The Beginner's Guide to NIN Sep 14 '09    Write an essay on this topic. Tweet Popular Products in Music Jersey Boys [Original Broadway Cast Recording] by Original Broadway Cast From $8 Mai by Eri Sugai From $4 The Bottom Line An Overview into NIN's Entire Discography for Those New to the Band. With Nine Inch Nails set to embark on another extended hiatus period after 20 years of giving pop music a good kick in the butt. It's time to figure what to give those who are unaware of NIN or industrial music in general. Greatest hits compilation are not the best way to start. Especially for something as album-oriented as NIN who are often defined by each album they have made. While they have released singles and did release a best-of compilation through unofficial means as free promotional releases for fans in three different parts. It is really more of a compilation geared towards hardcore fans though they're not bad places to start for the new fans. The big question is for the new fan just wanting to discover NIN is where to start? The Albums/EPs NIN is defined by their studio recordings as each album is an evolution of where NIN and its mastermind Trent Reznor was going through. From the melodic-driven industrial pop of Pretty Hate Machine to the dark, art-rock of The Downward Spiral and so forth. It's been an amazing 20-year ride band so let's break it down to what is essential in the band's amazing discography as well as its flaws. The Must-Haves: Pretty Hate Machine, Broken EP, The Downward Spiral, & Year Zero. Of NIN's illustrious career, three studio albums and an EP are the hallmark of the band's discography. 1989's Pretty Hate Machine is definitely the best place to start since it's the band's first album. Filled with classic singles like Head Like A Hole, Down In It, and Sin plus notable album cuts like Terrible Lie, That's What I Get, and Something I Can Never Have. It's the most accessible album filled with anthemic, raging rockers with dark lyrics that range from melancholic to humorous at times. Even the songs dabble in elements of dance and a somber yet heavy ballads that reveals Trent Reznor's genius as a songwriter and producer with notable help from Adrian Sherwood, Keith LeBlanc, Mark "Flood" Ellis, and John Fryer. 1992's Broken EP is the most extreme recording NIN has released filled with some of the most heaviest, assaultive, in-your-face cuts the band has done that is inspired by the 1991 live band that Reznor was accompanied with at the Lollapalooza festival. Songs like Wish, Last, Gave Up, and Happiness In Slavery revel in rage and nihilism while it features haunting instrumental cuts and two snarling covers from Adam Ant and Pigface. If Pretty Hate Machine is a record that can satisfy someone who likes something catchy but also heavy. Broken is the best place to start for anyone that wants something that is flat-out heavy and just goes for the kill. Yet, what if a listener wants both elements from those 2 recordings. That's where The Downward Spiral comes in and more. While there's catchy tunes and lots of heavy guitars in the record. It's NIN channeling the works of Pink Floyd and late 70s era David Bowie with dabbles of Prince and late 70s Iggy Pop. While lyrically, the record is one of the most depressing yet ethereal in its wide range of emotions along with dabbles of dark sexuality. It's pretty much NIN's best album in terms of ambition and presentation in terms of the production by Reznor and Flood. With songs like March Of The Pigs, Closer, and Hurt with many more. It is pretty much the NIN album to get as it represents Trent Reznor at his best. Then there's 2007's Year Zero which is definitely NIN's best album since The Downward Spiral for many reasons. The songs are not just accessible but also chaotic in its wide range of noisy electronics while lyrically, it's Reznor at his most complex as he traded his early introspective approach for something more direct in terms of the political climate of the time. A concept album about a futuristic America where things go wrong, it's a record where it has catchy songs like Survivalism and Capital G to more extreme tracks like Vessel and My Violent Heart. It has the ambition of The Downward Spiral, the abrasiveness of Broken, and the melodic sensibility of Pretty Hate Machine. The difference is that it's a more minimalist album but with lyrics from a third-person