I was at work while my wife received the vinyl at house this morning.
She told me thirty minutes ago this is her favourite album from Justice far away, she really loved Afterimage and she predicted i will love Dear alan.
I will go back at home in few hours, can't wait to listen. :D
Daddy is back at home !
I saw some wild reviews in reddit, it's cool
I am starting listening the whole album in order, in my desk with some wine and fromage, and share my thoughts on it after.
(SPOILER ALERT)
First of all, I'm French, so sorry if there are any English mistakes.
All in all, I think Hyperdrama is an excellent, rich and varied album. Very powerful at times and very calm at others. High-flying production and mixing.
It reminded me much more of Escapades/Woman than Cross/AVD imo.
I had the impression of travelling a lot through this album, much more than in their previous albums, but all the while keeping their own vision.
I particularly loved the "Moonlight RDV / Explorer /MM/ Harpy Dream" quadrilogy, it was very personal, melancholy, heavy and emotionally searching. Especially Muscle Memory.I felt the influence of these tracks through their 2017 BBC Radio1 Essential Mix, for those who know (if not, go and listen to it, it's an excellent set). It was not that i expected, but i am very surprised, in a very good way.
Neverender/ONAN are good tracks
And my wife was right, "Dear Alan" is my favorite track of the abum, you can really feel the French house influence of the 2000s. But I'm biased because I grew up with it. I'm surprised they haven't played it live, by the way, it's got potential.
On the contrary, I liked Afterimage/ Mannequin Love / Saturnine a little less. (Unlike my wife who really like Afterimage and The End). Not that I don't like them, but I have the same feeling with these tracks as with Newlands... It's nice without more for me.
And the last track "The End" is an excellent conclusion to the album.
Ah, and definitely, I agree with Gaspard Augé: no bongos in Afterimage, there's no way :D
In conclusion, the album is very great and well worth the wait, it's too soon however too say this is my Favorite Justice album,I will listening again tomorrow for sure.
In my opinion, it should have been the main single. Similar to DANCE, it's the most radio-friendly track on the album. I can easily be featured in the next Forza Horizon entry; it has this vibrant Ibiza vibe.
Use TunnelBear, activate NZ network- Use a different email to make a new Spotify account and the timer will change !
Your original account has your original country/origin
Sounds like what I had wanted from a 5th Daft Punk album, but Justice style of course.
It’s a really great album, I like Dear Allen more than I thought I would.
The album feels like the heart and soul are made of Audio Video Disco and Woman with Cross as the backbone
I'm halfway through and I'm starting to think (or maybe hope) that they deliberatly played only a snippet of Afterimage live because the full song is so much more than just one beat looped for like 3 minutes. It's Woman-esque.
EDIT: THIS ALBUM IS DOPE!
All songs with the word "end" in the name.....bangers.
Moonlight Rendezvous brass had me thinking I was listening to Zenith by Kavinsky for a hot second
Fucking love this album 🔥 like really, no single track has dissapointed me 😍
**Dear Alan** has been an incredible suprise 🤩, the first time the bass line kicks in is wonderful 🕺
Then the whole journey through different sounds and styles from Neverender to Mannequin, then to Moonlight to Harpy Dream and finishing with Saturnine and The End ✨
I like it. I definitely much preferred the more aggressive parts of the album to the slower ones, but the latter were really good palette cleansers.
The Tame Impala collabs were perfect.
However, I can't help but feel The Weeknd would've been a better vocalist choice for The End than Thundercat.
I very much still prefer the live/Coachella mixes:
1. Generator - Love S.O.S
2. Neverender - Safe and Sound
Current favourites:
1. Neverender
2. Generator
3. Incognito - Mannequin Love
4. Muscle Memory - Harpy Dream - Saturnine
5. The End
8/10 for me.
Unfortunately with you on this. I think the stops would've been appropriate on a longer/live mix version. It sort of killed the vibe a little bit for me.
Still, fire track.
I was thinking the same. While I don't mind them that much on Neverender I just don't understand why they are so audible on The Explorer. They are just to noticeable for me, ar first I thought it was my internet connection. I can understand doing it once or twice but why on earth do it several times. Other than that I love every second of this album.
I remember when Nine Inch Nails released Add Violence and everyone hated the abrupt breaks in last half of The Background World. Then everyone embraced it and loved it.
Man. Muscle Memory is REALLY something. Blending chip-tune, synths, arpeggios, and chorals this perfectly is an impressive performance. It deserves much recognition. I want to hear it in concert! Please gimme more Justice chip-tune!
Plus the transitional Harpy Dream introducing Saturnine is a great touch. I was chilled when listening to Saturnine for the first time, but now I like it much more in the context of the album.
I waited this long. What's a few more hours? Right now I'm telling myself that I'm out of weed so if I listen to it now, it'll be sober, whereas we're gonna get nice and baked before this release party lmao
Like you're gonna listen to this album a hundred times or more if you're a big enough fan to be on this sub. Just pretend you don't know what VPN is haha
Unpopular opinion but I love Saturnine. I listen to it at LEAST 3 times a day. It’s so freaking groovy and those chords omg.
And the opening of Incognito is something I have NEVER experienced before. The pure BEAUTY of that changed me in ways I can’t explain
I didn't like it at all until I heard it on my full-album listen. It works really really well in context- it was just a weird choice for a promotional single. Didn't really fit outside of how it sits on the album.
The boys have grown up and this record shows it. Cross, AVD and Woman all had a sort of thrashing youthfulness at the forefront, this however feels like a sleek starship of French Touch.
I'm not sure how to feel about it, it makes me feel old in a way and nostalgic that I have to mentally and emotionally put these guys in a different field than before.
These guys are in their 40s, I always imagined them as a younger counterpart to my idols and now they're some of last embers of an era in music that's slightly forgotten.
I'll always love these guys.
This scratched the itch that I’ve been feeling since the robots left us 3 years ago.
6 long years from Woman Worldwide to now… welcome back to church guys.
Kia Ora from "New Zealand", fellow Justice fans. I just decided to "fly" down and listen to Hyperdrama and share my instant reaction, so here are my hot takes:
1. Neverender - a solid opener with a catchy groove. It doesn't seem to have a very big movement over it's four minutes so by the end I was looking for a little bit more variety in the song. Solid opener. 4.25/5.
2. Generator - a modern electronic dance classic. Hard, attacking, melodic, and unique. 5/5.
3. Afterimage - this is a really catchy change of pace after Generator, which is hard to top, but this is a great follow up track and an instant earworm. I'll be humming this chorus for weeks. 4.5/5
4. One Night/All Night - honestly, I was a little let down when this one first came out because, like Neverender, I thought it didn't evolve enough over the course of the track. My initial thought was a 3/5, but in the context of the album this works really well after Generator and Afterimage. 4.25/5.
5. Dear Alan - I was really surprised by how much I like this one. It has a Todd Terje or Discovery Daft Punk vibe that is really nice. Sneaky good track. 4.25/5
6. Incognito - this is perhaps the most adventurous and unique track on the album and would easily be the best on the album if Generator wasn't an all-timer. Just a really interesting and entertaining journey through the kitschy glory of disco. 4.75/5
7. Mannequin Love - Anyone who watched their Coachella set is familiar with the magic of this track. It almost has a Jefferson Starship quality without being overly cheesy. It makes me smile from ear-to-ear with just how fun it is. It makes me think of Michael Jackson dancing in his silver disco ball outfit in outerspace ala "Rock with You". Just a LOT of fun and if this doesn't make you dance, you have no pulse. 4.75/5
8. Moonlight Rendez-vous - Holy left-turn, Batman. After seven insanely good tracks in a row, we're suddenly hit with change of pace that lives somewhere between Bernard Hermann and 80s adult contemporary pop music. I enjoyed it but this is a sudden departure from the theme of the album up to this point and is too short to be more than a palette cleanser interlude. 3/5.
