Shit, looks like J313 broke Slave's brain.
IN FLAMES new album being released by the end of 2016
- Thread starter PlainVanilla
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only4theweak187
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- Mar 19, 2014
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I really can't complain too much as they're playing a rather decent setlist for the amount of newer music they have now. Compared to that Siren Charms release tour set, at least.
There are a few tracks on Battles I'm still happy to listen to if they come on. The End, Before I Fall, Battles (actually might be a bit underrated?), Greatest Greed and Us Against the World are all songs I wouldn't skip over. In comparison, literally the only two songs off SC I can stand are With Eyes Wide Open and Become the Sky.
Jester Slave
Narcissist
Since IF is currently doing a tour that no one gives a fuck about, and the big test for songs from Battles live will most likely be the follow-up European tour as main acts, I deem it fine to go completely off-topic. I would've gone off anyway, because I don't really care (I'm a tough cookie), but I like to cover my bases, so when some imbecile fuck tells me that my post does not belong here, I can point him (it will be a him for sure, because all the cool chicks are probably sucking CoB's dick, while we got stuck with @Laverna) to this paragraph and ask him to rethink his life, or possibly end it.
As you probably figured out by yourselves, I can be rather persistent, and to be fair, I made many lives better by my TV series recommendations. Some were skeptical of the stuff I wanted to push down their throat, but they eventually realized that my taste and judgement in these series is top notch, almost unrivaled. Basically, if you don't know if you should try a tv series out or not, you just have to ask me for the right answer.
To balance it out, I could not make anyone to like Nine Inch Nails. I got a "that record was okay" here and there, but nothing more. Part of the blame is surely on me, but to be fair, NIN does a fucking awful job when it comes to promoting. They did nothing to commercialize their product since 2005; that's 12 years of obscurity for you. No radio playtime, no cool music videos, nothing - with one exception I will mention later. The only reason some people know this band exists is because Trent's OST's are all critically acclaimed, so when someone looks him up on Wikipedia, because they dug what he did on The Social Network, Gone Girl, Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, etc. Needless to say, that if you type NIN into youtube and expect something like on said OSTs, you are going to be gravely disappointed. For example, my very first hit on youtube is their latest single, Burning Bright, which is 6 minutes of static. Way to go.
Still, if you have at least ~50 minutes to try out a NIN record (and ~25 if it's an EP), I think it is very much worth a try. The most likely outcome is that you will ask me (or yourself) why should you listen to more, however, there's a possibility that it will peak your interest, and you will ask which record should you listen next if you want something lighter/heavier/poppier.
THE PARTS WHICH LOOK LIKE THIS are copypasted from nin.com's own description of each record.
Pretty Hate Machine - Gotta love the title, aye? This is the only record that aged like shit. If you are into 80s music and Depeche Mode mixed with Skinny Puppy, then you are going to love it, but since most of us are still youngsters, it's probably safe to assume that this record is not for us, but some of you old fucks might appreciate it, I don't know. The whole record sounds cheesy, 80s pop synths everywhere, and if you never heard droning guitar before, then don't worry, this record has plenty of it. I don't think there's any song on this record where you can hear a proper music instrument without being put through at least one kind of layer.
Lyrically this record goes like this:
- Down In It (breakup)
- Sanctified (sex)
- Something I Can Never Have (breakup)
- Kinda I Want To (sex)
- Sin (sex)
- That's What I Get (breakup)
- The Only Time (sex)
- Ringfinger (masturbation)
- Get Down, Make Love (Queen cover. oh, and sex)
Something I Can Never have is actually a very powerful song, even on this record it sounds okay, compared to the other gay shit, but it's really the later iterations of this song what makes it one of the favorite tracks of people who would otherwise never listen to NIN.
I intentionally left out the first two songs on the record from the lyrical categorization. One of them is Head Like A Hole, which is basically what Cloud Connected is for In Flames, and it's about greed. The other is Terrible Lie, which is about losing, or at least being torn up about faith. It is best to listen these tracks in live settings, with real instruments, as the studio version doesn't do them enough justice.
Honestly, I think this record is all kinds of fun, and I loved listening to this after a long night out, but other than that, not much use for it. Sure, you might think if 65% of the songs are about sex then duuuh, they must be great for listening to it while doing the act. But you will see that there are much better contenders. I mean, Trent Reznor himself said that he absolutely hates Kinda I Want To, and he would erase it from his discography, which is understandable if you listen to it, though I think the title says it all.
I do not recommend starting with this record!! (if you choose to ever listen to it, downloa-- erm, get the remastered version, as it sounds like poo instead of shit)
Broken (EP) - Okay, here's the tl;dr story of how Broken was made: Trent got royally fucked over by his label (as everyone back then), and he was not allowed to leave, or to make the kind of music he wanted. Even during the recording of his previous record, the label kept telling what he can and can't do, and how the record should sound. This record was made in secret, without anyone monitoring what or how Trent did, and is a complete 180 compared to his previous record. Real instruments everywhere, shouting, screaming, angry, rebellious. Lyrically, the songs are direct messages to said label company, and they deal with betrayal, futility of resistance and they signal an overall I don't give a fuck anymore vibe.
The EP was a huge success and (along with their infamous Woodstock performance) it propelled NIN into stardom. Wish went on and won a Grammy award, and is probably the most covered NIN song out there.
This EP is highly recommended to start with if you are into raw metal stuff with various industrial elements, the latter being only overwhelming in one song (Happiness In Slavery). Listen to the Definitive edition of this EP as the remaster makes it oh so much better.
RECORDED IN SECRET TO AVOID INTERFERENCE FROM THE RECORD LABEL, THE FOLLOW-UP TO PRETTY HATE MACHINE TAKES AN UNEXPECTED ABRUPT TURN INTO SHEER AGGRESSION.
