#lyrics from The hand that feeds by NIN

[fallenumbra]

𝘚𝘰 𝘯𝘢𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘐 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘢 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘯

[0zzysaurus]

Anyways NIN lyrics that remind me of Javert (not seen is all of Ruiner that is 100% him hating on/but weirdly getting the hots for Madeleine - from Javerts perspective Madeleine is the ruiner, from everyone else’s perspective, it’s Javert)

The Hand That Feeds is self explanatory, the lyrics from I Do Not Want This give regretting his suicide vibes, (more so than Hurt funnily enough, just cus of the contextual metaphors being more relevant here) and March of the Pigs is his crazy feral ass KNOWING Madeleine is a liar, ratting him out, and feeling proud of it

[timidloner]

i just saw the playlist you made and STOOOOOP ITS SO???? (btw judas by gaga could work for MC towards joren) rolling on the floor more particularly at closer because the lyrics were made for joren ??? its like they made the song for him WHAT these >> :

"I wanna fuck you like an animal I wanna feel you from the inside"

"My whole existence is flawed You get me closer to God"

"(Help me) I've got no soul to sell" and THE REST TOO?? you know you made peak character when a song that good fully works for them!! obsessed with it

i unfortunately don't speak spanish completely but i'm learning how to (i actually have spanish class today so i'm banging my head on the wall AAAAH)(if you ever make a spanish version of the game, ill be the first to play it just to work on my spanish) - ram

THANK YOUUUU, I'm so proud of that playlist, you've no idea!!

I love "Closer", it gives existential crisis, religious guilt, wilderness, and obsession. Top-tier song, most of my fav characters have a similar vibe to it.

I was a bit unsure whether to add it or not since Joren has a religion, but I think it works very well too! And you know what I even like more? You could totally also apply this song to a more unhinged MC!!

NIN has other bangers that could totally fit the vibe of my IF, but I wanted to keep the playlist enjoyable for everyone, so I stayed away from some songs. But I want to share them now!

"Sin" -> You give me the reason, you give me control/ I gave you my purity, my purity you stole/ (...)/ Stale incense, old sweat and lies, lies, lies/ It comes down to this, your kiss, your fist, and your strain

"The Hand That Feeds" -> Just how deep do you believe?/ (...)/ Can you get up off your knees?/ Are you brave enough to see?/ Do you want to change it?/ What if this whole crusade's a charade?

Another thing I really liked was the transition between "Become the beast" and "Howl", it goes from Joren's perspective to MC's (just added Judas, btw).

"Become the beast" last part of the song -> Splinters of my soul/ Cut through your skin/ And borrow within/ Do you feel the hunger/ Does it howl inside?/ Does it terrify you?/ Or do you feel alive?

"Howl" first part of the song -> If you could only see the beast you've made of me/ I held it in but now it seems you've set it running free/ (...)/ You're the moon that breaks the night for which I have to howl

You're doing well with your Spanish, you had me wondering if you were a native speaker or not!! And that's a classic, I actually learned so much English through fanfics, so I do recommend reading things in another language to learn faster.

Buena suerte con tus clases, Ram <3!!

[goddevouringserpent]

1 and 9 for Yunia and Kaija, from the Edgy Ask :3

What memory would your OC rather just forget?

OOOH this is a fun one because the answers are so different :3

Kaija does not want to forget anything. She's been through some tough shit in her life, but she takes all of it as a lesson—she's very much the "what doesn't kill me makes me stronger" type, and that involves remembering everything that hurt her so she can carefully examine it, be it to make sure it never happens again or to be prepared to deal with it if she can't avoid it. (She may not look like it, given her personality, but she's actually quite shrewd and clever.) Moreover, and WATCH OUT HEAVY SPOILERS FOR WOTR AHEAD, Kaija knows forgetting. Worse than that, she knows what it's like to forget crucial parts of yourself, something that makes you you; even worse, she knows what it's like to be forced to forget. As a result, even if she was inclined to lean towards oblivion as a respite, she would lean away out of spite.

