Nine Inch Nails - The Slip: Well, you have to give Trent Reznor credit for walking the walk and pushing the bounds of the music industry, if nothing else: this album just appeared online today at http://theslip.nin.com/ available for free download in a variety of formats, from high-quality mp3, to torrents of lossless FLAC/ALAC, all the way up better-than-CD high-res wav files (I downloaded the FLAC but am reviewing the more portable mp3 version).As expected, though, unfortunately the method of distribution is far more interesting than the music.I’m sure the NIN fanatics who keep Trent afloat by buying shirts and such will eat it up, but Trent’s standard angsty industrial rock grind has seemed pretty samey and tedious for awhile now.Far too much of The Slip boils down to the standard formula of a single repetitive drum groove layered with distorted guitar/bass riffs, and too often I find myself thinking the same thing I’ve always tended to think while listening to NIN: “sounds like a mix between Ministry, Depeche Mode, and Swans, but less interesting.”Still, give the guy credit: while others talk, debate, and meticulously line up new album releases with TV appearances, tabloid rumors, and movie placements, Trent’s putting new stuff out and moving ahead, and at least giving the impression that, you know, actually making new music is the important part of being a musician.It’s hard to argue he’s successful at getting his music out in front of listeners –- I certainly hadn’t planned on listening to NIN today, but here I am — I just wish I found the music he puts out somewhat more rewarding.
Rush – Snakes & Arrows Live: I used to like Rush okay when I was a kid — they were one of the first concerts I ever saw — but man, I can’t get through this.The title doesn’t lie: 9 tracks from last year’s Snakes & Arrows appear here. Even the old standards sound impeccably played, but stultifyingly boring (how many live albums have “YYZ,” “Spirit of Radio,” and “Tom Sawyer” already been on?), and Geddy Lee’s voice sure hasn’t gotten any less strained or easy on the ears with age.While their last live album, 2003’s Rush In Rio, struck me as something of a sign of possible revitalization, this one just seems unnecessary –- after all, the band has only released one studio album since then, and none of the playful spirit evidenced by 2004’s fun Feedback covers EP seems to have made its way on here.I guess I’m glad Rush is still out there doing what they do and maybe the shows were a lot of fun if you were there, but while this might be a great concert souvenir it doesn’t translate to a compelling listen for the non-Rush fanatic.
Faith No More – The Works: Faith No More’s legacy has been repackaged twice before, in the 2-disc hits & rarities anthology Who Cares A Lot (The Greatest Hits) and in the single-disc This Is It: The Best of Faith No More which packaged up pretty much the same hits with a few different rarities.Now comes the 3-disc The Works, which contains all the same hits along with most of the band’s other recorded work (was your favorite song on either The Real Thing or Angel Dust?Then it’s here!) and fleshes out the ‘rarities’ quotient by resurrecting 8 of the 10 tracks from the out-of-print, UK-only Live at the Brixton Academy.The live cuts badly need remixing, but otherwise it’s good to hear this artifact of the classic FNM lineup in full flight, even if they had to be tacked onto another superfluous compilation.Really, it’s getting a bit silly: the band only made six albums (four with Mike Patton), and more than anything The Works just feels like a intermediate step along the road to the four-disc bookshelf format box set, then the “Compleat Works” collection – and of course, the inevitable shocking reunion tour, the remastering/reissue of the original albums with bonus tracks, and yet another hits collection.
i’m a pretty huge nin fan, but i’d say after with teeth.. well i have to agree with you. before every album sounded radically different and really very interesting. its nice to see reznor move his lyrics into a new area… but his lyrics seem to have gotten worse some how.
I’m not sure we should be reviewing things, and saying Trent needs to do this or that when he is giving away his music. It used to be if you like it, buy it. Here it is if you like it, listen to it. But let an artist do what they do… free art is different than commercial product.
“I’m not sure we should be reviewing things… free art is different than commercial product.”
Are you saying you think free music shouldn’t be held to the same standards as everything else? That seems like a complete copout, and a total wuss move that I doubt Reznor would agree with. An album is the same record whether you paid nothing or a thousand dollars for it; anything you attach to the listening experience based on what you paid is all imaginary. That seems to me to be the whole point of his grand experiment.
I partially agree on the Rush review. The band never seems to get a live record right since Exit Stage Left…(which in my opinion is the greatest live record ever recorded), but even with that record they should have put on Vital Signs and The Camera Eye from the Moving Pictures tour. Hell, they should have put it on the remastered edition when it was re-released!
Rio is incredible on DVD and I actually saw a screening of it in a movie theater before it came out. But the audio for it was struggling big time ditto Vapor Trails.
The other problem with Rush’s live releases is their obsession with releasing live recordings from other countries and nothing from the one country they have played the most and made a living off of…that being the United States.
Like R30 and Snakes & Arrows Live..the band takes us to another small concert hall with fans who can’t speak english for the most part and are not familiar with anything outside of 1982 because the band had either not played there since then or has not had a hit there since then.
S&A Live is great for a few things such as Digital Man, Between The Wheels, Entre Nous, Witch Hunt, Passage To Bangkok, Circumstances, Mission, and a badly needed upgraded Neil Peart solo.
If Rush even had alternate set list’s each night..shifting out 4-6 songs it would make the experience more interesting. Unfortunately, Rush tends to brag about how big their catalog is and that they can’t make everyone happy.
