Another thing with NIN music is the albums are all different… Yeah trent’s the head man and all, but each album has it’s own feel and theme to it. So even if one doesn’t really float your boat, the next one just may.
Alot of bands these days are one trick pony. Same album over and over. Trent is always progressing and his music changing.
At least in my opinion
So if he has a miss, his next has a better chance of being good them him dwellling in that albums sound you don’t like. Unless the next cd is a remix of said album.
Trent got a lot of mileage out of TDS and particularly “Closer.” That album seemed to dominate alt/college radio for 2-3 years with all of the single/remix/video releases. The performance at Woodstock in 1994 also seemed to place NIN in rarified air.
Has anyone heard Trent’s pre-Pretty Hate Machine stuff? He had a “With Sympathy” thing going there for awhile. I seem to recall one track in particular that was very poppy.
And I completely concur with the comments about his marketing abilities and pushing the frontier of how music is released. Brilliant.
Well, NIN has put out seven full-lengths in the past year (if you count each Ghosts disc and the YZ remix album) and has been pretty forward looking about the way music is consumed, so if he’s on people’s minds it’s understandable. Personally, I don’t think he’s put out a totally solid album since Fragile, but I’m always curious what he’s up to. Even if it doesn’t pan out.
Something brushed on in marketing , but looked over a bit is ‘branding’ for Nine Inch Nails has been IMMENSE. Hell, even I own a ‘fragile’ tour shirt that still gets wear and what’s on it?
the boxed 'NI|/|" logo. It’s just as much a ‘mark’ as the Nike Swoosh or McDonald’s ‘M’ - and advertises the same way. Most bands logo are a fucking mess of crap if they even have one, but that logo combined with a string of ‘great’ singles (head, wish, closer, march, perfect drug)+ the collector ‘pull’ of having a ‘Halo’ number system on the product has been completely advantageous. GODDAMN FUCKING BRILLIANT. (I’ve even got like 20 or so NIN logo stickers w/the fuzzy With Teeth version of it sitting around)
It’s one thing that as a former record store employee that’s sold tons of ICP cds as well, can say - that matters a lot. In a similiar way the ‘clowns’ (and I hate ICP!!!) have done a brilliant job marketing with most of the CD covers also being ‘logos’ that are re-sold as t-shirts, car stickers, and the like.
Fans of any color like to ‘mark’ their tribe so to say.
My main point ‘TL, DR’ is that he’s managed to keep his ‘name’ around much more sucessfully than a lot of other groups.
Is it just me or do I find the opening bands more interesting than nin? I’m sorry but I do. Most of those bands are a breath of fresh air, whether you like them or not. Certainly more than nin.
I’ve bitten my tongue on this before, but I’m sorry - nin is overrated. The guy hasn’t put out anything decent since TDS which is 14 years old (!!). Yes, the Fragile maybe had a couple of good tracks, but come on - 23 tracks total or something and I only heard the album maybe 4 or 5 times. Nothing stuck out to me. Then came With Teeth, which I quite liked, but just a couple of tracks. I don’t think I’ve met a person who considers themselves a nin fan who likes With Teeth; I do though but I don’t consider myself a fan of his. The remixes are way better (I have always liked their choice in remixers).
Why people orgasm every time Trent puts something out, I will never understand. He’s put out, and nin fans will admit this, maybe 10 decent songs in 14 years so why the massive love? It’s a shame they did not have the same forgiveness with artists like Ministry. I know people who have disliked The Fragile, and then With Teeth and then Year Zero. So why is it, these same people are the first to download the Slip? I downloaded it, sure, but I waited to see what others said before rushing off. I actually do like the Slip quite a bit. But I know many nin heads don’t like it.
Other artists do not have this bizarre patience. I’m curious: what is it about Trent that people flock to? I mean you won’t see nin shirts anymore but he is arena rock. Is it the Closer crowd that still love him? The Goth crowd? The hipster crowd (boy, Trent sure loves them though…)… I have always been confused by all this.
He’s a poser with an identity crisis.
Could it not be that his work actually does continue to be fresh, interesting and brilliantly produced with each release?
I can name more recent tracks that can stand up to Mr Self Destruct, Ruiner and The Becoming.
Somewhat Damaged, The Wretched, Just Like You Imagined, The Way Out Is Through, Underneath It All, With Teeth, Sunspots, The Line Begins to Blur, Zero Sum.
Yeah it’s subjective…
I think what it is is that TDS was such a fucking solid album that is forever gonna be hard to match.
Personally I think NIN have done a great job post TDS. All releases have been way above “decent” IMO and The Slip is an amazing album.
Blame TDS.
NIN’s biggest achievement and biggest curse…
yeah its 100% subjective…
i’m with afra on thinking that the rawness and energy of the tracks on TDS will never be touched again by trent. fragile could have been a great single cd, but even without the filler it would have been a huge letdown to me compared to TDS. i put with teeth and the new album on the same level, yet i despised year zero immensely. yet i know a bunch of long time nin fans who thought year zero was the best thing he’s ever done. so it’s pointless to argue what’s better.
i do think trent is miles above most other artists though in terms of understanding what people (fans) want and working with the internet vs fighting it. and he’s very smart with who he picks to remix his music and to be picking these up and coming bands the past few tours (- the bauhaus tour) to try and get his music across to their audiences as well.
selfishly i do wish that he’d go back to having some more experimental artists remix his music though like in the old days rather than just doing the dance thing.
I agree that his marketing is phenomenal and the only other artists that I know of that spend that much time and effort to market tend to be top 10 hip hop artists, but, Trent is biting the hand that feeds.
