thevoid99's Full Review: Closer to God [Maxi Single] by Nine Inch Nails
(Note: This review is dedicated to the Queen of Epinions.com herself, Kristinafh for being a bad girl).
When Nine Inch Nails released The Downward Spiral in March of 1994, the album had debuted at number two in the Billboard 200 Album and was on its way to becoming a hit album. In June of that year, the band released the second single from The Downward Spiral that would be a NIN classic which was known as Closer. Closer at the time of its release was becoming a hit on the radio and MTV played its controversial video directed by music video director Mark Romanek which was gaining constant airplay. For the single’s release, NIN released the song as an EP that contained several remixes of Closer along with a couple of more remixes on tracks from The Downward Spiral and a cover of the Soft Cell song Memorabilia. The EP was titled and released as Closer To God.
The Closer To God EP is a fifty-two minute EP of nine tracks that contained the original song along with five remixes; two remixes of other NIN songs, and the song Memorabilia. When it was released in June of 1994, the EP came in several different versions with different track listing orders. The domestic version was a one-disc collection that featured all nine tracks from the EP while an imported version from Britain was a 2-disc release that featured different track listings in two separate CDs. Here’s the track listing order from the domestic version and the import version of Closer To God:
Domestic Release
1. Closer To God 2. Closer (Precursor) 3. Closer (Deviation) 4. Heresy (Blind) 5. Memorabilia 6. Closer (Internal) 7. March Of The F*ckheads 8. Closer (Further Away) 9. Closer
1. Closer To God 2. Heresy (Blind) 3. Memorabilia 4. March Of The F*ckheads
Now the version that I own is the imported version that was priced at almost $10 when I bought in 1995 and many of the Closer remixes appeared in several films including Seven and The Fan. While the remixes of the tracks not only featured contributions from NIN leader Trent Reznor along with members Chris Vrenna, touring guitarist Robin Finck, NIN engineers Brian Pollock, and Sean Beaven along Coil’s Peter Christopherson and John Balance, Adrian Sherwood, Danny Hyde, Bill Kennedy, Dave “Rave” Ogilvie, Meat Beat Manifesto mastermind Jack Dangers, and many more help shape the remixes for this EP that is an essential to NIN fans and it’s one of the best singles NIN has put out in their long career.
The first track that appears in the first disc of the import version known as Further Away is the famed NIN song Closer that featured a heartbeat-thumping rhythm that is widely inspired by the same throbbing drum machine rhythm of Iggy Pop’s 1977 classic song Nightclubbing that accompany Trent Reznor’s sexual-driven lyrics that featured its famous Prince-inspired chorus of “I want to f*ck you like an animal/I want to feel you from the inside/I want to f*ck you like an animal/My whole existence is flawed/You get me closer to god” that is followed by layers of ominous synthesizers and theremin-like keyboard chills. Reznor goes further into his lyrics of sex that goes “You can have my isolation/You can have the hate that it brings/You can have my absence of faith/You can have my everything/Help me, tear down my reasons/Help me, it’s your sex that I can smell/Help me, you make me perfect/Help me become somebody else” that is then followed by its famed chorus and its layers of synthesizers, distorted guitars, and a powerful instrumental coda.
The first remix of Closer is known as (Deviation) which is a six-minute remix done by Meat Beat Manifesto mastermind Jack Dangers and engineer Craig Silvey that is highlighted by Danger’s production mastery that features layers of G-Funk whistle-like synthesizer tracks, throbbing bass hooks, thumping percussion rhythms and Reznor’s vocals from the original song that features a distorted guitar track during the chorus along with a scratchy turntable track in between the chorus and second verse. The rest of the instrumental backgrounds accompany Reznor’s vocals in this excellent mix that includes a brilliant instrumental break of synthesizer and turntable layers at the end of the track. (Further Away) is a near six-minute remix from a huge team of engineers and mixers including Bill Kennedy, Scott Humphrey, John “Geetus” Aguto, Paul DeCarli, and Eric Claudiex that starts off with a distorted drum machine track that goes on for about fifty-seconds until Reznor says “I want to f*ck you like an animal” that now becomes an atmospheric and suspenseful track that is dominated by whispering and distorted vocals along with droning atmospheric tracks until the near-two minute track with crashing drums and theremin tracks appear to make it loud and brutal as its followed by its wall-to-wall production layers of droning and pulsating synthesizers, thumping percussion rhythms, and screams to make this remix one of the best highlights of the EP.