Yunia, on the other hand… Yunia is, um. Not in a good spot mentally. So Yunia is deeply, deeply devoted to Ranni—almost obsessively so, in a frankly very funny way because she has designated herself Ranni's Protector, her Knight in Shining Carian Armour, which, let's be honest, Ranni does not need that. Ranni can take care of herself. But Yunia needs to dedicate herself to someone's cause and so she falls at Ranni's feet, runs herself through with her own blade and promises all of me is yours, lady Ranni, my arm and my flesh and my blood and my mind all yours to take. She fights tooth-and-nail for Ranni's vision of an Age of Stars, and ultimately succeeds. But the problem is… in getting there, a lot of people Yunia cared about—people she fought alongside, people she respected, friends of hers—died. And, due to the Way She Is, Yunia holds herself responsible for every single death. There is little truth in that, but she always thinks that there must have been something she could have done to prevent that (even if there wasn't) and so survivor's guilt gnaws at her, with the added pain of knowing that, no matter how much it hurts, she would do it all over again, for Ranni's sake. She would do anything. But the guilt, the teeth on her heart eating her alive, that's harder to deal with. So I feel Yunia, unlike Kaija, would embrace oblivion. She'd want to forget that her friends died. Not about her friends as a whole, mind you—just about their fates. Give her something that'll let her fool herself into thinking everyone's safe and happy back in the Lands Between, and she'll take it without hesitation.

Do you have a specific lyric or quote which you associate with your OC?

DO I EVER

Lyric for Kaija: Either "Drowning madly in deep blue seas / Waves of sadness swallow me / No soul can hear me beneath the weight / No gods or saviors, no hands of fate" (from Only Love Can Save Me Now by the Pretty Reckless) or "My darkest soul unfolds / I embrace this rage / Bad things hurt so good / Bad things dig deep inside you / You still feed the monster / With these endless lies / Gonna crush your empire down / 'Til it fades away" (from Bad Things by Lacuna Coil)

Quote for Kaija: "I often see how you sob over what you destroy, how you want to stop and just worship; and you do stop, and then a moment later you are at it again with a knife, like a surgeon." - Anaïs Nin

Lyric for Yunia: "I feel alone in my body / I feel a silence underneath / In these valleys of blood / In these rivers of rust / Shoulder all the blame again / Mirror locked until the end" and "And I've always been ashamed that I want to / Fall into a dream with my honour desecrated / Blood is jaded" (both from Jaded by Spiritbox)*

*fun fact this song came out very recently, I just found out about it today—despite it being by one of my favourite bands, smh at myself—and I am losing my MIND at how good it is and how much the lyrics fits several of my characters for various reasons

Quote for Yunia: "Sometimes I feel skinless, raw, like I don't have a face. How can I be sure that I have any coherence unless I outline it?" - Kate Zambreno

[hekateinhell]

I'd love to know which NIN songs fit best for different characters/ships to you. I'd specific specific characters/ships but I don't want to limit your response, tell me everything!

Okay, when I listen to music, I'm mostly just listening for the lyrics lol I do not have the ear for melody & rhythm, so it's more like certain parts of a song that will speak to me rather than an entire song overall. Some of these might be really obvious and cliché buuut!

Armand/Daniel

Sanctified

/It's still getting worse after everything I tried What if I found a way to wash it all aside What if she touches with those fingertips As the words spill out like fire from her lips/

/Heaven's just a rumor she'll dispel As she walks me through the nicest parts of hell I still dream of lips I never should have never kissed Well she knows exactly what I can't resist/ - reminds me of the whole “his merciless and all-loving demonic god” quote

Head Like a Hole

/God money, I'll do anything for you God money, just tell me what you want me to God money, nail me up against the wall God money, don't want everything he wants it all/

/Bow down before the one you serve You're going to get what you deserve/ - I mean...

Armand/Louis

Hurt

/I cannot repair Beneath the stains of time The feelings disappear You are someone else I am still right here/

/What have I become? My sweetest friend Everyone I know Goes away in the end/ /I will let you down I will make you hurt If I could start again A million miles away I would keep myself I would find a way/ - yeah I'm hurt right now too thanks

Bonus: Armand/Nicki

Into the Void

/Tried to save a place from the cuts and the scratches Tried to overcome my complications and my catches Nothing ever grows and the sun doesn't shine all day Tried to save myself but my self keeps slipping away/

Armand in general

The Hand That Feeds (could be Nicki and/or cult-related too)

/You're keeping in step In the line Got your chin held high and you feel just fine 'Cause you do What you're told But inside your heart it is black and it's hollow and it's cold

Just how deep do you believe? Will you bite the hand that feeds? Will you chew until it bleeds? Can you get up off your knees? Are you brave enough to see? Do you wanna change it?