Well here is a newsflash for them…it is 2008…people want to hear your catalog and not 9 freaking songs from your 3rd weakest record of your catalog. Spread it out..show some love to the songs that made you who you are. We know the hits are going to be there…and I am fine with Limelight, Spirit of Radio, YYZ being in there…it is what made Rush so huge.
Trent Reznor is not a rock star, he is an artist. his music always drives me to step up in the creative world especially with the album “The Fragile”. All his albums are great. It’s great that his music has changed so much. Much of his newer music is less accessible than before. I think he has done a good job weeding out his fans ever since “The Fragile”. As his music evolves so does his fans. His angry audience seems to become more and more open minded or they just disappear. He’ll only have the more open minded crowd as fans in the end. The ones who don’t really care about how heavy or how catchy the music is but ones who are concerned about how much more creative and ambitious he has become. I’ve found myself not liking his albums when they’re freshly new but after a few years of listening to them that I appreciate them on a new level like never before. His conceptual purpose has become obvious to me.
I bow in reverance at Mr Reznor in this money orientated market, having the balls to stick the V to record companies world wide. I have been a fan of the nails since the early 90’s and have bought every record in the halo range (also bought a few t-shirts) As for the album its as usual a fresh blast of balls to the wall as well as melodic toons, i would think that “discipline and head down” will surface as singles. If you have never heard of Nine Inch Nails ahave a free download or even check their back catalogue, quite painless
its hard to say whether this album should be reviewed or not. i agree with aaron, that an album is the same whether or not you pay for it, but this seems like a gift. its like getting a christmas gift from your brother and saying, “well, its good and all, but i was hoping for more.”
if you can, please go to my full review of the album on thedunereview.blogspot.com and PLEASE leave comments, its a long review but i think you would all really like it.
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8 comments ↓
i’m a pretty huge nin fan, but i’d say after with teeth.. well i have to agree with you. before every album sounded radically different and really very interesting. its nice to see reznor move his lyrics into a new area… but his lyrics seem to have gotten worse some how.
he needs to stop making with teeth over and over.
I’m not sure we should be reviewing things, and saying Trent needs to do this or that when he is giving away his music. It used to be if you like it, buy it. Here it is if you like it, listen to it. But let an artist do what they do… free art is different than commercial product.
“I’m not sure we should be reviewing things… free art is different than commercial product.”
Are you saying you think free music shouldn’t be held to the same standards as everything else? That seems like a complete copout, and a total wuss move that I doubt Reznor would agree with. An album is the same record whether you paid nothing or a thousand dollars for it; anything you attach to the listening experience based on what you paid is all imaginary. That seems to me to be the whole point of his grand experiment.
I partially agree on the Rush review. The band never seems to get a live record right since Exit Stage Left…(which in my opinion is the greatest live record ever recorded), but even with that record they should have put on Vital Signs and The Camera Eye from the Moving Pictures tour. Hell, they should have put it on the remastered edition when it was re-released!
Rio is incredible on DVD and I actually saw a screening of it in a movie theater before it came out. But the audio for it was struggling big time ditto Vapor Trails.
The other problem with Rush’s live releases is their obsession with releasing live recordings from other countries and nothing from the one country they have played the most and made a living off of…that being the United States.
Like R30 and Snakes & Arrows Live..the band takes us to another small concert hall with fans who can’t speak english for the most part and are not familiar with anything outside of 1982 because the band had either not played there since then or has not had a hit there since then.
S&A Live is great for a few things such as Digital Man, Between The Wheels, Entre Nous, Witch Hunt, Passage To Bangkok, Circumstances, Mission, and a badly needed upgraded Neil Peart solo.
If Rush even had alternate set list’s each night..shifting out 4-6 songs it would make the experience more interesting. Unfortunately, Rush tends to brag about how big their catalog is and that they can’t make everyone happy.
Well here is a newsflash for them…it is 2008…people want to hear your catalog and not 9 freaking songs from your 3rd weakest record of your catalog. Spread it out..show some love to the songs that made you who you are. We know the hits are going to be there…and I am fine with Limelight, Spirit of Radio, YYZ being in there…it is what made Rush so huge.
But live a little…sheesh.
Trent Reznor is not a rock star, he is an artist. his music always drives me to step up in the creative world especially with the album “The Fragile”. All his albums are great. It’s great that his music has changed so much. Much of his newer music is less accessible than before. I think he has done a good job weeding out his fans ever since “The Fragile”. As his music evolves so does his fans. His angry audience seems to become more and more open minded or they just disappear. He’ll only have the more open minded crowd as fans in the end. The ones who don’t really care about how heavy or how catchy the music is but ones who are concerned about how much more creative and ambitious he has become. I’ve found myself not liking his albums when they’re freshly new but after a few years of listening to them that I appreciate them on a new level like never before. His conceptual purpose has become obvious to me.
I bow in reverance at Mr Reznor in this money orientated market, having the balls to stick the V to record companies world wide. I have been a fan of the nails since the early 90’s and have bought every record in the halo range (also bought a few t-shirts) As for the album its as usual a fresh blast of balls to the wall as well as melodic toons, i would think that “discipline and head down” will surface as singles. If you have never heard of Nine Inch Nails ahave a free download or even check their back catalogue, quite painless
its hard to say whether this album should be reviewed or not. i agree with aaron, that an album is the same whether or not you pay for it, but this seems like a gift. its like getting a christmas gift from your brother and saying, “well, its good and all, but i was hoping for more.”
if you can, please go to my full review of the album on thedunereview.blogspot.com and PLEASE leave comments, its a long review but i think you would all really like it.
thank you, bro
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