The Downward Spiral - I was 2,5 years old when this record came out. It's the TJR/Clayman/R2R of In Flames combined into one record. This record would probably win every popularity vote among NIN fans, though it's up to heavy debate. While this record has oh so many angry moments, it's still very different from Broken's head to the wall approach.
TDS is a concept album, so it is a must listen to anyone, who likes a good story, even if it's a sad one. What I love about this story, is that it goes on tangents, meaning it covers so many things that some of them are bound to strike a cord with you. It's pretty jaw-dropping how someone who rocked the cheesy lyrics "now I'm slipping on the tears you've made me cry" is capable of putting together such a thing.
While it's not my favorite record, I told you how I adore such themes which are presented on this record. Self-destruction, negligence, faith, attachment, sex, inferiority complex, violence, insanity, but overall one's place in society. This record puts a mental image in my head about a man who gets home from work, takes off his tie and fancy suit, looks in the mirror and asks himself "honestly, who are you and what do you want?" and goes insane in the process of trying to answer these questions, ultimately resorting to suicide, because nothing seems real.
Musically, the metal vibe is still there on many of the songs, but most of them are industrialized, meaning there are distortions and various noises. If you don't mind noises, this is an okay record to start, but I'd only recommend it if you care for the lyrics and the story. There are only a handful of songs that someone who only adores metal might dig. There are songs where are no guitars or drums to begin with, like the unlikely hit, Closer, to which your parents surely fucked, as it's (or other version of it) probably the no1. most popular song ever to have sex to. Also contains the famous song Johnny Cash covered, Hurt.
A BLEAK AND UNFLINCHING CELEBRATION OF SELF-DESTRUCTION IN THE FORM OF A CONCEPT RECORD THAT SOMEHOW MANAGED TO BECOME A MULTI-PLATINUM WORLDWIDE HIT. ONE OF THE MOST ADVENTUROUS AND EXPERIMENTAL SOUNDING RECORDS TO EVER TOP THE CHARTS.
The Fragile - NIN reached its stardom, every girl in the universe wanted to suck off Trent, and I'm sure many of them did it. Mr. Reznor however did not deal with fame too well, not to mention his grandmother (who raised him) died around that time. He was doing all kinds of hard drugs, and he basically became the man he wrote songs about on the last record, contemplating suicide.
So, the already perfectionist Reznor had become obsessed. He wanted better than the best, so this record is actually a double album, yet many songs still could not make the final cut.
Thematically, it is not so focused on one story, but still more cohesive than just a collection of random songs. Basically (and this is just my interpretation, there could be more protagonists and storylines), while the protagonist of the last record was a man, who did his best to destroy himself to find the answers which he ultimately could not bear to accept, this record features a girl, who never pursued self-destructive pleasures, but life still fucked her over royally. She is depressed and feels out of place, and loses the only person whom she was close to, but she tries her best to keep herself above the currents. It gets rather hollow towards the end; the protagonist finally slips up in The Big Come Down, and seems to release all her built up rage at once towards those who has been expecting her to do so, then in Underneath It All she sends a frail message to the one she lost, that despite she tried to best not to, she still feels her/his presence, while her sanity and health detoriates. And the very last song is an instrumental called Ripe (With Decay), which makes me feel like something rotten is being eaten by flies, and then in the very end she gets up with revenge in her eyes. Or, you know, she's just fucking dead.
Musically the record is very lively. The horrendous machine noises are substituted with piano, acoustic guitar, tambourine. Less screams, more delicate vocal delivery. The songs on TDS want to hate someone, while the songs on TF want to love someone. There are also layers, upon layers, upon layers. The dude went crazy during those recording sessions, I'm sure of it.
My problem with promoting this record to new people is that it's a.) extremely long b.) has a bunch of filler tracks, which are nice and all, but if you are not already hooked to the band, you first want to hear actual songs, not 2-3-4 minutes long intermezzos. Out of the 23 (25 if you download the new definitive edition, and 26 if you get the original vinyl version) you are bound to like at least some tracks, but that's still as long as getting through 2 LPs.
HIDING FROM THE WORLD AND HIMSELF IN A NEW ORLEANS STUDIO FOR SEVERAL YEARS, A DAMAGED REZNOR CREATES THE SPRAWLING OPUS THE FRAGILE AND THE PALETTE ONCE AGAIN EXPANDS FOR WHAT TO EXPECT FROM NINE INCH NAILS. A DENSE AND DIFFICULT LISTEN REQUIRING ATTENTION AND REPEATED LISTENINGS, IT IS NOW CONSIDERED BY MANY HARDCORE FANS TO BE THEIR FAVORITE NIN RECORD.
It also has a Deviation (2016) version, which is purely instrumental, but has a bunch of never-ever released tracks, and even existing ones has some minor or major variations. If you love instrumental music, or just hate Trent's voice, you can give it a go. AN ALL INSTRUMENTAL VERSION OF THE FRAGILE WITH LOTS OF ADDITIONAL MUSIC FROM THE ERA. REDISCOVER YOUR FAVORITE NIN RECORD IN A NEW LIGHT. VINYL ONLY SO YOU CAN HAVE SOMETHING TO BITCH ABOUT.
Still (EP) - Well, technically this is not a separate EP, as it was released with a live CD, there is really no point for us to not treat it as an entity of its own. The story of this release is connected with Mr. Reznor's declining health and sanity. He constantly did shows drugged and/or intoxicated, abusing himself to the point where he had to put off a show, because he overdosed on heroin, but someone found him just in time. By the end of touring, he had no hopes for himself, so he gathered his last energies to produce some final songs or reiterations of old ones. This was his eulogy, with the last track meant to be his very last song he ever did before dying, Leaving Hope.
