Not The Actual Events

[EndlessLoveless]

I know it's not the most upbeat song but it would be cool if they opened with burning bright. Stage lights off or curtain down for the intro then, I'M GOING BACK- curtain drops, lights go on as the crowd noises start...guitars way too loud my bloody valentine style.

[botley]

Trent's not the only person in the world that can sing

Can they use a Melodyne plug-in to remove Atticus' British accent when he sings?

[sweeterthan]

No, burning bright needs to replace hurt as the last song for live shows.

[EndlessLoveless]

No, burning bright needs to replace hurt as the last song for live shows.

By burning bright you mean demon seed, right? Would be best closer ever.

But really, as long as BB is played live, put it fucking anywhere.

[Khrz]

Demon Seed for last song, Burning Bright for encore.

"I'm going back, 'course I am, as if I ever had a choice..."

[thatguymark]

So, nin.com's discography section has been updated with the following apt (and funny) description for NTAE:

"UNAPOLOGETIC, UNFRIENDLY, DENSE, LYRICALLY COMPLEX, SO-FAR-BEHIND-THE-TIMES-IT’S-AHEAD-OF-ITS-TIME, HIPSTER-REPELLING UNCOMPROMISING MUSIC SMART PEOPLE CAN FUCK TO. IT MAY NOT BE FOR YOU"

[Toadflax]

So, nin.com's discography section has been updated with the following apt (and funny) description for NTAE:

"UNAPOLOGETIC, UNFRIENDLY, DENSE, LYRICALLY COMPLEX, SO-FAR-BEHIND-THE-TIMES-IT’S-AHEAD-OF-ITS-TIME, HIPSTER-REPELLING UNCOMPROMISING MUSIC SMART PEOPLE CAN FUCK TO. IT MAY NOT BE FOR YOU"

Man, a lot of the descriptions are delightfully ridiculous. "VINYL ONLY SO YOU CAN HAVE SOMETHING TO BITCH ABOUT."

[sick among the pure]

Man, a lot of the descriptions are delightfully ridiculous. "VINYL ONLY SO YOU CAN HAVE SOMETHING TO BITCH ABOUT."

It's the perfect combination of Trent making fun of us and us getting his sense of humor. Like when someone calls you a name and you just can't help but respond with "aw, I love you too honey "

[Blade3327]

If Branches/Bones is performed live, I'm kind of hoping they throw in the chorus riff from Everything at the end. It'd fit right in IMO and lengthen up the song.

[elevenism]

"She's Gone Away"

The killings started out slowly and steadily, like the beginning of a roller-coaster, but now they're out of control. He started off with a few local political murders, then decided to branch off: "law" enforcement officers, celebrities; The coaster is escalating.

i have abandoned my "serial killer concept album" theory, but it's nice to know that i wasn't the only one!

[GentlemanLoser]

The origin of The Idea Of You is simple:

HYPERPOWER! and Zero-Sum had weird sex.

Oh man, HYPERPOWER! I remember when the tracklist for Year Zero dropped and reading that I was immediately like, "'HYPERPOWER!'? What, did KMFDM make this record?" Still stand behind that.

[ninjaw]

wow man did you see the Quake note ? they are trying to re-sell it ! also I love the Vulgar display of power note "it's here for no reason, but we love that album"

[jmtd]

wow man did you see the Quake note ? they are trying to re-sell it ! also I love the Vulgar display of power note "it's here for no reason, but we love that album"

It's definitely been noticed.. in the appropriate thread... but I'm also excited

[tucker973]

Trent's not the only person in the world that can sing

Yeah, but I heard the guy who wrote Hurt died a while ago.

[joplinpicasso]

If Branches/Bones is performed live, I'm kind of hoping they throw in the chorus riff from Everything at the end. It'd fit right in IMO and lengthen up the song.

I can see this working because of the established history of "Closer"+"The Only Time" or "Closer"+"ATL".

(Wait, why do I never see "The Only Time" as TOT around these parts? We abbreviate everything else!)

[Jetvet1975]

I want a three-song sequence of "Branches/Bones," "Everything," and "Getting Smaller." Not just because I would personally love it, but also because it would be so fun to watch people throw a fucking fit about it online afterwards.

I fucking love "Getting Smaller"!

[jubilee]

Just now sitting down to enjoy my second listen of Not The Actual Events. So far I'm getting a Year Zero crossed with With Teeth sort of feeling and I'm really enjoying it. My first listen paralleled with my first listen of Year Zero in that it wasn't immediately apparent that I enjoyed every song but instead had maybe one stand out track here (Burning Bright) and two or three from YZ (Vessel, Survivalism and The Warning). Now that I've returned to the EP as a whole I'm hooked in the same way I was on subsequent tracks of YZ.

I'm grateful for every NIN album and song that is put out and that includes HM, but I'm especially pleased at the departure from the sound and feel of HM that this EP has taken. I still think there is a lot for me to unpack and appreciate in this one but right now I'm loving every song.

Having said that, The Idea Of You is the only track I'm not completely convinced I'll listen to a hell of a lot. It's the sort of Pantera / Metallica vibe that I find unusual for NIN, but AGAIN having said THAT, the chorus and other parts echo The Great Destroyer and other elements of TDS...hmmm..maybe it's growing on me.

[Lerxto]

A little note:
Less than 150 copies of the physical component version of NTAE in stock on store.nin.com.
About 500 copies of the PE NTAE in the UK store. It's about to sell out very soon!

[sick among the pure]

A little note:
Less than 150 copies of the physical component version of NTAE in stock on store.nin.com.
About 500 copies of the PE NTAE in the UK store. It's about to sell out very soon!

You're not helping my decision to stick with one copy or buy a second one...

