Random NIN Thoughts

[valiantsteed]

After a pretty long lull, we have 2 (soon to be 3) volumes of Watchmen, Waves, Bird Box extended, and the WT reissue. This is a lot of music to consume and process. Which is absolutely awesome. But I am feeling a bit overwhelmed. Do I focus on one or two of these releases, and really get to know them, or check them all out (because I don't want to wait), and risk them bleeding together a bit or none of them getting the true focus they deserve?

On a long enough timeframe, there will be future droughts where this problem will be easily solved and I can go back and re-explore works in more detail (like it seems people were appreciating with Vietnam War recently), but right now I can't help but feel a bit paralyzed in terms of where to start and what listening decisions to make. In a perfect world, these would have been a bit more spread out!

These are, of course, great problems to have.

[snichols]

you basically summed up my whole week of excitement and confusion as to where to start processing all this new music. i finally decided to just focus on watchmen vol 1 and 2 and wait to process bird box until i receive the box set, and waves will probably have to wait a couple weeks. as you said, great problems to have

[valiantsteed]

you basically summed up my whole week of excitement and confusion as to where to start processing all this new music. i finally decided to just focus on watchmen vol 1 and 2 and wait to process bird box until i receive the box set, and waves will probably have to wait a couple weeks. as you said, great problems to have

Good call. Between listening to the music, the podcast, watching and re-watching the show, Watchmen is probably dominating my thoughts more than anything else and feels the most pressing to me, if I absolutely had to choose.

Yet, hearing amazing things about Waves and Birdbox and I can't help from my curiosity being peaked! Still, I think I am going to try to push them off to January if I can to give them their own space to breathe.

[fillow]

check them all out (because I don't want to wait), and risk them bleeding together a bit or none of them getting the true focus they deserve?

I kinda made this mistake with Vietnam War and Patriots Day. Jumped on both of them simultaneously and now I can't tell them apart if a track comes up in a random playlist.

[ManBurning]

So, every time the regular version of "lights in the sky" comes on, and it starts up "she's mostly gone" I always expect someone to yell "yeah, Trent!" After lol.

There is a professional soundboard audio from the 2009 wave goodbye sessions of this song that has someone yell that. I've probably listened to the live version more times than the actual studio one at this point.

Just an observation I came to, when the studio track just came on on shuffle on my mp3 player.

It's kinda like when piggy comes on. You gotta yell "hey mother fuckin pig" all the time. That's so imprinted in people's brains that I head people sing that all the time live, and it's always weird if he doesn't do it, cuz the whole fuckin room shouts it to the point where it's normal lol.

[Papagolash]

So, every time the regular version of "lights in the sky" comes on, and it starts up "she's mostly gone" I always expect someone to yell "yeah, Trent!" After lol.

There is a professional soundboard audio from the 2009 wave goodbye sessions of this song that has someone yell that. I've probably listened to the live version more times than the actual studio one at this point.

Just an observation I came to, when the studio track just came on on shuffle on my mp3 player.

It's kinda like when piggy comes on. You gotta yell "hey mother fuckin pig" all the time. That's so imprinted in people's brains that I head people sing that all the time live, and it's always weird if he doesn't do it, cuz the whole fuckin room shouts it to the point where it's normal lol.

Every time I listen to a version of The Frail live I hear that guy on the AATCHB version yelling "Nine Inch Nails....Yeah!" in my head.

I also now always expect "Somethings gonna get BROKEN!" during HLAH

[fillow]

I always expect "cunt!" at the end of The Wretched.
Also: mmmmmmmmbah! g-gotcha-gotcha (you know which song).

[laststepdown]

The fact that all these albums (WT->YZ->TS->HM->NTAA->AV->BW)are all culminating within the YZ storyline is destroying my mental state. From The Warning in With Teeth to the A.I.R. flag in the track art for Head Down, to all the trilogy references. Most of it isn't news to me, but the Warning being confirmed as a WT demo writing. The mention of a "presence" in Bird Box. "Bleeding Through" in the lyrics for Beside You In Time, in the lyrics for Everything from HM, and again in lyrics for The Background World.

It seems like not being able to perform against a backdrop of G.W. Bush on MTV really set Trent off.

TDS/TF/HM thematically seem to be the 'reality' that this YZ story can't seem to wake up into, but it bleeds through the broken simulation machine. (?) Maybe that machine's the back cover of AV? Maybe the trilogy is the Bleedthrough concept fleshed out?

