Zoo Station cover

[wizfan]

So, what do you guys think of the Zoo Station cover? It took me a while to get used to it, but after repeated listens, it gets better and better. It eventually grew on me.

[Wretchedest]

When NIN covers U2, you miss Meathead a little bit.

[ManBurning]

When NIN covers U2, you miss Meathead a little bit.

Meatheat! I totally forgot about him. He needs to revive his NIN-parody making career again!

[konstantin]

I find it rather ironic for NIN to cover a jesus band

[NotoriousTIMP]

am I the only one who finds this cover very, very boring?

[Amaro]

No, TIMP. I kinda just turn it off.

[Wretchedest]

am I the only one who finds this cover very, very boring?


Seriously its a U2 cover. Theyre the most unexciting hand ever.

[Alex of scotland]

I think trent and atticus have a very complex sense of humour.

[ManBurning]

yeah, I don't care for this song either. Listened to it once and never put it on again after that. Didn't have many elements to the song, but what do you expect covering a U2 song.

[NotoriousTIMP]

The original track has more of a NIN sound to it than the cover song. And how is U2 the most unexciting band ever? Clearly you haven't been to one of their live shows......

[orestes]

Yeah, at the time of recording Achtung Baby, the Edge was listening to a bunch of "underground" music such as NIN for inspiration.

[ltrandazzo]

Effing Haters. If he's not singing about fist-fucking then it's boring. Lame.

[NotoriousTIMP]

See, we need a thanking system for posts like the one above.....

[Ryan]

I don't love it but I don't hate it either. Only listened to it twice though.

[REPLICA]

I think it's alright, they could have done a little more to it. It reminds me of their (NIN's) cover of Metal. It's kind of like they said, "lets just pick a song and go out and do a jam session with it." Now not saying that's a bad thing (I loved the NIN version of Metal) but I think they could have beefed up the ending a little more or added a little something to it. I do enjoy hearing Trent's vocals now. I would have to say he's like wine, he gets better with age.

[BenAkenobi]

for me, it has a strong HTDA project feel

[Andrew]

According to the U2 fan club mailing list (don't ask) the whole achtung baby covers disc is now available on iTunes.

[iamanexit]

I really love the cover. Only needed to listen to it once to love it (and then I listened to it on repeat for some time).


When NIN covers U2, you miss Meathead a little bit.
Oh man! Seriously.
His Twitter feed is funny, but it's not the same.

[MAD]

I can't say that I dislike it, I just don't enjoy it that much. I was expecting something different perhaps.

[BRoswell]

Both are great tracks. To each their own...

[Harry Seaward]

Damn, strange to read all the disapproval in this thread. I agree with BenAkobi, I thought it had a way strong feel of HDA, but I still enjoyed it quite a bit. Maybe it's because I had no internet or iPod for a month and this was the only NIN I had access to, but it grew on me. For the record, I've heard maybe 10 U2 songs in my life so I have no real strong feelings for them in either direction. The song could have used a bit more going on in it, but I didn't think it was that bad.

[plusminus]

I actually really love the cover of Zoo Station. I have kept it on heavy rotation ever since it was put out.

[gorast]

According to the U2 fan club mailing list (don't ask) the whole achtung baby covers disc is now available on iTunes.

Well then. Now that everyone's illegally downloaded the whole thing, not much point, is there?

I liked the cover. Didn't see anything horribly wrong with it.

[ryanmcfly]

I like it... I don't love it. It's a little too mellow

[BRoswell]

I'm not sure when the U2 hate started. Seems like everyone jumped on that bandwagon after a while. Now its "cool" to hate them. I've never been a huge U2 fan, but I enjoy a good amount of their music, especially their early stuff.

[richardp]

I grew up in a family that loved U2, so U2 has always been a huge favorite of mine. In fact, U2 and NIN are my two favorite bands. So I was beyond stoked for the song, and I really enjoyed it. I loved that Trent did the exact opposite of what a lot of people were expecting him to do. I think there is even a quote out there that Bono said it's better than the original. I wouldn't go that far, but it's damn good.

[thevoid99]

I like it though my favorite is U2's cover of "So Cruel". Whoever thought it was a good idea to have the Fray do "Trying to Throw Your Arms Around the World" should be shot.

[gorast]

I'm not sure when the U2 hate started. Seems like everyone jumped on that bandwagon after a while. Now its "cool" to hate them. I've never been a huge U2 fan, but I enjoy a good amount of their music, especially their early stuff.

I don't like U2 purely because I don't like the music. I don't really understand all the "U2 is garbage and boring and Bono is pretty much Satan" crap. I just don't like their music. It's still good stuff, but it's just not the kind of stuff I like.

