Nine Inch Nails

royb0t, Dec 26, 2006

Nine Inch Nails is the reason I listen to the music I do, whether because of a remix credit or liner note, collaboration, Nothing Records label-mates, supporting acts, etc., I can trace everything back to Trent Reznor somehow or another, sometimes intentionally other times not. From my first introduction listening to Broken and then Pretty Hate Machine, to the hook-line-and-sinker Industrial Rock played-out "Closer", to the dense double-disc The Fragile, to whatever direction Trent takes his music next, I dont think anyone can deny the musical innovation, integrity, and respect due to Trent.

I personally think that The Downward Spiral is an absolute masterpiece. Pretty Hate Machine is a great early industrial rock near-synth pop album, Broken is just full of metal angst, The Fragile is a terse and complicated listening adventure, and With Teeth is almost a visitation to earlier influences with new perspectives, I still feel TDS is the strongest and tighest audio journey with perfect industrial anthems and hymns.

I think once musicians drop the drugs and go clean their music somehow lacks he same punch as it did prior, and I feel With Teeth illustrates that. But Id rather have a living Reznor with more albums (assumably 1-2 per decade) than bother having to just collect re-releases. And I dont think at all Reznor is finished, I think hell prove to be a next-generation David Bowie of industrial rock, on the fringe but to be cited endlessly as an influence. And I hope thats how it plays out.

I would ask Reznor to cut back on all the live video releases, as great as the live stuff works it looks much better in person than staring casually at it in my living room full of interruptions. And aside from continued releases from NIN, Id love to see more collaborative involvement and maybe someday all the never-to-be-released stuff to surface somehow (like Tapeworm...).

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