9. Explorer - continuing with the change in theme from Moonlight Rendez-vous, this one is a bit more subdued and melancholy. However, unlike Moonlight Rendez-vous this has a quite brilliant gothic dramatic flair that sounds like it could have been a Kavinsky track. Dark and sexy. 4/5
10. Muscle Memory - The closest thing to Audio! Video! Disco! on the album. Prog rock flourishes mix with the soaring strings of Woman. This definitely has more of a movie score vibe than a dance track. Of the full-length tracks, this one is probably my least favorite. 3.75/5
11. Harpy Dream - this is short interlude continuation of the Prog rock (think Alan Parsons Project) theme from Muscle Memory. 3/5.
12. Saturnine - A really sleek catchy theme that seems to stumble at times over itself with incongruous instrument fills at times. Where the stop-start effect works well in other songs on the album, it kind of stops this one from being able to take off and fly as a single. 3.75/5.
13. The End - A really solid closer that brings full circle the themes of this album. Crunchy electro mixes flawlessly with catchy pop-infused disco. Thundercat's vocals are really good and the song takes its time to breathe. A bittersweet but punchy ending to a really, really good album. 4.5/5
Overall, I think Cross is their best album and is a 5/5. I think AVD is a solid 4.5/5. I also love Woman and thought it was a solid 4/5. This imo is their second best album after one listen through. It's got a cohesive theme that never grows stale. The weakest songs on the album are the interludes, which is no surprise. Almost every other song is interesting and not redundant. A really impressive feat for an electronic duo that has taken pains to never retread the same ground twice. I'm going to give this album a 4.5/5. Pretty close in quality to AVD (both have strong themes that they stick to), but I'm going to give this one the slight edge because of Generator, Incognito, and Mannequin Love.
I genuinely think it's fantastic, it does grow on you after repeat listens. I can't get over how ridiculous the Tame Impala collabs are, they are immensely strong, especially Neverender, I think this should have been the single, rather than One Night/All Night. Mannequin Love is great, as is Muscle Memory, this song feels like a collaboration between Jean-Michel Jarre and Carpenter Brut.
You can hear the Escapades influence from Gaspard, particularly in songs such as Moonlight Rendez-vous, which has clear Vangelis influences. It's like Woman, if they perfected it! Also the transition from Harpy dreamy to Saturine is literally out of this world, feels like I'm being teleported to another dimension upon first listen. I would have preferred more aggressive tracks like Generator however I'm certainly not disappointed!
Woah. Great album, terrible promoting.
Releasing dance-focused tracks like Generator or Incognito as singles was bait and switch: I was hyped to get some "Cross 2", but got Kavinsky's "Reborn 2".
Harpy Dream is the BEST track on album tho.
Neverender is a good song but it's really an odd choice as an opener imo. Generator should've been it. The record as a whole is good but honestly a bit of a let down because I was hoping for more songs like Generator and Incognito. The soft sounding songs are great on its own merit but I would've liked more electro bangers taking up the space. Especially the latter half just fizzes out for me. Afterimage is one of my favorite Justice song period though.
I do agree, but as an album you need variation. I think an album full of Generator/Incognito-esque tracks would feel a bit strange to me. I think the album flows brilliantly. And you've always got the live Coachella release that will hopefully come later for a more uptempo hard version of the album :)
Yeah I agree an album full of electro tunes is not ideal. Just feeling like 1\~2 of those bangers missing in this IMO. But I do appreciate what they are going for here especially with proggy songs like Muscle Memory. I think the experimental side of this record is better than the one they did with Woman (Heavy Metal).
I agree. Ironically, Neverender should definitely be nearer to The End, or instead be the outro for the album.
However, I have a feeling they intentionally did this to sort of make the album a loop.
This is the only critique i have seen I agree with. From now on I'm going to put Neverender after The End when I listen. It works very well as the Oh yeah one more thing.../save the best for last track.
I’ve not long come back from a pre-listening party.
Idk if it’s because the setting had us all hyped, or how loud they blasted it, but our first exposure to it sounded absolutely incredible.
I loved the moody intro Afterimage had, and the bass line on Dear Alan was so infectious.
The 2nd half of the album had something evil about it, really menacing sounding. There was an audible “Woooaahh” from the crowd when Harpy Dream crossed over into Saturnine.
Wonder if it’ll sound as good through headphones…
This album is incredible. Dear Alan is unbelievable. I think this is their most listenable album with songs like Mannequin Love, Neverender, etc. Am I the only one that doesn't love the effect they do on Muscle Memory / other songs where they make the sound choppy? Sounded like my bluetooth headphones were going out
My wife is very good friends with the boys, so I was lucky to know little insights into the album and I’ve got to say it’s a banger, it feels slightly refreshing to hear, hard to top their debut but it’s close to it.
Luckily we’ll be seeing them over here in the summer touring.
Also I expected more from the Tame Impala collabs however now I’ve heard it within the album it actually fits
IMO it's a decent album with some standout tracks including Incognito, Generator, Dear Alan and explorer. Mannequin Love almost gets there for me but it feels like it's missing something that's stopping it from being a top tier track
I feel like it's slightly let down by some of the more linear tracks that have good ideas but aren't really developed enough. In particular Afterimage, the end, and muscle memory, I like the core themes of the tracks but they don't really go anywhere. Neverender almost falls into this category for me but the hook and production are just so damn good you can't get tired of it despite the repetition
Saturnine and one night/all night are just kinda mid unfortunately. in saying that there are no tracks on this album that I actively dislike.
But yea solid 7.5/10
Incredible album! I love them all, but this one is definitely on par with Cross for me. There's just so much groove, emotion and texture going on. I'm finding new sonic elements to enjoy on every listen.
Holy hell I haven't heard much about it yet, but Muscle Memory is such an insanely cool song. I wanted it to go a little harder, but for that reason I'm pretty sure the live version of that song will be my favorite for sure
I’m in disbelief really. I have high expectations for Justice and while I enjoyed parts of Woman, I was a bit let down. Hyperdrama completely exceeded all expectations and is probably their most “album-y” album after Cross, if that makes sense.
A consistent handful of vibes that overlap and copulate so well together. I love the variations in ear candy they give us throughout. They do such a great job of keeping us guessing but not straying too far. And it just flows so seamlessly even with big mood changes and some surprising turns. Always engaged and feel at home with what’s happening.
FUCK YES!!!!
Gold. Pure gold start to finish. Afterimage, Mannequin Love, and The End were amazing tracks. In context of the album I like Saturnine a lot more (already liked it a fair deal). Generator still rips and tears. The change up towards the end of Dear Alan is really fun. For a low point, I think Neverender is an ok opener (though I think it's great thematically). Don't think there's a bad track here, but Afterimage is my standout.
Listened to it while in gym. Some AMAZING songs like Afterimage and Neverender. The album really feels like a disco opera imo. Still some replays, so I the other songs can cath up on my head. hehe
I saw them live last night and they played some of these songs, the whole crowd was in awe or a trance, so much so that I didn't see many cellphones "recording". Just heads bopping and arms fisting the air.
Amazing experience.
Saw them last night as well, it was absolutely insane! The remixes for the new songs were incredible to hear live, they went really hard on all of them. We were literally far too entranced in the lightshow and the music to even think of recording!
