Random NIN Thoughts

[gorast]

Isn't that more of a (somewhat) recent addition? I thought all the halos before the TDS reissue had uniform halo catalog numbers across each release, since they all had the same content. My old copy of TF on vinyl (RIP) was just halo fourteen. I remember the same for the closer to god singles too.

If anything those few releases with identical content and semi-unique catalog numbers you mentioned (obviously not TDS DE since that had a whole bonus disc and three exclusive tracks) were the anomalies, not these. We've gone back to sanity!

That never happened between CD and vinyl back in the day, either. None of the albums, EPs, or singles got a special "modifier" to distinguish between CD and vinyl. Think about it.

So, I'm a little off-base here. I was under the impression that the divergent labeling started with The Fragile. It actually appears to have started with With Teeth instead, which is labeled as Halo 19 v. All of the major releases after that have divergent Halo labeling - 20/20 DVD, 22/22 HD, 24/24 v, 25/25 v, etc.

There's only one example prior to that, which is 10/10v2 for the US/non-US versions of Further Down the Spiral. The other ones are either different releases entirely (like with And All That Could Have Been/Still) or were post-Fragile releases of pre-Fragile work (Pretty Hate Machine [02/02R] and TDS [8/8 DE etc.]).

So it is a more recent thing for sure, but not necessarily an anomaly, or an ultra-recent thing. I think this mostly just exposed my age and general preference for the post-Fragile era.

[Pbgut]

So, I'm a little off-base here. I was under the impression that the divergent labeling started with The Fragile. It actually appears to have started with With Teeth instead, which is labeled as Halo 19 v. All of the major releases after that have divergent Halo labeling - 20/20 DVD, 22/22 HD, 24/24 v, 25/25 v, etc.

There's only one example prior to that, which is 10/10v2 for the US/non-US versions of Further Down the Spiral. The other ones are either different releases entirely (like with And All That Could Have Been/Still) or were post-Fragile releases of pre-Fragile work (Pretty Hate Machine [02/02R] and TDS [8/8 DE etc.]).

So it is a more recent thing for sure, but not necessarily an anomaly, or an ultra-recent thing. I think this mostly just exposed my age and general preference for the post-Fragile era.

Yeah, I'm not sure how old you are or how vividly you remember it (I got into NIN at the age of 9 or 10 with TDS, because my depression is strong) but around the time of the gap between AATCHB and WT, there was a proliferation of new formats and an explosion of legal and illegal consumer choices that made literally everyone in the music industry lose their minds. There is a video of Trent saying "Damn - you can watch video on two different formats now with different surround audio options or just on the internet entirely? Oh, wait, now it's four?!" that has been taken down multiple times due to copyright notices, possibly by Trent himself, due to the fact that he briefly slips into an embarrassing Pennsylvanian accent.

Less goofily though, the alternate labeling should indeed have continued with TF, as it started with FTDS having alternate content, as you said. I don't believe halo three has a "v2" labeling in the U.K., so I guess FTDS is the start of modifying the halo number. It's a little odd that The Slip had the "v" numbering for the vinyl since it's identical to the CD audio minus the DVD. Different formats didn't get different designations until AATCHB. The Slip seems to be the true anomaly, since it has the same tracklist; WT has a bonus track. My memory of post TF NIN is fuzzy as that's around the time I stop paying obsession-level attention to Trent anymore and I should have looked it up. The DE/R markings on TDS and PHM make sense since there is bonus material, whereas the only difference on these DE releases are catalog numbers, paper stock, credits (no Malm or Sheridan, and some other updated info – it seemed odd to remove the old crew that helped make the albums possible; very Stalin-esque) and either much or slightly louder audio.

Curiously my TDS vinyl doesn't even have a halo number on the back - just an Island Records catalog number. In fact I'm not sure "halo eight" exists in the U.K. So ... I guess there's always been oddities.

[Jon]

There's only one example prior to that, which is 10/10v2 for the US/non-US versions of Further Down the Spiral. The other ones are either different releases entirely (like with And All That Could Have Been/Still) or were post-Fragile releases of pre-Fragile work (Pretty Hate Machine [02/02R] and TDS [8/8 DE etc.]).

(Throwing this one in there):

"The Hand That Feeds" is labeled as "HALO_18", while the Hot Topic picture disc is labeled as "HALO_18 V2"