The record itself is entirely based on live instruments, with piano being the most dominant one. This is an extremely soft and humble collection of songs, which shows the "behind the scenes" of all that brutality you can see on the live disc. 4 new instrumental tracks, 4 tracks redone in an entirely different tone (Something I Can Never Have cementing itself as one of the #1 "I don't like NIN, but this song is dope" NIN song), and one new track with vocals.
If it's raining outside and you just want to grab a tea and think about mortality (and get depressed, ofc.) then just pop this bad boy in!
ONE OF REZNOR’S FAVORITE RECORDS OF HIS OWN AND THE LAST RECORD FROM THE FRAGILE / NEW ORLEANS ERA. A STRANGE COLLECTION OF STRIPPED DOWN, SOMETIMES LIVE TRACKS NEW AND OLD. THE BLUEPRINTS FOR FUTURE NIN RECORDS AND FILM WORK LIE WITHIN.
OH, AND BLEAK.
With Teeth - My personal favorite! Trent sobered up and embraced the new wave, while still remaining true to the quality standards he established a long time ago.
I love this record, because it's extremely accessible. The majority of the songs are extremely straightforward, guitar-bass-drum-vocal combo, only one song being dominated by electronic sounds. The songs sound like a mix of metal, rock and grunge, but most of them have a funky beat to them. It's a collection of 13+1(+2...) songs which can be picked out of context any time, you don't need to be in any particular vibe to appreciate them. Of course, some of the fans showed concern, as most of the songs were extremely radio friendly, like one of the commercially most popular tracks, Every Day Is Exactly The Same, which funnily enough, a song that was barely played live or discussed among fans.
Lyrically it's about coming to terms with oneself, as an artist and dealing with addiction. An odd one out - well, lyrically anyway - is Love Is Not Enough, which is very likely just a song about a relationship which went stale.
Personally, I think this record is a very good one to start out if you appreciate music which is digestible in a commercial way too, while still being done in a not so lazy way. Oh, and if you dig Dave Grohl or drums in general, definitely peak into it!
AFTER NEARLY DYING MAKING AND TOURING THE FRAGILE, REZNOR CLEANS UP AND REDISCOVERS HIMSELF WITH THE AGGRESSIVE AND ACCESSIBLE WITH TEETH. GUITARS, HOOKS, DAVE GROHL.
Year Zero - Out of nowhere, a fucking concept record once again! This time, accompanied by an ARG! What's an ARG, you ask? Well, it is basically a game set place in real life. Fake sites, fake telephone lines, fake advertisements, fake guerilla campaigns and such. Players, aka fans had to put together the story, solve the puzzles and so on to get to the end of it all.
The record is a collection of tracks which tells and expands on said story, based on people and events in the story. The story itself is about an utopystic USA, where the lines of what's right or wrong is blurred. The government holds every people under heavy surveillance and tests drugs which alters the way people think, effectively brainwashing them, while a group of separatists oppose them, and everyone else is stuck in the middle, having no idea what the fuck is going on, until eventually they nuke the shit out of each other, erasing humanity. Don't worry, the songs (well, some of it anyway) make sense on their own, ie. Capital G is about warmongering for the sake of money (aka Greed), God Given is about religion, The Good Soldier is about fighting someone else's war, and so on.
The songs are EXTREMELY electronic-heavy, distorted guitars make a cameo, and while there are real drums and bass here and there, it's mostly all programmed stuff. After a few beers, you could put this record in at any party and people would not mind.
If you think guitars and drums can only be used efficiently by metal bands, and you wouldn't waste your time on some industrial monkey trying to do his own kind of metal, then Year Zero is a good record to listen, as it doesn't compete with any of those stuff. According to mr. Reznor this is an exceptional record to have sex to, which is robably true, though he never specified what kind of sex. He delicately sings about "swallowing it all" and "liking when they put it in him". Not judging, not judging.
MUSICALLY AND CONCEPTUALLY WAY AHEAD OF ITS TIME. AN ELABORATE CONCEPT RECORD SET IN THE NEAR FUTURE (OR THE PRESENT, DEPENDING ON HOW YOU LOOK AT THE POST-TRUMP WORLD), EACH SONG IS A “SNAPSHOT” OF LIFE SET AGAINST ELABORATELY DECONSTRUCTED ELECTRONICS. A PUZZLE-BOX THAT REWARDS THE REPEAT LISTENER.
Ghosts I-IV:
DESCRIBED AS “SOUNDTRACKS FOR DAYDREAMS”, GHOSTS I-IV IS A SPRAWLING, ENTIRELY IMPROVISED, INSTRUMENTAL JOURNEY. MEANT TO BE LISTENED TO ON A RAINY DAY OR A LONG NIGHT DRIVE.
REZNOR’S CAREER AS A SUCCESSFUL FILM COMPOSER CAN BE DIRECTLY LINKED TO THIS EXPERIMENT.
The Slip: So Trent, who meticulously sits over his work for unnecessary long time in order to make sure he produces the finest music on Earth, decided to fuck this shit, and tried making a deliberately raw record within only 3 weeks of time. And that he did.
You can imagine my shock as a then NIN-fan, that after reading so much about the delay of The Fragile and With Teeth, Trent one day said "here, I made a new record. Oh, and here's a download link for you to get it for free. Enjoy!". W-w-w-whaaaaat?!
Needless to say, this is the record is a huge question mark for everyone. On one hand, it is extremely unfinished, stripped down, almost demo-like. On the other hand, it's raw, not overproduced, and doesn't aspire to be anything more than it is. You don't have to listen to 12 times to each track to find that 78th layer you've been missing so far. It's very angry.
