C/D--Nine Inch Nails

Trent is somewhat of a confused popist I think. For the Fragile, he seemed to try and apply some of his "industrial" ways to forms other then hard rock. The problem was, he took his persona and angst and gothitude instead of his phat synth beats.

A completely insightful comment. Trent is a frustrated popsmith trapped in a scowling industrial cyberpunk's bodyarmour. I, for one, would love it if he completely pulled the 180 he's been threatening and came out with an unapologetic pop record that completely dropped all the sci-fi/angst/bondage/goth shenanigans. Let his former protogee, Marilyn Manson, milk that particular cow dry while Trent could take on Timbaland and the Neptunes as THE inventive producer to be reckoned with.

I always get that feeling that he's still got this potential for a really incredible album, although I confess my hopes sorta wavered after the Fragile. It had the sound of someone falling out of touch with reality, which is always what brings down the Great Big Artists (unless they're out of touch to begin with, like Madonna).

And what the fuck is with the "halo #" thing? I never got that.

The halo thing is just numbering his releases. I think it's a savvy play to the hardcore among his fan base, like my freaky friends.

This particular drunk story mentioned up there some took place at Bethany College, like 20 miles north of Wheeling I think. I dunno, I'm from Steubenville OH, right across the river from Weirton WV, and Bethany was like a 30 minute drive south.

And while I'm not too excited over With Teeth, I am hyped up about the upcoming DFA remix. Woo!

Got out my copy of The Fragile the other day. Most of that album is really not good! And what drove me up the wall wasn't just lyrics, it was the way the songs were so calculated, structurally - so predictable - verse, chorus, verse, repeat, add sound layer, add sound layer, add sound layer, add singsong refrain, drop them all out, blast of everything at once, repeat.

Overall, I still like the Fragile a lot despite its flaws.

I find that this doesn't bother me on the really great tracks, however, notably throughout The Downward Spiral.

Dude, I've lived in the States for 3 years. [pats head]. Who knew?

that may have been a warning sign, I think.

I agree that Fixed was better than Broken but I large chunks of The Fragile were fantastic. Maybe I'm just very easy to entertain but "The Wretched", "The Fragile", "We're In This Together Now" and "Into The Void" rank up there among my favorite Trent songs.

Pretty Hate Machine is still amazingly innovative, even if its sound is dated at this point.

:::splutter:::;

WHAT? Ministry and Skinny Puppy might vociferously dispute that.

On the topic of NIN, I like them okay. I keep trying to like The Fragile, and sometimes I succeed. The thing is, I really like songs on Disc Two like "Where Is Everybody" and "Into The Void," so I listen to those a fair amount even today. But when I try to play Disc One all the way through, I get hung up almost instantly, because the rhyme "There is a place that still remains/It eats the fear, it eats the pain" just perfectly encapsulates everything that's wrong with Trent Reznor the lyricist. The first time I listened to the CD, I heard the first line of that couplet and thought "Oh, shit, he's going to rhyme 'remains' with 'pain,' isn't he?" And sure enough, he did, and I have hated that song ever since.

Let's try that again.

I would say Trent filtered pop songs through the sound of vintage Skinny Puppy, blah blah blah...

xpost - referring to it as "innovative" was me being a little sarcastic!

Obviously it's his intensity more than anything that gets to people.

You know, that could be. My head's nowhere near at the same place it was when I listened to Downward Spiral day in day out, thank goodness. In the interim between that and The Fragile I went and discovered postmodern irony disease and now I can't seem to un-discover it, so I just can't relate to the stuff in the same way - although I still have a lot of empathy & fondness for Reznor and would totally invite him over for a cup of tea. I think my trouble with NIN is that Reznor seems to think good art is always honest, and to equate 100% honesty with a fairly limited scope of feelings and emotions, 99% of which are negative.. But you can be honest and be goofy and funny, and anyway, good art is not necessarily created in a really loud confessional. Maybe I sound like Captain Obvious saying that but it wasn't at all obvious to me when I first got into NIN.

I think Trent should ditch the whole industrial alternagoth shtick altogether and just write pop music, which is clearly his calling.

Isn't the goth shtick on the way out, though? Perhaps there should be a restraining order taken out against all goths in the vicinity of T-Rez so the rest of us could have some nice pop tunes.

It's one of my favourites this year. I don't understand the hate it got.

I like that! I'm into chanted mantras or something.