What if this whole crusade's a charade And behind it all there's a price to be paid For the blood on which we dine Justified in the name of the holy and the divine/ - lol I wrote an Armand/Lestat fic to this a while back that actually ended up kinda cheesy by my own standards, but it works much better in this context

[yamanaka-shin]

SuiKa! :D

OKAY FINALLY TIME TO BREAK INTO THIS

- who's the cuddler?

both of them are guilty of this but it's on purpose on his behalf yet accidental on hers. Suigetsu is an odd person and super obnoxious but gets wicked dedicated to the few loved ones he manages to get for himself and sticks like glue to them. he has never actually been afraid of Karin despite her being foaming at the mouth rabid. nor would he ever fight back physically. the second this fucker finds out the whole life story that led to her joining Orochimaru it would kind of stick with him though he'd not bring it up for worry that it'll cause even more problems. it slowly shifts his view of her over the years from someone who's just made to be violent by design to someone who has had to be that way to survive. and he respects the fact that despite everything bad that's happened, she's still around, and yeah she's entitled to be as prickly as she wants. when they actually manage to fall into a relationship that would genuinely make people wonder, should anyone actually find it out, that would be when he'd get more touchy and cuddly with her. she puts up with it only half the time. Karin, on the other hand, will cuddle up to him in bed or when she's tired in general or after some kind of big event happens that could be called an emergency, so something physically and emotionally draining, because it's nice to have someone to lean on. however. the second she catches herself doing that with him she'll correct it very quickly. won't hit him, maybe just shoot a disgraced look and say nothing, and pull away from him. it gets better with time though it does take YEARS before either of them are on the same page.

- who makes the bed?

when either of them care about something so trivial, it's absolutely Karin. and she'll give him hell about it but not actually put any malice behind the words. this fucker spent literal years in a tank of water during his formative years. and after that they were criminals on the run. who KNOWS how he grew up before being captured. so he gets a pass for this. even if it's annoying in the moment every time she decides to fix the sheets and blanket. he is willing to help out later in life though, readily without being asked, since he learns the small things that make life easier for her and he'd rather see her feeling better than feeling irritated or unhappy.

- who wakes up first?

they're both early risers. he's never been one to sleep on since as a kid he was often up with the sun in order to train with or go on missions with Mangetsu. Suigetsu is not lazy even if he's kind of a coward sometimes. and the sort of pleasure seeking he is would be the kind you get from committing violence, not the kind you get from staying in bed all day. Karin doesn't really have a reason to be up early. it's just how she is. he's not complaining because if she's not busy she'll maybe watch him practice with one of his swords or they'll bullshit talk back and forth to pass the time until they have something to do. they're better company to each other in the morning before the day has really begun, at least for the first few years.

- who has the weirder taste in music?

- you cannot tell me it wouldn't be Suigetsu. Kiri nin are already built different, and that includes the shit they enjoy. Karin is normal in few ways but I feel like this is one of those ways. plus, he's an Aquarius, aka the king of weird. HOWEVER. she's a Gemini. and a Gem/Aqua relationship means they feed into each other's weird habits and bullshit. eventually she's listening to his weird music and knows all the damn lyrics.

- who is more protective?

If you put one goddamn finger on Karin, Suigetsu will kill you. no warning no words no hesitation. you will be a stain on the dirt. this fucker goes hard, truly ride or die, for the ones who matter to him. and if they're Together then it's even more severe. can't lose her like he lost Mangetsu, now can he? canonically even though he's a little bitch he did miss the amount of noise that came with having her around aka the noise that comes from their arguing and her weird comments about Sasuke. give it enough time and a better atmosphere and I'm sure the sort of protective feelings that would spring up would be legendary. I've said to Des before. I want him to teach her swordsmanship so she'll always be able to defend herself since yes she CAN kick ass but her offensive skills are still kinda lacking. gotta help build on those. in the case he isn't around to beat any asses that put her in danger and no one else he can trust is around either.

- who sings in the shower

- again they both do this shit. though with him it's even funnier because he could fucking literally melt and you'd not see anyone in the shower while it's going but you'd HEAR him. suddenly your house is haunted and the ghost is enjoying a nice shower. ahhhh that's not a ghost that's just a wet bitch from Kirigakure, my bad. it's simply a quirk he picks up over time. and probably from her, no less, because she absolutely does it all the time. and he'll laugh at her when he goes to greet her as soon as she's out. but it's not malicious, he's just trying to rile her up. it works. but also he picks up the habit from her. good way to pass the time. these two pick up A LOT from each other, in fact. Air Sign Solidarity.

- who cries during movies?

- VERY much Karin. overly emotional Uzumaki habits show vividly in her. even if she pretends to be this cocky bitch around people she's not fond of, the second she's in her comfort zone the Uzumaki just jumps out. and a good emotional act of terrorism aka a sad movie will get her going. which is why she prefers to watch alone. no one needs to see that kind of display, mind your business.

- who spends the most while out shopping?