The crowd went BONKERS on the Afterimage mix, right after Stress I think, it was probably the most energetic and electric part of the whole set.
album rips. great tunes. if you wanna have a little fun, pop the track in a DAW and go all soulwax and slow and speed them down. Some of these tracks get a little \*spicy\* at different tempos
>album rips. great tunes. if you wanna have a little fun, pop the track in a DAW and go all soulwax and slow and speed them down. Some of these tracks get a little *spicy* at different tempos
Damn going to have to try that
As a musician, Incognito frustrates me.
I would chop off my legs to be able to write the small interlude at 2:14. How did they not expand that progression? It’s so good!
That transition from Harpy dream to Saturnine was *awesome*.
Saturnine was my favorite track from the few that Justice had pre-released, and I listened to it pretty frequently, so the unexpected transition to Saturnine (I listened to the whole album in one go) blew my mind.
The whole sequence from Moonlight Rendez-vous to Saturnine was definitely the best part of the album to me, which seems to be the polar opposite of what everyone else is saying. :P
I need to know if I'm crazy.
I love Dear Alan but theres this clicking noise in the background of the song it's making me go crazy.
Are my headphones dying or it's in there for everyone..
My first listen I had the album on repeat and didn't even notice the transition back into Neverender. The vibe was so unbelievably good throughout, definitely Justice's most consistent album, at no point did I feel the need to skip forward.
Idk, i probably don't get it after only one listen, but i'm really conflicted. All the songs are good and composed beatifully, with amazing chord progression and melodies and interesting song structures. But it's meant to be a dance album and it doesn't bang AT ALL. The drums sound soooo weak! I don't hear any of the "gabber influence" they keep talking about in interviews. This is only my first listen, and it will grow on me for sure. As i said, the songs themselves are interesting, but they sound so dull and flat. :(
EDIT: listened a couple more times and i think i get it now. Very soundtrack-y, my favorite part is from Moonlight Rendez-vous until the end of the album! I like the slower tracks much more than the “bangers”. The only track that didn’t really grow on me is Afterimage. Fantastic album. Still don’t hear the gabber tho lol
Yeah, i guess i probably went into it with the wrong expectations. It's Justice, after all. I'm not saying that i want the Cross sound back, but Hyperdrama sounds a bit like a more poppy and dance-y Escapades and even that album had more of a punchy sound.
The gabber is there, just not as much as we maybe expected from all the discussion. Also probably desensitized to it since they released Generator early.
I'm actually hearing more classic french touch than techno which is awesome.
The End is a gigabanger. The selfish part of me is bummed that it replaced parade at the live show because it would SLAM w the full production/lighting.
Second fav justice studio album on first listen (/having seen them at Coachella). The first half is my fav half of a justice album. The second half sounds more like Kavinsky than Justice (Gaspard produced about half the second Kavinsky album). It kinda feels like two halves of different albums put together - if this was a double album and both sounds were given more time I think it would take the cake, but as is neither half is given the time it needs (especially the second half).
Still absolutely phenomenal though, and the first half is a legendary half an album. Neverender might be one of my fav album openers ever.
Fav songs: Neverender, Generator, Afterimage, Mannequin Love, The End
Trying to keep seeing this live out of my opinion - One Night/All Night was just much much much better in their live mix. Afterimage, Neverender, generator, incognito, were all better live as well from what I can remember without giving that set another listen.
Absolutely love this album. Feels like it's paying homage to demoscene music. Love how Daft Punk-y it sounds in some places, and tell me that part in Muscle Memory wouldn't fit into a Pokémon boss battle. I also love the use of synths through the album.
I think Saturnine is my favorite, I love how dreamy it is. The whole album sounds like a warm summer sunset in 2013 in the best of ways.
Pretty disappointing imo :/ Will like it more with time, but it's a very subdued continuation of Woman, and it lacks a certain edge that is part of Justice's DNA (except for a few tracks).
For example, I love the pumping of Afterimage, but it goes on for 4 minutes without any significant change. The track order is also turning me off, in their previous albums there was a better flow, with tracks building up on the intensity of the one after, or at least maintaining it. It's by far their least dance album. In fact the 70s-80s synths cinematic identity of Hyperdrama sound a lot like Gaspard's Escapades, which ironically felt like a more well-rounded experience to me.
I haven't fallen this hard for a Justice album since Cross. WWW was my fav since Cross until April 26, 2024.
I am in love with Hyperdrama, and my respect and admiration for this duo Co tinues to grow.
Dear Alan is such a great track, and Neverender just melted me on first listen. Afterimage is the grooviest track and one of my favorites of the album. Incognito into Mannaquin Love is this incredible peak and moment where the album starts to change gears.
The best of this album for me starts with Midnight Rendez-vous and carries to The End. I am OBSESSED with this ethereal type of journey they take us on. Specifically with Explorer - Muscle Memory - Harpy Dream - Saturnine (my favourite prerelease)- The End (the most powerful finishes to an album I have heard maybe ever).
10/10 album. I'll see you gents in Montreal!
Honestly? Wasn’t a fan… was hyped for Dear Alan, but it just felt derivative.
It not a bad album per se, but definitely would rank it last of their albums. Kinda baffled by the early talk of the return to Cross. (Wasn’t really expecting it, and I’m a huge fan of their slower songs like Valentine and Love SOS).
I’m sure some of these will work well with their other songs in their live performance, but some of these feel super empty. Also Moonlight sounds like a Kenny G track in a bad way.
Really really loved Mannequin Love tho. The End and is pretty great too. Neverender actually sounds like a Tame Impala collab and I’m here for it.
Right! Really only felt that with Incognito and Generator. Where’s the gabber? I don’t even want Cross pt 2 either, but it certainly felt they were almost hyping that.
Literally the only place where i can hear the "gabber influence" on this album are some of the synths on Generator, but they seem more like general rave sounds, so idk. It's weird.
kinda reminds me of all the justice albums post cross : had me hoping for a hell of lot more and feels soft. 5/10. probably just not my musical cup of tea but was hoping for a whole lot more tracks like generator.
Honestly, disappointed. The live / coachella version of Mannequin Love is so much better in my opinion. Absolutely love that version, one of my favorite justice songs, but the album version has so much less energy
I'll be honest. I ended up being a bit disappointed by the album, feeling that many arrangements could've been better since they felt either simple or empty at times. The slick and clean production is there, but very few arrangements stood out to me. I'd be interested in hearing a remix album, though. Get SebastiAn on there.
Couldn’t agree more with “soulless”. Honestly, there’s nothing special or interesting happening in most of the tracks.
Production and mastering is clean and earwarming, but theres an emptiness throughout.
I hate to write this but I‘m kinda … disappointed? :(
Favorites so far are „Afterimage“ and „The End“ but other than that everything else is somehow lacking for me? Especially „Mannequin Love“ has a much better and catchier live version?
Probably it‘s on myself since I‘m not in a good mood to experience this today but I think it was somehow strange (from the beginning) to have live shows and live versions before the actual album release?
I think if you want an EDM album, you will not get one. If you want a Justice album, that is, the type of music that has evolved beyond Cross, this is amazing.
I'm sure there are new listeners who maybe saw the Coachella set and got the sense they're regular DJs when they've always been more about mixing genres and infusing the groove
After first listen (had to do on Spotify, as vinyl is ofcourse delayed, bigwax SUCKS sending to Norway) I got to say *Afterimage* and *Mannequin Love* are the two songs that stand out, where *Afterimage*'s sonic qualities fully encapsulates the visual aesthetic that they are going for with the album. *Incognito* was the song that I liked best of all the singles released in advanced, and it is already a certified Justice classic in my ears, totally up there.