WITH-A TEETH-A!

Y'know, like Mark E. Smith.

Title track was my favorite thing on there for a long while.

I think there are elements of humor in his later work too Jess (at least Broken and The Downward Spiral - I haven't actually followed Trent beyond that). I think his hardest and loudest tracks are often also the funniest (intentionally).

...Or, at least, I have to assume that there is something kinda self-knowing about lyrics like:

"Big time, hard luck/bad luck, FIST FUCK!/Don't think you're having all the fun/you know me, I HATE EVERYONE!"

or

"Shove it up INSIDE! SURPRISE! LIES!"

fragile is a fucking dope album

Reznor can definitely be guilty at times of overusing the same tricks, but that wasn't the problem on the Fragile for me! If anything the problem was that he awkwardly tacked on those 'predictable' pop song structures to songs that didnt work in that way. The best tracks on the Fragile by far are the instrumentals, and it would have been great if he had released an entirely (or almost entirely instrumental) album.

Overall, I still like the Fragile a lot despite its flaws.

-- latebloomer: AKA Sir Teddy Ruxpin, Former Scientologist (latebloomer), Sunday, March 27, 2005 9:20 PM (3 years ago) Bookmark Link

this post features a great summation sentence, its like a book report

OTM ^

The THX-1138 sample that Downward Spiral leads off with is classic in itself.

http://www.nin.com/strobelight/

Nine Inch Nails - Classic or Dud Funny Or Not?

i laffed, especially because of the chris cornell dis aspect

I'm beginning to wonder if there's going to be some sort of set piece on the forthcoming tour.

ilx needs to make STROBE LIGHT a reality

I see where you are going with this.

who's up for "coffin on the dancefloor"?

Thread for potential further follies:

"ilx needs to make STROBE LIGHT a reality"

strobelight funny, ILX strobelight would not be funny

anyone try putting in their email to see if they get more lols delivered?

especially because of the chris cornell dis aspect

Yes. And especially because I entered my email addy. I got got.

trent_reznor

I may have to actually write "pussygrinder"! Anybody have Sheryl Crow's #?
12 minutes ago from TweetDeck

Okay.. I totally expected this thread bump to be about the Digg Dialog with Trent Reznor thing, but since no one's posted about it here's the link..

http://digg.com/dialogg/Trent_Reznor?FC=UATDTR1

NIN laughing at chris cornell - is like the kid who got beat up at school is beating up another kid who got beaten up at school.

unlike the chris cornell album, strobeline could theoretically have been pretty good!

or strobelight

ok, chris cornell sucks...but it's as if NIN's last albums were a masterpieces or something

You clearly have not heard the chris cornell album. The special ed kids are making fun of it.

I suppose it is that old, yes.

http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=28262

Apologies if this has already been discussed, there's a million nin threads.

Beginning at 4:00. Has anyone noticed the similarity?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVU00zallHg

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay

http://www.vulture.com/2013/02/nine-inch-nails-will-tour-this-year.html

As promised, Trent Reznor is bringing Nine Inch Nails back, though with a brand-new lineup. "The band is reinventing itself from scratch and will be comprised of Eric Avery, Adrian Belew, Alessandro Cortini, Josh Eustis, Ilan Rubin, and me," according to Reznor's statement. The arena tour kicks off this fall in the U.S. and goes international in 2014. More details (presumably with an album announcement?) to come, he says.

!!!! Eric Avery

Josh Eustis of Telefon Tel Aviv!

although I guess Adrian Belew is really the most notable? pretty crazy addition, there

EricAveryEricAveryEricAvery

yeah and Belew too! i'm v excited

although I guess Adrian Belew is really the most notable? pretty crazy addition, there

It isn't crazy at all! That's him on guitar on "Mr. Self Destruct," check the credits. Two of them have been buds for a long while now.

just me being ageist, I guess. Didn't expect anyone born before 1950 to get added to Reznor's tourist roster in 2013!

Josh Eustis of Telefon Tel Aviv!

that's the best part of this for me, happy for him.

I am fearful that Nine Inch Nails "reinventing itself from scratch" with a slew of new musicians involved will approximate Guns N' Roses with just Axl Rose and we'll get another "Chinese Democracy." But maybe not since unlike the Gunners, Nine Inch Nails always was about Trent Reznor and never really felt like a collaborative project.

well, also Trent has worked with most of these people at one point or another over the past 20 years

Trent's always played mix n'match with his touring band, so this isn't any kind of deathknell for NIN.

