One record at a time: 283. Nine Inch Nails - Add Violence

The EP "Add Violence" starts with the electronic rattling of "Less Than" which has a strong melody and immediate appeal. The first track ends unceremoniously and the percussion of "The Lovers" comes hot on its heels. This is one of those songs where the verse consists of unintelligible whispers/speech but the chorus explodes into a seductive melody revealing the true majesty of the song. "This Isn't The Place" is an atmospheric piece that is largely instrumental and completes the first side without making much impression.

"Not Anymore" relies on the dynamic between the quieter verses and the blazing chorus. Whilst this approach is partially successful, it becomes a little tiring - something the band must have been aware of as the track only last for three minutes.

The remainder of the record is taken up by an eleven minute opus titled "The Background World". Things start out well with ebbing synths pads and a solid programmed beat underpinning Trent's tale of a world "bleeding out". The song proper ends after about five minutes and the remainder of the track consists of a loop with increasing amounts of distortion applied. After a few minutes things simply become a wall of white noise. Why anyone would want to sit an listen to that nonsense for six minutes I have no idea. It's a shame the end of the record is so bad as it drags down the good stuff that came before. At least it came with a free slip mat. 3/5

One record at a time: 282. Nine Inch Nails - Not The Actual Events

"Not The Actual Events" is the first in a trilogy of E.P.s released by Nine Inch Nails between 2016 and 2018. This vinyl edition comes in a sealed bag that contains a black powder designed to leave marks during the production process which means every sleeve is effectively unique. The main music contained on this release is pressed on one side of the LP and three tracks from the "The Downward Spiral" pressed on the flip side. The trick here is that the tracks on the flip side play in reverse.

We begin with "Branches/Bones" which comes in at under two minutes in length but what it lacks in duration it makes up for in noise levels. Second track "Dear World," sees Trent talking over burbling analogue synths until the stripped back chorus injects some more substantial melody. There's more weird noises and effects on "She's Gone Away" which creeps along in the most sinister way. You'd be forgiven for thinking the record was playing at the wrong speed when the chorus kicks which makes for one of the more interesting songs on this collection.

"The Idea of You" is a stilted and traditional heavy rock song that even features Dave Grohl on drums as the final cliche. There's some thinly veiled plagiarism on "Burning Bright" which takes elements of the guitar riff from Black Sabbath's "Iron Man" and tortures us with it for nearly six minutes. 

There's nothing too offensive on here, but there's nothing that is going to set the world on fire either. Everything is middling and vaguely unimpressive. I guess this is why the band encourage us to listen to this record loud: the volume might somehow detract from the slightly mediocre content. 2.5/5

One record at a time: 281. Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile: Deviations 1

You may remember that I regard "The Fragile" as something of a middling effort with only a few high points. So why would I chose to buy a four disc, horrendously expensive vinyl edition of the same album that features only instrumental version of those same mediocre songs? To be honest, I have no idea.

I think I purchased this set as it lured me in with promises of exclusive material and stating it was a "one time pressing; when its gone, its gone". Well I'm calling bullshit on this statement as this record was released seven years ago and it is still available from the band's UK web store today. Occasionally it will show as "out of stock", but it reappears a week or two later suggesting they are repressing this ad infinitum.

I'm certain I didn't pay the current £75 price tag seven years ago. Most of the songs on these discs are OK, but turning them into instrumentals doesn't really do much to enhance them. Some songs definitely sound clearer without the distorted vocals, but that simply doesn't justify the cost. Sometimes it's no wonder people steal or illegally share digital files. 2/5

One record at a time: 280. Nine Inch Nails - Hesitation Marks

We have to jump forward a few albums in the Nine Inch Nails discography to "Hesitation Marks" of 2013 as I don't yet own "The Slip" or "Year Zero" on vinyl. Here I am playing the standard double vinyl that was released here in the UK (by Polydor of all people).