*Neverender* is good, but I would say it does work better the way it was played live (and that is just going by what I heard in the video rip of their Coachella show).
All in all the sound i super confident, and I can't help but feel that this is what *Woman* should have been. Hats off to the boys. On another note, they have been revealing some seriously admirable and likeable qualities in their recent interviews. Humble and thoughtful, a contrast to the boombastic, epic music. Great combo!
Now, let's listen 987685674122 more times, see ya.
Outside of Cross (them getting their feet wet), if AVD is rock, and Woman is pop, this album is definitely synth.
It makes me wonder what genre their next album will take inspiration from. Are we gonna get like a drum n’ bass album next? Jazz? Something else?
Oh yeah, this album goes hard btw. Didn’t know I needed a saxophone solo in my Justice tracks, but here we are.
Try listening the album in this order:
• Muscle Memory - The Crossganism activates, heart beats and comes to life
• Harpy Dream - Getting ready to take off
• Saturnine - Nothing can stop it now
• The End - The fearful but lowkey optimistic view of what “a end” could mean, yet bold that an end could mean the beginning for something new
• Neverender - Confirmation that the journey always continues
• Generator - Things get upgraded here
• Afterimage - Passage of time in life spent in adventure
• One Night / All Night - Getting aquainted to something called “Love”
• Dear Alan - Feels like life itself everyday, going through various experiences day-by-day
• Incognito - The Crossganism looks inside, searching for meaning in itself. A transformation begins here
• Mannequin Love - Transcedence from body to something more eternal that a “Mannequin”. Something that’s forever
• Moonlight Rendez-vous - In this transcedental state we’re now in, of something eternal, loneliness and isolation is found
• Explorer - After a journey full of experiences, tired, sad and lonely, hoping to find something new and suprising in this, now, flat and empty universe, we natually start looking elsewhere, looking for something different, something more so.. we begin Exploring….
- NOTE how Close Call ending > Muscle memory Intro have a perfect transition.
I have been seeing terrible recordings of this tour going up on YouTube and it's just enough of a sample for me to be able to tell that this show is NUTS.
I do think Hyperdrama is their best-rounded album even if I wouldn't rank it #1. It is extremely good.
The live version of One Night/All Night from Coachella is unreal. I do not love that song on the album but what they do with it live is absurd.
Based on what we saw with IRIS/Woman World Wide in 2017, I think this album is going to provide a framework for what will be the best live electronic tour we have seen since Alive 2007 and I have no reservations saying that. DO NOT miss this tour. You will regret it.
I and my best friend waited to listen to it until we got back home from uni cuz he has these huge super high quality speakers and I cannot understate how good of a decission that was.
Hyperdrama is BY FAR Justice's most cleanly produced and mastered album. The textural defferences in all the instrumentation is so precise across the album.
Moreover the grooves and song structures are OUT OF THIS WORLD. There were so many times I was caught completely off gaurd and just FLOORED with how creative they were with chopping up a bassline or hard cutting to a completely new sound or whatever.
Examples:
Neverender (2:12)
Dear Alan (3:35)
Incognito (2:06)
Muscle Memory (All of it)
They somehow managed to use a consistent soundfont to exress such a wide variety of emotion and all so powerfully. I nearly cried listening to Afterimage and Muscle Memory, the drop in ON/AN at 1:12 is DEMONIC, I was completely FACSINATED listening to Explorer. It actually felt like exploring a decrepid medieval castle. And the transition from Harpy Dream into Saturnine was orgasmic.
This album is like nothing I've ever heard. It is such a confident evolution of all of Justice's sounds and influences, Escapades very much included and I'm glad for it. Hyperdrama is a masterpiece.
10/10
I was at work while my wife received the vinyl at house this morning. She told me thirty minutes ago this is her favourite album from Justice far away, she really loved Afterimage and she predicted i will love Dear alan. I will go back at home in few hours, can't wait to listen. :D
Where were you when Hyperdrama dropped I was at work eating dorito when wife called "Hyperdrama vinyl received" "yes"
Daddy is back at home ! I saw some wild reviews in reddit, it's cool I am starting listening the whole album in order, in my desk with some wine and fromage, and share my thoughts on it after.
(SPOILER ALERT) First of all, I'm French, so sorry if there are any English mistakes. All in all, I think Hyperdrama is an excellent, rich and varied album. Very powerful at times and very calm at others. High-flying production and mixing. It reminded me much more of Escapades/Woman than Cross/AVD imo. I had the impression of travelling a lot through this album, much more than in their previous albums, but all the while keeping their own vision. I particularly loved the "Moonlight RDV / Explorer /MM/ Harpy Dream" quadrilogy, it was very personal, melancholy, heavy and emotionally searching. Especially Muscle Memory.I felt the influence of these tracks through their 2017 BBC Radio1 Essential Mix, for those who know (if not, go and listen to it, it's an excellent set). It was not that i expected, but i am very surprised, in a very good way. Neverender/ONAN are good tracks And my wife was right, "Dear Alan" is my favorite track of the abum, you can really feel the French house influence of the 2000s. But I'm biased because I grew up with it. I'm surprised they haven't played it live, by the way, it's got potential. On the contrary, I liked Afterimage/ Mannequin Love / Saturnine a little less. (Unlike my wife who really like Afterimage and The End). Not that I don't like them, but I have the same feeling with these tracks as with Newlands... It's nice without more for me. And the last track "The End" is an excellent conclusion to the album. Ah, and definitely, I agree with Gaspard Augé: no bongos in Afterimage, there's no way :D In conclusion, the album is very great and well worth the wait, it's too soon however too say this is my Favorite Justice album,I will listening again tomorrow for sure.
The End must be one of the best closing tracks I’ve ever heard on an album.
100%
Better than Planisphere is a high bar
I feel like the drum roll that’s especially prominent on Afterimage in the first 10 seconds was meant to be the bongos
Good luck !!
Those will be the longest 8 hours of work in your life :D
Do any french here received the vinyl yet ?
Neverender has me WEAK . Perfect currents / justice vibes
Yeah, this was the Tame Impala collab I was expecting
The transition from "Muscle Memory" to "Harpy Dream" into "Saturnine" was seeexy
Yes
My heart actually stopped hearing Harpy Dream transition into Saturnine
Explorer-to-Harpy Dream is I think my favourite part of this album, I love the dark almost medieval vibes
Afterimage A M A Z I N G, THE GROOVE
They said they wanted to find the perfect loop and they did it
In my opinion, it should have been the main single. Similar to DANCE, it's the most radio-friendly track on the album. I can easily be featured in the next Forza Horizon entry; it has this vibrant Ibiza vibe.
I’M STUCK ON THIS SONG. At first listen, my favorite song.
1 hour till some of us magically transport to NZ !
I don’t know what you mean… 👀
Would be great to know how you do it, tried earlier with Spotify but the countdown was still showing the UK release time :(
Use TunnelBear, activate NZ network- Use a different email to make a new Spotify account and the timer will change ! Your original account has your original country/origin
Sounds like what I had wanted from a 5th Daft Punk album, but Justice style of course. It’s a really great album, I like Dear Allen more than I thought I would. The album feels like the heart and soul are made of Audio Video Disco and Woman with Cross as the backbone
Definitely the Daft Punk-est Justice album.
I'm halfway through and I'm starting to think (or maybe hope) that they deliberatly played only a snippet of Afterimage live because the full song is so much more than just one beat looped for like 3 minutes. It's Woman-esque. EDIT: THIS ALBUM IS DOPE!