GNR/Chinese Democracy is a whole different kettle of rotten, indedible fish.

can't wait for the NIN version of "Big Electric Cat"

Two things:

1) Chinese Democracy is a really good album, fuckyoushutup.

2) Adrian Belew is one of the worst things to ever happen to a guitar.

NIN live has been all hired guns, doubly so in the 2000s

all the live shows I saw in the 2000s were killer so he could hire circus animals at this point and I wouldn't bat an eyelid.

i was all 'uh huh' about this until i saw that it happened because reznor was working with belew on musical ideas

now i won't sleep until i hear something

One way or another I will finally see NIN live on this tour

1) Chinese Democracy is a really good album, fuckyoushutup.

2) Adrian Belew is one of the worst things to ever happen to a guitar.

Double wrong.

Has NIN ever made it an entire tour with the same line-up? Dude is always changing things and replacing people. Also, they have always been awesome live.

Also, anyone who does not think Belew a good fit has not heard latter-day Crimson.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gQ1aAaV2H0

I am fearful that Nine Inch Nails "reinventing itself from scratch" with a slew of new musicians involved will approximate Guns N' Roses with just Axl Rose and we'll get another "Chinese Democracy." But maybe not since unlike the Gunners, Nine Inch Nails always was about Trent Reznor and never really felt like a collaborative project.

I don't really think anything compares with the shitshow that was Axl Rose in the last twenty years but suffice to say, give Trent a little more credit than this

Yeah, Trent - is it OK if I call him Trent? - has yet to disappoint or give less than 100%. Unlike Axl, who gives what Axl wants to give, and certainly does not give a shit.

yeah and even though Trent disbanded NIN he was *productive* in the time that NIN has been away. The same cannot be said for Axl's looong hiatus of indecision and paranoia. Until Trent holes up in a mansion with a piano and no output for 5+ years I think we're good

2) Adrian Belew is one of the worst things to ever happen to a guitar.

This has to be among the statements that I've disagreed with the most in ILM history.

Studio-wise, Trent Reznor *is* NIN. I don't believe that anyone's really had writing credits outside of him. He disbanded the group he had been touring with for a while and took a break from writing music under that moniker.

I was never really into GN'R but I don't think anyone has ever believed that the band was best defined as "Axl Rose and some other dudes" outside of Axl Rose.

NIN spent more time not touring or releasing anything between The Fragile and With Teeth than this little break, although i give Trent credit for never saying 'this is the end,' i guess he just felt the need to dial down fans' expectations and ask for breathing room to do these other projects.

i really dug Ghosts I-IV and The Slip and thought NIN was heading in an interesting direction at the time, also the only time i've seen them live was in '08 and it was amazing, so i'm def looking forward to this. still haven't checked out the How To Destroy Angels record yet.

Al we may wind up at the same show

is that your cryptic way of saying you may be moving back to maryland?!

Back to PA, but yeah

ahh still!

no, "still" was an ep post-The Fragile

yeah, fwiw, you can hear belew on a number of more recent NIN tunes if you look at the liner notes for ghosts. wouldn't be too crazy to think they might try fleshing some of those tunes out.

2) Adrian Belew is one of the worst things to ever happen to a guitar.

this comment entirely disgusts me

i really didn't know there were people who disliked Adrian Belew!

There aren't.

Um. I'll just leave this here.

Head Like a Hole mashed with Call Me Maybe

oh shit

t < 30s (-_-) t > 30s ＼(^o^)／

From the Nine Inch Nails Reddit AMA:

Q) Why did Trent announce a new NIN tour at the same time your new album is releasing if he is trying to not be a frontrunner of the band? Odd coincidence in my opinion.

As millionaires, why did you sign up with a record label to promote your new album? Especially when Trent has had a history of being screwed over by said labels and managers. If it's really about the music and getting it out to as many people as possible, why not release it all for free? I understand if you want to make money. It makes sense to want money for your work. However, I don't buy the "get it to as many people as possible" excuse for signing up with a label. Again, especially when Trent conveniently places a spotlight on his former cash cow a few days before your band releases this new album.

Good marketing, Gene Sim-, er, Trent Reznor.
When can I get my NIN toothpaste?

