Honestly, it's never been a big deal to me to have the EPs fit together perfectly as one solid narrative. I like that they share themes, but can also exist on their own.
Active Member
Honestly, it's never been a big deal to me to have the EPs fit together perfectly as one solid narrative. I like that they share themes, but can also exist on their own.
Throbbing Member
I really wonder how the three reversed songs on the b side of NTAE vinyl fit into everything. There really is something interesting here... deeper than just relative themes. The fact that they are reversed and the sound that they produce. Reptile reversed is pleasing to the ear and Hurt reversed, you still hear the original sound which to me still conveys the original meaning. Thoughts?
Throbbing Member
I truly wonder if the last EP is a lead-in to a new LP. This could be why Trent and co. are taking their time. It's a possibility considering Trent's comments in the last Lowe interviews where he mentions the last EP connecting up and having different versions of the songs, etc. That easily could have evolved into an LP. Who knows. Interesting to think that could be a possibility...
Active Member
It's possible. It's been ages since he last talked about it. However, he did hint at the time that he was maybe thinking of turning "all three EPs" into a full LP with different versions of the songs.Originally Posted by streetman
I hope that's the case here, otherwise all we have to look forward to are remixes. Not that this is a bad thing, just that I'd rather the concept be fully realised before we get a potential LP.
Hairy Member
I seriously hate to be "that guy", but isn't it more likely that the EPs don't really have a narrative? There's themes of course, but I seriously doubt that they have a linear story attached.
Throbbing Member
You're most definitely right about that.
Active Member
First of all, we are still technically within the 6-8 month time-frame that he gave in that email back in early June for another 8 days, so it hasn't YET taken longer than what he said. Though it clearly will take a bit longer than he said, but as has been pointed out many times already, I'd rather it take a little longer and be great than have it be rushed and suffer. Anyway, maybe it's taking longer because he's also been figuring out how the three parts can fit together into a cohesive album? Or maybe there's another element that's adding to the gestation period, like a mini ARG or something? Maybe he wants to have the production of the vinyl completed before sales go live so that people don't have to wait any additional months for their product to arrive?
24.24.2.2286
Yeah, I'm not 100% sure why people have been—relatively speaking—losing it about EP #3 being late when, A) it's not yet late and, B) when/if it doesn't arrive in the next week, it's still not like we're looking at "follow up to The Downward Spiral-" or Bleedthrough/With Teeth- or Tension 2013 DVD-level delays or anything. Or Tool-level delays. Or...you know, I'm hard-pressed to think of a band that hasn't had an LP or EP take months or years longer than originally promised. Often with no explanation beforehand/minimal explanation afterwards. Here, I shall make perfunctory mention of Tapeworm. Though I haven't posted much in the past year, I do still lurk a bit most days, and this—again, relative to "outrages" expressed in the past—mild furor has kinda been driving me a little bonkers.
Is it just people who haven't been in the Nine Inch Nails fanbase so long that they are unfamiliar with how, er, gooey the concept of time/deadlines can be in the Reznorverse? Or some other subset I'm not thinking of? Otherwise, it sorta reminds me of people from my hometown in upstate New York, where it can go from 80 degrees to 10 overnight (not hyperbolic), sometimes there are multiple feet of snow that'll fall in a twenty-four hour period in the last week of April, and even sometimes early November can prompt a brief reinstallation of window air conditioners: Something like this happens literally every year, yet people who have lived there for decades will still volubly complain about it on a daily basis, as if somehow entirely unfamiliar with the phenomenon, and a certain amount of Officially Declared Grievances will suddenly rectify it, evening out the weather to a consistent 68 and partly cloudy.
I feel like I'll be sad if we don't see EP #3 by summer but, hey, I'm always a little sad when I wake up and there's not new Nine Inch Nails to be listened to—especially when I had good reason to expect there would be. But I'd only start asking "So, we gonna hear an update or something on the end of this alleged 'Trilogy'?" around the end of December 2018. I think I'd only start to get straight-up aggravated if there were no voluntary word at all about anything, plus a refusal to answer questions about the issue, and no record by this time next year.
Or if we'd all already pre-ordered the thing and were sitting here with lighter wallets and no product. That'd be shitty, too, I guess.
Banned
Just got back into NIN after 15 years. I was blown away by the first 2 EPs in the trilogy. I have mixed feelings about The Background World though. The looping ending is amazing... the first half is not so good. Sorry Mr. Reznor and Mr. Ross.
