Nine Inch Nails - Some tips please!
pirlo21
Posts: 534
Hi guys.
Just bought tickets for the Nine Inch Nails/Jane's Addiction co-headline show in Manchester this July.
But, I've got to admit I'm going cause I wanna see Jane's Addiction!
I now Trent is highly respected & incredibly talented, but I've never really got into NIN.
I admit I haven't bought any of their albums, but from what little I've heard of them, it's not inspired me to dip into my pocket & puchase anything by them.
But, seeing as I've splashed out on the tickets, and they're gonna be performing - I may as well make the most of it & enjoy it as best I can!
So I thought I'd make an effort to listen to some of their stuff, to try & get aquainted so that maybe I'll enjoy the show a bit more.
Any pointers??
Just bought tickets for the Nine Inch Nails/Jane's Addiction co-headline show in Manchester this July.
But, I've got to admit I'm going cause I wanna see Jane's Addiction!
I now Trent is highly respected & incredibly talented, but I've never really got into NIN.
I admit I haven't bought any of their albums, but from what little I've heard of them, it's not inspired me to dip into my pocket & puchase anything by them.
But, seeing as I've splashed out on the tickets, and they're gonna be performing - I may as well make the most of it & enjoy it as best I can!
So I thought I'd make an effort to listen to some of their stuff, to try & get aquainted so that maybe I'll enjoy the show a bit more.
Any pointers??
Cymru Am Byth
PJ albums, at the moment!! -
1,Vs 2,Vitalogy 3,No Code 4,Yield 5,Ten 6,Backspacer, 7Pearl Jam 8,Binaural 9,Riot Act.
PJ albums, at the moment!! -
1,Vs 2,Vitalogy 3,No Code 4,Yield 5,Ten 6,Backspacer, 7Pearl Jam 8,Binaural 9,Riot Act.
Post edited by Unknown User on
0
Comments
PJ albums, at the moment!! -
1,Vs 2,Vitalogy 3,No Code 4,Yield 5,Ten 6,Backspacer, 7Pearl Jam 8,Binaural 9,Riot Act.
I agree.
The Slip is brilliant and yes, is available for free at NIN.com - they probably will play some stuff from it. The only thing is, as it's their 'last' tour, they might also do a lot of stuff that is either A) very popular or
It could be a good idea to befriend a NIN fan who will put together a compilation for you of all their popular songs such as Closer, Head Like a Hole, Hand That Feeds and Sin .
... and I still think Drive-By Truckers are better.
i think the best place to start is where most people started and thats the downward spiral. i dont get the idea of easier to digest or whatever. obviously plenty of people were able to appreciate tds without needing a milder dose of nin before falling for them. so screw the more accessible stuff of with teeth and the slip and go for what made nin what they are, the downward spiral.
and since trent is ok with stealing his music just download it guilt free.
he also toured on the slip so i wouldnt expect the setlist to have as many of those songs this time around. plus trent kinda mentioned mixing it up a bit more each night since he isnt using as many visuals or something. so im guessing there will be alot of stuff covered on this tour, rather than the 2-3 song difference in the setlist.
Downward Spiral maybe too.
NiN is pretty awesome.
ones that make me feel good when things behind the smile ain't ok...." -Hoon
*NYC 9/28/96 *NYC 9/29/96 *NJ 9/8/98 (front row "may i play drums with you")
*MSG 9/10/98 (backstage) *MSG 9/11/98 (backstage)
*Jones Beach 8/23/00 *Jones Beach 8/24/00 *Jones Beach 8/25/00
*Mansfield 8/29/00 *Mansfield 8/30/00 *Nassau 4/30/03 *Nissan VA 7/1/03
*Borgata 10/1/05 *Camden 5/27/06 *Camden 5/28/06 *DC 5/30/06
*VA Beach 6/17/08 *DC 6/22/08 *MSG 6/24/08 (backstage) *MSG 6/25/08
*EV DC 8/17/08 *EV Baltimore 6/15/09 *Philly 10/31/09
*Bristow VA 5/13/10 *MSG 5/20/10 *MSG 5/21/10
(just my humble opinion.)
Knowledge is not wisdom.
Wisdom is not truth.
Truth is not beauty.
Beauty is not love.
Love is not music.
Music is the best."
~ FZ ~
The Downward Spiral is a masterpiece. A brutal one, but a masterpiece. You should get it.
