Music Review: Nine Inch Nails

On November 20^th, 2007, Trent Reznor’s contract with Interscope Records expired with the release of Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D, or “Year Zero Remixed,” leading to a writing and recording binge for the industrial rocker more commonly known as Nine Inch Nails (NIN.) On March 2^nd, without any real warning, Ghosts I-IV was released via the website. As a two hour instrumental album, it is seen as a major creative endeavor. Then two months later, radio stations across the country received a mysterious disk marked “DISCIPLINE.” The disks contained NIN’s new radio single, from some unknown album. The message boards were rampant with speculation. Finally, on May 5^th, a brand new album The Slip, a swift ten-track-punch-in-the-face, was released for free.

“Thank you for your continued and loyal support over the years,” Reznor said to his fans. “This one’s on me.”

The album starts with the droning ambience of “999,999.” Although it certainly isn’t the most exciting song, it certainly does set up the rest of The Slip, when you hear Reznor say, “How did I slip into-” and then he gets cut off by a powerful drum beat as “1,000,000″ starts. This song is a strong start to the album, and gets you right into the action, with references to several classic NIN songs, such as “Down In It,” “Hurt,” and “All the Love In the World.”

The song “Letting You” starts with another drum beat, that although similar, has it’s own unique tone to that of “1,000,000.” This song brings back some of the scratchy noise that has been missing from NIN’s repertoire in recent years. Even though this is a generally good song, it gets to be rather repetitive towards the end.

The next song “Discipline” is definitely the most radio friendly of the ten songs, and showcases the new sound and direction NIN has taken since leaving Interscope. The guitar riff is catchy, yet varied, and the piano is absolutely beautiful. Josh Freese’s drumming gives the song a “dancy” quality. Then the song slowly fades away into “Echoplex.”

“Echoplex” is the only song on the album without any real drums, all are played on a fancy drum machine instead. This song is actually very similar to “Discipline” in that it is catchy, it has great guitar parts, and has an awesome piano undertone. Additionally, this is the first NIN song to have an extensive amount of “la-la’s.”

After a cornucopia of new sounds on The Slip, “Head Down” is the closest to old-school NIN. The verses contain droning guitar, angst-ridden vocals, and pounding drums. In contrast, the chorus has pleasant vocals, with a backdrop of pleasant piano.

“Lights In the Sky” is vastly different from the other songs, with nothing but Reznor’s gentle vocals and simple piano instrumentals. The track gives way to the almost completely ambient “Corona Radiata.” This song is rather redundant, and ridiculously long, but it gets mildly interesting near the end.

“The Four of Us Are Dying” is an instrumental track with some very interesting rhythms and beats. The final song “Demon Seed” is a powerful finish to the album, with its layered lyrics, crazy beats, and flowing guitar rhythms. Ultimately, it gives a very nice sense of closure as Reznor sings “Now I know exactly what I am.”

Overall, The Slip is a strong album establishing new directions for a band launched almost twenty years ago. Although it does contain a lot of the same elements, they are used in a varied enough way to keep the album interesting. The Slip gets 8.5 out of 10.

You can download The Slip for free at theslip.nin.com, and Nine Inch Nails will be at the Target Center for the Lights In the Sky Tour on November 25^th.

by Gerard Van Wijk