[peanoot3]

I enjoyed the track. It hasn't been on heavy rotation for me or anthing, but it's actually a very solid cover. I also miss Meathead, because when I see some new NIN related news, one of the first things that pop in my head is, "I wonder what Meathead would have to say about this."

[Big Fat Matt]

I don't like U2 purely because I don't like the music. I don't really understand all the "U2 is garbage and boring and Bono is pretty much Satan" crap. I just don't like their music. It's still good stuff, but it's just not the kind of stuff I like.
what this guy said.

as far as the actual cover goes. i listened to it once. i have never felt compelled to listen to it again. i guess it didn't grab me they way anything they've done before has. The tetsuo theme reached out through my headphones, grabbed me by the balls and punched me in the face, it was that good. same with the Immigrant Song preview in the trailer. i dunno, maybe i have an automatic aversion to it because im not a big U2 fan.

[howdidislipinto]

Just got my CD in the mail today. (Ordered through the U2.com store.) I like it. Definitely mellow, but a fun, pleasant listen. And maybe I just missed hearing Trent's (lead) vocals, but I thought it was worth it just for that. I've always felt like artists have a little more "fun" doing vocals on covers.

[Presideo]

I like the cover, but it's not exactly something I'm going to listen to much (like pretty much every other NIN cover)

Reminds me a lot of TV on the Radio's style - wouldn't mind if TR went back to this style with original content.

[danebraddy]

...maybe I just missed hearing Trent's (lead) vocals, but I thought it was worth it just for that.

I agree. As far as the song itself, it's an interesting cover of a pretty uninteresting song. Zoo Station could easily have been a 'straight' cover by most bands, but Trent made it seem like something that fits the (at the very least neo-) NIN style.

It's also good to know that 'nine inch nails' still is 'active'.... I mean Trent said it was... but Trent has said ​a lot of things...

[sheepdean]

I agree. As far as the song itself, it's an interesting cover of a pretty uninteresting song. Zoo Station could easily have been a 'straight' cover by most bands, but Trent made it seem like something that fits the (at the very least neo-) NIN style.

It's also good to know that 'nine inch nails' still is 'active'.... I mean Trent said it was... but Trent has said ​a lot of things...
+1 to both. If Trent had gone with a straight cover, he would've taken a song that sounds like NIN and made it more like NIN. And we already have Suck.
I don't think NIN is dead, but I think it's less alive than we were expecting, most likely because of TGWTDT OST pushing everything back.

[halo33]

I was expecting more. At least with the drums. I hope some new NIN sounds like where he was going with Tetsuo.

[DVYDRNS]

the song is a boring steaming pile of turds. its totally phoned in. probably took about 2 hours to complete from start to finish.

[screwdriver]

hm, I actually quite liked it. it took a bit to grow on me, just because the original song is already pretty NIN-ish (come on, its even got a "hands and knees" lyric), so I think I was expecting something a bit more obvious.

that said, I appreciate the amount of U2 now in Reznor's arsenal: Saul Williams, that excellent Vertigo remix he did years ago, and now this

[shagg_187]

hm, I actually quite liked it. it took a bit to grow on me, just because the original song is already pretty NIN-ish (come on, its even got a "hands and knees" lyric), so I think I was expecting something a bit more obvious.

that said, I appreciate the amount of U2 now in Reznor's arsenal: Saul Williams, that excellent Vertigo remix he did years ago, and now this Trent sure loves his hands and knees! :D

[Collin]

Very understated and chill. I like the surreal drone the song embraces. The second verse, with Trent vocals becoming a bit stronger, is the songs highlight. However, the lenghty two min fade, while being hypnotic, is overlong and doesn't leave much of an impact. Plus, the chorus delivery is pretty underwhelming. Song gets a B- in my book.

[oldschool]

Trent's always been a big of shoegaze music. Yet, I find that while it's informed a lot of NIN especially from the Fragile forward, he's never gone all out shoegaze at any particular moment. For good reason. It's probably better served as an influence within NIN rather than a complete stylistic shift.

This cover allows him to dive in, and being a huge fan of shoegaze I love it.

[hologram parade]

i had really high hopes, but i prefer the original more. i do however really enjoy the length

[botley]

I kind of read it as a mission-statement on NIN going forward, just like the original was for U2. Though it's sort of weird to hear Reznor sing that low ("with your face pressed up against the glass") in the context of Nine Inch Nails... I guess his voice really is getting deeper with age.

[pcano]

can anyone give me a legit list of covers NIN has played live or recored... any one??