(Precursor) is a seven-minute remix from Coil’s John Balance and Peter Christopherson along with longtime engineer Danny Hyde is an atmospheric-driven mix that is dominated by its chilling and ominous synthesizer tracks along heart-thumping drum machine tracks and Reznor’s distorted vocals singing the closing lyrics of the song that goes further into brooding and darker territories as there are samples of door creakings, soft whistles, and wall-to-wall synthesizer layers accompanying Reznor’s vocals. By the four-and-a-half minute mark, the track turns into a more industrial-based track of soft drum machine tracks, synthesizer layers, and distorted guitar breaks that are all accompanying Reznor’s vocals along with throbbing keyboard tracks that are all well-done by the team of Coil and Danny Hyde. (Internal) is a four-minute mix made by the same team who did the (Further Away) mix that starts off with the original song’s eerie synthesizer coda that becomes distorted as Reznor sings “Closer to god” that becomes a more industrial-based production track of scratchy synthesizer tracks, throbbing drum machine distortions, distorted cymbal crashes, and brutal guitar crunches that all accompany Reznor’s vocals until the third minute when the same synthesizer coda that begins the mix comes in along with cymbal crashes and guitar crunches to end the track.
From the second disc that is titled Closer To God, the disc starts off with the Closer To God title track that is really more of a five-minute interpretation rather than a remix that features a different and more faster rhythm than the original heartbeat rhythm of the original track that includes pulsating synthesizers and thumping drum machine tracks that all accompany Reznor’s vocals as he sings the song in a more faster tempo while singing lyrics that removes certain phrases in the verses like “Help Me” and in the chorus where instead of singing “I want to f*ck you like an animal”, he says “I want to f*ck you” which is half the line along with rest of the chorus that is accompanied by its pulsating synthesizer, guitar, and drum machine track. The track becomes a more danceable and fast-pacing track that features a louder drum track in the chorus along with grinding guitar tracks that finishes the rest of the track.
Heresy (Blind) is a five-and-a-half minute remix created by Dave “Rave” Ogilvie along with Anthony Valcic and Joe Bisara that features turntable scratches, throbbing synthesizer tracks, and industrial-driven percussion rhythms, along with fast-pacing drum tracks that dominate the track for the first minute until the throbbing synthesizers dominate for about the rest of the track accompanying Reznor’s vocals on the first verse of the track until loud and blistering drum tracks come in along with guitars for the chorus and distorted synthesizer breaks in the mix that dominates throughout the rest of the track. Memorabilia is an obscure Soft Cell cover that is done by Reznor along with Chris Vrenna, Robin Finck, Sean Beaven, Brian Pollock, John Van Eaton, Sugar and his friends. The track is mainly dominated by a distorted but pulsating up tempo drum machine beat that is followed by its throbbing synthesizers and soft guitar grinds from Robin Finck that all accompany Reznor’s distorted vocals singing Marc Almond’s lyrics of “What do your nipples look like/Wherever I go/I take a little piece of you/I collect, I reject/Photographs I took of you” that are all sexual-driven but not towards female but males which was what Almond was going towards for since he was one of the early gay singers to come out in the 80s. The track goes further into a blend of industrial-driven rock and 80s electronic-dance groove that includes scream and voice samples, scratchy synthesizers, and distorted guitars from Finck as Reznor sings Almond’s lyrics with echoes of the word Memorabilia in this seven-minute track.
The final track of the whole EP is a four-and-a-half minute remix of March Of The Pigs titled March Of The F*ckheads which is remixed by Trent’s old Pretty Hate Machine producer Adrian Sherwood that is driven by hard-hitting drum tracks along with distorted and atmospheric synthesizers that dominates the entire track until about a 1:45 when the track is replaced briefly by another drum machine track and then comes a more industrial-driven drum track that dominates the rest of the track along with its layers of synthesizers and programmed drum tracks.
Closer To God is an essential collection for NIN fans. Trent Reznor and company not only re-created one of the best NIN songs ever but made it more fun for fans and for those who love remixes. Both the domestic and imported versions are available but the domestic price can be mixed up as an import and be priced at $12.99. While it’s hailed as one of the best NIN singles, some fans of the song might feel the remixes are too much and only want to pick up just that one song but the EP is targeted more towards hardcore fans. If you love Closer and the remixes that appeared on Seven and The Fan, then get this EP.
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)
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