- these two are criminals so they steal at least half the shit they own. however, if they can't get away with it at all, it's Karin. and usually on non-essential items. because she's a bit of a decadent bitch. proud of her. live your best life, my love. Suigetsu still opts to steal even if he might get caught. though you can bet in the past he's had moments of filling the fridge fill of yogurt he bought because he went shopping while hungry. they got him a personal mini fridge for future incidents of this.

- who kisses more roughly?

he's tempted as hell to do this but actually neither of them do. he's aware, eventually, of her trauma involving being bitten and how rough people have been with her against her wishes. so he tries not to go overboard even if it takes some maneuvering with those lethal teeth. and she's super passionate sure but in love I feel like she'd melt so easily at a display of romance. hungry and sorta rough kisses happen sometimes, but it's not her norm. every one in a while they'll go a little feral on each other though, as long as it's discussed beforehand.

- who is more dominant?

two words. Uzumaki Karin. for all of his crazy, Suigetsu doesn't like to get involved with things and battles he knows he can't win or get an advantage in. and frankly? letting her be dominant is sexy to him. she's turned her rabid aggression into serious devotion and that does things to him. someone so capable of violence being so capable, too, of tenderness...and only for him? oh lord. yeah he has no arguments here. it's hot.

- how I rate this ship?

- this is a fucking 777/10 should have been canon and I still pray it WILL be some fucking how this is my otp that's tied with SaiIno it means everything to me

[dykehaus]

Lyrics from NiN The Hand That Feeds as Hinge prompts

[owenshire]

Robert Muhlbock (virtually) Inducts Nine Inch Nails into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame 2020

Nine Inch Nails. One band, and often one man, with a computer (and guitar) against the world. Oh yes, Nine Inch Nails have added members for live performances and gained members (well, a member) for studio compositions, but from this “band-like-musical-entity’s” earliest days, it was just one person—one person who combined pop-hooks with industrial whirs, and harrowing rage with uncomfortable vulnerability. And his name is Trent Reznor.  

No one should claim that Nine Inch Nails invented a genre. They didn’t. But they sure as hell popularized and perfected it. Electronic, Industrial, ‘Disco Death Metal’—whatever you want to call it, the labels don’t really matter.  In fact, I think the genre should just be called “sounds like Nine Inch Nails” which is compliment enough on its own, right?  

Nine Inch Nails are one of the most important, vital, inspirational, talented, and unique of musical artists. I love them. And now I’m going to tell you why…in a lengthy video essay, so settle in.  And if you don’t have the fandom or attention span for what I’m about to say, go back to consuming shitty tweets and dumbfuck Instagram posts because you’re not wanted here anyway.

                            _______________________________

My first introduction to NIN began like so many others: by catching the iconic video for “Head Like A Hole” on MTV—the band rocking out amidst electrical wires and magnetic tape, until it seemed like the entire writhing mess would consume them whole.  It’s an image as potent today as it was some 30 years ago.

However, my real introduction to NIN was originally steeped in urban legend. I was in grade 10 and I heard Pretty Hate Machine played on my school bus on the way home. The owner of this cassette tape, a “cool girl” who shall remain nameless, told me that the album was “out of print” and “unavailable.” In short, she assured me that I would never be able to find a copy, but, guess what, I did.

In a trade with former MMA coach Shawn Tompkins—and in my grade 10 art class no less—I swapped two ninja stars for a box of his old cassette tapes, and Pretty Hate Machine was one of them. This was my own NINJA moment, if you will—does anyone get that reference—anyway, upon witnessing said trade some random guy in my art class immediately offered me $25 for the Pretty Hate Machine cassette tape—a king’s ransom in 1990—but of course I wouldn’t sell. I knew it was valuable—and in more than one way. Instead I played the hell out of the cassette in my Walkman. I was 14 years old. “Terrible Lie” was my favourite song from the album. And it still is.

And then—poof—like that, NIN dropped out of my life. Where’d they go? Well, I guess they were making a name for themselves during Lollapalooza 1991, white chalk dust and all. Not that I knew any of this. Pre-internet I had no idea what was going on.  In fact, I wouldn’t hear any new NIN music until almost a full year later when one of my friends with a penchant for industrial music introduced me to the Broken EP. As he handed me his CD for borrowing, he warned me that it was “pretty extreme.” And he was right. The Broken EP is why album warning stickers were invented: it was a fist to the face, a kick to the face—it was even an ass to the face.