You will be a convert. NIN's live shows are known for their excellence, just as Pearl Jam's are, though the atmosphere is quite different. The pit can be pretty rough so hang back a little unless you want that.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oi3ZTb1i ... 89&index=3 (Letting You)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mWZzEZsx ... F8&index=6 (Letting You (with Josh Freese)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfIxPfV1 ... 5&index=14 (Discipline)
R.i.p. My Dad - May 28, 2007
R.i.p. Black Tail (cat) - Sept. 20, 2008
I second this as a quick NIN 101 sampling.
But sadden to hear that many 'fans' didn't dig The Slip :?: . That kicked ass completely! :P
Anyway, we're glad you're interested in sticking around for NIN. If anything, I hope you appreciate Trent's hard work upstage. He's a perfectionist!
First PJ Show: March 20, 1994 | Ann Arbor | Crisler Arena
Just do that. Guaranteed to be awesome. Jane's is the epitomy of a great live band.
6/12/08 - Tampa, FL
8/23/09 - Chicago, IL
9/28/09 - Salt Lake City, UT (11 years too long!!!)
9/03/11 - East Troy, WI - PJ20 - Night 1
9/04/11 - East Troy, WI - PJ20 - Night 2
A Warm Place.
His instrumental double ablum, Ghosts, is really good. Lots of texture and mood.
That is exactly why I voted against the Fragile, Year Zero, and Downward Spiral. I love Trent's instrumentals, but they're not for everyone. And if you're just trying to see if you like a band, and your favorite band is PJ, a bunch of ambient music and weird noises is probably not gonna blow your hair back.
Reminds me of 90's PJ actually....
but thats like telling someone trying to get into grateful dead to avoid the longer jam songs.....you either like nin for what they are or you dont. if you cant handle a short instrumental on their most popular album then you probably wont ever like nin anyways. trying to sell a new fan on further down the spiral or things falling apart might be a bad idea though. but with teeth and the slip arent even fair representation of what nin is either.
ill just say this to anyone looking into nin, if you dont think a warm place is a great piece of music then just walk away from nin.
That's absurd. I love NIN and have all their albums, but I think that track is a waste of space on that album and I cut it from the album when I put it on my ipod. And I'm a guy that loves Sigur Ros and the Ghosts I-IV album. How is With Teeth not a decent introduction to the band? Those instrumental interludes only appear on half their albums and even then only 1-2 tracks. It's not like their defining sound is ambient noise.
I don't give people I'm trying to sell on PJ a mix tape with bugs, ay davanita, i'm open, and heyfoxymophandlemamathat's me either. Come on!
It is more than worth your while to discover all of NIN...IMO, it's better than 99.999% of what's out there anyway.
"Don't let it get you down, you know, still give your love, just give it away...I love singin' that part." - EV
and when the day arrives
I'll become the sky
and I'll become the sea
and the sea will come to kiss me
for I am going home
nothing can stop me now
"Don't let it get you down, you know, still give your love, just give it away...I love singin' that part." - EV
well i didnt say all his instrumentals are essential. but i do think a warm place is a solid piece. and comparing bugs or foxy mop to a nin instrumental isnt quite the same. nin is usually far more serious and isnt supposed to be quirky.
the reason i dont think with teeth is a good choice to start is cause its 10 years after the fact of what made nin what they are. imagine giving a new pj fan riot act to start on. most fans wouldnt call it their best nor consider it a fair collection of the band. it has none of the classic tracks, has its fair share of haters in the fanbase. its just a progression of the band but shows nothing about the growth and uniqueness of them. and the slip is almost worse in that regard.
Actually, you DID say that if you don't like A Warm Place you should walk away from NIN, but I'll put that down to just making your point
I see what you're saying, but I still disagree. Yes, it's 10 years into NIN's career, but it's the 4th album. If you look by albums and not by time, that would be like giving someone No Code or Yield to start them on PJ, which I know people do (esp the latter) and think is perfectly reasonable. I think Yield is a great starting point for the same reasons With Teeth is... it may not have been their peak or give a truly accurate picture of the band, but both are very good, consistent albums that have a lot of great songs (only is as much a classic song for NIN as g2f would be for PJ). Sure they both lack the power and rage of the really early albums (vs-ten/pretty hate-tds) or the experimentation that took them beyond that, but they're both excellent albums that have broad appeal and offer a good place to start for a casually interested person that's not yet an obsessed fan.