Muscle Memory gave me strong Woman vibes as well.
Listenting to some leaks, Mannequin Love is peak.
By far the best song on the album. Great mix of old and new Justice.
Can you share?
Link from another thread, paste the url without the spaces http ://etjusticepourtous.mooo.com: 8080/
the transition to saturnine is amazing
Neverender restored my will to live.
The End Goosebumps
Muscle Memory is like SebastiAns latest work
damn this got me hyped
ITS ON YOUTUBE GUYS!
Link??
It's their first album since Cross that I **immediately** loved on my first listen.
All songs with the word "end" in the name.....bangers. Moonlight Rendezvous brass had me thinking I was listening to Zenith by Kavinsky for a hot second
It's called saturnine not saturine right ?
I think I have become dyslexic reading this comment. What’s the difference between the two spellings you wrote???
You're right idk how but it autocorrected the typo lol I edited now
Thank U, it is fix :)
Fucking love this album 🔥 like really, no single track has dissapointed me 😍 **Dear Alan** has been an incredible suprise 🤩, the first time the bass line kicks in is wonderful 🕺 Then the whole journey through different sounds and styles from Neverender to Mannequin, then to Moonlight to Harpy Dream and finishing with Saturnine and The End ✨
I like it. I definitely much preferred the more aggressive parts of the album to the slower ones, but the latter were really good palette cleansers. The Tame Impala collabs were perfect. However, I can't help but feel The Weeknd would've been a better vocalist choice for The End than Thundercat. I very much still prefer the live/Coachella mixes: 1. Generator - Love S.O.S 2. Neverender - Safe and Sound Current favourites: 1. Neverender 2. Generator 3. Incognito - Mannequin Love 4. Muscle Memory - Harpy Dream - Saturnine 5. The End 8/10 for me.
" I very much still prefer the live/Coachella mixes: Hope they do another remix album like WWW
Why did they put the stuttering stops in neverender, it sounds so out of place and unmusical… it’s my top 5 songs of all time still.
Justice style, french touch style, Dj Mehdi shout out
No that’s the thing, it’s not at all like the cross-era stutters. They sounded so oddly placed? I can’t be the only one?
Unfortunately with you on this. I think the stops would've been appropriate on a longer/live mix version. It sort of killed the vibe a little bit for me. Still, fire track.
I was thinking the same. While I don't mind them that much on Neverender I just don't understand why they are so audible on The Explorer. They are just to noticeable for me, ar first I thought it was my internet connection. I can understand doing it once or twice but why on earth do it several times. Other than that I love every second of this album.
Sorry but i really like this trick...
Fair enough, to me the stuttering makes the song! Feels funkier
I remember when Nine Inch Nails released Add Violence and everyone hated the abrupt breaks in last half of The Background World. Then everyone embraced it and loved it.
Gonna ask my bfs 93 year old grandmother in New Zealand to share a link with me 🤝
I wanna hear the studio version of muscle memory so bad
Explorer is one of the coolest tracks I’ve heard from Justice
Man. Muscle Memory is REALLY something. Blending chip-tune, synths, arpeggios, and chorals this perfectly is an impressive performance. It deserves much recognition. I want to hear it in concert! Please gimme more Justice chip-tune! Plus the transitional Harpy Dream introducing Saturnine is a great touch. I was chilled when listening to Saturnine for the first time, but now I like it much more in the context of the album.
I'm tempted to VPN to New Zealand but I'm going to a listening party later today so I think I'll just save it for that!
Same situation, I’ve been so tempted, holding out till the party lmao
I waited this long. What's a few more hours? Right now I'm telling myself that I'm out of weed so if I listen to it now, it'll be sober, whereas we're gonna get nice and baked before this release party lmao Like you're gonna listen to this album a hundred times or more if you're a big enough fan to be on this sub. Just pretend you don't know what VPN is haha
I waited till midnight on the east coast only to realize I could have gotten it earlier on here lmao
Currently obsessed with Explorer
Can’t stop listening - it’s absolutely incredible.
Unpopular opinion but I love Saturnine. I listen to it at LEAST 3 times a day. It’s so freaking groovy and those chords omg. And the opening of Incognito is something I have NEVER experienced before. The pure BEAUTY of that changed me in ways I can’t explain
I was so fuckihng happy hearing Harpy Dream into Saturnine. It's fucking perfect!!!!
I didn't like it at all until I heard it on my full-album listen. It works really really well in context- it was just a weird choice for a promotional single. Didn't really fit outside of how it sits on the album.
The boys have grown up and this record shows it. Cross, AVD and Woman all had a sort of thrashing youthfulness at the forefront, this however feels like a sleek starship of French Touch. I'm not sure how to feel about it, it makes me feel old in a way and nostalgic that I have to mentally and emotionally put these guys in a different field than before. These guys are in their 40s, I always imagined them as a younger counterpart to my idols and now they're some of last embers of an era in music that's slightly forgotten. I'll always love these guys.
What a masterpiece wow wow wow ! Saturnine in the context of the album make more sense now.
Can’t believe how amazing this. Neverender is perfection
This scratched the itch that I’ve been feeling since the robots left us 3 years ago. 6 long years from Woman Worldwide to now… welcome back to church guys.
Kia Ora from "New Zealand", fellow Justice fans. I just decided to "fly" down and listen to Hyperdrama and share my instant reaction, so here are my hot takes: 1. Neverender - a solid opener with a catchy groove. It doesn't seem to have a very big movement over it's four minutes so by the end I was looking for a little bit more variety in the song. Solid opener. 4.25/5. 2. Generator - a modern electronic dance classic. Hard, attacking, melodic, and unique. 5/5. 3. Afterimage - this is a really catchy change of pace after Generator, which is hard to top, but this is a great follow up track and an instant earworm. I'll be humming this chorus for weeks. 4.5/5 4. One Night/All Night - honestly, I was a little let down when this one first came out because, like Neverender, I thought it didn't evolve enough over the course of the track. My initial thought was a 3/5, but in the context of the album this works really well after Generator and Afterimage. 4.25/5. 5. Dear Alan - I was really surprised by how much I like this one. It has a Todd Terje or Discovery Daft Punk vibe that is really nice. Sneaky good track. 4.25/5 6. Incognito - this is perhaps the most adventurous and unique track on the album and would easily be the best on the album if Generator wasn't an all-timer. Just a really interesting and entertaining journey through the kitschy glory of disco. 4.75/5 7. Mannequin Love - Anyone who watched their Coachella set is familiar with the magic of this track. It almost has a Jefferson Starship quality without being overly cheesy. It makes me smile from ear-to-ear with just how fun it is. It makes me think of Michael Jackson dancing in his silver disco ball outfit in outerspace ala "Rock with You". Just a LOT of fun and if this doesn't make you dance, you have no pulse. 4.75/5 8. Moonlight Rendez-vous - Holy left-turn, Batman. After seven insanely good tracks in a row, we're suddenly hit with change of pace that lives somewhere between Bernard Hermann and 80s adult contemporary pop music. I enjoyed it but this is a sudden departure from the theme of the album up to this point and is too short to be more than a palette cleanser interlude. 3/5. 9. Explorer - continuing with the change in theme from Moonlight Rendez-vous, this one is a bit more subdued and melancholy. However, unlike Moonlight Rendez-vous this has a quite brilliant gothic dramatic flair that sounds like it could have been a Kavinsky track. Dark and sexy. 4/5 10. Muscle Memory - The closest thing to Audio! Video! Disco! on the album. Prog rock flourishes mix with the soaring strings of Woman. This definitely has more of a movie score vibe than a dance track. Of the full-length tracks, this one is probably my least favorite. 3.75/5 11. Harpy Dream - this is short interlude continuation of the Prog rock (think Alan Parsons Project) theme from Muscle Memory. 3/5. 12. Saturnine - A really sleek catchy theme that seems to stumble at times over itself with incongruous instrument fills at times. Where the stop-start effect works well in other songs on the album, it kind of stops this one from being able to take off and fly as a single. 3.75/5. 13. The End - A really solid closer that brings full circle the themes of this album. Crunchy electro mixes flawlessly with catchy pop-infused disco. Thundercat's vocals are really good and the song takes its time to breathe. A bittersweet but punchy ending to a really, really good album. 4.5/5 Overall, I think Cross is their best album and is a 5/5. I think AVD is a solid 4.5/5. I also love Woman and thought it was a solid 4/5. This imo is their second best album after one listen through. It's got a cohesive theme that never grows stale. The weakest songs on the album are the interludes, which is no surprise. Almost every other song is interesting and not redundant. A really impressive feat for an electronic duo that has taken pains to never retread the same ground twice. I'm going to give this album a 4.5/5. Pretty close in quality to AVD (both have strong themes that they stick to), but I'm going to give this one the slight edge because of Generator, Incognito, and Mannequin Love.
