halo twenty eight. hesitation marks. 09.03.2013

[hani]

I'd be shocked if they give it anything above the 6's.

not necessarily, they gave The Slip 7.5

[richardp]

Well, Larry Fitzmaurice absolutely praised the band's MIA set last night, so that probably means one of the idiot interns will shit all over the new album.

[Lastentrance]

This album is in ways an expected disappointment. Trent's music in the last ~five years has felt extremely formulaic and forced, which has worked fine for soundtracks, but with Nine Inch Nails I think it's brought some failure. The lyrics do not flow, are sadly overly simplified and barely convey any interesting feelings or ideas. The song composition rarely strays from conventional pop, which is something NIN has always been good at mixing up. Trent has mentioned Hesitation Marks being about simplicity and minimalism, but this doesn't mean he can't make the sounds that are there more interesting or creative; also, Trent has always been incredible about layering sounds to make these massive, imaginative soundscapes in which you pick up new levels and sounds with each listen. I now feel like after seven plays, I know this album inside and out. The beats are not captivating and after a minute of each song are pretty boring with no progression.

It was great hearing it at first, the excitement of a new NIN album. After a couple plays I started to think "Is this all there is to it? Wasn't NIN more exciting before?" I put on Year Zero and was completely blown away by the changing soundscape, the conviction behind each song, the production, the lyrics (yeah, I never thought I'd say that before HM), and how much it requires from the listener. I'm all for a quieter Nine Inch Nails, but quieter does not have to mean unimaginative.

I enjoy some of the songs, I've really liked "Came Back Haunted" and it's atmosphere.

Also, "Copy Of A", while being one of the better songs, actually feels like a comment on the rest of the album (I'm sure this has been written in a trillion reviews). Many of the songs sound like tributes to other large influential bands to me. "Find My Way" of Massive Attack, "All Time Low" of Queens of the Stone Age, "Disappointed" of Radiohead, "Everything" of the Cure, "I Would For You" of Filter maybe? You always expect this of newer bands finding their way but Trent should be able to paint his own path now.

Interesting you say that as I feel CBH is one of the least atmospheric tracks on the album, and YZ as one of the plainest NIN albums to date - drum patterns felt lazy and melded into one towards the middle of the record as well as lazy tracks like Beginning of the End. I think HM is a massive return to form!
Good shout on I Would For You being like a Filter track though.

[Lastentrance]

Oh and Pitchfork review? I'm gonna guess on a wildcard 9.2. Wishful thinking?

[Ichiro]

Well, Larry Fitzmaurice absolutely praised the band's MIA set last night, so that probably means one of the idiot interns will shit all over the new album.

Ha. Even that was somewhat of a backhanded compliment. He could have just said those nice things about the concert but he had to preface it by saying he still has problems with Trent.

[staleincense]

Great, so I've just been sold a defective copy of Hesitation Marks!

Amazon, please kindly so fuck yourself.

[voidnz]

It's Amazon's fault?

[binaryhermit]

Great, so I've just been sold a defective copy of Hesitation Marks!

Amazon, please kindly so fuck yourself.

Try contacting them and seeing about a refund or exchange. Plus, doesn't Amazon offer autorip on Hesitation Marks?

[staleincense]

Try contacting them and seeing about a refund or exchange. Plus, doesn't Amazon offer autorip on Hesitation Marks?

Yeah, they do. Still angry about it though.

[staleincense]

It's Amazon's fault?

No, I'm just generally pissed off right now.

[binaryhermit]

Yeah, they do. Still angry about it though.

Understandable. Though chances are your copy was a dud before Amazon got their hands on it, unless there was a packaging issue that broke it. But that would probably be obvious.

[sheepdean]

Great, so I've just been sold a defective copy of Hesitation Marks!

Amazon, please kindly so fuck yourself.

Mine had a minor greasemark that I had to clean before it would play, could that be it?

[Tea]

Interesting you say that as I feel CBH is one of the least atmospheric tracks on the album, and YZ as one of the plainest NIN albums to date - drum patterns felt lazy and melded into one towards the middle of the record as well as lazy tracks like Beginning of the End. I think HM is a massive return to form!
Good shout on I Would For You being like a Filter track though.

I don't really mean atmosphere as in directly atmospheric noises, but more of what everything put together conveys in terms of an overall feel. Though saying that, the loud droning atmospheric tone in the background of the chorus is definitely my favorite sound on the album.

Yep, not saying YZ is great, I'm very critical of post-Fragile NIN. YZ though was definitely his way of returning to "industrial" so while they did drone on a lot, they felt more creative and there were a lot of parts that strayed from the loop and took them elsewhere, something that doesn't really occur in HM.

I think though, based on what tracks were produced first, that Hesitation Marks shows potential for the next album. Haven't given up hope yet.

[joplinpicasso]

Can't wait to (hopefully) receive my copies tomorrow. Listened to the final four songs again today. Struck me hard yet again.

[minusthesnake]

Maybe this was covered already (it's 2 days old by now), but isn't it "the very nature of the beast is violent"?

