Halo 21: Every Day is Exactly the Same
Written: Jun 28 '08
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Short and sweet. Great variety, strong songs.
Cons: None worth mentioning.
The Bottom Line: Halo 21 is remixes done right. Hopefully it's a continuing trend.
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| cdm72's Full Review: Every Day Is Exactly The Same by Nine Inch Nails |
What can I say about the awesome Halo 21 other than what I just said 9 words ago? It’s awesome. This little gem, Halo 21: Every Day is Exactly the Same was released in April of 2006 and is the remix cd for the third single to come from Halo 19. And this is what I believe a good remix cd should be.
We start with the original album version which opens with what I consider to be one of Reznor’s best lines: “I believe I can see the future, cuz I repeat the same routine.” It’s not poetically beautiful or brilliant, but it just seems so simple and obvious in this song about addiction. As we discussed earlier, Halo 19 dealt with Reznor’s addiction and recovery, and all of the tracks on Halo 21 spotlight that theme especially well.
Halo 21 contains 6 tracks, showcasing 3 songs from Halo 19, “Every Day is Exactly the Same”, “The Hand that Feeds” (originally spotlighted on Halo 18) and “Only” (originally spotlighted on Halo 20--neither of which I own, I’m sad to say), and for what it’s worth, the entire length of Halo 19: With Teeth could have been these 3 songs and I would have been happy. They’re the three strongest contenders and, in the end, the only three track from Halo 19 that really matter.
The two “The Hand that Feeds” tracks are remixes, one from DFA, an indie record label from Tim Goldsworthy, James Murphy and Jonathan Galkin, and the other from record producer Rupert Parkes, billed as “Photek”. The song itself deals with Reznor breaking those chains his addiction placed on him in a very universal way that doesn’t exclude us from his ordeal
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 want to change it?
and the remixes presented here continue that feeling as they’re about the most faux pop I’ve ever heard from a NIN song. The DFA mix is light and groovy, while the Photek version stays more true to the original version with Reznor’s trademark guitar growl, but there’s still that underlying “let’s rave” feel.
Tracks 4 and 5 are the “Only” remixes, this time from El-P aka El-Producto aka hip hop artist Jaime Meline and producer Richard Philips, better known as Richard X. Again, we’re dealing with Reznor’s demons and seeing some of the mud addiction can drag a person through:
Yes I am alone but then again I always was
As far back as I can tell
I think maybe it's because
Because you were never really real to begin with
I just made you up to hurt myself
The original version has always been a NIN favorite for me, ever since I saw the video and recognized just what a pounding, moving beat the song has, and El-Producto has taken that groove and totally turned it around. The passion and drive in Reznor’s vocal is still there, but set against this very subdued, almost hesitant music track, you can actually feel even more of the pain coming from the singer, knowing he’s got this intense motivation behind what he’s saying, but that with these slower, quieter instruments, he’s trying to reign himself in at the cost of great emotional stress to himself. It’s a brilliant effect within the confines of the song’s meaning and it’s my favorite from this disc.
Track 5, the Richard X “Only” remix, is much more upbeat, actually a bit too upbeat, as the dance groove he’s applied to the vocal feels a little out of place, too “happy” to properly carry the song’s dismal theme. Or maybe it’s simply meant to reflect the passion in his vocals. I don’t know. It just doesn’t seem to work, for me, as well as the other mixes. And at 7:25, it’s easily 3 minutes too long.
The final mix, “Every Day is Exactly the Same (Sam Fog Vs. Carlos D mix)” is a good one. Sam Fog and Carlos D serve as drummer and bassist, respectively, for the band Interpol. They’ve taken the message of Reznor’s song, that struggle to break free of the morass addiction can turn your life into and given us the music to go along with it. The beat is driving, but the guitars are kept just a little under the table, suggesting this struggle to be free of certain confines. Unfortunately, at 5:03 (about 6 seconds longer than the original), we don’t get those all-important lyrics, only the repeated line “Every day is exactly the same” throughout, which kind of diminishes the whole point.
But as I said, I think this is what a good single remix-cd should be. Good song choices, the remixes sound like remixes while still containing the heart of the song, and there is great variety. I don’t think any two remixes could sound quite as different from each other as the two “Only” mixes do on here. This is a remix cd that might actually appeal to non-die-hard NIN fans. For me Halo 21 is one of those remix cds I actually play on purpose sometimes, unmotivated by the desire to write a review; I just plain like it. And I think you probably will, too.
Halos what have come before:
Halo 2
Halo 4
Halo 5
Halo 6
Halo 7
Halo 8
Halo 9
Halo 10
Halo 11
Halo 14
Halo 16
Halo 17
Halo 19
Recommended:
Yes
Great Music to Play While: Driving
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Epinions.com ID:
cdm72
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 in Music, Movies, Books |
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Location: St. Joseph, MO, USA
Reviews written: 773
Trusted by: 112 members
About Me:
That's me in front of Trent Reznor's house in NOLA several years ago.
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