore army but SHINee are kings

Yayyy! Another #SHINee thank you❤

Absolutely love this song…Shinee pulled it off perfectly ❤❤❤❤❤

Thank you for your cool analysis, as always. Looking forward to seeing the SHINee HARD album reaction on Twitch! As you will see, this album has something for everyone.

Full album reaction and performances happening in a couple days!

“It’s experimental for sure” lol That’s literally the SHINee blueprint. They don’t stick to 1 genre and they’ve been experimental since debut. As a Korean music producer explained about this album: SHINee is THE genre.

Terima kasih atas reaksi mu terhadap Shinee kami❤

Hi, i am back. Good reaction, ty. I was thinking wondering if Shinee would change their sound again for this comeback and they did. They experimental so u just have to accept the sound as is, lol. I liked some of the fits. I liked parts of this. I did not like the rhythm on 1st listen. I had to relisten a few times like 5-10. The song is not bad now. Loved Taemin's long hair. He and Key looked great. I felt callbacks to Taemin's songs with his hands covered in black not blue. And of course the piano. They are incorporating their solo works into their group song. Love it. The circle reference is for Onew's solo song. Spotted it because of another reactors' comments. =0} Music connects us all. They will destroy the current music scene and remake it. Maybe. I think it may mean all of it. I think this does sound like their old experimental stuff. It gives me Don't Call Me vibes and that song still is not my vibe. This one was not for me in the beginning. My HS pal recently heard the song. She likes it but told me it was probably an NCT song and should have gone to them, lol. I don't listen to NCT. I like hard songs with a great balanced production. And this one took some getting used too. I did check the album out on Spotify. The Feeling was there which made me so happy. I hope u check out that song too. It has an MV. Liked how Taemin explored rap further in this group song. He gave us a little before enlisting. Borahae. -NY USA 2019 Army💟 @ArianaSB1797 said on 6/29/23 Taemin said the MV is full of Easter eggs about their solos work. There are 2 moments with the drawings, the first is Taemin mastering the piano (he is the ACE), the second one is Minho running away (the CHASE). They both are the beginning and the end of their debuts. Key discovers the FACE of one dancer, and Onew is showing his VOICE (with Blue paint) with a high note. I'm pretty sure there is something for Jonghyun too, I haven't figured it out yet.

Where can I watch the album reaction?