Lyrically, uh... well... Some are very straightforward, some are debated to this day. It's quite angry and cynical.
DESCRIBED BY REZNOR AS “GARAGE ELECTRONICS”, THE SLIP WAS THE RESULT OF AN INSPIRED THREE WEEKS FOLLOWING THE COMPLETION OF GHOSTS I-IV. AN EXPERIMENT IN WORKING WITH A COMPRESSED TIMELINE, THE RESULTS MAKE FOR A NOISY, SLOPPY AND EXCITING LISTEN WITH SEVERAL SONGS THAT HAVE BEEN LIVE STAPLES.
Hesitation Marks - Never heard of this expression before, but it means marks (most likely cuts) on your body where you tried to kill yourself, but hesitated, thus either pulled out, or did a shitty job at it.
Thematically, it is a throwback to The Downward Spiral and to its protagonist who eventually killed himself on his final stage of self-destruction. The songs revisit most of the themes of TDS, but with a much more mature take on them. TDS was pacing through aggressively, while HM takes its time and remains calm.
"I felt very aware that it's 20 years later, and I'm still that guy. I know that guy, and I feel for him. I don't resent him, I don't miss him. But how would things feel on the other side of that now, in a much more stable life place, mentally and physically, and with a new family? The incentive has changed. It's not about, 'I'm going to kill myself if I don't get this out of my head.' But the excavation and the architecture behind it, the motivation behind it, is similar."
"For some reason, when I started working more on Hesitation Marks, I started thinking back romantically about who I was when I was writing The Downward Spiral. I was looking back on who I was then and who I am now and how things have turned out, for better or worse. That was the air the new record was born in. I was looking at the other side of how I was not always honest about who I was in the '90s — and I knew I wasn't being honest — and if you sprinkle those negative feelings with some drugs and alcohol, it's usually not a recipe for success."
Musically it is very minimalistic, loops of electronics (nothing like the harsh beats of Year Zero), barely any live instruments. I don't think this would be the record to pull in anyone, but then again, it's far from my personal favorites (With Teeth and The Fragile), and many people dig it.
SIMULTANEOUSLY REFERENCING THE PAST WHILE POINTED TO THE FUTURE,HESITATION MARKS FINDS NIN RELENTLESSLY EXPERIMENTING WITH NEW TEXTURES, DEEP GROOVES AND RESTRAINT. THE RESULT MAKES FOR A DEEP, ACCESSIBLE LISTEN WITH LOTS HIDDEN UNDER THE SURFACE
Not The Actual Events (EP) - Well, I wrote about it previously, though now that I talked about Still, I can tell you that it directly links to it. They had the same artwork.
UNAPOLOGETIC, UNFRIENDLY, DENSE, LYRICALLY COMPLEX, SO-FAR-BEHIND-THE-TIMES-IT’S-AHEAD-OF-ITS-TIME, HIPSTER-REPELLING UNCOMPROMISING MUSIC SMART PEOPLE CAN FUCK TO. IT MAY NOT BE FOR YOU.
Since it was written in two parts with days apart, some of my storylines have fallen apart midway through. Aaaaand now I'm hungry again.
Damn, it's actually my 800th post! That's pretty cool "everything happens for a reason shit" to entertain my mind for a second, haha.
As you probably figured out by yourselves, I can be rather persistent, and to be fair, I made many lives better by my TV series recommendations. Some were skeptical of the stuff I wanted to push down their throat, but they eventually realized that my taste and judgement in these series is top notch, almost unrivaled. Basically, if you don't know if you should try a tv series out or not, you just have to ask me for the right answer.
To balance it out, I could not make anyone to like Nine Inch Nails. I got a "that record was okay" here and there, but nothing more. Part of the blame is surely on me, but to be fair, NIN does a fucking awful job when it comes to promoting. They did nothing to commercialize their product since 2005; that's 12 years of obscurity for you. No radio playtime, no cool music videos, nothing - with one exception I will mention later. The only reason some people know this band exists is because Trent's OST's are all critically acclaimed, so when someone looks him up on Wikipedia, because they dug what he did on The Social Network, Gone Girl, Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, etc. Needless to say, that if you type NIN into youtube and expect something like on said OSTs, you are going to be gravely disappointed. For example, my very first hit on youtube is their latest single, Burning Bright, which is 6 minutes of static. Way to go.
Still, if you have at least ~50 minutes to try out a NIN record (and ~25 if it's an EP), I think it is very much worth a try. The most likely outcome is that you will ask me (or yourself) why should you listen to more, however, there's a possibility that it will peak your interest, and you will ask which record should you listen next if you want something lighter/heavier/poppier.
THE PARTS WHICH LOOK LIKE THIS are copypasted from nin.com's own description of each record.
Pretty Hate Machine - Gotta love the title, aye? This is the only record that aged like shit. If you are into 80s music and Depeche Mode mixed with Skinny Puppy, then you are going to love it, but since most of us are still youngsters, it's probably safe to assume that this record is not for us, but some of you old fucks might appreciate it, I don't know. The whole record sounds cheesy, 80s pop synths everywhere, and if you never heard droning guitar before, then don't worry, this record has plenty of it. I don't think there's any song on this record where you can hear a proper music instrument without being put through at least one kind of layer.
Lyrically this record goes like this:
- Down In It (breakup)
- Sanctified (sex)
- Something I Can Never Have (breakup)
- Kinda I Want To (sex)
- Sin (sex)
- That's What I Get (breakup)
- The Only Time (sex)
- Ringfinger (masturbation)
- Get Down, Make Love (Queen cover. oh, and sex)
Something I Can Never have is actually a very powerful song, even on this record it sounds okay, compared to the other gay shit, but it's really the later iterations of this song what makes it one of the favorite tracks of people who would otherwise never listen to NIN.