If you or I came out with a record, another TDS, who would hear it? Would we embark on world tours, get MTV exposure, play Woodstock, just off of the Internet? Only unless we were that brilliant and/or that marketable. Even then…
Point being, the record companies (as fascist as they are) got him to where he is, as well as Radiohead. Sure they can diss the record companies now (ironically Trent ran a record company in which artists were never pleased with his attention to it), but they would not be anywhere they are now without record companies.
Afra, after looking at the “ripping cds” thread, I couldn’t help but notice that you seem to have all the NIN albums along with several singles. So I guess the question of “why do people keep going paying attention to Trent after they keep getting disappointed by him?” is a question you could probably answer yourself.
And yes, I know you’ve never actually said you dislike NIN, and that “overrated” is not the same as “piss poor.” Not trying to pick a fight, just playing devil’s advocate.
(now please picture Homer Simpson playing pinball)
If you or I came out with a record, another TDS, who would hear it? Would we embark on world tours, get MTV exposure, play Woodstock, just off of the Internet? Only unless we were that brilliant and/or that marketable. Even then…
He’s still trying to figure that angle out, I think, along with everyone else. Remember, he was disappointed with the results of Niggy Tardust as a free/cheap download, more so than Saul Williams was. This is really pretty new territory. We’re just now beginning to see how music will work in the future.
Afra, after looking at the “ripping cds” thread, I couldn’t help but notice that you seem to have all the NIN albums along with several singles. So I guess the question of “why do people keep going paying attention to Trent after they keep getting disappointed by him?” is a question you could probably answer yourself.
And yes, I know you’ve never actually said you dislike NIN, and that “overrated” is not the same as “piss poor.” Not trying to pick a fight, just playing devil’s advocate.
(now please picture Homer Simpson playing pinball)
But I’m not disappointed by him - I quite liked his older stuff (well Broken and TDS so it seems I have a lot but many are singles I picked up when I lived in England from that era). I did buy Fragile the day it came out. Was probably the last album from him that I was excited about, along with many other people I know who are really into him.
I liked With Teeth quite a bit (well a few tracks) and have been playing that album (along with Slip). I received Year Zero from someone who helps distribute them in Chicago, honestly. But I haven’t gotten any new singles, remix albums etc, from even before the Fragile days if you notice. Ghosts and Slip were free. Though what I heard from the Year Zero remix CD is actually quite good so maybe I’ll pick that up.
Not saying he’s terrible - he’s a respectable musician. I’m just asking of other people who don’t like his recent work - why he still gets a lot of spotlight.
Anyhow, I knew I’d irritate some with this …
Afra get the fragile remix cd… It’s surprisingly much much better than you’d think it was. And I know… cause… well… I’m psychic… Now take off that funky vinyl underwear with the cock hole and dress like a decent man. Your mother is on her way over with pie…
and she’s doing a spot check. (get it spot… wakawakawaka)
“Madonna eats pie”
I see the sampler is listed as Seed 5. Anyone know what the other “seeds” are? As we were saying, Trent knows how to get to the collectors!
probably some other nin-related free web releases, like the broken movie and closure dvds, first part of ghosts and maybe the slip album?
I see the sampler is listed as Seed 5. Anyone know what the other “seeds” are? As we were saying, Trent knows how to get to the collectors!
Well, now I’m showing my colors as a big fan. Seed 1 was a promo DVD (I think it has a bunch of video clips) that was given out at… GameStop? Seed 2-4 were torrented compilations (I believe they were, “Singles,” “Quiet Tracks” and… eh, something else)).
there is also a torrent available of behind the scenes footage of the closer video (think it’s something like 4 hours? or something)
anyhow, I’m on that as soon as my pc stops being an ass.
The behind the scenes footage is from a fan. The Seed torrents are from the horse’s mouth. I’m told that there’s also a fourth “compilation torrent” for remixes, but that’s also fan-made.
- Maintaining a cutting edge appreciation for new musicians. While Skinny Puppy and Ministry have been hitting the road with industrial has-beens and non-starters or metal nobodies (ie: Hate Dept, Motogrator, Hanzel und Gretyl, I could go on), Trent has been taking out a whole lot of indie darlings; QOTSA, TV on the Radio, Crystal Castles, etc. This makes him look “hip and with it” (which I believe he is), as opposed to an out-of-date dinosaur ready to hit the road for money with a band with a retarded name like Lollipop Lust Kill.
Nah, I can’t agree with this. Otto Von Schirach is cutting-edge, and has been gaining a following since touring with Skinny Puppy. And Load Records is a very “hip” label now, so Skinny Puppy was “with it” to tour with Sword Heaven, Silver Daggers, White Mice, etc. I saw White Mice and didn’t like them, but I later got Sword Heaven’s CD and they’re cool. Meshuggah aren’t “metal nobodies,” they’re one of the biggest metal bands of 2008, in all of the mainstream metal fanzines. So SP and Ministry have both been in good company on their latest tours.
Trent’s fondness for indie actually annoys me, as much as one can be annoyed by the music preferences of someone they don’t know. There’s just something about the concept of music by “indie darlings” that lacks balls. I’d love to see NIN tour with an industrial band again.
Otto Von Schirach is cutting-edge, and has been gaining a following since touring with Skinny Puppy.
Agreed. Looking forward to his work with oHgr, Puppy, Patton, Bananasloth, and his solo stuff.
As for nin… haven’t really liked anything since Broken. I agree he has talent, but his music just doesn’t do it for me.
otto’s the fucking man
no offense… i did NOT “get” the otto thing. at all. saw him twice. didn’t get it. none of it.