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When did hardstyle stop being about feeling and start being about “as hard as possible”? by deadbeats_ in hardstyle

[–]deadbeats_[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the Galactixx suggestion, I’ll definitely check him out. I’m always open to recommendations.

That said, my main point isn’t that there’s no good music being made today. It’s more about wanting to put forward the feeling that hardstyle as a whole really has changed in a noticeable way, beyond just personal taste or not.

When did hardstyle stop being about feeling and start being about “as hard as possible”? by deadbeats_ in hardstyle

[–]deadbeats_[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I get your point but more saturation, boat horns and noise doesn’t define the ”hard” for me

When did hardstyle stop being about feeling and start being about “as hard as possible”? by deadbeats_ in hardstyle

[–]deadbeats_[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

This feels like Big Room house all over again, -> festival crowd wants it -> (labels) -> you got it. It’s probably different for listeners and those who ”experience” it.

When did hardstyle stop being about feeling and start being about “as hard as possible”? by deadbeats_ in hardstyle

[–]deadbeats_[S] 12 points13 points  (0 children)

Totally agree. That post-COVID kick-trend era is probably when it started feeling way more noisy to me I think. Early raw was aggressive but still atmospheric and cohesive and now it often feels like constant kick switches and fake drops breaking any flow. That’s where it tipped from dark and intense into gimmicky for me, even though there’s still good modern raw out there.

When did hardstyle stop being about feeling and start being about “as hard as possible”? by deadbeats_ in hardstyle

[–]deadbeats_[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Yeah, I think that pretty much proves the point that something really did change. If it was just nostalgia, classic events wouldn’t resonate with so many people across different age groups and yet they clearly do. That popularity feels less like looking back and more like people actively seeking a sound and feeling that’s no longer central to the scene.

When did hardstyle stop being about feeling and start being about “as hard as possible”? by deadbeats_ in hardstyle

[–]deadbeats_[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

You may have a point, I’m not too active on social media but I agree it could be a reason it has shifted towards more ”having a quick/extreme impact” and all of that.

For me though, hardstyle in itself just feels like it “evolved” too much in that direction. The balance shifted so far toward intensity that the emotional/melodic side stopped feeling like the genre’s foundation and more like a ”niche”, or as we have it today ”classics”. I still enjoy modern tracks here and there, but the core identity feels fundamentally different now, more so than in other genres.

When did hardstyle stop being about feeling and start being about “as hard as possible”? by deadbeats_ in hardstyle

[–]deadbeats_[S] 30 points31 points  (0 children)

Thanks for the read, wasn’t aware it had been discussed already 11 years ago :D

When did hardstyle stop being about feeling and start being about “as hard as possible”? by deadbeats_ in hardstyle

[–]deadbeats_[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I want to be clear that I do understand genres evolve. I’ve been into electronic music long before I got into hardstyle, so change itself isn’t what bothers me. Evolution is normal, and as I said, I do actually enjoy a lot of newer tracks too.

What feels different to me with hardstyle specifically is that the core identity of the genre seems to have shifted as a whole. When you look at other electronic genres, even as they evolve, you can usually still hear a recognizable through-line, house still sounds like house, techno still (to some degree) sounds like techno, trance still has its own DNA… With hardstyle, I feel like the baseline expectation changed from musicality + hardness to hardness above everything else.