Rezor's reply:

Sorry, the wifi on our yacht is having issues, we can't get your full question to load. Try sending me an email at gofuckyours✧✧✧@youc✧✧✧.c✧✧

The person who asked the question just doubled down, which I suppose is noble to a degree...

http://www.reddit.com/user/no12345?sort=new

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhyyQZ67544&feature=youtu.be

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fv5O145MC0Y

Hahahahaha! 'March Of The Pigs' translates very well!

Right, I'm going to listen to that whole thing next time I'm alone in the house for an hour.

Trent is somewhat of a confused popist I think

Really? :P

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yJYBx5NJULY

New song: http://www.stereogum.com/1917494/nine-inch-nails-burning-bright-field-on-fire/music/?utm_source=sc-fb&utm_medium=ref&utm_campaign

Kind of cool as a noisy sludge-rock guitar jam, even if there's not that much of a song there.

it's literally a dandy warhols cover :D

Year Zero has been very satisfying to listen to this past week.

This EP is great! Been a while since I was pretty amped from a new NIN release.

as I wrote on the ballot poll thread:

I'll definitely be there if they tour again.

time to put my money where my mouth is:

https://www.nin.com/

they're playing barclays yuck!!! but i'll try to be there assuming ticket prices aren't exorbitant (i'm guessing they will be)

I do like how there's no presales

no codes to sign up/scour the internet for, none of that annoying shit, everyone just hammer Ticketmaster all at once

yeah I saw them a few years back and had to go in person to get paper tickets which was novel but also stupid. This seems better. I don't love they're playing the enormous stupid Oracle Arena in Oakland but I'm looking forward to this. I just wish tickets weren't going on sale the same time as like a dozen other things.

Seattle, Salt Lake City, and Denver all equidistant from me (90-120 minutes on a plane) but is this a greatest hits tour or is there new music coming?

I hate arena gigs but am seriously considering this

The tour title suggests it's a greatest hits - otoh their upcoming score for the new tron film "will feature new Nine Inch Nail songs".

they announced hesitation marks way after they started announcing 2013 tour dates so i wouldn't rule out something like that happening again

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k4sUq-ftzgc

this was so good

Excited about a chance to see them again, not excited about how much this will cost, especially with bullshit fees included. I assume I will wait until the week before and try to get cheap(er) tickets then.

that's always a gamble.

Already dreading Wednesday

I feel like everything surrounding this will be expensive and stressful as hell, but, NIN though.

I’ve always wanted to see them live and never have.

I’m at best a casual fan but my brother is a huge fan who’s seen them 4 times, and we go to the Nashville show together if we can work out logistics. Definitely seems like a band worth seeing.

I've seen them a bunch, enough that the last time I saw them I just sort of took it for granted, so if I don't see them this time it won't be the end of the world for me. Ticket buying in the US is so fraught and corrupt that I just really can't be bothered to jump through more than the most minimal of stressful hoops.

Haven't seen a NIN show since 1999 when they toured for The Fragilé. Tempted by this but really can't be paying like $200+ (as if, these are going to be $500-1000 tickets aren't they) on a concert right now.

I saw them at Lollapalooza (well, heard them, and saw a giant cloud of dry ice emanating from the stage area while I was in line for food) and on the Fragility 2.0 tour. I like 21st century NIN music better than 20th century NIN music, but I don't know how many songs from The Slip or even Hesitation Marks, never mind the recent EPs, are likely to make it into a hockey-arena greatest-hits set.

I saw them in 2009, on that weird tour when they opened for Jane's addiction. they were good, but I got bored of watching him do his angry mic grab after like 20 minutes.
should also add that this was in an open air amphitheater, before the sunset.

I did recently watch the full Woodstock set, pretty nuts/silly/galvanizing:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfV7NLCWiiU

They should have another one of these so that America's wayward (mostly white) youth can get their yayas out and reset the timeline. First comment:

Stressful jobs:
- Astronaut
-Surgeon
-NIN backliner

I saw the band a handful of times - once in a NYC theater during the Pretty Hate Machine days - but the only time he toured since I met my wife tickets sold out and a second show I was only able to get pretty poor seats and it was a huge letdown (for both of us but her more so, though she was nice about it) so I am expecting to pay way more than I want to for this show but also hope there will be a good payoff with my very happy wife.

caught em at a "secret show" at webster hall when my wife was six months pregnant. wild show lol, idk how i landed the tickets.