Active Member
Funny, my initial reaction to The Background World was the opposite of yours (loved the first half, not the 2nd). Regardless, your opinion may change as it grows on you. I wasn't quite sure what to make of Not the Actual Events at first, but it's become one of my favorite NIN releases in their entire catalog. Either way, welcome back to NIN fandom!
Active Member
Welcome back! I also felt that TBW's beginning was a little boring the first time I heard it. It's grown on me massively, and personally, it's now my favourite thing on Add Violence. Give it time.
Also, definitely listen to Year Zero, which is the precursor to these EPs.
Active Member
BADGERS
It would be real classic NIN if there just wasn't a third part and he went on to other things. That's the Trent I know and love.
Throbbing Member
When did that ever happen?
Throbbing Member
You mean the one who had an addiction problem and almost killed himself? Yeah, no thanks. I prefer the together, get shit done Trent of today.
24.24.1.1425 [Executed]
How is "Together, get shit done Trent" doing with that Wave Goodbye Tour Bluray? I'm as happy as everyone else he is alive and happy today, but I'm not going to contribute his occasional scatterbrain and moving onto other things to the drugs. He just does it sometimes. It's part of the agony of being a NIN fan.
BADGERS
The classic agony. Classic Trent Reznor.
Active Member
I doubt Trent & Atticus are going to just abandon something that has brought them a good deal of attention. I can't see them treating a trilogy that's two-thirds completed the same way live projects have been treated.
Active Member
Agreed. Now, if May rolls around and there's still no word on part three...it'll be time to revisit this idea.
As for the next releases, I'm thinking halo 32 is part 3 and maybe halo 33 is a remix/variant album of the three EPs? I could handle that.
Active Member
I remember Trent saying at the Chicago Q&A that whether or not he and Atticus accepted some scoring gig offers would determine the release window for it, so it’s entirely possible they decided to work on something and that’s taken up some time.
Throbbing Member
Wow. It's been 7 months since AV release.
BADGERS
Am I the only one who sees the "Trilogy" designation as arbitrary? Right now what we have is basically tangentially related. I like these EPs just fine but they definitely could have been released any time over the last 13 years.... If the next thing that happened was some left turn LP or something I'd be pretty stoked
This Cannot Continue
I wouldn't put it past TR and AR if we got to April/May and they just went "fuck it, the EP turned into an album, here you go fuckers"
Throbbing Member
That does sound like the sort of things that might happen. It'll be that or just nothing happens at all and nobody will formally confirm the third EP is cancelled and people will still be moaning about it in five years time.
Active Member
I wouldn't complain if that were the case, but I doubt it. Most likely scenario is the simplest one: it's just taking a little longer than he expected it to. We can be patient. It hasn't been that long and we've DEFINITELY had to wait longer in the past.
Throbbing Member
I agree... but it is hard not to jump to conclusions based on history. As always, these concerns would be resolved with simple updates from the nin camp and maybe some definitive statements (ex. The Fragile DE has been shelved, too busy next ep is delayed, etc.)
I don't think that hurts the "mystery" surrounding the artist especially if it is just done under the nin brand and not any individual.
Active Member
I miss the days of TR answering fans' questions on the "Access" page. Things like this could be cleared up directly through that avenue. Access (or something like it) should make a comeback on nin.com sometime in the future.
Administrator
I miss the days of him communicating at all. It used to be so fun to see new posts from him. I guess he’s bored of social media these days.
The third ep is not cancelled. No way. I refused to accept this as an outcome.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Throbbing Member
This is the point, right? Nothing ever gets officially "cancelled." As fans we are just left wondering for years when we might get something that was announced, or understand some mysterious image or comment and then they never mentioned again. I'm not talking about the ep... we can't add that to the list until maybe April.
In all seriousness though, I think the ep is still coming according to plan... the whole concept and artwork making sense and leading into something bigger; I think we can add that to the abyss.
NOTE: I am not complaining about what has been released or the quantity / quality of work lately, just the lack of fan interaction and information sharing.
This Cannot Continue
I don't really think he got bored of it. When the information super highway first started it was exciting to finally be able to speak to fans and artists alike. It's changed dramatically since then, to the point social media is mostly a cluster fuck of idiots screaming at each other. I'm sure he'd love to chat to fans like he used to, he just doesn't want to deal with the twats that come flooding with it these days (not that any of you fine people are twats)
Posting Permissions
