Softening.
A Perfect Circle is done. Tool is still fine; 10,000 Days was everything I hoped it would be.
But Nine Inch Nails, from With Teeth (or a-with-a-teeth-a, if you want to be smart about it) to the recent release of The Slip (this includes Year Zero, but I haven't yet heard Ghosts I-IV), just feels soft to me. The edge that made me fall in love with The Fragile and The Downward Spiral is all but gone; Trent's vocals match the new sound, this post-industrial semi-hardcore trance/rock thing, but he doesn't sound like himself anymore. Maybe it's because I'm no longer an angst-ridden teenager, and Trent is still writing for angst-ridden teenagers, which are now probably a whole different species than they were when I was in high school. (I'm going to be a senior in college - I'm allowed to say that.) But as soon as I heard "100,000," the second song on The Slip, all I could think about was With Teeth - the riffs are incredibly similar, and I no longer see any real change, or progression, or development in his style. I seriously thought I was just listening to WT again for a few minutes. It all sounds the same, and it's a sound that I'm not really into.
Now, Eric and I are the only people I've heard express this opinion so far. People on the interwebs seem to love The Slip; Ant and Aaddrick, back when we still talked, were totally into Year Zero. Don't get me wrong... I want to love NIN's new songs just as much as I love "Reptile," "We're In This Together," "Head Like A Hole," etc. But I just don't, and it makes me sad. Trent was such an inspiration for me back in high school - I did a project on him for my Poetry Appreciation class (11th grade, I think), which ended with my class begging me to play "Closer," which I did. And the teacher let me. And it was awesome. I still have AIM away messages with lyrics from "March of the Pigs" and "Suck." And I really, really miss that NIN. I feel like they're going the way of Metallica - I can't say that I like Metallica, just "old Metallica," and it's getting to the point where I'm going to have to start saying "old Nine Inch Nails" as well.
Trent has the right to change. Before With Teeth, I'm fairly certain he hadn't released an album in a few years, and a person can develop a lot in that amount of time. It's just this new era of his work, this new sound, that has moved away from what I came to love about NIN.
At least The Slip is free. If you're interested, it's available for download in multiple formats (at least Trent supports audiophiles!) on NIN's website. Also, if you join the website, you get access to pre-release tickets for this summer's tour (NIN is going to be at the DCU Center, for you Boston kids).
Done ranting. Feel free to think I'm wrong; you all have the right to your own opinions.
Being home all day with Microsoft Word open in front of me makes me post a lot more, doesn't it?
-Jess
But Nine Inch Nails, from With Teeth (or a-with-a-teeth-a, if you want to be smart about it) to the recent release of The Slip (this includes Year Zero, but I haven't yet heard Ghosts I-IV), just feels soft to me. The edge that made me fall in love with The Fragile and The Downward Spiral is all but gone; Trent's vocals match the new sound, this post-industrial semi-hardcore trance/rock thing, but he doesn't sound like himself anymore. Maybe it's because I'm no longer an angst-ridden teenager, and Trent is still writing for angst-ridden teenagers, which are now probably a whole different species than they were when I was in high school. (I'm going to be a senior in college - I'm allowed to say that.) But as soon as I heard "100,000," the second song on The Slip, all I could think about was With Teeth - the riffs are incredibly similar, and I no longer see any real change, or progression, or development in his style. I seriously thought I was just listening to WT again for a few minutes. It all sounds the same, and it's a sound that I'm not really into.
Now, Eric and I are the only people I've heard express this opinion so far. People on the interwebs seem to love The Slip; Ant and Aaddrick, back when we still talked, were totally into Year Zero. Don't get me wrong... I want to love NIN's new songs just as much as I love "Reptile," "We're In This Together," "Head Like A Hole," etc. But I just don't, and it makes me sad. Trent was such an inspiration for me back in high school - I did a project on him for my Poetry Appreciation class (11th grade, I think), which ended with my class begging me to play "Closer," which I did. And the teacher let me. And it was awesome. I still have AIM away messages with lyrics from "March of the Pigs" and "Suck." And I really, really miss that NIN. I feel like they're going the way of Metallica - I can't say that I like Metallica, just "old Metallica," and it's getting to the point where I'm going to have to start saying "old Nine Inch Nails" as well.
Trent has the right to change. Before With Teeth, I'm fairly certain he hadn't released an album in a few years, and a person can develop a lot in that amount of time. It's just this new era of his work, this new sound, that has moved away from what I came to love about NIN.
At least The Slip is free. If you're interested, it's available for download in multiple formats (at least Trent supports audiophiles!) on NIN's website. Also, if you join the website, you get access to pre-release tickets for this summer's tour (NIN is going to be at the DCU Center, for you Boston kids).
Done ranting. Feel free to think I'm wrong; you all have the right to your own opinions.
Being home all day with Microsoft Word open in front of me makes me post a lot more, doesn't it?
-Jess