halo twenty eight. hesitation marks. 09.03.2013

[nashstat]

OK finally heard the album from beginning to end a few times. Agree with the majority that this is the best album since Trent's Magnum Opus (The Fragile).

I actually really like this album, it is dark, intense at some points but equally catchy at other points. The only tracks that I am not a fan of are All Time Low and Dissapointed. I actually even like Everything and think that it sits perfectly in between Disappointed and Satellite (my fav track of the album).

As preached here before, please buy this album... If you want FLAC/Lossless then get it from nin.com If you want the benefits of cloud-sync et al, then get it from Amazon, iTunes or Play.

[billpulsipher]

after hearing the remixes, at least now when I buy the album I know to buy the regular version and not the deluxe one........

[Microwave Jellyfish]

Most awesome TDS-related typo. Saved for posterity.

Aw, someone noticed it before the edit. Oh well, if you really like it...

One thing that came into my mind is how friggin' awesome the outros are this time. It's a common NIN-trait I think that the second halves of the songs go into weird places with extended breakdowns and endings instead of a final reappearance of the chorus, and this time it feels like he played extra attention to this detail, often rendering he outros the best parts of their songs.

Sorry if my grammar isn't the best, as most of you have probably figured it out, English isn't my first... yada, yada, you've all seen this excuse before.

[fabripav]

I agree with you, I've been disappointed with Disappointed since I heard it at Ansan. I don't really enjoy any part of that song, but all the rest are pretty damn good

The more that I think about it, it seems like the second half of the album (Satellite to Black Noise) is a lot more coherent and enjoyable than the first seven tracks. I remember Trent saying on Radio One that the rest of HM would be more like Satellite, but it seems like there is a distinct split between the first seven tracks (the Everything-esque half) and the second seven tracks (the Satellite-esque half) in composition and tone.

What's up with your artwork?

[poinoup]

I'm loving it. Gave it two full spins this morning with a grind in Borderlands 2. They surprisingly fit well together.

Feels nice to wake up on a Monday to this. Makes the week so much better.

How awesome are "All Time Low" and "In Two"?

[Copy of A]

Apparently this has been on piratebay for almost a week.

[howdidislipinto]

All of your descriptions are awesome. I'm not listening to the leak (and hoping against hope that nin.com somehow makes their HQ download available early) but you're all making this really fun. I'll just go spend the rest of the workday making up a version of the album in my own head using all your descriptions, ha.

[AlanMorlock]

While I love Copy of A and All Time Low, Various Methods of Escape is quickly becoming my favorite track.

[toomanyrifts]

The worst thing about Satellite being stuck in my head is the fact Trent keeps reminding me through the lyrics. It's actually creeping me out at this point..

I'd LOVE for Satellite to be the next Single. Though the whole disc is perfect, it and Running are slowly growing very loud voices.

Personally I think it's one of the strongest songs he's ever written. So catchy, too...

[Copy of A]

This could seriously be his greatest album yet IMO. I personally love the style of music he pursued and am literally basking in the glory that this music has brought to my ears. God damn Trent, way to set the bar

[fabripav]

Apparently this has been on piratebay for almost a week.

I've checked a few times this week and I've never seen the link. Actually, it was on piratebay after it was on a few leak sites.


I can see I Would For You being a good single.

[steelnails95]

My god, I have been at work all day knowing this leaked. Longest day of my life.. Downloading now!

[Microwave Jellyfish]

I've checked a few times this week and I've never seen the link. Actually, it was on piratebay after it was on a few leak sites.

(Not that) ashamed to say I can confirm this. There's been two "Hesitation Marks" torrents up until today, one of them was an audio rip of a fake YouTube leak (with CBH being the only real NIN song among the tracks, but it was acknowledged in the name and description), while the other one was a collection of the officially released singles to that point.

[cashpiles (closed)]

I love the emotion and tone Trent puts into the songs... Each song has a different vocal approach....Except for find my way and while I'm still here... Really amazing. Various Methods Of Escape is an early favorite in an album of amazing songs.
I'm surprised at the new directions amd ideas Trent's taken and come up with.. Really wacky and brave.. . I just want to mention how much ass the chorus to Various Methods of Escape kicks. I thought I would never hear a great NIN album again... This one easily tops all the post-2000 output and just brings NIN's game to a whole new level.... It can't be described yet..... But it's a work to be proud of. This is a pop album... This is pop in the sense that Beatles were pop... It's honest, melodic and cool.. It's an album any lover of rock can love...and so on...

[joplinpicasso]

We've made contact!