Anyway, the Broken EP was my real introduction to the seemingly bottomless rage of NIN. When I heard Broken I was just starting to get into so-called “heavy” music, but nothing could have prepared me for the lyrical and musical brutality of “Wish.” While Reznor’s litany of profanity was extreme—at least to my sheltered 16 year old ears—what truly staggered me was the song’s main riff (you know the one I mean) the one that is so distorted, so disturbing, that it sounds like a guitar being burned alive while flailing in a wind tunnel.

I’d never heard anything like it before—it wasn’t cock-rock; it wasn’t fake satanic rage done for laughs, theatre or to impress--no. Instead it was the audio embodiment of complete destruction and utter despair. And 30 years later, it’s lost none of its power.

                          __________________________________

These same sentiments must be applied to The Downward Spiral, Nine Inch Nail’s career defining work that launched the band into mainstream success. Too often discussions of the record get bogged down by emphasis on “Hurt” or “Closer,” or, to some extent, “Heresy.”

Yes, “Hurt” is the perfect album closer and expression of pleading vulnerability, and, yes, “Closer” and “Heresy’s” choruses were brutally raw and shocking in 1994 (and, it should be said, still above average shocking  in 2020), but I feel the album is best presented as a whole. This was the beginning of NIN’s discovery that (to paraphrase one rock critic) just as much tension can be generated with a whisper as with a scream.

Dynamics have always been a huge part of NIN’s’ sound, and The Downward Spiral stands as a defining moment.  The album, as all of you know, begins with “Mr. Self Destruct” (well, that’s not entirely true—the album actually begins with the audio of what appears to be a man being beaten to death while submerged underwater)—but anyway, “Mr. Self Destruct” was as sonically astonishing to me as “Wish” was two years prior. As I listened to the verses of “Mr. Self Destruct” I kept asking myself “Is it supposed to sound like this? I can’t hear what he’s saying”—it was such a cacophony of meticulously detailed and layered noises, but of course not without substance or a melody: its quiet refrain of “And I control you” buried so deep in the mix, it mirrored the subconscious itself.  

“Mr. Self Destruct” gives way to “Piggy”—again a haunting track that’s almost tender and such a shock in sequence given the song that preceded it. Again. Dynamics. Surprise. Making the atypical typical in the best non-traditional way. Does that make any sense? Anyway, I felt the same way about the mini-piano solo/ lyric pairing of “now doesn’t it make you feel better” before the dramatic pause in “March Of The Pigs”—I don’t think any of us saw THAT coming. I was literally shocked when that phrasing appeared out of no where, emerging like a tiny ironic rainbow out of the whirlwind of thrashing drums, crazy guitars, and “stains like blood on your teeth” screams the preceded it.  

Speaking of screams, the title-track of The Downward Spiral still stands as a monument to vulnerability, despair, and pure abject horror. It’s the only song I’ve ever heard that I am afraid to listen to. When I listen to The Downward Spiral, I wait for the song the way a child hides behind a blanket awaiting glimpses of a film monster: I know it’s coming, and I know it’s going to be horrifying…and it always is. So why do I subject myself to it?

                                     ______________________

That’s a fair question. Let’s be frank here: Nine Inch Nails isn’t for everyone. It takes a certain personality to fully appreciate the band’s complete package of black, blue, and bleeding, “but you can dance to it!” Still, NIN is more than mere nihilism and hopelessness. Those who label the band in such ways, kind of miss the point. To me, NIN has always been—lyrically at least—about catharsis: I suppose ALL music functions as such—a tool of understanding, and a mechanism for coping. Trent Reznor once commented on the vulnerability of his lyrics, saying in an interview with NPR that his topic of choice was less about vanity than it was about delivering a performance with honesty and integrity. The only topic that mattered—his emotional struggle—was the only subject he could speak about with authority and with conviction.

However, it just so happens to be a struggle that millions of other people share. When Trent Reznor sings “Now you know/ this is what it feels like” on The Fragile’s “The Wretched,” he is inviting his audience to share in his pain. Whether he intended it this way or not, his is a gesture borne or isolation but ending in comradery: many of us certainly know what “this” “feels like.” And many, many more of us can certainly relate to the words “Dear World, I can hardly recognize you anymore.”

In short, Trent Reznor’s lyrics, as personal as they are, speak for us: his fans. He speaks for me. He still does.

Interestingly, themes consistent in NIN’s best work offer a type of almost emotional ambivalence: caring, but not caring; wanting to be helped, yet rejecting help; and most importantly, wanting to be alone, yet desperately wishing to connect with others. The songs “We’re In This Together” and “The Fragile” perfectly illustrate these sentiments.   To me, it is no coincidence they are sequenced side by side on the “some-critics-didn’t-like-it-at-the-time-but-have-since-come-to-their-senses-album” The Fragile.