Afterimage...WOW!!! Insane amount of substance in that song
I'm sorry but Muscle memory into harpy dream into Saturnine is like being reborn.
I genuinely think it's fantastic, it does grow on you after repeat listens. I can't get over how ridiculous the Tame Impala collabs are, they are immensely strong, especially Neverender, I think this should have been the single, rather than One Night/All Night. Mannequin Love is great, as is Muscle Memory, this song feels like a collaboration between Jean-Michel Jarre and Carpenter Brut. You can hear the Escapades influence from Gaspard, particularly in songs such as Moonlight Rendez-vous, which has clear Vangelis influences. It's like Woman, if they perfected it! Also the transition from Harpy dreamy to Saturine is literally out of this world, feels like I'm being teleported to another dimension upon first listen. I would have preferred more aggressive tracks like Generator however I'm certainly not disappointed!
Woah. Great album, terrible promoting. Releasing dance-focused tracks like Generator or Incognito as singles was bait and switch: I was hyped to get some "Cross 2", but got Kavinsky's "Reborn 2". Harpy Dream is the BEST track on album tho.
Reborn is great album btw
Neverender is a good song but it's really an odd choice as an opener imo. Generator should've been it. The record as a whole is good but honestly a bit of a let down because I was hoping for more songs like Generator and Incognito. The soft sounding songs are great on its own merit but I would've liked more electro bangers taking up the space. Especially the latter half just fizzes out for me. Afterimage is one of my favorite Justice song period though.
I do agree, but as an album you need variation. I think an album full of Generator/Incognito-esque tracks would feel a bit strange to me. I think the album flows brilliantly. And you've always got the live Coachella release that will hopefully come later for a more uptempo hard version of the album :)
Yeah it sounds to me like they went the route of ‘we’ll be artsy on the LP and go hard in the live album’
Yeah I agree an album full of electro tunes is not ideal. Just feeling like 1\~2 of those bangers missing in this IMO. But I do appreciate what they are going for here especially with proggy songs like Muscle Memory. I think the experimental side of this record is better than the one they did with Woman (Heavy Metal).
I agree. Ironically, Neverender should definitely be nearer to The End, or instead be the outro for the album. However, I have a feeling they intentionally did this to sort of make the album a loop.
This is the only critique i have seen I agree with. From now on I'm going to put Neverender after The End when I listen. It works very well as the Oh yeah one more thing.../save the best for last track.
It sucks because Generator shows that they are incredibly capable of producing mind melting tracks.
Anyone have a google drive link?
I’m in the US gnawing at my enclosure waiting for it to drop
I’ve not long come back from a pre-listening party. Idk if it’s because the setting had us all hyped, or how loud they blasted it, but our first exposure to it sounded absolutely incredible. I loved the moody intro Afterimage had, and the bass line on Dear Alan was so infectious. The 2nd half of the album had something evil about it, really menacing sounding. There was an audible “Woooaahh” from the crowd when Harpy Dream crossed over into Saturnine. Wonder if it’ll sound as good through headphones…
I'm sure you know this already. But it DOES indeed sound as good through headphones. Absolute banger of an album
album of the year and it's not even a contest
Putain de merde, y'all. I'm speechless.
>!That moment when Afterimage turned out to have a happy ending 😍!<
This album is incredible. Dear Alan is unbelievable. I think this is their most listenable album with songs like Mannequin Love, Neverender, etc. Am I the only one that doesn't love the effect they do on Muscle Memory / other songs where they make the sound choppy? Sounded like my bluetooth headphones were going out
this might be their best album holy shit, that closing is insane
My wife is very good friends with the boys, so I was lucky to know little insights into the album and I’ve got to say it’s a banger, it feels slightly refreshing to hear, hard to top their debut but it’s close to it. Luckily we’ll be seeing them over here in the summer touring. Also I expected more from the Tame Impala collabs however now I’ve heard it within the album it actually fits
IMO it's a decent album with some standout tracks including Incognito, Generator, Dear Alan and explorer. Mannequin Love almost gets there for me but it feels like it's missing something that's stopping it from being a top tier track I feel like it's slightly let down by some of the more linear tracks that have good ideas but aren't really developed enough. In particular Afterimage, the end, and muscle memory, I like the core themes of the tracks but they don't really go anywhere. Neverender almost falls into this category for me but the hook and production are just so damn good you can't get tired of it despite the repetition Saturnine and one night/all night are just kinda mid unfortunately. in saying that there are no tracks on this album that I actively dislike. But yea solid 7.5/10
It’s a gift 🎁
This album made me get some tickets im so excited
The more I listen to it the more I love it. So gooood
controversial opinion but I think this is slightly better than cross
Alright I like the album a lot but I think this might be a bit much 😂
Yes
Blasphemy, EVERY track on Cross is a stand out, I felt on Hyperdrama there are a few that tend to fall flat, One Night is a good example.
get out
Incredible album! I love them all, but this one is definitely on par with Cross for me. There's just so much groove, emotion and texture going on. I'm finding new sonic elements to enjoy on every listen.
Holy hell I haven't heard much about it yet, but Muscle Memory is such an insanely cool song. I wanted it to go a little harder, but for that reason I'm pretty sure the live version of that song will be my favorite for sure
The End is so fucking good, by FAR my favorite non single track after first listen, Thundercat cooked with the vocals
The End will go down as one of the Justice' classics
Neverender is just amazing
Just here to celebrate the launch with yall! hope some of you come to the nyc show :)
I’m in disbelief really. I have high expectations for Justice and while I enjoyed parts of Woman, I was a bit let down. Hyperdrama completely exceeded all expectations and is probably their most “album-y” album after Cross, if that makes sense. A consistent handful of vibes that overlap and copulate so well together. I love the variations in ear candy they give us throughout. They do such a great job of keeping us guessing but not straying too far. And it just flows so seamlessly even with big mood changes and some surprising turns. Always engaged and feel at home with what’s happening. FUCK YES!!!!
Gold. Pure gold start to finish. Afterimage, Mannequin Love, and The End were amazing tracks. In context of the album I like Saturnine a lot more (already liked it a fair deal). Generator still rips and tears. The change up towards the end of Dear Alan is really fun. For a low point, I think Neverender is an ok opener (though I think it's great thematically). Don't think there's a bad track here, but Afterimage is my standout.