Not according to the lyrics booklet. The booklet could be incorrect, it wouldn't be the only place where its wrong, but given how distorted the vocals are for that line, it's hard to argue.

[jjaks]

JAP edition with a bonus.

[SM Rollinger]

Dude, would you care to share the Autolux mix of Everything plz?

[Ichiro]

What time do you guys reckon this'll be aval for download for us preorderers

I'm curious about this too since I forget what happened with the Welcome Oblivion pre-orders...

[butter_hole]

I'm curious about this too since I forget what happened with the Welcome Oblivion pre-orders...

I remember downloading my Welcome Oblivion order at midnight US time.. it was the middle of the day here and I already had a CD rip of the album, but why not?

[Faust]

Has anyone experienced this with their order so far? I ordered the Deluxe Edition and while it says its expected to deliver tomorrow its if anything going farther away from my location..

I live in Jersey, and somehow it ended up in Maryland and now its in North Carolina, am I going crazy here or is there something wrong?

Here is the tracking of the order so far..

[gorast]

Oh boy, here comes the swarm of people begging for the Autolux remix...

[ThinkIcouldburn]

Has anyone experienced this with their order so far? I ordered the Deluxe Edition and while it says its expected to deliver tomorrow its if anything going farther away from my location..

I live in Jersey...

Very odd. Doing better then I am however. I paid for expedited shipping despite it saying orders will be shipped to arrive on release day. I'm also in Jersey and my order is still sitting in California and isn't scheduled to arrive until Saturday the 7th. I really hope that isn't right.

[LenaMHJBKZ2]

Even though my zip code was wrong, I still got my Deluxe Edition... Now I had I checked the mail on friday, I would have had it earlier.

[Trent1995]

I'm probably never ordering anything from Modlife again. My pre-order (which I ordered in July) is still sitting in California and has been for 4 days now. I highly doubt that it's going to come all the way to Pittsburgh, PA all the way from California within 12 hours. I'm so pissed off about this. I even emailed Modlife twice about it, and got no response. Either they're ignoring me because they don't want to give me a refund, or they're dealing with too many angry customers. Either way, I guess I'm sticking to Amazon for my pre-orders and NIN merchandise. Can't believe I paid $8 for my pre-order to be 4 days late. I could have gone to fucking Wal-Mart and got it A LOT cheaper and quicker. I wish I could get even just my shipping money back. (According to the shipping, I won't have it until Saturday. Release day arrival my fucking ass.)

[Trent1995]

Has anyone experienced this with their order so far? I ordered the Deluxe Edition and while it says its expected to deliver tomorrow its if anything going farther away from my location..

I live in Jersey, and somehow it ended up in Maryland and now its in North Carolina, am I going crazy here or is there something wrong?

Here is the tracking of the order so far..

Nope. Mine's just been sitting in California for 4 days in a row now. I live all the way across the country (PA), and I doubt that it will get from there to here in a matter of 12 hours.

[xolotl]

I'm probably never ordering anything from Modlife again. My pre-order (which I ordered in July) is still sitting in California and has been for 4 days now.

Remember that there have been various people stating that the tracking information they're getting on the web has turned out to be totally wrong, and in many cases they're getting the shipping information AFTER they actually receive the item. It's entirely possible that the tracking system is just totally sucking, and your stuff is a lot closer than you think. I wouldn't get too ragey until it Actually Doesn't Show Up.

Which isn't to say that it might not end up showing up way late, like it seems to be indicating now, but time will tell. FWIW, I'm in the same boat, though I personally don't really care - having the digital on-time is enough for me. Not receiving a preorder on the day of isn't at all uncommon, Modlife/NIN or not, in my experience.

[That other guy]

Nope. Mine's just been sitting in California for 4 days in a row now. I live all the way across the country (PA), and I doubt that it will get from there to here in a matter of 12 hours.

Thats f'd up...


Mine came from Cali via UPS to Buffalo, deliverd normal mail.

[Trent1995]

Remember that there have been various people stating that the tracking information they're getting on the web has turned out to be totally wrong, and in many cases they're getting the shipping information AFTER they actually receive the item. It's entirely possible that the tracking system is just totally sucking, and your stuff is a lot closer than you think. I wouldn't get too ragey until it Actually Doesn't Show Up.

Which isn't to say that it might not end up showing up way late, like it seems to be indicating now, but time will tell. FWIW, I'm in the same boat, though I personally don't really care - having the digital on-time is enough for me. Not receiving a preorder on the day of isn't at all uncommon, Modlife/NIN or not, in my experience.

True. Thank god for the digital copies. Which, what time do you think they'll be available? Midnight?

[joplinpicasso]

My shipment will supposedly arrive on September -- I can't wait that long !!1!!

Yes, same question, will we be able to download at midnight California time or what?

[binaryhermit]

Yes, same question, will we be able to download at midnight California time or what?

That's one possibility. The other likely possibility is midnight Eastern (in about 35 minutes)