Credit: 4AD Ltd
The Vision
[By: Joker]
Genre: UK dubstep
Rating: 60
Cohesiveness: 52
Track quality: 67
Beginner-friendly? somewhat
Written 2025/12/07
Those familiar with the oldheads of the UK dubstep scene will know one of its biggest proponents - Joker - and his wobbly, melodic style of dubstep he brings out in his "Vision".
With over a decade in the game, Joker is one of the uncontested veterans of the scene, and his debut album "The Vision" encapsulates his success quite nicely. It hosts an array of spacious atmospheres and powerful production, enough to allow a reimagination of the time it was created in - a dubstep scene in 2011 that was moving towards aggressive, complex sustains and rhythms. But "The Vision" has a certain appeal to it, a certain sense of forward thinking that only guys like Joker could have really captured. His production style definitely contributes to this - Joker pushes a sound that is discernably quite digital and almost science-fiction-esque, with heavily processed basslines and bright synth runs - along with the spacey mixdowns and aggressive drumwork, but it also stands that "The Vision" seems to exist in limbo: one side looking to a future of wobbly bass sustains; another side rooted to an older UK scene of minimality; another side still branching out into melodies and vocalists, exploring the seeds of what would go on to be the intersection between pop and dubstep.
Interaction between melody and basswork is not lost on Joker. Despite producing through a transition period for the genre, Joker melds dubstep's various faces together in a compelling fashion, booting up rhythms that could repeat for five minutes straight and still be engaging - and he does so, perhaps in the intimidating "Tron" or the dynamic "My Trance Girl" - weaponizing the wub to its fullest extent. Throwing vocalists into the mix is also notable, as is done throughout the album, less so in the midsection but more so at the beginning and the end of the record. At times, the vocals add an extra layer of rhythm to a given cut, playing a key role in shaping the sound; but at other times, they're... a little annoying. When this record dilutes what would otherwise be a punchy dubstep cut, or a shimmering set of melodies, with a half-baked vocal performance - one that might have worked in a pop studio, but has no place around the bassline filth of the year 2011 - it begins to show its flaws. Suddenly "The Vision" goes from being a well-written, skilfully crafted debut album, to a patchwork record with clumsily sown seams.
In all fairness, the vocals aren't even that bad in a vacuum. But introducing them into the otherwise transitive, heavyweight tracklist of "The Vision" creates chaos in its ecosystem, scattering a set of perfectly good melodies to hide amidst the bracken. This is an album that suffers from being disjointed to its extreme, both between the instrumentals and the vocal-dominated cuts, but also within the tonality of the cuts themselves. It's clear that Joker is a talented producer - he's proven that time and time again - but the way this album was written feels like it had a few too many spanners thrown into its works.
Listen on Spotify here.
Intro [Structural] | (/100)
Quite a simple, progressive, ambient intro track, that doesn't do much individually but expands outwards to set a broad soundstage for the following tracks. It, on retrospect, doesn't feel particularly intentional, nor does it feel super unique, but it's a good enough opener.
Slaughter House [Catchy] | (/100)
w/ Silas Bjerregaard
Shuffling beatwork frames a processed, dynamic bassline and a cinematic vocal. Perhaps it's a little theatrical, but "Slaughter House" is so well-produced that it feels engaging throughout, and even if the vocal hook is perhaps not the strongest, the verses complement Joker's various digital synth lines well.
Tron [Intense] | (/100)
A seemingly empty opening atmosphere makes space for a ripping, wobbly sustained bassline that interacts seamlessly with the beat. "Tron" is a massive track, destructive in nature, and it's tough to decide whether to feel intimidated or to succumb to its groove. A hard-hitting track, even if the lead line is a little harsh.
The Vision (Let Me Breathe) [Standout] | (/100)
w/ Jessie Ware
This track posits what is probably Joker's strongest production on the album so far. His synth melodies flip into atonal sustains at a jolt, and back again at another, and Jessie Ware's vocal shouts over the top to anchor the whole thing down.
Milky Way [Atmospheric] | (/100)
As suggested by the title, "Milky Way" is quite a spacey track, the atmosphere of which is complemented by roomy sub basses and starry synth runs, and weirdly aggressive drums. But it does drag on a little, having misemphasised the drum a little too much.
Level 6 (Interlude) [Structural] | (/100)
A really fun interlude, with a bubbly bassline and a couple of self-aware synths flitting above it. Joker gives this one a special groove, but it really does feel a lot longer than it actually is - not changing much throughout its runtime, perhaps as a byproduct of being called an interlude.
My Trance Girl [Intense] | (/100)
I'm not entirely certain what this has to do with trance or girls, but it's nonetheless a clean dubstep cut with a heavy-handed bassline that constantly moves between a smooth sustain to a chopped-up wub.
Lost [Intense] | (/100)
w/ Buggsy, Otis Brown
The child vocal sample is very well-placed in the track, and Buggsy's grime verses are aggressive and decent enough but don't quite match the tonality, leaving "Lost" a little confused as to what it attempts to achieve - the message is clear, but the execution is somewhat directionless.
On My Mind [Melodic] | (/100)
w/ William Cartwright
"On My Mind" is likely the most commercial-leaning track on this record, but it suffers more than it profits from this standing. Joker's melodic synthwork is all-too-safe and Cartwright's lyricism feels quite fatigued - his disjointed flow doesn't help, either. Neither do the spontaneously inserted dubstep wubs that materialise for about five seconds and then leave again.
Back In The Days [Intense] | (/100)
w/ Buggsy, Shadz, Scarz, Double [KHK-SP]
Joker rolls up with a posse of grime rappers who deliver rip-roaring verses at high octane across the whole track. The flow is impeccable and the beat is right there at its side, matching it pace for pace, but the chorus doesn't quite fit into the track and ends up letting it down.
Electric Sea [Melodic] | (/100)
w/ Jay Wilcox
"Electric Sea" suffers the same unfortunate pitfall as a lot of the other tracks, in that it attempts to lift up a vocal which is alright in a vacuum, but which tries a hook that would never really have worked with Joker's processed synth and dubstep style.
The Magic Causeway - Joker & Ginz - Outro [Structural] | (/100)
A compressed lead and a powerful kick-snare give this outro a lot of gravitas and groove simultaneously, with a couple of whimsical leads and a glimmer to the whole track. Somehow the production is both fun and imposing, and I respect it for that.
- The Vision (Let Me Breathe) w/ Jessie Ware (/100)
- Tron (/100)
- My Trance Girl (/100)
- The Magic Causeway - Joker & Ginz - Outro (/100)
- Slaughter House w/ Silas Bjerregaard (/100)
- Level 6 (Interlude) (/100)
- Back In The Days w/ Buggsy, Shadz, Scarz, Double [KHK-SP] (/100)
- Milky Way (/100)
- Lost w/ Buggsy, Otis Brown (/100)
- Intro (/100)
- Electric Sea w/ Jay Wilcox (/100)
- On My Mind w/ William Cartwright (/100)