I intentionally left out the first two songs on the record from the lyrical categorization. One of them is Head Like A Hole, which is basically what Cloud Connected is for In Flames, and it's about greed. The other is Terrible Lie, which is about losing, or at least being torn up about faith. It is best to listen these tracks in live settings, with real instruments, as the studio version doesn't do them enough justice.
Honestly, I think this record is all kinds of fun, and I loved listening to this after a long night out, but other than that, not much use for it. Sure, you might think if 65% of the songs are about sex then duuuh, they must be great for listening to it while doing the act. But you will see that there are much better contenders. I mean, Trent Reznor himself said that he absolutely hates Kinda I Want To, and he would erase it from his discography, which is understandable if you listen to it, though I think the title says it all.
I do not recommend starting with this record!! (if you choose to ever listen to it, downloa-- erm, get the remastered version, as it sounds like poo instead of shit)
Broken (EP) - Okay, here's the tl;dr story of how Broken was made: Trent got royally fucked over by his label (as everyone back then), and he was not allowed to leave, or to make the kind of music he wanted. Even during the recording of his previous record, the label kept telling what he can and can't do, and how the record should sound. This record was made in secret, without anyone monitoring what or how Trent did, and is a complete 180 compared to his previous record. Real instruments everywhere, shouting, screaming, angry, rebellious. Lyrically, the songs are direct messages to said label company, and they deal with betrayal, futility of resistance and they signal an overall I don't give a fuck anymore vibe.
The EP was a huge success and (along with their infamous Woodstock performance) it propelled NIN into stardom. Wish went on and won a Grammy award, and is probably the most covered NIN song out there.
This EP is highly recommended to start with if you are into raw metal stuff with various industrial elements, the latter being only overwhelming in one song (Happiness In Slavery). Listen to the Definitive edition of this EP as the remaster makes it oh so much better.
RECORDED IN SECRET TO AVOID INTERFERENCE FROM THE RECORD LABEL, THE FOLLOW-UP TO PRETTY HATE MACHINE TAKES AN UNEXPECTED ABRUPT TURN INTO SHEER AGGRESSION.
The Downward Spiral - I was 2,5 years old when this record came out. It's the TJR/Clayman/R2R of In Flames combined into one record. This record would probably win every popularity vote among NIN fans, though it's up to heavy debate. While this record has oh so many angry moments, it's still very different from Broken's head to the wall approach.
TDS is a concept album, so it is a must listen to anyone, who likes a good story, even if it's a sad one. What I love about this story, is that it goes on tangents, meaning it covers so many things that some of them are bound to strike a cord with you. It's pretty jaw-dropping how someone who rocked the cheesy lyrics "now I'm slipping on the tears you've made me cry" is capable of putting together such a thing.
While it's not my favorite record, I told you how I adore such themes which are presented on this record. Self-destruction, negligence, faith, attachment, sex, inferiority complex, violence, insanity, but overall one's place in society. This record puts a mental image in my head about a man who gets home from work, takes off his tie and fancy suit, looks in the mirror and asks himself "honestly, who are you and what do you want?" and goes insane in the process of trying to answer these questions, ultimately resorting to suicide, because nothing seems real.
Musically, the metal vibe is still there on many of the songs, but most of them are industrialized, meaning there are distortions and various noises. If you don't mind noises, this is an okay record to start, but I'd only recommend it if you care for the lyrics and the story. There are only a handful of songs that someone who only adores metal might dig. There are songs where are no guitars or drums to begin with, like the unlikely hit, Closer, to which your parents surely fucked, as it's (or other version of it) probably the no1. most popular song ever to have sex to. Also contains the famous song Johnny Cash covered, Hurt.
A BLEAK AND UNFLINCHING CELEBRATION OF SELF-DESTRUCTION IN THE FORM OF A CONCEPT RECORD THAT SOMEHOW MANAGED TO BECOME A MULTI-PLATINUM WORLDWIDE HIT. ONE OF THE MOST ADVENTUROUS AND EXPERIMENTAL SOUNDING RECORDS TO EVER TOP THE CHARTS.
The Fragile - NIN reached its stardom, every girl in the universe wanted to suck off Trent, and I'm sure many of them did it. Mr. Reznor however did not deal with fame too well, not to mention his grandmother (who raised him) died around that time. He was doing all kinds of hard drugs, and he basically became the man he wrote songs about on the last record, contemplating suicide.
So, the already perfectionist Reznor had become obsessed. He wanted better than the best, so this record is actually a double album, yet many songs still could not make the final cut.
Thematically, it is not so focused on one story, but still more cohesive than just a collection of random songs. Basically (and this is just my interpretation, there could be more protagonists and storylines), while the protagonist of the last record was a man, who did his best to destroy himself to find the answers which he ultimately could not bear to accept, this record features a girl, who never pursued self-destructive pleasures, but life still fucked her over royally. She is depressed and feels out of place, and loses the only person whom she was close to, but she tries her best to keep herself above the currents. It gets rather hollow towards the end; the protagonist finally slips up in The Big Come Down, and seems to release all her built up rage at once towards those who has been expecting her to do so, then in Underneath It All she sends a frail message to the one she lost, that despite she tried to best not to, she still feels her/his presence, while her sanity and health detoriates. And the very last song is an instrumental called Ripe (With Decay), which makes me feel like something rotten is being eaten by flies, and then in the very end she gets up with revenge in her eyes. Or, you know, she's just fucking dead.
