I disagree. WAP and Closer are both incredibly arousing (I'm bi), but they're about opposite things! Closer is about self-hatred. WAP is about empowerment. Another difference is that WAP is centered around the vocals (there's almost nothing else going on in the track). Closer has so many disparate things going on that somehow sound amazing together.
I have a lot of affection for Robin Finck - his guitar playing has been fundamental to the NIN live sound for literal decades now. But I cannot stand how he plays the solo to "Ruiner" live. It's one of my favorite NIN songs, and the solo is an emotional highlight for me. But he plays it like, I dunno? Like someone just handed him a guitar and asked him to play something, and it's it's first time he's ever seen the instrument.
I used to think the beard was a bit of a delineation between NIN and score work - as he shaved it off for the HM tour cycle, but he kept it for the last NIN cycle so that idea was bollocks
MOTP/Closer era dreamy locks were my jam, followed by them dope PHM dreads. This new look? Hmmm...it's rating at about the same level as the With Teeth emo cut for me.
Last edited by artdeco; 04-28-2021 at 07:09 AM.
I still remember the meltdown on ETS when TR shaved his head before Japanese tour 2005
The Trilogy look is probably my favorite one. Looks very good, mature but also retains a lot of angstiness in it somehow.
Photek ruff mix completely torches every other version in the known world..
Aside from Head like a Hole and Something I can never have, I don’t like PHM. I like the live versions of Sin and Terrible Lie but not the studio ones.
Hesitation Marks is by far my least favourite album, I don’t like any song off of it.
The trilogy is probably what I like the most after Still.
I’d be totally fine if Trent put out only Ghosts and soundtracks in the future
Starfuckers Inc is meh. I always skip it.
HTDA is crap
now doesn't that make you feel better?
I think I'm a little kinder towards Pretty Hate Machine than you, but I generally rank it towards the bottom of the discography. I only really like about half the songs on it, and when I want to listen to those songs, I'm more likely to find a good live recording than listen to the album versions.
Hesitation Marks really is my least favorite NIN album though - I think I only really like Various Methods of Escape and While I'm Still here. Maybe Came Back Haunted as well - while it does sound like standard NIN to the point where I wouldn't be surprised if you told me it was written by an AI, it does have a certain energy to it that I find the rest of the songs sorely lack. I can cut Pretty Hate Machine some slack since it's Trent's first album. Not so for Hesitation Marks.
I should listen back because I don’t remember any song of HM, only something of Copy of A and Came Back Haunted. Haven’t listened to HM in years. I don’t really remember anything that impressed me or left me something
Well, I agree on PHM also because music was so different back then. The point for me isn’t being standard NIN or not. I for one believe that the trilogy isn’t really standard NIN either, but it’s more creative and Trent kind of tried to ""reinvent"" himself. As in, not necessarily trying to fit the music into the NIN that the world knows - which what I remember I thought when HM came out. I mean, even The Slip was different than WT or YZ. We can discuss that it might or might not be a great album, but he tried to do something that had never done before (I consider The Slip kind of Trent’s version of garage rock, so to say). I do appreciate when an artist tries new things. I didn’t get that feeling with HM
^ Do it! Various Methods of Escape, In Two, I Would For You.
Agreed. Even the people who vehemently dislike HM should admit “In Two” and “Various Methods of Escape” are excellent songs.
I'd say Hesitation Marks is pretty underrated at this point. It's definitely not the best album, but it's got some interesting stuff going on. I like that it's about coming to terms with your past and the mistakes you've made, and maybe not being able to fix everything you did.
^ alright… Hesitation Marks isn’t that different than what I remembered (or should I say didn’t remember?)
I don’t feel it heartfelt, at all. I find that some parts of “I would for you” and “In two” are interesting. On the latter though I cringed big time on the first chorus. Imho “Satellite” and “Running” are even worst than “Everything” and its shakeshakeshake. I think it was Satellite that I thought “What is this? Rhianna?”. “Copy of A” and “Came back haunted” still leave me indifferent. The album has those super clean and pristine drums and falsettos that are super annoying to me, and fwiw very out of place.
oh well, thank goodness the trilogy moved away from this
I'm not a huge HM fan, but...
Best track for me is "Find My Way" because it has some atmospheric feels along the lines of "Even Deeper" and other songs from The Fragile. I really don't like "Running" and I think it would be my least favorite NIN song in the catalog.