[sheepdean]

can anyone give me a legit list of covers NIN has played live or recored... any one??There's a full list on ninwiki, but the site seems to be having some issues atm

[19ninetynine]

I can't say that I dislike it, I just don't enjoy it that much. I was expecting something different perhaps.

Took the words out of my mouth.

[somewhatdamaged]

Well, I must say, when I heard it was Nine Inch Nails cover, I was pretty excited. The fact that it wasn't a Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross or HTDA, but labeled Nine Inch Nails, really had me stoked. I like U2, not a fanatic, but I've owned a few CDs in the day, including Achtung Baby, and Zoo Station was one of my favorites off the CD. I was just imagining how Trent Reznor was going to do the beginning of the song, which frankly, is the best part for me. I listened to original several times and decided this song gets kinda boring after about 2 and half minutes in, I can't wait to see how Trent fixes this. Well, when I finally heard the cover on Youtube, I was shocked to the sound. My favorite part, the intro of the original, was skipped and the song was way longer and slower. I listened to it again and again, and decided this song is eh, nothing to get excited, it will probably be forgotten in about month. After while, it started to grow on me, but it's more a chill song.

I just kinda wish that it would have been labeled Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, eventhough I know it's pretty much the same thing, my intial response would have probably thought chill song. Now that there are 3 entities, I hope they will be more clearly defined...

for example...

Nine Inch Nails = aggressive
How to Destory Angels = rhythmly (probably not a word)
Trent Reznor and Atticus = abstract/chill

[Ocean Blooms]

Yeah, when I first heard the original U2 track, I got very excited with the possibilities of what NIN would do. I was initially very underwhelmed by the end result, pretty one note for 90% of the song but like many others, it really grew on me and find myself listening to it quite extensively now. Of course, it's not A-list NIN but it's not bad at all.

[BRoswell]

Nine Inch Nails = aggressive

Disagreed. Nailing down (no pun intended) Nine Inch Nails as simply aggressive isn't accurate, especially since there's more to it than aggression, both in terms of the lyrics and the actual music. There's nothing about this song that ISN'T Nine Inch Nails in my opinion, and I'm sure Trent would agree. I mean, why else would he credit it under that name, especially when he's been talking for a few years about doing music under other names?

[Rossva]

its cool an all - but stand out track on the album is Garbage's "Whos gonna ride..."

[botley]

its cool an all - but stand out track on the album is Garbage's "Whos gonna ride..."
Which JMJ played on!

[konstantin]

its cool an all - but stand out track on the album is Garbage's "Whos gonna ride..."
agreed. i like Damien Rice's take on 'One' too.

[Space Suicide]

I love this cover.

[burn.]

I thought I was the only one who was expecting more from this cover.
I'm not saying I don't like it, but it sounds like they made it in a lunch break.

[Prettybrokenspiral]

Q: Hey Trent, want to be on a U2 covers album for our magazine?

TR: FUCK NO

Q: C'mon, we'll let you pick any Achtung Baby song you want

TR: Fuck you

Q: Jack White's gonna be oooon iiiit

TR: Now you're just making me mad

Q: Think of the exposure! it will get you

TR: My fans will hate me

Q: Did we mention we'll pay you handsomely

TR: FINE I'LL DO IT

[Jon]

Q: Hey Trent, want to be on a U2 covers album for our magazine?

TR: FUCK NO

Q: C'mon, we'll let you pick any Achtung Baby song you want

TR: Fuck you

Q: Jack White's gonna be oooon iiiit

TR: Now you're just making me mad

Q: Think of the exposure! it will get you

TR: My fans will hate me

Q: Did we mention we'll pay you handsomely I seem to remember something about Puff Daddy...

TR: FINE I'LL DO IT

fixed for ya

[botley]

You guys are weirdos. Trent likes pop music. He paid to see an *NSYNC concert in New Orleans. He was in pop cover bands for years pre-NIN. Achtung Baby was one of the biggest pop albums of its day. TR and Bono hang out in public. Get over yourselves.

[frankie teardrop]

i love the original and was let down with the cover. the most tangible issue i have with it is the percussion. the drums on the original track are huge, powerful, and very much a product of the band looking to 'industrial' music for inspiration. what we get on the NIN version is a rather wimpy drum machine that doesn't deviate from the pattern for the duration. the best part of u2's original (and the majority of their work, love it or hate it) is the big chorus. also not present on the cover here.

i found the depeche mode cover disappointing too, for the same reasons...

[Papagolash]

fixed for ya

That Victory remix was great.

[screwdriver]

Which JMJ played on!

whoa, cool -- missed that!
that said, the obvious winner here was Jack White's cover of Love is Blindness... I can't even hear the original song anymore cause White's is SO GOOD