Musically the record is very lively. The horrendous machine noises are substituted with piano, acoustic guitar, tambourine. Less screams, more delicate vocal delivery. The songs on TDS want to hate someone, while the songs on TF want to love someone. There are also layers, upon layers, upon layers. The dude went crazy during those recording sessions, I'm sure of it.
My problem with promoting this record to new people is that it's a.) extremely long b.) has a bunch of filler tracks, which are nice and all, but if you are not already hooked to the band, you first want to hear actual songs, not 2-3-4 minutes long intermezzos. Out of the 23 (25 if you download the new definitive edition, and 26 if you get the original vinyl version) you are bound to like at least some tracks, but that's still as long as getting through 2 LPs.
HIDING FROM THE WORLD AND HIMSELF IN A NEW ORLEANS STUDIO FOR SEVERAL YEARS, A DAMAGED REZNOR CREATES THE SPRAWLING OPUS THE FRAGILE AND THE PALETTE ONCE AGAIN EXPANDS FOR WHAT TO EXPECT FROM NINE INCH NAILS. A DENSE AND DIFFICULT LISTEN REQUIRING ATTENTION AND REPEATED LISTENINGS, IT IS NOW CONSIDERED BY MANY HARDCORE FANS TO BE THEIR FAVORITE NIN RECORD.
It also has a Deviation (2016) version, which is purely instrumental, but has a bunch of never-ever released tracks, and even existing ones has some minor or major variations. If you love instrumental music, or just hate Trent's voice, you can give it a go. AN ALL INSTRUMENTAL VERSION OF THE FRAGILE WITH LOTS OF ADDITIONAL MUSIC FROM THE ERA. REDISCOVER YOUR FAVORITE NIN RECORD IN A NEW LIGHT. VINYL ONLY SO YOU CAN HAVE SOMETHING TO BITCH ABOUT.
Still (EP) - Well, technically this is not a separate EP, as it was released with a live CD, there is really no point for us to not treat it as an entity of its own. The story of this release is connected with Mr. Reznor's declining health and sanity. He constantly did shows drugged and/or intoxicated, abusing himself to the point where he had to put off a show, because he overdosed on heroin, but someone found him just in time. By the end of touring, he had no hopes for himself, so he gathered his last energies to produce some final songs or reiterations of old ones. This was his eulogy, with the last track meant to be his very last song he ever did before dying, Leaving Hope.
The record itself is entirely based on live instruments, with piano being the most dominant one. This is an extremely soft and humble collection of songs, which shows the "behind the scenes" of all that brutality you can see on the live disc. 4 new instrumental tracks, 4 tracks redone in an entirely different tone (Something I Can Never Have cementing itself as one of the #1 "I don't like NIN, but this song is dope" NIN song), and one new track with vocals.
If it's raining outside and you just want to grab a tea and think about mortality (and get depressed, ofc.) then just pop this bad boy in!
ONE OF REZNOR’S FAVORITE RECORDS OF HIS OWN AND THE LAST RECORD FROM THE FRAGILE / NEW ORLEANS ERA. A STRANGE COLLECTION OF STRIPPED DOWN, SOMETIMES LIVE TRACKS NEW AND OLD. THE BLUEPRINTS FOR FUTURE NIN RECORDS AND FILM WORK LIE WITHIN.
OH, AND BLEAK.
With Teeth - My personal favorite! Trent sobered up and embraced the new wave, while still remaining true to the quality standards he established a long time ago.
I love this record, because it's extremely accessible. The majority of the songs are extremely straightforward, guitar-bass-drum-vocal combo, only one song being dominated by electronic sounds. The songs sound like a mix of metal, rock and grunge, but most of them have a funky beat to them. It's a collection of 13+1(+2...) songs which can be picked out of context any time, you don't need to be in any particular vibe to appreciate them. Of course, some of the fans showed concern, as most of the songs were extremely radio friendly, like one of the commercially most popular tracks, Every Day Is Exactly The Same, which funnily enough, a song that was barely played live or discussed among fans.
Lyrically it's about coming to terms with oneself, as an artist and dealing with addiction. An odd one out - well, lyrically anyway - is Love Is Not Enough, which is very likely just a song about a relationship which went stale.
Personally, I think this record is a very good one to start out if you appreciate music which is digestible in a commercial way too, while still being done in a not so lazy way. Oh, and if you dig Dave Grohl or drums in general, definitely peak into it!
AFTER NEARLY DYING MAKING AND TOURING THE FRAGILE, REZNOR CLEANS UP AND REDISCOVERS HIMSELF WITH THE AGGRESSIVE AND ACCESSIBLE WITH TEETH. GUITARS, HOOKS, DAVE GROHL.
Year Zero - Out of nowhere, a fucking concept record once again! This time, accompanied by an ARG! What's an ARG, you ask? Well, it is basically a game set place in real life. Fake sites, fake telephone lines, fake advertisements, fake guerilla campaigns and such. Players, aka fans had to put together the story, solve the puzzles and so on to get to the end of it all.
The record is a collection of tracks which tells and expands on said story, based on people and events in the story. The story itself is about an utopystic USA, where the lines of what's right or wrong is blurred. The government holds every people under heavy surveillance and tests drugs which alters the way people think, effectively brainwashing them, while a group of separatists oppose them, and everyone else is stuck in the middle, having no idea what the fuck is going on, until eventually they nuke the shit out of each other, erasing humanity. Don't worry, the songs (well, some of it anyway) make sense on their own, ie. Capital G is about warmongering for the sake of money (aka Greed), God Given is about religion, The Good Soldier is about fighting someone else's war, and so on.
The songs are EXTREMELY electronic-heavy, distorted guitars make a cameo, and while there are real drums and bass here and there, it's mostly all programmed stuff. After a few beers, you could put this record in at any party and people would not mind.
