Before I proceed, let’s begin with the initial thought of how I wasn’t as keen about reviewing Hardwell‘s hiatus-breaking album “REBELS NEVER DIE“. My opinion concerning his recent Festival Techno sound remains intact since the day the post-UMF article “Welcome back, Hardwell!” came out. Reiterating that here, in short, it’s simply not my cup of tea. I prefer more melodic genres. However, it would be unjustified to sideline a notable album, which the majority of our audience wants a review of, so here goes.
My colleague @edmrevnik has already talked about most of the album in course of the Weekly Roundups. There will be a link for them on the website. That being said, my thoughts remain exclusive to those reviews.
Speaking from a commercial POV, “RND” didn’t exactly break grounds. Releasing a track weekly kind of dampened the hype around Hardwell’s awaited comeback, peaking at about 2+ million streams with “PACMAN“. The idea wasn’t in my good books from the beginning. Yet, I am certain that the Breda-based icon wanted to push aside preset expectations and create something that would suit him and his underground ‘rebels’, not aspiring to be trendy for the sake of revenues. That’s a huge plus, in my opinion.
On the other hand, it is a sizeable compilation to tackle. Personally, I believe that Hardwell’s core audience preferred this sudden transition in his sonic imprint, even though the target was a specific niche, and most average listeners will have a contrary experience.
I was among those unlucky ones. The drops that I favored were thwarted by abrupt breakdowns and vice versa. “PACMAN” had a stunning buildup while “GODD” had a gorgeous Electro House drop: all singular details that amazed me, but the rest of the production wasn’t wholly appealing. Hardwell’s albums do have a problem with breakdowns, which lack that complex melodic getup or euphoric vocalists (apart from Lee Grant’s aggressive presence on the almost Big Room track ” REMINISCE“. Perhaps that would explain as to why many of the songs were played as mashups during live performances.
The drops are where Hardwell claims his authority, apart from the strictly repetitive sequences found in “SELF DESTRUCT” and “ZERO GRAVITY“. The search for experimentation is abundant, such as with “LASER” having the titled ingredient imparting the rave tonality, and “MIND CONTROL” featuring a Trance-y twist to its plot, which I definitely admired. If you pay close attention and ignore any thoughts of the mono-genre theme, each component has its special essence and at least another detail to propose.
I quickly went through “REBELS NEVER DIE“, the closing track, and ended this brief write-up. Undoubtedly, Hardwell’s latest venture has made me happy, for it’s good to know that he has transcended to a new path and evolved as any artist should, maybe ushering in a newer sub-genre that already has picked up more steam due to his involvement. And all of that, while adhering to his underground roots. It’s a genuine, passionate album with a specific audience in mind and unfortunately, nothing more. If you ask my personal favorites, “GODD” has a fantastic drop alongside “I FEEL LIKE DANCING“. Ironically, the tracks that orient less to the Techno.
Ultimately, my rating would be 65/100. Again, this stems from a subjective preference, not a definitive or technical perspective.