The Bottom Line: Anyone coming into this fresh with Halo 27 their first exposure to this awesome entity is going to hear this and think "THAT'S what all the fuss was about???"
cdm72's Full Review: The Slip [Digipak] * by Nine Inch Nails
On May 5th of this year, I came home from work to find an email from the Official Nine Inch Nails website telling me I could download the new NIN album in its entirety for free. New album? What? But I already had Halo 26 . . . you mean there’s ANOTHER ONE??? Indeed there was, a 10-track album titled THE SLIP, with a note from Trent Reznor: "thank you for your continued and loyal support over the years - this one's on me".
So I clicked the link, downloaded and burned it, and took it to work the next day. Um . . .
Man, I wanted to love this album. I mean I REALLY wanted to love it. According to Reznor via a New York Times article, “the track listing and lyrics were finished on a Wednesday (May 1), the final mix and sequencing on Thursday, the mastering on Friday, artwork on Saturday, and the album was released on Sunday (May 5).” Might I suggest taking a little more time and care with the next record?
Since being released from his contract with Interscope Records, Reznor seems to be on a creative high. The release of 4 brand new Halos within a year signals a turning point for NIN, one I hope continues because, sad as it may be, a new NIN record is usually a high point of my year and there’s never been this much output in so short a time in NIN history. But, man, when the output begins to sound like Halo 27, I’m all for waiting as long as it takes to get it right.
The usual modus operandi for a NIN record is that Reznor creates the record himself, all the instruments with the exception of, I believe, the drums, and brings in the live band for touring purposes. Halo 27, as with Halo 26 only a few months before it, is a departure from that routine with Reznor’s current line-up joining him in the studio, Josh Freese, Robin Fink, and Alessandro Cortini. He’s also sharing producing credit with Atticus Ross and Alan Moulder, again, just like with Halo 26. I’ve always been one for an artist expressing their personal growth through their work, but Halo 27 doesn’t sound like there’s been any progress made and in fact feels like a giant step back.
Usually known for his innovative industrial sound and brilliant computer instrumentation, Halo 27 was made with live instruments (along with some computerized assistance, I’d almost guarantee it) from a group of obviously talented musicians who, also obviously, have absolutely no soul for this music. Nearly every note on Halo 27 is devoid of feeling. It’s rock by numbers. Honestly, the majority of this record sounds like Reznor invited the guys in the band from your high school to play.
The tempo is frenetic enough--too frenetic, in fact; you can tell from the second track, “ 1,000,000”, that Halo 27 was recorded in a hurry. I can even imagine the band reaching the end of one song and Reznor saying, “Keep it rolling, let’s do the next song: 1, 2, 3, 4.” The next track, “Letting You” is more of the same. The album’s first single, “Discipline” takes a slightly different approach, reminding the listener, musically, of the Halo 19 track “Only”. “Echoplex” could have been a Halo 14 outtake while “Head Down” is just as anonymous as the rest of the album. “Lights in the Sky” is a standard Reznor ballad that could have been from Halos 14 or 19 easily enough and considering the repeated line “And I am here right beside you” . . . (Halo 19 had a song called “Beside You in Time”).
Halo 27 contains 3 instrumental tracks, the opener “ 999,999” which is nothing more than a short intro for “ 1,000,000”, “The Four of Us Are Dying” which is actually not bad, and the 7+-minute “Corona Radiata” which, when you figure the average length for a Halo 27 song is about 4 minutes, could not be more out of place. Not to mention the first half of the song sounds like Reznor left his synth on while his cat was napping across the lower half of the keyboard.
Structurally the Halo 27 tracks are bland as hell. Verse, chorus, verse, chorus, then a 2-minute outro while the band plays more soulless noise that will be completely forgotten 10 seconds after the song ends.
And the lyrics . . . Wow. I know at times Reznor’s not always been one for diversity in his lyrics, most of his songs focusing on alienation or disenchantment with life and society, but at least he usually found new or interesting ways to say the same thing. Halo 27 seems to be focused almost entirely on the idea of finding one’s place in the world (understandable when you factor in Reznor’s current freedom from the bonds of contractual obligation):
“ 1,000,000”:
After all this time
And I still haven’t found my place
“Discipline”:
I need my role in this
Very clearly defined
“Head Down”:
Know your place
Don’t ever forget
“Lights in the Sky”:
I’ve come to realize
We all have our place
Time has a way you know
To make it clear
I have my role in this
I can’t disappear
Something on your mind, Trent? And in what 9th grade composition class notebook did he find this little bit of genius from “Letting You”:
Upon our plates to feed
The dying left to bleed
How much we really need
Your politics of greed
The cancer takes a hold
The wolf is in the fold
Our destiny’s been sold
We do just what we’re told
I guess that explains how Halo 27 was written so quickly. But like I’m saying, next time let’s not jump the gun, okay? The fans are used to waiting a few years between albums, but that wait has always paid off. Maybe something deep inside Trent told him this album was subpar at best and thus was born the idea of giving it away.
The physical version of Halo 27 was released over 2 months later, in late July, in a limited edition format. 250,000 numbered copies were printed and featured a second disc, a DVD containing 5 songs from the album being performed in the group’s rehearsal space. The package also came with 3 Halo 27 stickers and a lyric booklet.
I know Reznor seems to be having the time of his life the past few years. He’s sober, he’s healthy, he’s free to make the records he wants to make and release them as he sees fit. And so far I’ve been right there with him, supporting him all the way. But Halo 27 . . . I thank him for the sentiment, really I do, but from one artist to another, he HAD to know this wasn’t up to snuff.
Of course, he’s always full of surprises, so I fully expect Halo 28, whatever and whenever it may appear, to kick us all in the face.
Epinions.com periodically updates pricing and product information from third-party sources, so some information may be slightly out-of-date. You should confirm all information before relying on it.
![The Slip [Digipak] * by Nine Inch Nails](http://di1.shopping.com/images1/pi/15/45/05/2046538382-177x150-0-0.jpg)
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.