perspective that has a balance in being both accessible and experimental. Essential yet Challenging: The Fragile, Still EP, Ghosts I-IV, & The Slip The 1999 double album The Fragile is probably the most ambitious record NIN has created. It's also the most flawed in terms of its ambitions as it can range from being beautiful at times but also bloated. At the same time, it can be heavy but also overwhelming and pretentious. While it features great songs like The Day The World Went Away, Into The Void, The Wretched, and The Big Come Down. It's a record that is driven by atmosphere and instrumental pieces that is all supported by great, sonic production by Reznor and Alan Moulder. It's messy but sometimes a fantastic album is meant to be a mess. As flawed as The Fragile is in its ambitions, it makes up for it in its experimental approach and sprawling production. As an Internet-only EP and part of the deluxe edition of the And All That Could Have Been live album. Still is probably one of the most interesting collection of material featuring deconstructed cuts of NIN songs like Something I Can Never Have, The Becoming, The Day The World Went Away and The Fragile where it's presented in an unplugged presentation of sorts with atmospheric electronic accompaniment. It's mostly dominated by somber, melancholic instrumentals and a new song. It's a record that shows Reznor as a songwriter and performer while dabbling into the world of atmospheric, quieter soundscapes. If there's any album of NIN's career that is probably their most challenging and most experimental record. It's the 36-track instrumental album Ghosts I-IV. It's not a record for everyone because there's no singles. It's really a record in four parts that varies in its musical style, arrangements, and presentation. Two hours of material as it explores dark ambient music with elements of industrial beats and guitars with two tracks featuring an array of off-the-wall percussion devices from Dresden Dolls drummer Brian Viglione. It's a record that is haunting yet chaotic at times but really one of the most worthwhile albums ever made by NIN. The Slip, like Ghosts I-IV, was also released in 2008 in the span of a few months. Yet, unlike that record, it's a more accessible album. Filled with various musical styles from all previous NIN albums. It's accessible, experimental, and simple. 10 tracks with three instrumentals. It's an album that features a lot of elements that makes NIN unique while the leading single Discipline shows Trent Reznor's brilliance in creating a pop song within an industrial structure with a disco beat. With a lot of songs ranging from hard-edge tracks to more complex, art-rock songs like Echoplex. It's a record that encompass all of the things NIN had done in the past while keeping it simple. Though it's a bit uneven towards the second half due to its instrumentals, it's a record that shows Trent Reznor still got it. The Good but Imperfect: With Teeth & And All That Could Have Been (live CD) The fourth full-length studio album With Teeth is probably the least favorite among NIN fans. After a near six-year period between this record and The Fragile, this album was a sigh of relief for fans. Yet, it's the most flawed because there's not a lot of new ideas and some of the lyrics ranged from being cliched to melodramatic at times. Yet, there's some strong songs in singles like The Hand That Feeds, Only, and Every Day Is Exactly The Same while songs like Beside You In Time and Right Where It Belongs show new maturity. Though it's a simpler album than The Downward Spiral and The Fragile, it's a record that shows Trent Reznor treading water in a way just as he was about to return and see if he still has something to say. It's still a worthwhile listen. The live CD version of And All That Could Have Been is pretty much a typical live album filled with famous hits and live tracks. Though there's some obvious overdubs in some of the tracks that are recorded. It's pretty much an excellent live album that serves as a worthy accompaniment to the DVD. Even as it starts off with no intro or any kind of closing outro. It's excellent though not really a good place to start with. The Remixes The Essential: Fixed EP, Further Down the Spiral, Closer To God EP, The Perfect Drug single, and Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D. NIN has made a career in