                                      _________________

Musically, however, NIN is best known for three distinct styles of music: computer chaos, groovy beats, and symphonic soundscapes. I’ve touched on the first—and will return to it—but for now, let’s discuss the second. I’m not a huge fan of the term “death-disco”; however, NIN’s long list of ass-shaking beats, should not be overlooked. What began on Pretty Hate Machine with “Sin” and “The Only Time,” pleasantly resurface on “Into The Void” only to be perfected on “The Hand That Feeds,” “Only” “Capital G,” and “Discipline” not to mention a large portion of Hesitation Marks.

But back to computer chaos—or maybe just chaos in general. I can think of no better example to illustrate my point than the final coda to the song “The Great Destroyer” on the fabulous dystopian opus Year Zero—one of my favourite albums of all time: the sound of things falling apart—wires frayed, systems destroyed, screens cracked: static humming and ‘please stand by’ messages flicking forever. The Eater of Dreams. “All we ever were—just zeros and ones.”  

                                           ____________________

The final cornerstone of NIN’s musical contribution is soundscapes and instrumentals, and what a can of worms THAT is given all that’s transpired since 2011.  Anyway, when The Fragile was released in 1999, more than a few fans bemoaned its inclusion of no less than 7 instrumentals, and yet these contributions have always been a signature addition to NIN’s body of work: from “pinion,” “help me I am in hell,” “a warm place,” the deeply personal “La Mer,” to Ghosts I through VI, NIN’s experiments with sound have always been integral to their songwriting process—a willingness to experiment and a love of discovery which surprisingly, yet somewhat inevitably, lead to NIN’s work in soundtracks. Beginning somewhat inadvertently with Tony Scott’s Man On Fire (look it up), and then deliberately on the video game Quake, this creative direction eventually resulted in (as we all know) various Oscar and Emmy nominations and wins for Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, and yeah, while technically not “Nine Inch Nails” releases, I think we can all agree it’s hard to separate the two sometimes because as we all know, the line begins to blur, amiright?  

The point is this: Nine Inch Nails were and are no strangers to pushing boundaries musically, visually, and artistically. Some defining unconventional moments in the band’s career to me are as follows:

·  The 97 one-second tracks on the Broken EP before its final two songs; the infamous Broken film itself—a movie I found on a bootlegged VHS tape and rented for a mere 1 dollar at the time—and then proceeded to wish that I never did.

·  Moving on, there is of course the band’s seminal 1994 Woodstock performance, where the musicians arrived on stage in a foggy haze, caked head to toe in mud, and bringing the apocalypse with them;

·  Next we have the Alternate Reality Game developed around the release of Year Zero,

·  There was the free download of The Slip; and the free downloads of Ghosts V and VI some years later

·  Who could also forget about the NINREMIX website where fans were invited to remix the band’s songs and post them for all to enjoy, and copyright be damned.

·  Um, there was also that time they said “a heartfelt fuck you” to the Grammy’s.  

·   And finally we have Nine Inch Nail’s unexpected live appearance on the rather toned down Austin City Limits.

And the list goes on. Trent Reznor once explained such actions in the most self-aware terms possible: he likes pushing himself (as well as his fans) out of comfort zones, to flirt with mainstream conventions but to approach and execute them as only Nine Inch Nails can: with integrity and—to borrow Trent’s appraisal of the late David Bowie—“uncompromising vision.”      

                               _______________________________

Speaking of integrity and uncompromising vision, NIN’s humility is one of the band’s most inspiring and endearing characteristics. In Reznor’s case, we’re talking about an accomplished artist who admitted publically that he still feels he has so much to learn about his craft—that he’s barely scratched the surface regarding his mastery of sound and songwriting; a man that mocked his own starry eyed expression upon receiving an Oscar by pairing it with the caption “I see unicorns” and inviting fans to provide similar self-deprecating taglines.  A man who speaks in measured tones about his opportunities and successes in his life—and does so, repeatedly I might add, quietly, humbly, and gratefully.  

Such self-awareness is extremely rare in show-business let alone by a band that’s achieved as much as Nine Inch Nails.

And guess what? Here’s the thing. I think there’s no stopping them. With Nine Inch Nails—particularly, Trent and Atticus no matter what they call themselves and until they are inducted into the IHOR as solo artists, anything’s possible:  

·  Scoring a children’s movie? The upcoming Pixar film Soul? Why not? Let’s have some more. Give me a children’s album!

·  Creating a vintage jazz ballad (the unparalleled “The Way It Used to Be”) in a week and making it indistinguishable from other songs of the era? Of course!