Truly, tremendously groundbreaking for the musical act that is Nine Inch Nails and for Trent. This album could -not- have been made without his foray into scoring and How To Destroy Angels, though. I'm hearing a lot of influence from TGWTDT, especially, which is exactly what I was hoping. I'm also hearing similarities to many other artists mentioned (Peter Gabriel, Michael Jackson, damn), but this is truly TR's headspace right now and I couldn't be happier with it.

First go-around, I think I was paying more attention to the sound and general feel, but I definitely started connecting with the lyrics and paying attention to them towards the end. Then "While I'm Still Here/Black Noise" hit me. Not only does he reprise the verse melody from "Find My Way," but those lyrics are some of his best work. "Watch young lovers walking by / ..time is running out" -- hit me hard while listening in the park in Manhattan, watching everyone. Then that guitar comes in. Then that peaceful, resigned saxophone.

The most complex NIN album since 1999 and emotionally engrossing since the second half of WT. Can't wait to physically hold it in my hands, proud to be a NIN fan.

EDIT: "VMOE" also contains some of Trent's best lyrical work yet.

[Trent1995]

Did anybody else listen to this as a concept album? I did, and it would actually make sense for it to be a follow up to TDS.

[FAPPYcat]

I've been listening to this on $11 Phillips earbuds and a radio transmitter in my car all day.... I had In Two, Disappointed and Copy of A as my three favorites.

Now at home, listening to this on my Turtle Beach X11s, I am finding new life in every other song... The depth this album has is crazy.

[Ryan]

What's up with your artwork?

That's the Japanese edition cover.

[fortheloveofgod]

Nailed it! I was sad growing out of the whole mid 90s to early 2000's NIN scene because they were such a formative band in my musical development. Those albums always hold a special place in my heart but I do find it hard to identify with them today and feel the same desire to inhabit their worlds for long periods of time. Maybe I'll listen to them 3-4 times a year or so. But this album is just something I can see myself listening to at any random point in the future. I'm glad Trent rose above his old angry/angsty self enough to record something like this. I'm very interested to see where he goes from here.

NIN and has been my favorite band and always will be. Sounding cheesy and remincent, started listening to PHM in high school where angst and heart brokeness was at its peak. Skipping ahead 20 plus years with a wife and a family. Paralleling TR a little it is great to hear the identity of NIN evolve over the years.

[joplinpicasso]

^^ Totally know what you mean, though I still personally feel that I'm far too young to start my own family and take on that responsibility. But I'm connecting strongly with the themes here. Let's take stabs at lyrics!

Since we're listening to the album digitally, I'm using this cover:

[NINSlave]

Can't wait to get my grubby little paws on that vinyl and deluxe CD.
Best $50 i've ever spent I reckon!

[Syndicate]

Anyone have any idea which song Lindsey Buckingham appears on? I keep thinking I am hearing him doing some of the backing vocals on "In Two"?

[godflesh]

This album has just confirmed my gut instincts from watching NIN in belfast I am completely obsessed with Copy of A and Find my way

[fortheloveofgod]

All Time Low. Man that shit is funky. Channeling Lenny Kravitz a tad.

[joplinpicasso]

If one looks at the album in halves, "Everything" seems like the false triumph of the first half, make sense?

I can't even begin to name favorites. I have favorite moments, for sure, but each track stands out too much. I will definitely say that The Eater Of Dreams/Copy Of A is the perfect seductively aggressive way to open this album.

[Halo Infinity]

I have a hunch that Hesitation Marks is going to give me the Pretty Hate Machine combined with With Teeth vibe I was looking for. (In terms of feel, not just sound.)

[tw3rbz]

If one looks at the album in halves, "Everything" seems like the false triumph of the first half, make sense?

I can't even begin to name favorites. I have favorite moments, for sure, but each track stands out too much. I will definitely say that The Eater Of Dreams/Copy Of A is the perfect seductively aggressive way to open this album.

I agree, I was listening to the album, and right after "Everything", I could feel as if the album was about to go in a different direction, and I truly believe it did.

[RagingBull]

I've been dancing around my house like an idiot for the last 4 hours. The Fragile has always been my personal favorite NIN album but THIS is definitely making a run for it.

[caca]

I've been keeping up with this thread all day and was cautiously optimistic that all this good shit I've been reading might be true. I downloaded the album before I went to work this morning and just finished my first listen.

Holy mother of fuck, this album is the bee's tits.

I'm grinning from ear to ear right now.

Fucking incredible.

[Shnoorum]

I've been humming and hawwing about trying to transcribe the lyrics to a couple of songs for the thread but I haven't been able to bring myself to repeat any of it for the parts I can't make out. I keep getting caught up in the actual song. It's too damned good to interrupt!