I saw them in 95 (actually it will be 30 yrs exactly next week) in a basketball arena and it was as unhinged and crazed as any small show I had ever point to at that point, instrument smashing and seemingly some inter-band fighting. The Melvins were a surprise opener. The main floor where I was general admission, so just chaos and intensely thrilling. I've actually been kind of chasing the high of that gig for a long time.

2000 was next time I saw them and it was good, much more a "normal" performance but still great.

My fave NIN story (that I'm sure I've told before) was when I saw them in 2005 at a rando venue. For whatever reason the stage monitors were working, but the house sound was dead. So the band comes out in full emo/aggro mode, making all the faces, really intense, but you couldn't hear anything. Nada. It was like watching on mute. Eventually they figure out what is happening and Reznor is pissed. They all storm off the stage, and when they come back they burst into "Wish" and are twice as aggro. Iirc someone was bleeding.

You can hear (or not hear) the whole thing here. The first 13 minutes is barely there, then blam:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=npYpwP6bFlA

I got a standing ticket for London. £91 inc fees. don't think I'd have gone for it if it was any more than that

Standing had sold out - I was about three seconds too late. Got "cheap" (lol) seats, £66. Would much rather be standing but ah well.

Would much rather be standing but ah well.

At 53, there is likely no circumstance under which I will ever say "would much rather be standing" about a concert again.

xp I think that was a glitch. there weren't any standing when I first looked, then I was looking at Level 1 seated, decided I didn't want to do that and cancelled, then there was a standing available so I got that instead

I'm pretty much standing or nothing at these arena gigs. I saw Radiohead (for free, friend had a spare) at the same place NIN are playing, in a seat and it was fucking rubbish, couldn't see anything, terrible atmosphere, if I'd paid for it I would've been pretty unhappy tbh

Good to know lol

yeah uh this is gonna be a no for me

On the rare occasion there's big arena show that I'm interested in, I'm like "OK, maybe I'll ball out for this, just this once" and then I don't.

Last and maybe only show I've sprung for $300 tickets was eight years ago https://www.barclayscenter.com/assets/img/910x350-Yo-MTV-Raps-30th-Anniversary-2018_new-bede753b7a.jpg.

This show sounds absolutely amazing but this economy isn't exactly being merciful to journalists-turnt-software-developers

I seem to be the only person in Toronto and/or on my TL that got a ticket

By the time it got to me in the queue it was like sweet seats for $500 and lousy seats for $180, so the ROI wasn't really popping off for me. Everyone have fun!

I got decent seats for $170 in Oakland.

define decent? the only ones we found in Oakland for that price were behind the stage :/

dynamic pricing is a fkn scourge

All right I am apparently going to see them in Nashville, my brother got tix. I think they were like $150 or so.

At 53, there is likely no circumstance under which I will ever say "would much rather be standing" about a concert again.

did you decide this on, since, or before your birthday

define decent? the only ones we found in Oakland for that price were behind the stage :/

section 105, row 15 or something. I only had about 5x people in front of me in the queue when they went on sale though.

5xxx people, that is

mmm yeah we were just too late i guess :(
bummed, i wouldve liked to see this one!

i have seen them four or five times already though

Boys Noize announced as the opener

interesting combo

Good show, minor technical issues notwithstanding. I think 7 tracks off The Downward Spiral? One off PHM (HLAH), two off Broken (Wish & Gave Up) - those two were the highlights, for me. Some other tracks, I have to say the post TDS stuff didn't do much for me, even when they went all "Tonight Matthew I'm going to be The Chemical Brothers(*)" for about three songs in the middle.

(*) Or David Guetta, as my colleague who was also there said.

I thought it was great, although would've liked more Pretty Hate Machine songs. I was standing quite near that small stage in the middle so got a good view when they were doing those bits

I was high up and right at the back, tiny trent was tiny but the light show was very impressive.

ah I vowed never to do that again after seeing Radiohead from right at the back there (for free luckily, spare ticket), it was so shit I decided if I can't get a standing ticket I'm just not going to arena gigs

I thought it was pretty great, too (and I liked the Boys Noize interlude a lot, maybe it would grate on relistening but I would have been happy with a whole show in that style).

just perused the setlist, looks great to me though I don't know who boys noize are but I'll take your word for it. last time I saw NIN they also did "I can't give everything away" (bowie), wish that were still in the setlist as it was awesome.

Boys Noize was playing New Beat/EBM bangers before NIN came on