Yield shows absolutely nothing about the growth or uniqueness of PJ. That is WHY it's a good place to start. With Teeth is the same. Both albums show the respective bands at their most consistent and classic sound. Sure there are far better albums by both groups, but that doesn't mean you necessarily have to start them there.
so, cheers for the tips
I totally agree, and I think that's probably the kind of idea I was trying to express subconsciously when I started listing songs from various albums in my previous post (I was trying to give the OP some idea of what songs to check out before he went to the show), but yes you really do have to hear all of it. NIN's work can't be categorized or pigeonholed. There's no guarantee that anything is going to sound like anything else.
R.i.p. My Dad - May 28, 2007
R.i.p. Black Tail (cat) - Sept. 20, 2008
a warm place is essential ill stand by that but i wouldnt say the same for many other instrumentals. to say with teeth is his 4th album and comparing that to no code isnt quite equal. first nin has all those eps, broken and the tds and fragile era remixes, plus still. so i think time is a greater factor than album numbers. that and fragile is way deeper than anything pj ever put out so that easily can count as 2-3 albums.
we really cant forget nin and pj arent the same band either. but pj basically wrote ten and ten 2 (vs) and didnt do anything different with their sound until vitalogy. nin went from snyth phm to the abrasive broken. i think telling people to start with with teeth is misleading them into what nin is though. yes its a good album, but if they ever go back to listen to older nin it wont even seem like the same band. yield is a good sum up of pj and what they do. i just dont feel the same about with teeth. though.......i probably like with teeth as much as yield. but neither album is my favorite from the bands.
That's true, but as someone else said above, when it comes to NIN, no one album is going to give an accurate portrait. People could just as easily start with TDS or Pretty Hate and then put on With Teeth and it won't seem like the same band. I'd also say that at this point in their career, with the last 3 albums, the style of With Teeth is more representative of the bulk of the band's material than TDS. TDS and Broken are the most aggressive, abrasive, industrial albums I ever heard and are pretty similar. But they're kind of an anomaly. Even Pretty Hate is, when you get down to it, relatively close to With Teeth and the Slip... they all have strong individual songs, noticeable pop/David Bowie style influences, etc. They're a collection of songs, like most mainstream rock albums. TDS and Broken are as much about texture and the feel of the album as anything else, and Ghosts and the Fragile are so moody they can't really be listened to in isolation... you've got to hear the whole thing together.
That's basically why I recommend PHM, With Teeth, or Slip to a newbie... it's the closest NIN has to a regular, mainstream rock album. No interludes, no atmospherics, just a bunch of good rock songs with Trent's unique spin on it all. Makes an easier transition for someone who maybe has never heard any sort of industrial or ambient music before and might otherwise go "this is too weird... there are no words" or "it's way too metal/industrial for my taste." That was actually my experience with NIN. I had a friend that was huge into them and tried to get me into them, but Broken and TDS were just too intense for me and that's what he kept trying out on me. It wasn't my style and I couldn't handle the aggression/industrial aspect of it. It wasn't until I downloaded the Slip just because it was free that I got hooked. I could hear the individual songs, not just the sound, and realized the man was a genius. Then I started working my way back and now I love TDS, Broken, the Fragile, etc... but I had to be at a point where I was convinced it would be worth my time to understand and appreciate those albums.
Candy!!!
"Don't let it get you down, you know, still give your love, just give it away...I love singin' that part." - EV
the next day i went out and bought tds and with teeth the only albums the store had and the rest is history. at the concert the only songs i recognized was dead souls and closer(which i still dont like much) but eraser live was amazing and hurt. the highlights of the show were tds songs for me. the whole show was incredible though. it was the first show ive seen that i will say has been better than some pj shows ive been to.
so maybe just go to the concert blind.....it worked for me. otherwise download tds and give it a few spins.
i guess the only way i might say get with teeth first is if you have surround sound and get the 5.1 mix of with teeth. right where it belongs is other worldly in 5.1
And I love Broken. Its got some of the best songs, like Last, Wish, and Gave Up, and Happiness in Slavery. I think you should get that one, original poster.
R.i.p. My Dad - May 28, 2007
R.i.p. Black Tail (cat) - Sept. 20, 2008
I downloaded The Slip the other day, and have to say I really like it.
I prefer the more straight forward rock type songs than the ambient instumental stuff though, so where should I go next? With Teeth perhaps?
Got a feeling I may delve deeper into the band eventually.
Thanks again.
PJ albums, at the moment!! -
1,Vs 2,Vitalogy 3,No Code 4,Yield 5,Ten 6,Backspacer, 7Pearl Jam 8,Binaural 9,Riot Act.
Yeah...I would recommend With Teeth...that's the album I started with. After that The Fragile...brilliant album!