[jubilee]

You're not helping my decision to stick with one copy or buy a second one...

Oh no no no.
I already have The Fragile marked for purchase on Monday (Payday), really hope I can still get NTAE on Vinyl seeing as I opted for the Physical component-bag-of-ashes-and-coal-thingy on release day

[Lerxto]

You're not helping my decision to stick with one copy or buy a second one...

Introduction to OCD Collectors 101: always buy a second one.

[Toadflax]

Introduction to OCD Collectors 101: always buy a second one.

Even when you don't actually know what is? Never mind; I already know the answer.

[sick among the pure]

Introduction to OCD Collectors 101: always buy a second one.

You know what, you're right, fuck it. It's only $12. And if it ends up being the same as the press kits, it'll be nice to leave one sealed and open one to "mess" around with.

[Blade3327]

I want a three-song sequence of "Branches/Bones," "Everything," and "Getting Smaller." Not just because I would personally love it, but also because it would be so fun to watch people throw a fucking fit about it online afterwards.

Hard to believe anyone would. I suppose the verses for Everything may sound a little obnoxious to some (I'm personally cool with them), but that monster chorus more than makes up for it. Those three together would tear the stadium down and I'm betting even non-believers would come around after witnessing it.

[sick among the pure]

Linking due to size, but I made a NTAE artwork version of the "used to stand for something" YZ shirt design for my FB cover photo, if anyone else wants it.

[Tommy_Macbeth]

"The Idea Of You"

Immediately after the mouth takes over his body, he hears a knocking on his door and a stern voice. Still in shock from what he did, he pays no attention to it. The knocking turns into pounding and eventually he hears the door give in and some screaming. Something is thrown which explodes and he passes out.

He wakes handcuffed to a chair with a table in front of it and a mirror covering almost the entire wall. It takes him a moment to realize where he is: an interrogation room. A detective walks in a minute later, looking guiltily excited and serious at the same time..."Oh right I'm the killer..." he thinks to himself. The detective is eyeing him like some newly discovered species, waiting for him to do something. He's got a lot to get off his chest, he's honestly relieved that he's been exposed, he's got a lot to get off his chest.

"I'll tell you everything you want to know..." he says quietly and awkwardly. The detective's eyes light up for a second, no way is this guy going to tell me anything, or maybe he's not even the real killer, either way let's see what he has to say. "How did it start?" And so it begins.

For hours they talk, but the detective keeps getting confused on how so many followers/tribute killers came about. Did he recruit them to help him in his mission? How did it get so big? What was his criminal background, mental state, was he doing this because of a religion or belief? "Just go back to the idea of me" he replies many times.

"But you do acknowledge you're responsible for inspiring these massacres?" He looks at the ground at thinks for a moment then states,"Maybe that was somebody else...Maybe, I was somebody else." He looks at his reflection and can see the his silhouette, but the face is very blurry. He thinks out loud for a little: "I am somebody, for what that's worth, if that means anything anymore." He feels like the detective is as disappointed with the world as he is, the things he's seen.

The detective adds a statement just to see how he'll respond: "We've been suspecting it was you for a while." He just looks up and almost smiles a little bit as he asks: "I have been wondering, when did you know? You know, really know?" The detective moves on, this is unsettling. "Why did you kill all of these people?" He answers quickly: "I think there's something just wrong with me..." He looks like a little kid now, a confused, sad little kid. "I can't really describe totally why I did it and or how I felt...If I start to tell you anything, please don't pay attention. That's not really me in there, I would never do that..." The detective thought he was dealing with a reasonably easy to deal with suspect here, but he went from admitting the murders and talking, to not talking, to putting the blame on...someone else inside him?

"Just tell me what you remember." He looks angrily at the detective and says: "Remember, I don't want to remember anymore. Go back to that idea. Can you even hear me over here?" He looks like he's about the stand up from his chair. "Can't you feel it happening?! Everything absorbing, liquid, twitching, forming something terrible...There was someone else who isn't here anymore." The detective latches onto the last part of his speech: "Do you have a partner helping you?"...He looks up at the ceiling, at the mirror, and finally at the detective and says carefully: "You could call him that, a partner."

He feels his handcuffs becoming more and more loose until his hands are free and he's running for the door. He pulls with all his might, but it's locked, he's going to be stuck in here for the rest of his life. The screams he produces cause the ground to shake and he closes his eyes and finally opens them when everything is still. She's still in his arms. He's still in his house. He's still awake. HE is also still awake.

[Kamelion]

I was about to make a snarky comment like "you haven't been here long have you?" But yeah, you haven't been here long. The reaction here to "Everything" was, I think, I the first time I heard someone use the phrase "dumpster fire." And the 2005 reaction to "Getting Smaller" wasn't too far behind that either.

Obligatory "but I love both of those songs" post. I do!

[tremolo]

As do I. I wonder if everyone's opinion on "Everything" has softened over time or hardened? Perhaps I'll ask that in the Random Questions thread.

I like the song. Not convinced by the vocal melody in the 1st verse, but the overall sound (of the verses) reminds me a lot of The Cure. The heavy chorus reminds me of mbv. The harmonies in the 2nd verse are beautiful.

It's not a bad song, it's just not what you would expect from NIN.

[patj825]

I was about to make a snarky comment like "you haven't been here long have you?" But yeah, you haven't been here long. The reaction here to "Everything" was, I think, I the first time I heard someone use the phrase "dumpster fire." And the 2005 reaction to "Getting Smaller" wasn't too far behind that either.

"Dumpster fire," in a bad way?

[sick among the pure]

"Dumpster fire," in a bad way?

Has anyone ever used that phrase in a good way?

(to weigh in, I always liked Everything. Love the heavy parts a lot, actually, would have been awesome live.)