releasing remixes that always takes a song and turn it into something else. The EP Fixed takes the Broken EP and turn into a high-octane, assaultive record that is danceable yet fierce with its multitude of remixes. Further Down the Spiral in both the U.S. and U.K. versions revel in the more experimental form of remixes with contributions from Rick Rubin, Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro, Coil, and Aphex Twin. From more intense, industrial-driven tracks to ambient-driven pieces by Aphex Twin. The Closer To God EP reveals an array of intense, haunting remixes of Closer but a cover of Soft Cell's Memorabilia while The Perfect Drug single is brilliant for its exploration of the mid-90s electronic music scene. The latter of which features contributions from Meat Beat Manifesto, Luke Vibert, the Orb, and Spacetime Continuum as it's a record that encompass NIN taking on a burgeoning trend and add their own spin into it. Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D is the band's most expansive, experimental, and sprawling collection where in its entirety in various formats. It covers nearly two hours worth of music. Featuring remixes from members of New Order, Olof Drejier of the Knife, Christian Fennesz, Ladytron, Switch, Paul Epsworth, Saul Williams, Interpol, Kronos Quartet, the Faint, Bill Laswell, and then-NIN keyboardist Alessandro Cortini's main project Modwheelmood. It's a remix that revels in deconstruction plus remaking songs from Year Zero into what is the band's most solid record. The Good yet Imperfect: Every Day Is Exactly The Same EP, March Of The Pigs, The Day The World Went Away, Sin, & Survivalism The singles are always filled with remixes that truly standout as it's a chance for the band and the guests they invited to re-shape those tracks. The Every Day Is Exactly The Same EP features some fantastic remixes by the DFA label, Interpol, El-P, and Richard X on the three singles from With Teeth. March Of The Pigs features two intense, hollowed remixes of Reptile by Dave "Rave" Ogilvie and a more thrashing of March Of The Pigs in its remix. The Day The World Went Away is an excellent teaser single that features a quite remix of the song with just a piano and vocals. Sin is notable for its dance-driven remix by Keith LeBlanc & Adrian Sherwood while featuring a great B-side cover of Get Down Make Love by Queen. Survivalism revels in its more intense remixes of the song by Saul Williams and a more hypnotic mix by TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek. The Decent but Flawed: The Hand That Feeds, Only, Down In It, & We're In This Together Singles sometimes tend to feature some unremarkable remixes but often with some great B-sides. The Hand That Feeds features a great B-side called Home though the remixes by Photek aren't remarkable. Only doesn't feature a lot of remixes but a very good live rendition of Love Is Not Enough as well a material that would later appear in the Every Day Is Exactly The Same EP. The band's first single Down In It has some excellent remixes but might not be for everyone's taste. The 3-CD single for We're In This Together does feature worthwhile material like the non-CD tracks from The Fragile plus an extended version of The Perfect Drug but it's not really worthwhile for its numerous edited versions of the title single. Worthwhile but with Caution: Things Falling Apart & Head Like A Hole Things Falling Apart is a mixed bag due to three overthought, uninteresting remixes of Starf*ckers, Inc. as well as some dull, pretentious tracks. Yet, a remix of The Frail, outtakes, and a cover of Gary Numan's Metal are the highlights. The single for Head Like A Hole in its U.S., eleven track version aren't imaginative due to repetitive ideas and remixes that loses steam after while though the three-track U.K. version features an extra track that has an amazing remix that fans will love.   