·  Winning a Tony Award to become part of the EGOT club—I say sure. In fact, prediction: before the end of the world (so basically, in about 30 years) Nine Inch Nails will get an EGOT.  There. Prove me wrong.

                                       ______________________

In 1997 Spin Magazine once hailed Trent Reznor as “the most vital artist in music today,” while in that same year Trent Reznor appeared on Time Magazine’s list of the top 25 most influential Americans.

These accolades were well earned; however, I prefer a statement made by some music magazine critic whose name escapes me in their review of a Nine Inch Nails album whose name also escapes me: they said, “we can only hope something else pisses him off,” sentiments which I’m sure are echoed by many, and to which I reply…there seems to be no worry about that.

                                      ____________________          

Nine Inch Nails encompass a facet of popular art that is as necessary as it is compulsory: they remind us that the world is not pleasant; tragedy is inevitable; the game is rigged; faith is a lie; and everyone you know will abandon or disappoint you.

But guess what? If you’re lucky, the way out is through, motherfuckers.

I am honoured to induct Nine Inch Nails into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  

[projectalbum]

Art is Resistance. 149. “With Teeth” (Halo 19), 150. “Year Zero” (Halo 24), 151. “Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D” (Halo 25), 152. “Ghosts I-IV” (Halo 26), 153. “The Slip” (Halo 27) by Nine Inch Nails

The 6-year gap between Nine Inch Nails studio albums saw the Internet become truly ascendant in popular culture, for better and worse.

Napster took a bite from the music industry and was put down like a mad dog. The Pirate Bay first unfurled its flag. Radio play and music videos were still the main avenue for displaying the wares of major label musicians to the general public, and success was still measured in units of CDs sold, but more and more people were becoming hip to the underground access provided by a DSL modem.

But the power of the Web to empower artists and connect them to their fans still evaded most of the recording industry; honchos and artists alike were largely clueless. Trent Reznor, the big ol’ nerd, was a notable exception. Posting on early message boards on Prodigy, embracing torrents, creating an online gateway for the band’s fans, leaking material from the archives, experimenting with an optional-pay release, even being an early adopter of Twitter— it was a white-hot fiber optic cable running through the life of the band. While this technological engagement didn’t always translate into sales (The Fragile was considered a financial disappointment), it was a 21st century incarnation of the connection between what the artist creates and how the audience consumes it, internalizes it, and hopefully finds some emotional release in it.

This uneasy alliance between organic emotion and technological chilliness is reflected in this era of Nine Inch Nails’ aesthetic, both musically and through the packaging. Where Downward Spiral and Fragile dealt in decaying earth tones, the releases starting with 2005’s reemergent With Teeth (#149) are shades of blue, black, ghost white, and slate gray, dirtied up by belching factory smoke, or distorted by broken pixels and lines of computer code. The songs are likewise colored by pulsating synth accents, digital distortion, hums and drones and beats. The instrumental stems for Reznor’s compositions were offered up to remixers both professional and amateur, so that even the boundary of artist and audience member became liminal. He had his carefully constructed versions of “The Hand That Feeds” and “Only,” but suggested that there were infinite alternate permutations to be created at the click of a button. For the once angry, brooding Prince of Industrial Rock, it was downright egalitarian.

“All The Love In The World,” a title that might suggest a big-hearted power ballad on a cornier band’s track list, is in Reznor’s hands an electronica-inflected paranoid dirge. Where crunchy guitars would have provided the backbone in the past, here woozy piano figures are the main melodic backup to the vocal, before shifting into driving major chords to signal minute 3’s complete tonal transformation. With its layers of harmonizing Trents, it’s completely unlike anything else in the band’s repertoire, but it was the perfect next course to stimulate my appetite. And then Dave Grohl’s superhuman drumming on “You Know What You Are?” kicked me through the door. The wailing chorus presented an aggressive musical release for me that I’d never had access to before.

“Right Where It Belongs,” the keyboard-driven closing track, is spooky and introspective, and one of the best songs in NiN’s catalogue. A stripped-down, electric piano and vocal version, originally exclusive to the Japanese release but eventually uploaded by Reznor to his website, captures that dark night of the soul uncertainty even better. This recording made its way into the end credits of my senior thesis film, at the point where it was obvious it wasn’t going to go anywhere and that I should at least put copyrighted stuff I liked into it. I also set a live version against grainy deleted footage from Pink Floyd - The Wall, a mashup I figure ol’ Trent would appreciate (the idea was to then do the reverse, matching “Hey You” to the visuals cut together for NiN’s stage show, but the result wasn’t as compelling).