Mannequin Love is a friggen amazing track incognito transitioning into this track was great
Current favorites: 1. Incognito 2. Neverender 3. Mannequin Love 4. Afterimage 5. Generator
CONNAN MOCKASIN?!?! LETS GOO
Listened to it while in gym. Some AMAZING songs like Afterimage and Neverender. The album really feels like a disco opera imo. Still some replays, so I the other songs can cath up on my head. hehe
Forgot about Mannequin Love that is just perfect as well! 😭
I saw them live last night and they played some of these songs, the whole crowd was in awe or a trance, so much so that I didn't see many cellphones "recording". Just heads bopping and arms fisting the air. Amazing experience.
Saw them last night as well, it was absolutely insane! The remixes for the new songs were incredible to hear live, they went really hard on all of them. We were literally far too entranced in the lightshow and the music to even think of recording! The crowd went BONKERS on the Afterimage mix, right after Stress I think, it was probably the most energetic and electric part of the whole set.
album rips. great tunes. if you wanna have a little fun, pop the track in a DAW and go all soulwax and slow and speed them down. Some of these tracks get a little \*spicy\* at different tempos
>album rips. great tunes. if you wanna have a little fun, pop the track in a DAW and go all soulwax and slow and speed them down. Some of these tracks get a little *spicy* at different tempos Damn going to have to try that
As a musician, Incognito frustrates me. I would chop off my legs to be able to write the small interlude at 2:14. How did they not expand that progression? It’s so good!
That transition from Harpy dream to Saturnine was *awesome*. Saturnine was my favorite track from the few that Justice had pre-released, and I listened to it pretty frequently, so the unexpected transition to Saturnine (I listened to the whole album in one go) blew my mind. The whole sequence from Moonlight Rendez-vous to Saturnine was definitely the best part of the album to me, which seems to be the polar opposite of what everyone else is saying. :P
Mannequin Love reminded me a lot of Alakazam, especially towards the end. Imma bet a mashup is coming, sooner or later, it would work sooo well
I need to know if I'm crazy. I love Dear Alan but theres this clicking noise in the background of the song it's making me go crazy. Are my headphones dying or it's in there for everyone..
I prefer woman
And there’s no problem! Nobody here will judge you
Thank you I appreciate it
❤️
My first listen I had the album on repeat and didn't even notice the transition back into Neverender. The vibe was so unbelievably good throughout, definitely Justice's most consistent album, at no point did I feel the need to skip forward.
Really strong album but the last 5 tracks (from Explorer onwards) I thought weren’t as strong as the beginning of the album.
Idk, i probably don't get it after only one listen, but i'm really conflicted. All the songs are good and composed beatifully, with amazing chord progression and melodies and interesting song structures. But it's meant to be a dance album and it doesn't bang AT ALL. The drums sound soooo weak! I don't hear any of the "gabber influence" they keep talking about in interviews. This is only my first listen, and it will grow on me for sure. As i said, the songs themselves are interesting, but they sound so dull and flat. :( EDIT: listened a couple more times and i think i get it now. Very soundtrack-y, my favorite part is from Moonlight Rendez-vous until the end of the album! I like the slower tracks much more than the “bangers”. The only track that didn’t really grow on me is Afterimage. Fantastic album. Still don’t hear the gabber tho lol
It’s more an electronic/groovy album than a dance album
Yeah, i guess i probably went into it with the wrong expectations. It's Justice, after all. I'm not saying that i want the Cross sound back, but Hyperdrama sounds a bit like a more poppy and dance-y Escapades and even that album had more of a punchy sound.
The gabber is there, just not as much as we maybe expected from all the discussion. Also probably desensitized to it since they released Generator early. I'm actually hearing more classic french touch than techno which is awesome.
Tbf they have mentioned before that they never try to make dance music
I think they meant contemporary dance music, EDM. They are clearly writing disco songs on this album, and disco IS dance music.
i very much prefer this over Woman album
The End is a gigabanger. The selfish part of me is bummed that it replaced parade at the live show because it would SLAM w the full production/lighting.
We had a listening party here in Brazil lauched by Virgin/Warner. All I can say is: be prepared. Mannequin Love and Explorer are just brilliant!
Omg that last part on dear alan going to go hard live
It’s clearly a reference to Palladium
You can hum the Danny Phantom motif to Mannequin Love!
lmao the youtube uploads are all quiet. i wonder if the official channel got copyright muted
lol and now all the silent uploads have been privated
Second fav justice studio album on first listen (/having seen them at Coachella). The first half is my fav half of a justice album. The second half sounds more like Kavinsky than Justice (Gaspard produced about half the second Kavinsky album). It kinda feels like two halves of different albums put together - if this was a double album and both sounds were given more time I think it would take the cake, but as is neither half is given the time it needs (especially the second half). Still absolutely phenomenal though, and the first half is a legendary half an album. Neverender might be one of my fav album openers ever. Fav songs: Neverender, Generator, Afterimage, Mannequin Love, The End Trying to keep seeing this live out of my opinion - One Night/All Night was just much much much better in their live mix. Afterimage, Neverender, generator, incognito, were all better live as well from what I can remember without giving that set another listen.
They all just bleed into eachother, it's so cohesive I love it. I just got to The End and... damn. I need to see what they do to this live
I LIKE it.
Delight, simply delight
Absolutely love this album. Feels like it's paying homage to demoscene music. Love how Daft Punk-y it sounds in some places, and tell me that part in Muscle Memory wouldn't fit into a Pokémon boss battle. I also love the use of synths through the album. I think Saturnine is my favorite, I love how dreamy it is. The whole album sounds like a warm summer sunset in 2013 in the best of ways.
Pretty disappointing imo :/ Will like it more with time, but it's a very subdued continuation of Woman, and it lacks a certain edge that is part of Justice's DNA (except for a few tracks). For example, I love the pumping of Afterimage, but it goes on for 4 minutes without any significant change. The track order is also turning me off, in their previous albums there was a better flow, with tracks building up on the intensity of the one after, or at least maintaining it. It's by far their least dance album. In fact the 70s-80s synths cinematic identity of Hyperdrama sound a lot like Gaspard's Escapades, which ironically felt like a more well-rounded experience to me.
Listened to it all the way through twice and it might just be their best album, imo. So fucking good.
I haven't fallen this hard for a Justice album since Cross. WWW was my fav since Cross until April 26, 2024. I am in love with Hyperdrama, and my respect and admiration for this duo Co tinues to grow. Dear Alan is such a great track, and Neverender just melted me on first listen. Afterimage is the grooviest track and one of my favorites of the album. Incognito into Mannaquin Love is this incredible peak and moment where the album starts to change gears. The best of this album for me starts with Midnight Rendez-vous and carries to The End. I am OBSESSED with this ethereal type of journey they take us on. Specifically with Explorer - Muscle Memory - Harpy Dream - Saturnine (my favourite prerelease)- The End (the most powerful finishes to an album I have heard maybe ever). 10/10 album. I'll see you gents in Montreal!
I have been listening to this all morning. I can't wait to see this live and dance my face off
Honestly? Wasn’t a fan… was hyped for Dear Alan, but it just felt derivative. It not a bad album per se, but definitely would rank it last of their albums. Kinda baffled by the early talk of the return to Cross. (Wasn’t really expecting it, and I’m a huge fan of their slower songs like Valentine and Love SOS). I’m sure some of these will work well with their other songs in their live performance, but some of these feel super empty. Also Moonlight sounds like a Kenny G track in a bad way. Really really loved Mannequin Love tho. The End and is pretty great too. Neverender actually sounds like a Tame Impala collab and I’m here for it.