This album was one of the first I encountered where the singles were only released digitally. "Came Back Haunted" was released first and gave me hope that the new album was going to be suitably electronic. I've read this song was created using some of the same synths as used on "Pretty Hate Machine", and whilst it may not sound exactly like something from the band's debut, it certainly harks back to a more melodic and rhythmical template.

The second single "Copy Of A" features various rhythmical elements and burbling synths that are augmented by Trent's repeated vocal phrases. Supposedly the great Pino Palladino is playing bass on this track, but I can't hear any bass guitar - maybe my tinnitus is affecting more than just high frequencies.

One of the things I like about this album is that I am not having to endure acoustic drums. "Find My Way" has some great stuttering rhythms and the slowed down funk of  "All Time Low" twists its way around a perfectly monotonous programmed beat.

"Everything" is the first song to feature guitar prominently and has vocal harmonies in the verses that sound distinctly pop. Thankfully the electronic funk of "Satellite" comes to the rescue and provides the perfect introduction for the second disc. Other favourites are "Running" and the impressive "I Would For You" which prove Reznor remains an engaging and original songwriter.

My attention begins to wain as the album approaches its conclusions and with fourteen tracks there is almost too much here. I guess I am too accustomed to ten track albums designed to fit on a single LP. Yet on this album, Trent did almost everything I wished for: he peeled back the distortion, turned down the guitars, got rid of meaningless instrumentals and largely dumped the acoustic drums. It's not "Pretty Hate Machine Part 2" but it's not a million miles away. 4/5

One record at a time: 279. Nine Inch Nails - With Teeth

Following the release of "The Fragile", Trent Reznor made significant changes in his life and returned to writing music with a new vigour. Around the same time my life began to spiral downward and this music arrived at the intersection of those changing fortunes.

Here I am playing the 2019 "Definitive Edition" on double vinyl, but CD was my format of choice back in 2005. As soon as the electronic rhythms and deep rumbling bass of opening track "Why Do You Get All The Love In The world?" began, I knew this album was going to be much more to my taste than its predecessor. When this song enters its second phase with the arrival of a kick drum and piano refrain, things begin to take off in the most satisfying way.

It seems inevitable that a ridiculously fast and noisy track has to follow, but "You Know What You Are?" is better than most of this type of song Reznor has produced before. "The Collector" has a distinctive bassline and some nice touches but is ruined by the acoustic drums (by Dave Grohl....yawn). Much more to my taste is the single "The Hand That Feeds" which seems to mix a dance beat with distorted guitars and Reznor's slick lyrics to great effect. 

"Love Is Not Enough" is a slow paced and angry song that is mixed to perfection. The distorted vocals and guitar of previous album are here, but they aren't allowed to dominate and the finer detail of the backing track is given room to breathe. Whilst "Everyday Is Exactly The Same" uses acoustic drums, the rumbling synths and soaring chorus elevate this song to a level I worried we might not hear again from Nine Inch Nails. Whilst "With Teeth" is passable, it's the next track "Only" that a blows things out of the water and takes this album to another level. The solid funk of the bassline and the beat underpin some amazing lyrics that I must have sung screamed along to a million times, "I just made you up to hurt myself, and it worked. Yes it did."

"Getting Smaller" is another angry, rapid fire track but it succeeds as the distorted guitars on the chorus remain restrained and purposeful rather than merely generating a wall of noise as they have on previous albums. There's a malevolent air to "Sunspots" but it is one of the more vanilla tracks on here. We have to endure more Dave Grohl drumming on the lacklustre "Home" and "The Line Begins To Blur" before the drone of "Beside You In Time" signals proceedings are coming to an end. There is one final song in the form of "Right Where It Belongs" whose reflective melancholy finally brings the curtain down. 4/5

One record at a time: 278. Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile

There was no significant promotion or build up to the release of the fourth Nine Inch Nails album here in the UK, and I wasn't really aware of it until I saw it on the shelves of my local Virgin Megastore.