I don’t have any supporting evidence, but Year Zero (#150) may well have been the first time I ever plunked down money for a physical copy of a NiN CD. Also lacking sufficient empirical backup: I’m convinced this speculative fiction about an increasingly plausible American dystopia represents some of Reznor’s strongest songwriting. Inhabiting characters like a brainwashed foot soldier, an underground Resistance fighter, a religiously-inflamed demagogue, even a judgmental alien intelligence, he moves away from the diary page introspection that could occasionally curdle into lyrics of questionable taste (Sorry, please don’t slip on all the tears I’ve made you cry).

The release of the album was notably attached to a labyrinthine “Alternate Reality Game” campaign, with in-character websites, USB drives hidden at concerts, and music videos with secret messages, adding plot strands and world building to the lyrics. (I missed the boat on all that, but the work that the same marketing company did for The Dark Knight was sure something to experience.) All of which would be near-impenetrable, if the actual music wasn’t so compelling. You don’t have to read the wiki pages to feel the apocalyptic beats and glitchy cacophony of “HYPERPOWER!,” “The Good Soldier,” and to pump your fist to the chorus of “Survivalism.” “I got my propaganda / I got revisionism” hits harder in a time, 10 years on from the album’s release, in which the most powerful voices in the U.S. government disregard reality on the reg, occasionally try to downplay the Holocaust. “Capital G,” a gleefully sociopathic near-rap by the forces of greed, could soundtrack one of Paul Ryan’s dead-eyed workout photoshoots.

“In This Twilight” and “Zero Sum” are the shattering two-part coda, in which the squabbling remnants of humanity face the end, whether by divine intervention or nuclear fire. The first juxtaposes crunchy, distorted percussion and fuzzed-out bass with perhaps the most perversely light and melodic vocal performance Reznor has ever delivered. He’s singing about encroaching extinction, but in a blissed-out religious reverie, optimistic for the afterlife. The character at the center of the closing track is not so sure: this is the End of this ridiculous human experiment, and we’ve brought oblivion on ourselves. “Shame on us / For all we have done / And all we ever were.” There’s the Nine Inch Nails nihilism we know and love!

Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D (#151) filters the previous album through Hip-Hop and EDM, to uneven effect. The collection of remixes never quite sustains the highs established by the first two tracks: Saul Williams’ fiery rap verses turn the instrumental “HYPERPOWER!” into a polemic against a legacy of American violence, “Gunshots by Computer,” while modwheelmood frees the vocals of “The Great Destroyer” from the squealing synth breakdown and creates a whole new paranoid anthem. While it’s also interesting to hear the Kronos Quartet reinterpret “Another Version of the Truth,” the rest is largely skippable. The physical set includes a DVD with the multitracks for the original Year Zero recordings, so you too can fuck with the raw materials! (I’ve been trying to remix things for years, and I’m awful at it, but it’s fun to hear the individual instrumentation.)

After freeing himself lyrically from his old methodology, the next release from Reznor eschewed words and melody completely. Ghosts I-IV (#152) is nearly 2 hours of ambient experimentation, a precursor to the Oscar-winning film scores with Atticus Ross (a few tracks were literally reworked for The Social Network, and several others continue to be licensed for film and documentaries). The buzzsaw distortions, dark piano chords, oddly organic synthesizers, and industrial beats identify it as a NiN record even in the absence of vocals. Though good luck recommending your favorite tracks, with titles like “26 Ghosts III” and “09 Ghosts I” not exactly sticking in the memory.

The Slip (#153), originally released free of charge, is more of a return-to-form. Arguably too familiar— it’s essentially With Teeth Part 2, but leaner and meaner. It’s not held in especially high regard, but it was there right at the outset of my fandom, and as such I continue to have a soft spot for it. I even bought the physical copy after years of listening to the decent quality MP3’s. “Discipline,” with its uncommonly funky bass line and high hat-favoring drum beat, is my number 1 “trying to sneak it onto a party playlist but not very successfully” NiN song. Along with the following track, “Echoplex,” the dark dance floor vibe is a preview of the sound Reznor and co would explore with How To Destroy Angels. “Lights in the Sky,” “Corona Radiata,” and “The Four of Us are Dying” create a kind of suite, insinuating and ethereal. I can understand if you bow out of that middle, 7-minute-and-33-second, ambient track before the library sample of fighting cats kicks in. But “LITS” is Reznor’s sparsest, prettiest piano lament, announcing the eminent “retirement” of Nine Inch Nails as a touring/recording entity.

Wave goodbye. They’ll be back.