[Max]

The fact that all these albums (WT->YZ->TS->HM->NTAA->AV->BW)are all culminating within the YZ storyline is destroying my mental state. From The Warning in With Teeth to the A.I.R. flag in the track art for Head Down, to all the trilogy references. Most of it isn't news to me, but the Warning being confirmed as a WT demo writing. The mention of a "presence" in Bird Box. "Bleeding Through" in the lyrics for Beside You In Time, in the lyrics for Everything from HM, and again in lyrics for The Background World.

It seems like not being able to perform against a backdrop of G.W. Bush on MTV really set Trent off.

TDS/TF/HM thematically seem to be the 'reality' that this YZ story can't seem to wake up into, but it bleeds through the broken simulation machine. (?) Maybe that machine's the back cover of AV? Maybe the trilogy is the Bleedthrough concept fleshed out?

I like where you are going, but I am not sure that these are all happening with that world. I think that the trilogy actually represents three different metaphors or realities for describing the same set of thoughts and feelings -

1. NTAA - I am having nightmares? Or is this a supernatural reality? I can't tell, I feel like I am losing my mind.
2. AV - We are in the simulation. Shout out to YZ, but this time it is much more personal.
3. BW - Shadows on a cave wall. Plato's allegory. But we are doomed to remain in the cave.

HM was not a part of any of this. It was about TDS and his more mature self and trying to reconcile the two.
The Slip maintained a thread from YZ but was more about his own feelings of age and relevancy, and trying to stop overthinking and just create something intuitively.

that's my take on it all anyway.

[gorast]

I wonder if Trent gets a good laugh over how ARG-crazy this fanbase is ever since YZ.

I think The Warning was nothing more than a With Teeth demo that was carried over to YZ when Trent started working on that album.

[eversonpoe]

I wonder if Trent gets a good laugh over how ARG-crazy this fanbase is ever since YZ.

I think The Warning was nothing more than a With Teeth demo that was carried over to YZ when Trent started working on that album.

[eversonpoe]

does anyone else remember 0-halo.net? the site was run by someone named Comy, and i was obsessed with the artwork they made back in my early internetting days. i remember in 7th grade, i printed out a bunch of pieces of art from that site (on cloudy sky blue printer paper) for binder covers & spines because i was ridiculous. bjork lyrics + picutres of trent together? YES PLZ.

aaaanyway, somehow this came up tonight and my wife was like "you could see if the site is still on the wayback machine" and...it is... hard to navigate, but still there!

[piggy]

Yes, I totally remember that site. The artwork was quite beautiful. Wasn't it a Japanese site or something?

And the printouts you did are totally like something I would have done as a teenager. I made my own binder covers with band logos all over them. I also used to go full fangirl and print out loads of NIN pics and R.E.M. pics (my two fave bands) and lyrics to jillions of songs using my school's printers and paper. The computer lab people didn't care. LOL.

Oh, early NINternet. I can't tell you how many happy hours I logged at sites like Above The Trees, Seems Like Salvation, Smashed Up Sanity, Happiness In Slavery, that old-as-balls Jason Patterson site, etc. Or hunting down cool merch from The Weathermen!

[Erneuert]

Next tour, do you think TR would consider entirely shaking up the set list formula? I mean not only not ending with THTF/HLAH/Hurt, but also not following the “rule” of having to include Wish most of the time, and not always swapping out The Wretched for Something I Can Never Have following The Frail? Have entirely new openers never used before and not have any set structure with how songs need to “fit”?

I’d adore that, even if it were only for a string of less than 20 dates. Or do 20 like that with an “Assault” set list and 20 others with a “Quiet” set list. It’s random for the ticket buyer and the Quiet shows are all seated and feature soundtrack work.

I gotta stop daydreaming now.

[Erneuert]

@laststepdown - I think you mean the Art Is Resistance flag from the “Letting You” artwork rather than “Head Down”.

I wonder if Trent gets a good laugh over how ARG-crazy this fanbase is ever since YZ.

I think The Warning was nothing more than a With Teeth demo that was carried over to YZ when Trent started working on that album.

That would make the most sense; using old ideas to create new things: the rephrasing of the virus killing the host; the celebration of ignorance line later appearing in “Ahead Of Ourselves”. “My Dead Friend” speculatively became “This Isn’t The Place”. I just wish the lyrics from “The Life You Didn’t Lead” were actually recorded, because they are so damn moving.

The question mark was added to “Life On Mars?” in the Watchmen thread when I mentioned it was lacking it. Hopefully whoever was paying attention to that thread is reading this one as well. ;-)

[laststepdown]

I did yeah. Head down has the L shaped art you're right. My slip copy is sealed, but thats no excuse. Letting You & Head Down are both pretty aggressive. I just confused the two, there is ALOT of catalogued subject work, my bad. Letting You is a very politically charged song, and fits right in the YZ theme, yes, with the attitude like we (the resistance) were letting capital G get away with war crimes and submitting to all of it. Subjectively. Letting the lawman beat up the wrong guy, you know.