If you think guitars and drums can only be used efficiently by metal bands, and you wouldn't waste your time on some industrial monkey trying to do his own kind of metal, then Year Zero is a good record to listen, as it doesn't compete with any of those stuff. According to mr. Reznor this is an exceptional record to have sex to, which is robably true, though he never specified what kind of sex. He delicately sings about "swallowing it all" and "liking when they put it in him". Not judging, not judging.
MUSICALLY AND CONCEPTUALLY WAY AHEAD OF ITS TIME. AN ELABORATE CONCEPT RECORD SET IN THE NEAR FUTURE (OR THE PRESENT, DEPENDING ON HOW YOU LOOK AT THE POST-TRUMP WORLD), EACH SONG IS A “SNAPSHOT” OF LIFE SET AGAINST ELABORATELY DECONSTRUCTED ELECTRONICS. A PUZZLE-BOX THAT REWARDS THE REPEAT LISTENER.
Ghosts I-IV:
DESCRIBED AS “SOUNDTRACKS FOR DAYDREAMS”, GHOSTS I-IV IS A SPRAWLING, ENTIRELY IMPROVISED, INSTRUMENTAL JOURNEY. MEANT TO BE LISTENED TO ON A RAINY DAY OR A LONG NIGHT DRIVE.
REZNOR’S CAREER AS A SUCCESSFUL FILM COMPOSER CAN BE DIRECTLY LINKED TO THIS EXPERIMENT.
The Slip: So Trent, who meticulously sits over his work for unnecessary long time in order to make sure he produces the finest music on Earth, decided to fuck this shit, and tried making a deliberately raw record within only 3 weeks of time. And that he did.
You can imagine my shock as a then NIN-fan, that after reading so much about the delay of The Fragile and With Teeth, Trent one day said "here, I made a new record. Oh, and here's a download link for you to get it for free. Enjoy!". W-w-w-whaaaaat?!
Needless to say, this is the record is a huge question mark for everyone. On one hand, it is extremely unfinished, stripped down, almost demo-like. On the other hand, it's raw, not overproduced, and doesn't aspire to be anything more than it is. You don't have to listen to 12 times to each track to find that 78th layer you've been missing so far. It's very angry.
Lyrically, uh... well... Some are very straightforward, some are debated to this day. It's quite angry and cynical.
DESCRIBED BY REZNOR AS “GARAGE ELECTRONICS”, THE SLIP WAS THE RESULT OF AN INSPIRED THREE WEEKS FOLLOWING THE COMPLETION OF GHOSTS I-IV. AN EXPERIMENT IN WORKING WITH A COMPRESSED TIMELINE, THE RESULTS MAKE FOR A NOISY, SLOPPY AND EXCITING LISTEN WITH SEVERAL SONGS THAT HAVE BEEN LIVE STAPLES.
Hesitation Marks - Never heard of this expression before, but it means marks (most likely cuts) on your body where you tried to kill yourself, but hesitated, thus either pulled out, or did a shitty job at it.
Thematically, it is a throwback to The Downward Spiral and to its protagonist who eventually killed himself on his final stage of self-destruction. The songs revisit most of the themes of TDS, but with a much more mature take on them. TDS was pacing through aggressively, while HM takes its time and remains calm.
"I felt very aware that it's 20 years later, and I'm still that guy. I know that guy, and I feel for him. I don't resent him, I don't miss him. But how would things feel on the other side of that now, in a much more stable life place, mentally and physically, and with a new family? The incentive has changed. It's not about, 'I'm going to kill myself if I don't get this out of my head.' But the excavation and the architecture behind it, the motivation behind it, is similar."
"For some reason, when I started working more on Hesitation Marks, I started thinking back romantically about who I was when I was writing The Downward Spiral. I was looking back on who I was then and who I am now and how things have turned out, for better or worse. That was the air the new record was born in. I was looking at the other side of how I was not always honest about who I was in the '90s — and I knew I wasn't being honest — and if you sprinkle those negative feelings with some drugs and alcohol, it's usually not a recipe for success."
Musically it is very minimalistic, loops of electronics (nothing like the harsh beats of Year Zero), barely any live instruments. I don't think this would be the record to pull in anyone, but then again, it's far from my personal favorites (With Teeth and The Fragile), and many people dig it.
SIMULTANEOUSLY REFERENCING THE PAST WHILE POINTED TO THE FUTURE,HESITATION MARKS FINDS NIN RELENTLESSLY EXPERIMENTING WITH NEW TEXTURES, DEEP GROOVES AND RESTRAINT. THE RESULT MAKES FOR A DEEP, ACCESSIBLE LISTEN WITH LOTS HIDDEN UNDER THE SURFACE
Not The Actual Events (EP) - Well, I wrote about it previously, though now that I talked about Still, I can tell you that it directly links to it. They had the same artwork.
UNAPOLOGETIC, UNFRIENDLY, DENSE, LYRICALLY COMPLEX, SO-FAR-BEHIND-THE-TIMES-IT’S-AHEAD-OF-ITS-TIME, HIPSTER-REPELLING UNCOMPROMISING MUSIC SMART PEOPLE CAN FUCK TO. IT MAY NOT BE FOR YOU.
Since it was written in two parts with days apart, some of my storylines have fallen apart midway through. Aaaaand now I'm hungry again.
Damn, it's actually my 800th post! That's pretty cool "everything happens for a reason shit" to entertain my mind for a second, haha.
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Word tells me that is 3,836 words. That's like, almost the chapter of a novel, and surely a new record for you?
Man, now I'm confused tho. I thought you and Laverna were doing the long distance thing. What's going on.
Man, now I'm confused tho. I thought you and Laverna were doing the long distance thing. What's going on.