When I reached the till to complete my purchase, the guy behind the counter said, "Oh you get this free poster with that CD," and handed me a machine numbered 12"x12" print of the sleeve. I still have that "flat" (as I believe they were called in the industry) but I have no idea why it was given to me. It seems these flats were included in the promotional triple LP, so how it became separated from the vinyl and ended up in a retail store is a mystery.

The confused and slightly muted approach to the release of this album is cited as one reasons "The Fragile" did not sell nearly as well as its predecessor. However, my hunch is that this record failed to find an audience as it fell between two camps. Neither the rock audience attracted by "The Downward Spiral" nor the electronic industrial audience of "Pretty Hate Machine" would have been satisfied with the music on this album.

Here I am listening to the ruinously expensive 2017 definitive edition which is pressed on three 180g LPs and features remastered audio. The first time I listened to this album, the bizarre acoustic guitar riff of "Somewhat Damaged" instantly turned me off and I began to worry this was gong to be another guitar driven rock album. Yet as the beat and stuttering synth noises began, my worries eased somewhat. Whilst there aren't too many lyrical or melodic hooks on this song it makes for a good introduction. 

"The World Went Away" was released as a single in some territories but not here in the UK - which is just as well as this chugging guitar track is devoid of a rhythm and is of limited interest. Reznor's distinctive piano playing features on the short instrumental "The Frail" which segues into the atmospheric "The Wretched". This song is much more like the material on "Broken" that I enjoyed so much as is a highlight of the album for me.  

The single "We're In This Together" ushers in the start of the b-side with its acoustic drums and distorted guitars. The chorus of this song is undoubtedly driving and melodic but the verses are a little tedious. The title track is fair enough but as "Just Like You Imagined" begins I realise I've never really warmed to these songs due to the acoustic drums. The final track on the first disc "Even Deeper" does benefit from drum programming and some instrumentation that isn't entirely reliant on distorted guitars, so all is not lost.

"Pilgrimage" is an instrumental that repeats a leitmotif across different arrangements and instruments without really advancing much. "No, You Don't" is a fast paced and catchy song that seems to cross metal with soft synths and somehow make it work. It's much more successful than tracks like "The World Went Away" and would have made a great single.

The instrumental "La Mer" is distinctive piece that utilises a bassline we will hear later on the record but it runs out of steam well before its five minutes are up. The first song that harks back to a more electronic sound is "The Great Below" which ebbs and flows before succumbing to the inevitable acoustic drums.

For some strange reason I went to see a film called "Final Destination" in March 2000. Whilst watching the movie I realised the brilliant song that was playing was by Nine Inch Nails and must be on their latest album. Back then I had dismissed "The Fragile" as just "noise" and I missed this magnificent return to form. This is the best song on the album by a county mile. 

I like "Where Is Everybody?" simply because it uses synths and programmed beats as a nice change from most of what has gone before. "The Mark Has Been Made" is another atmospheric but ultimately disposable instrumental that points to Reznor's future career as a soundtrack composer. "Please" blends synths, electric bass an those horrible acoustic drums, but it just ends up being too noisy to discern any meaning from what is going on. "Starfuckers Inc." has some great rhythmical elements during the verses but the chorus descends into the bland guitar nonsense we are accustomed to by this point. 

There's even more senseless noise with "Complication" and the truly dreadful "The New Flesh". As I turn over to the final side I'm beginning to feel like I've broken the back of this record and the groove on "The Big Comedown" proves to be a good reward for sticking with it this long. The stuttering and noisy "Underneath It All" is fairly short but the final instrumental "Ripe" is pretty tortuous. 

My disinterest in this album has always been driven by the fact that it is too long and overblown. I have a playlist that strips things down to the six tracks I enjoy and intersperses them with a few of the more interesting (i.e. short) instrumentals as album filler. But even this short version doesn't get played much to be honest. 3/5

One record at a time: 277. Nine Inch Nails - Quake

Back in the nineties a friend of mine would extol the virtues of gaming on a PC and tell me how good games like Doom, Duke Nukem 3-D and Dark Forces were. I didn't really have much time for playing games at this time in my life so I didn't really pay much attention when the same friend began talking about a new game called Quake. In retrospect, I can see that this was a mistake as not only was Quake a seminal moment in gaming, but the soundtrack was created by one of my favourite groups of the time Nine Inch Nails.

