It may not be genius. It's just that musicians, and perhaps all artists, have the balls to chronical the human experience in ways we can relate to.

It just so happens that Trent Reznor strikes that resonant chord better than Brittany Spears or Dwight Yokum do for me as it relates to my life. The complex darker undercurrents, both lyrically and musically, tug me deeper into my own psyche.

Pretty Hate Machine got me through college. With Teeth is getting me through the break-down of a six year relationship.

I like every other song on With Teeth and agree that some of the tunes would be much more 'commercially successful' if Trent didn't try to get so complex with all the layers of noise (Like 'The Line Begins to Blur') and if he paid attention to the 'flow' of the hooks. Every Day is Exactly the Same, and Right Where it Belongs are my current favorites.

I'm 33 and my current playmate is 23, and she doesn't get NIN at all. It sucks when the music that you once thought was cutting edge now defines you as old.

E

I wasn't being specific Jared, in fact I couldn't pick"Trent" out of a lineup.

Sure he is. He's also plays the Piano, Synthesizer, Drums, Bass Guitar. He's also a composer, songwriter, singer, producer, MIDI/Digital Music programmer.

His first few albums were 'one man band' productions. But for showmanship he always assembled a band for touring.


I don't know his actual intelect, as to whether or not he is a genious, but he is definately bright when it comes to music.



Someone I would consider a genious is Mike Oldfield. Look him up and see what instruments that man can play ;)

Yes. There is one song by them that I really like, but can't figure out what album it was from or what the name of the song is..... She can sound kinda whiney at times though.




Legion,

I'm glad to see that news that Trent won his case.

yeah but he's mainly a pianist... He has had some pretty incredible guitarists play on his albums though...

Anyone remember 'My Life with the Thrill Kill Cult'? Sex on Wheels?

E

Thrill Kill Kult ;)

Leathersex is a good one.

'Hit and Run Holiday' was on the original Flintstone's movie soundtrack.

'After the flesh' was on The Crow soundtrack.

'Wasted Time' and 'Somebody New' was on the Showgirls soundtrack.

'Sex on Wheels/Glamour Dyke remix' and 'Her Sassy Kiss' was on the Cool World soundtrack. Cool World also featured 'The Devil does Drugs', 'Holli's Groove' and 'Sedusa' in the movie, but they didn't appear on the soundtrack.

Flashback, remebering my punk/goth days.. lol

...but back to Cash/Hurt:

Cash did a great cover, and he's got more hard miles on his soul than Trent. But Trent wrote it and I give props to the songwriter, every time.

Occasionally, somebody does a cover that brings a dimension of feeling to the song that's not fully realized by the original writer's production.

The best example that comes to mind in that regard is Gary Jules' cover of "Mad World" as played over the end credits of Donnie Darko.

So true...but then again when I was "young" I preferred The Beatles to Madonna, or anything else save U2 and The Police (amongst others...) in the '80s.

Old soul I guess.

I was in my late 20's when NIN came out and I still don't get it. Mainly because I thought "I want to fuch you like an animal" was just plain stupid.

Different musically? Yes, but Radiohead was different too, in a much more trying way, which I liked.

Back then my impression was that NIN was going for the shock value alone (along with MM), which was becoming the norm for post Grunge rock...aka most of the crap out at the time...I wasn't buying it.

But that wasn't when he came out. His first album was released in 1989 ;)

'Closer', the fuch you soung, was practically his first mainstream song that got played on every radio station, MTV and nightclub of the time. Take a listen to the album Pretty Hate Machine, that was his first.

The song 'Closer' is definately my least favorite, as that's the song EVERYBODY knows, and it's the song that made every kid start listening to his music, when all along there was much better work out there. Hell, 'Hurt' was on 'The Downward Spiral' album with 'Closer'.

Let's get back to Hurt for a second. I have a bootleg from a live concert with Trent and David Bowie. There is a version of Hurt with both singing on it. It is by far the best version I have ever heard. It is live and sends shivers down your back listening to it. the essense is nothing less than living it.

'Closer' really does suck if it's the only NIN song you've heard.

If you listen to the whole album (The Downward Spiral) it makes MUCH more sense. There is a context to the material and 'Closer' is just a piece of a larger whole. If you think it's about 20yr old club sex, you'd be wrong.

I wouldn't say NIN was in it for the shock value in any way (like Marilyn Manson, David Bowie, et al). I remember when 'Down In It' first aired on MTV's 120 Minutes. The first album Pretty Hate Machine was not shocking. In fact, given the body of NIN works the only shock is 'Closer'.

E

Legion-

I agree completely with your comments on the audio mix for 'Right Where It Belongs'. I first heard the CD in my car, where none of the vocal mixing was evident. The first time I played it at home, I was really disappointed. I thought it was just poorly engineered. Then after listening more closely, the intent became more evident. Very cool. All NIN tracks seem to have something I discover after listening to them several times.

E

OK, yeah...so I judged his entire body of work on one song. You couldn't go three minutes back then without hearing it on the radio...massive over-exposure.

I'll pickup a copy of Pretty Hate Machine and give it an objective listening. ;)

Good luck picking up a copy of Pretty Hate Machine in the US; it is OOP. :(
I like With Teeth but need to listen to it a few more times before I rank it among the other NIN albums. I can say that I like The Downward Spiral more now 10 years after it came out. I guess living gives one the background to relate to the music.

With him winning that lawsuit, I'd look forward to the OOP Halo albums to finally go back into production, as the legalities surrounding them have now finally been sorted out.

Being a hardcore NIN fanatic though, I still say that 'The Fragile' is his best work to date. PHM get's highest honours due to it being the first album(2nd album as it followed Halo1 the 'Down in it' single).


Amazon has Halo2 Pretty Hate Machine at $25. But at least they have the samples so you can take a listen to them.

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/B000000GPY/103-4942476-1757460?v=glance

I also have to agree about 'Closer'. Yeah, I don't care for the song as it did, and still does, get entirely too much air play, and made me feel as though Trent had sold out for the big money... But it really is needed on 'The Downward Spiral' to help complete the album.

The funny thing is that 'The Fragile' is much the same way, but it wasn't actually Trent who did the arrangement on that album. He hired an outside programmer to do the line up, as he was having trouble with it.

Hooray for Trent, and a big booooooo for MTV and political censorship.

http://www.cnn.com/2005/SHOWBIZ/Music/05/30/people.nineinchnails.ap/

Thanks Jared, for the tip on the video. I think I agree with you. I like it better than the original also.