Jester Slave
Narcissist
Depends what you mean by record. Technically, it's a record (for me) on this board, because - as I just looked it up - my live show mini-review was a few hundred words shorter, however, I used a bunch of copy paste, so I put down more word of my own in there. This was harder to finish though, because I lost my drive somewhere in the middle, plus try to search and embed videos when the Russians fucking up your browser all the time.
But it's not an overall record. I used to write articles, a few of which went over 10k+ words, and I had a few arguments back in where I hovered around 3-5k words. I also used to write some sort of a story (with chapters and all, yo), and if I'd count everythng that relates to it (actual chapters, story sketches, off-stories) it would be around 30k.
The longest forum post (at least what I have saved, as I did not save the big ones back then, but after a few sudden deaths, you get paranoid ) of mine is 9075 words.
It's funny though, I only saved these drafts because I was afraid of a computer malfunction, but now I have a bunch of real life stories (ranging from cool to quite embarrassing) only a few clicks away to refresh my memory, or to pass onto the next generation. Should you, though? As cool as it sounds, I wonder if getting our parents secret diaries would be cool or not. Not sure if you'd like the parts where your mother discusses his fondness of giving blowjobs, or seeing how your respected father figure was actually a fucking idiot back then - who might also enjoyed giving blowjobs.
Laverna's idea of a long-distance thing is that we keep a long distance between each other. She said she did not appreciate the hundreds of private messages in which I told her in great details how I would taint and torment her body, while blasting Siren Charms from the music player. Still, I don't take no for an answer.
But it's not an overall record. I used to write articles, a few of which went over 10k+ words, and I had a few arguments back in where I hovered around 3-5k words. I also used to write some sort of a story (with chapters and all, yo), and if I'd count everythng that relates to it (actual chapters, story sketches, off-stories) it would be around 30k.
The longest forum post (at least what I have saved, as I did not save the big ones back then, but after a few sudden deaths, you get paranoid
) of mine is 9075 words.It's funny though, I only saved these drafts because I was afraid of a computer malfunction, but now I have a bunch of real life stories (ranging from cool to quite embarrassing) only a few clicks away to refresh my memory, or to pass onto the next generation. Should you, though? As cool as it sounds, I wonder if getting our parents secret diaries would be cool or not. Not sure if you'd like the parts where your mother discusses his fondness of giving blowjobs, or seeing how your respected father figure was actually a fucking idiot back then - who might also enjoyed giving blowjobs.
Laverna's idea of a long-distance thing is that we keep a long distance between each other. She said she did not appreciate the hundreds of private messages in which I told her in great details how I would taint and torment her body, while blasting Siren Charms from the music player. Still, I don't take no for an answer.
Jester Slave
Narcissist
It was 100% user error, so I don't blame WIndows for it. Linux is not exactly ideal and Mac is expensive.
Fo sho. Download crazy German porn torrents and you're in for bad times. Let that be a lesson to you, Slave.
Linux is fast and pretty safe but you sacrifice compatibility with a lot of useful programs. Macs are nice but you pay serious money for the privilege. Unless you're into editing media I don't see the point. Especially when a properly looked after Windows machine (see: no bad torrents) will do everything the average user needs.
Linux is fast and pretty safe but you sacrifice compatibility with a lot of useful programs. Macs are nice but you pay serious money for the privilege. Unless you're into editing media I don't see the point. Especially when a properly looked after Windows machine (see: no bad torrents) will do everything the average user needs.
Jester Slave
Narcissist
From my experience watching or even downloading porn is just as safe as watching youtube or downloading a movie. Porn sites want the views, not be flagged as dangerous, while uploaders at torrent sites get badges, from which you can tell if they are legit or not.
Just don't extract anything which is .rar or .zip.
Just don't extract anything which is .rar or .zip.
No, it's totally fault of windows stupid architecture. Linux is not OK for gamers but Mac? As far as I remember the os is 40€
If it wasn't for games and design software I would be only using linux, but Microsoft pressure is just too much for software developers.
I never had problems with anime sites, but porn... One advice, never download software that has no comments or just a few comments. And always read the comments first.
Jester Slave
Narcissist
I would never waste time with micromanaging stuff like scans.
And I had to be exceptionally stupid, to get to where I am now. I wanted to play with the new Walking Dead game and the next thing I knew was downloading "150% legit crack" from a Russian site, and then EXTRACTING the .rar and then OPENING the .exe.
For 2,5 years I had no problems, despite only having Windows Firewall.
I honestly don't know why I would switch to Mac or Linux, even if they were accessible with everything. Windows is very user friendly, I am using it since I was ~8, and I have no complaints. Win 95 was fucking terrible, but 98, XP and 7 were perfect for me so far. I am not sure though if I should upgrade to 10.
And I had to be exceptionally stupid, to get to where I am now. I wanted to play with the new Walking Dead game and the next thing I knew was downloading "150% legit crack" from a Russian site, and then EXTRACTING the .rar and then OPENING the .exe.
For 2,5 years I had no problems, despite only having Windows Firewall.
I honestly don't know why I would switch to Mac or Linux, even if they were accessible with everything. Windows is very user friendly, I am using it since I was ~8, and I have no complaints. Win 95 was fucking terrible, but 98, XP and 7 were perfect for me so far. I am not sure though if I should upgrade to 10.
Jester Slave
Narcissist
Yeah, 8 was repelling, hated it on my phone too.
I catched the last 5 minutes, nothing interesting. They said Atoma was fantastic and we should get it, everything else was fucking cliché - to be fair, it's the fault of the questions.
I catched the last 5 minutes, nothing interesting. They said Atoma was fantastic and we should get it, everything else was fucking cliché - to be fair, it's the fault of the questions.