The audio for the soundtrack was included on the CD-ROM of the game but it wasn't made available as a stand-alone album until this vinyl was released in 2020. The music on this record consists of ten tracks of ambient soundscapes that Reznor himself describes as, "not music, it's textures and ambiences and whirling machine noises and stuff."

I think the completist side of me decided to buy this record, but neither the music fan in me or my bank balance have thanked me for it. So maybe it was actually a blessing that I didn't pay any attention to my friend talking about Quake back in the day as it delayed the disappointment of hearing the soundtrack by at least twenty four years. 1/5

One record at a time: 276. Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral

If Nine Inch Nails debut album put them on the map, then "The Downward Spiral" moved them into the mainstream. For whatever reason, this album seems to get all the love amongst fans and sold in its millions. Personally, I think this album is OK, but I really can't see what all the fuss is about.

I read somewhere that there is some form of story that pins these tracks together; but I find it impossible to discern any narrative here. One of the things that disappoints me about this album is its lyrics. Unlike previous records, these songs are neither subtle nor clever; everything seems crude and puerile. Whereas lyrics on previous albums would amuse or titillate, they simply induce an involuntary eye roll here. 

"Mr Self Destruct" is a strange track that switches between rapid-fire verses and a barely audible middle section. There's definitely some merit in this track, but it isn't an auspicious opening. It feels like all of the focussed anger from "Broken" has begun spilling out and landed in a sticky mess on the floor.

Things get back on track with "Piggy" which has enough ideas and crazy drumming to entertain. There's very little electronics going on in this song, but the traditional instruments on display are mangled and abused enough to make them sound interesting. When you have finished listening to this album it's likely this is the song you find yourself humming. "Heresy" gives our first sign of a more synth driven track but its lyrics are straight out of a teenage diary: "You God is dead and no one cares. If there is a hell, I'll see you there". Oh please.

I bought both CDs singles and the 9" vinyl of "March of the Pigs" when they were released but I wasn't really that impressed by any of them. For me this song is just too fast, too noisy and only offers a brief nod to melody. Whilst I have always assumed this song must somehow relate to the second track on the album, I could never figure out how.

"Closer" is a rather infamous song with less than subtle lyrics and a relentless beat. When it was first released as a single, the groove in this song really impressed me and gave me hope that Trent hadn't completely abandoned the use of synthesizers. Yet when I hear it today, the music isn't enough to save this song from its boorish and vulgar lyrics. Maybe I'm just getting too old.

"Ruiner" sounds OK but it has a bizarre Jimi Hendrix style guitar solo juxtaposed with a driving beat that just doesn't work for me. I'm really not a fan of the samples of screaming people that are used in "The Becoming" but the lyrics are much improved. One of the best songs on the record is "I Do Not Want This" which moves between delicate verses and a raging chorus. Next up is a short song called "Big Man With A Gun" which begins and ends without making much impression. "A Warm Place" is a dream-like instrumental that sounds like it belongs on the soundtrack to a film. There's an indistinguishable wall of noise in the form of "Eraser" before the slightly improved "Reptile" raises our hopes that we will encounter a melody before the end of the record. The title track is a lazy screaming rehash of the end theme from "Closer" that is drawn out for four whole minutes. Today, it's impossible to divorce the final track "Hurt" from the version recorded by Johnny Cash, but this original recording has a different feel that provides the perfect end to the album.

This 2017 definitive edition features remastered audio spread across two 180g records and is housed in a gatefold sleeve. The records are beautifully presented but, whilst there are some good points, the sound is just too rock for me. The synthesizers have been buried in the mix and everything sounds like an overtly masculine, axe wielding cliche. This might be Trent's biggest selling album and a fan favourite, but I'm not an admirer. 2/5