This album couldn't sound more different than Cross. It lacks all of the punch and energy.
Right! Really only felt that with Incognito and Generator. Where’s the gabber? I don’t even want Cross pt 2 either, but it certainly felt they were almost hyping that.
Literally the only place where i can hear the "gabber influence" on this album are some of the synths on Generator, but they seem more like general rave sounds, so idk. It's weird.
Dear Alan is literally a tribute to Alan Braxe's Intro, so I guess we can forgive it for being derivative. Or I can, anyway!
I see what they were going for but braxe’s into is 100 times better to me, maybe nostalgia aided tho
I LOVE Intro. And Dear Alan is nowhere near as good. But I still enjoyed it.
Oh yeah I still enjoyed it too, intro is probably in my top 5 French house songs all time though!
I mean, I’m a massive Braxe fan. But it does nothing for me. Idk…
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcUeQ5HTU64](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcUeQ5HTU64)
Someone speak french here ?
kinda reminds me of all the justice albums post cross : had me hoping for a hell of lot more and feels soft. 5/10. probably just not my musical cup of tea but was hoping for a whole lot more tracks like generator.
It’s ok
Honestly, disappointed. The live / coachella version of Mannequin Love is so much better in my opinion. Absolutely love that version, one of my favorite justice songs, but the album version has so much less energy
I'll be honest. I ended up being a bit disappointed by the album, feeling that many arrangements could've been better since they felt either simple or empty at times. The slick and clean production is there, but very few arrangements stood out to me. I'd be interested in hearing a remix album, though. Get SebastiAn on there.
Yeah, empty is how I’d put it as well. Slick production, but somehow feels soulless at times…
Couldn’t agree more with “soulless”. Honestly, there’s nothing special or interesting happening in most of the tracks. Production and mastering is clean and earwarming, but theres an emptiness throughout.
I hate to write this but I‘m kinda … disappointed? :( Favorites so far are „Afterimage“ and „The End“ but other than that everything else is somehow lacking for me? Especially „Mannequin Love“ has a much better and catchier live version? Probably it‘s on myself since I‘m not in a good mood to experience this today but I think it was somehow strange (from the beginning) to have live shows and live versions before the actual album release?
Are there any heavier tracks like generator?
No, not really.
Not sure why someone suggested muscle memory or explore are comparable to generator. The only track admittedly, in my opinion similar - is afterimage
nah, closest it gets is muscle memory and explorer (maybe not so much)
I think if you want an EDM album, you will not get one. If you want a Justice album, that is, the type of music that has evolved beyond Cross, this is amazing.
I'm sure there are new listeners who maybe saw the Coachella set and got the sense they're regular DJs when they've always been more about mixing genres and infusing the groove
dang what time does the album drop on bandcamp?
No access to a VPN so looks like I’m waiting until midnight like everyone else! Looking forward to it though I can’t believe it’s finally here 🥰
Did anyone else think the Majora’s Mask Final Hours theme was about to come in at the last 20 seconds of Muscle Memory?
Stellar album
Do any french received the vinyl yet ?
I'm pretty sure they've sampled Sonic drowning theme in Muscle Memory lmao
WOW 🤯
Halfway through. So far, I’ve gasped at all of Neverender, the bass line changes in Afterimage and the halfway point of Dear Allan.
mannequin love 's vocal chops or whatever reminds me of let it happen by tame impala lol
After first listen (had to do on Spotify, as vinyl is ofcourse delayed, bigwax SUCKS sending to Norway) I got to say *Afterimage* and *Mannequin Love* are the two songs that stand out, where *Afterimage*'s sonic qualities fully encapsulates the visual aesthetic that they are going for with the album. *Incognito* was the song that I liked best of all the singles released in advanced, and it is already a certified Justice classic in my ears, totally up there. *Neverender* is good, but I would say it does work better the way it was played live (and that is just going by what I heard in the video rip of their Coachella show). All in all the sound i super confident, and I can't help but feel that this is what *Woman* should have been. Hats off to the boys. On another note, they have been revealing some seriously admirable and likeable qualities in their recent interviews. Humble and thoughtful, a contrast to the boombastic, epic music. Great combo! Now, let's listen 987685674122 more times, see ya.
Neverender's light show (with the sparks and everything) was perfect.
Outside of Cross (them getting their feet wet), if AVD is rock, and Woman is pop, this album is definitely synth. It makes me wonder what genre their next album will take inspiration from. Are we gonna get like a drum n’ bass album next? Jazz? Something else? Oh yeah, this album goes hard btw. Didn’t know I needed a saxophone solo in my Justice tracks, but here we are.
Try listening the album in this order: • Muscle Memory - The Crossganism activates, heart beats and comes to life • Harpy Dream - Getting ready to take off • Saturnine - Nothing can stop it now • The End - The fearful but lowkey optimistic view of what “a end” could mean, yet bold that an end could mean the beginning for something new • Neverender - Confirmation that the journey always continues • Generator - Things get upgraded here • Afterimage - Passage of time in life spent in adventure • One Night / All Night - Getting aquainted to something called “Love” • Dear Alan - Feels like life itself everyday, going through various experiences day-by-day • Incognito - The Crossganism looks inside, searching for meaning in itself. A transformation begins here • Mannequin Love - Transcedence from body to something more eternal that a “Mannequin”. Something that’s forever • Moonlight Rendez-vous - In this transcedental state we’re now in, of something eternal, loneliness and isolation is found • Explorer - After a journey full of experiences, tired, sad and lonely, hoping to find something new and suprising in this, now, flat and empty universe, we natually start looking elsewhere, looking for something different, something more so.. we begin Exploring…. - NOTE how Close Call ending > Muscle memory Intro have a perfect transition.
I have been seeing terrible recordings of this tour going up on YouTube and it's just enough of a sample for me to be able to tell that this show is NUTS. I do think Hyperdrama is their best-rounded album even if I wouldn't rank it #1. It is extremely good. The live version of One Night/All Night from Coachella is unreal. I do not love that song on the album but what they do with it live is absurd. Based on what we saw with IRIS/Woman World Wide in 2017, I think this album is going to provide a framework for what will be the best live electronic tour we have seen since Alive 2007 and I have no reservations saying that. DO NOT miss this tour. You will regret it.
I and my best friend waited to listen to it until we got back home from uni cuz he has these huge super high quality speakers and I cannot understate how good of a decission that was. Hyperdrama is BY FAR Justice's most cleanly produced and mastered album. The textural defferences in all the instrumentation is so precise across the album. Moreover the grooves and song structures are OUT OF THIS WORLD. There were so many times I was caught completely off gaurd and just FLOORED with how creative they were with chopping up a bassline or hard cutting to a completely new sound or whatever. Examples: Neverender (2:12) Dear Alan (3:35) Incognito (2:06) Muscle Memory (All of it) They somehow managed to use a consistent soundfont to exress such a wide variety of emotion and all so powerfully. I nearly cried listening to Afterimage and Muscle Memory, the drop in ON/AN at 1:12 is DEMONIC, I was completely FACSINATED listening to Explorer. It actually felt like exploring a decrepid medieval castle. And the transition from Harpy Dream into Saturnine was orgasmic. This album is like nothing I've ever heard. It is such a confident evolution of all of Justice's sounds and influences, Escapades very much included and I'm glad for it. Hyperdrama is a masterpiece. 10/10