Soundtrack contributions NIN has been notable for soundtrack contributions. From The Crow, the band does a cover of Joy Division's Dead Souls that is a brilliant reinterpretation of the classic with a slightly, slowed-down melody. From the Natural Born Killers soundtrack is Burn is one of NIN's best songs with its nihilistic lyrics and heavy arrangements while the soundtrack itself is among one of the best works Trent Reznor has ever done. Another Reznor-helmed soundtrack for David Lynch's Lost Highway which features two instrumentals by Reznor plus a new NIN song in The Perfect Drug that revels in NIN experimenting with the drum n' bass sub genre. Another soundtrack contribution but unremarkable is Deep for the Tomb Raider soundtrack that is a rehash of a lot of NIN songs with some unimaginative, uninspiring lyrics that is best to avoid unless you're a hardcore fan. The Video Collections NIN so far, has released three video/DVD releases in its official discography. The first is 1997's Closure (which is unfortunately unavailable on DVD), a two-VHS collection featuring the band's video collection from 1989-1997 and a documentary on the band's Self-Destruct tour. It's among the best collection of videos assembled though it features a shortened version of the rarely-seen Sin video. The documentary, shot on raw video, is a reflection of the band's tour with backstage moments and such. The 2002 DVD release of And All That Could Have Been features NIN live in the Fragility v 2.0 U.S. tour along with some extras including trailers from The Fragile era and a clip of Marilyn Manson performing two songs with NIN in New York City. Though it's one of the most exciting DVDs, it doesn't really feature NIN at their best. The 2007 DVD for Beside You in Time is a more well-produced DVD in its different versions in standard, the discontinued HD, and Blu-Ray disc while featuring videos and extra live footage of the band's With Teeth tour as it is also one of the best concerts ever filmed. Unofficial Material, Bootlegs, & Promos NIN has been known for bootlegs and unreleased material but all of which are for hardcore fans. Among them is the Purest Feeling demo album, the Quake soundtrack, the CRC Sessions, and Where Darkness Double, Light Pours In with Peter Murphy are essential to hardcore fans. Another unofficial release is the Broken film that was never officially released though can be found all over the Internet. The promo releases are something fans can enjoy as The Definitive NIN series is something that is a worthy introduction for new fans in exploring singles and album cuts. The free, Internet-based EPs for the Lights in the Sky and NIN/JA tour samplers are worthy to feature other acts while the Collected DVD is a sampler of NIN footage plus a video for The Hand That Feeds. That's pretty much it for the NIN discography though more are coming in the future as NIN is taking a break as a live act. Yet, there's a lot to cover when it comes to Nine Inch Nails and Trent Reznor. Not everything is perfect but there's a lot of albums and records that recall their brilliance and why they're among one of the most beloved acts in popular music for the past 20 years. So in the end, avoid the upcoming best-of compilation that will be released by NIN's former label and just go for the albums. At least it will make those who have a lot of today's mainstream rock albums look terrified and realize how much they suck. NIN Reviews: Pretty Hate Machine/Broken Era (1989-1992): halo 1 - halo 2 - halo 3 - halo 4 - halo 5 - halo 6 The Downward Spiral Era (1994-1997): halo 7 - halo 8 - halo 8 DE - halo 9 - halo 10 - halo 11 - halo 12 The Fragile Era (1999-2002): halo 13 - halo 14 - halo 15.1 - halo 15.2 - halo 15.3 - halo 16 - halo 17 DE - halo 17 DVD With Teeth/Year Zero Era: halo 18 - halo 19 - halo 20 - halo 21 - halo 22 - halo 23 - halo 24 - halo 25 Ghosts I-IV/The Slip Era (2008): halo 26 - halo 27 Soundtracks/Miscellaneous: The Crow - Natural Born Killers - Lost Highway - Nine Inch Nails: Self-Destruct - Tomb Raider - The Limitless Potential - Strobe Light - Metal Machine Music: Nine Inch Nails & the Industrial Uprise - Definitive NIN-Heavy Tracks Promos: seed 1 - seed 2 - seed 3 - seed 4 - seed 5 - seed 6 Live Shows: NIN/Bauhaus/TV on the Radio-6/7/06 Atlanta, GA Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheater - NIN/Deerhunter-8/13/08 Duluth, GA Gwinnett Arena - NIN/Jane's Addiction/Street Sweeper Social Club-5/10/09 Atlanta, GA Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheater Bootlegs: (Purest Feeling) - When the Whip Comes Down - (Live Hate w/ David Bowie) - (Quake OST) - (CRC Sessions) - Where Darkness Doubles, Where Light Pours In - (Bridge School Concerts) NIN20: (Pt. 1) - (Pt. 2) - (Pt. 3) - (Pt. 4) - (Pt. 5) 20 NIN Favorites

Read all comments (6)|Write your own comment

Write an essay on this topic.