Head down does talk about the feeling of it all being a dream though. The lyrics of Burning Bright "I can't tell if I'm dreaming anymore." Which fits the entire concept too.

When Saul Williams did the tour opening for With Teeth was probably when he heard the main parts for "Skin of a Drum/The March" and they probably started the work on Year Zero right away with the Warning since it was (apparently now) the most musically finished of the then unheard 3 WT tracks.

I could agree with the MDF -> TITP speculation, I went nuts when I heard the opening line. Old fans like myself probably shared the same freak out.

Also fwiw to the person that said YZ ARG made fans crazy...YZ didn't make me crazy. It was way earlier than that. Somewhere around thefragile.com giving away e-mail addresses, and checking nin.com through my entire typing class and MS word class in high school for some stupid pixelated squares and feedback loops.

I can't even go to the local NIN tribute band's show because the vocalist is terrible, doesn't even have a full octave, and belongs in a karaoke bar.

Fuck I love this band.

[bobbie solo]

Somewhere around thefragile.com giving away e-mail addresses.

Wow i had completely forgotten about this. i had registered jessxe@thefragile.com and used it a bit. Thanks for bringing that up!

[eversonpoe]

Wow i had completely forgotten about this. i had registered jessxe@thefragile.com and used it a bit. Thanks for bringing that up!

i was ember@thefragile.com for a looooong time

[Erneuert]

I just saw @spahn’s post in the nincatalog thread and found the AATCHB era Q&A with Trent very interesting, especially how he describes the “Still” CD towards the end. @piggy, maybe TR’s description of Still could be added to the respective ninwiki page? Never seen this little piece before:

http://nincatalog.com/printed-artwor...-release-1620/

Also lol at his comment about the year 2009 at the end.

[piggy]

I've added that to the wiki page. Thanks.

[SchwarzerAbt]

My smartphone is more old and slow, so if I browse the intenet while listening to music the player crashes. It forces me to listen without interference.

So: the best way to really concentrate on the music for me is to listen to it on my fucking phone.

[Erneuert]

My smartphone is more old and slow, so if I browse the intenet while listening to music the player crashes. It forces me to listen without interference.

So: the best way to really concentrate on the music for me is to listen to it on my fucking phone.

That’s one of the two main ways I listen to music these days as well: either in my back pocket on my phone while I’m doing housework or while driving.

[eversonpoe]

That’s one of the two main ways I listen to music these days as well: either in my back pocket on my phone while I’m doing housework or while driving.

i listen to music when i drive, but i've (finally) started listening to podcasts while i do housework. it feels like i'm hanging out with people and makes it much less tedious to do things like dishes.

[eversonpoe]

I just saw @spahn’s post in the nincatalog thread and found the AATCHB era Q&A with Trent very interesting, especially how he describes the “Still” CD towards the end. @piggy, maybe TR’s description of Still could be added to the respective ninwiki page? Never seen this little piece before:

http://nincatalog.com/printed-artwor...-release-1620/

Also lol at his comment about the year 2009 at the end.

just read that and i have to say...i don't remember there being commentary from bill viola on the dvd. will definitely be popping it in and revisiting it if that's the case!

[BRoswell]

Okay, since no one is going to say it, I guess I'll be the one: why on earth has "Discipline" not been used in a goddamn Pringles commercial already?

[bobbie solo]

That’s one of the two main ways I listen to music these days as well: either in my back pocket on my phone while I’m doing housework.

I feel like a crazy person walking around my house doing stuff with one headphone in while my wife watches TV, but im probably not alone. This is probably very common.

[Archive_Reports]

I feel like a crazy person walking around my house doing stuff with one headphone in while my wife watches TV, but im probably not alone. This is probably very common.

I do this all the time. In fact, I sleep with one in and find it difficult to stay asleep if I don't.

[bobbie solo]

i meant with podcasts but same point.

[Haysey_Draws]

So Trent gave us the Trilogy EP's, then a 3 part Watchmen Score, does this mean we're going to get a TRIPLE ALBUM?!!?

...almost certainly not, but it's fun to think about

[theimage13]

I would shit myself if Trent brought back The Great Below live. The last few lines of the breakdown - the higher notes? Imagine him hitting those the same way he's been hitting Last - still screaming, just in that lower octave.

Fuck, I'm getting chills just thinking about it. Or maybe it's because the heat hasn't kicked on yet. But I think it's the former.