We like music, you like music, let's be friends.
All of a sudden it's NIN's The Slip
by Cy Fard posted May 12, 2008
When you look "prolific" up in the dictionary, Trent Reznor's picture won't be anywhere near the definition. But here we are a little more than a year since the phenomenal Year Zero, and Nine Inch Nails arrives with their third record in thirteen months, The Slip. True to his word, Reznor releases The Slip totally free on his website in various formats, a statement that his business model for releasing new music is here to stay. Unlike his previous collection, the experimental and instrumental, Ghosts I-IV, The Slip is a proper LP, being backed by two singles which emerged in the weeks leading up to the album's release. With an album of freely accessible material, the temptation is there to skew one's perspective, or to not take the album as seriously as something like Year Zero, which had a prolonged and inventive style of marketing. Time will only tell what the lasting effects of Reznor's guerrilla style release model will have.
Now for the music itself. The album starts with "999,999," a cold instrumental that sounds like an updated version of "Pinion" from Broken. This assessment is further backed as it segues into the crashing rush of "1,000,000," a dirty rocker with blaring synths and harsh guitar riffs. Reznor's trademark tambourine helps make this a head-nodding rocker. But Reznor's continued weakness in lyricism shows in The Slip, and certainly hinders it. Because he doesn't have a tight and structured concept that was used in Year Zero, the songs are left to stand on their own. This can be seen on the singles, "Discipline," and "Echoplex," which are the solid dark electro-pop that Reznor has been dabbling in since Pretty Hate Machine. Trouble is, he reverts back to the standard production and plain songwriting that plagued With Teeth, with some updates for his newfound experimentation.
The album is truly at its best when it deals in extremes. "Letting You", a worthy crossover between "Burn" and "The Perfect Drug," surges as the BPM counter goes off the chart and the distorted vocals chant inaudibly. It's followed by the jumpy "Head Down," a garage electro-rocker with a crafty looseness. Again, the vocals and lyrics are borderline laughable, sounding phoned in, which is oddly possible given how quickly these songs were produced and shipped (digitally of course). The album takes an unexpected turn during the second half. The typical Nine Inch Nails ballad "Lights in the Sky" is a moody piano driven track that is all atmosphere and little song, but Nine Inch Nails albums have always been about atmosphere. And things are taken too far on "Corona Radiata," a challenging and sparsely arranged experimental instrumental which goes nowhere for four minutes until the beats come in for a messy close. It's very much along the lines of Bowie and Eno's Berlin ambiance, with the apocalyptic edge that was explored in Ghosts I-IV.
The most rewarding song on The Slip might very well be its last, the humorously titled "Demon Seed." Coming after three low-tempo tracks, "Demon Seed" comes in sounding like the "new" Nine Inch Nails at its best. It's confident, well-produced, and combines the pop and experimental sides in a closer that's fierce and memorable. It's the brightest spot in a second half that is alienating following the pace set by the album's first half. And in just ten songs, one can't help but feel that the album ends abruptly, considering the usual length of Nine Inch Nails releases.
It will be interesting seeing how this album ages with time and repeated listens, considering it had relatively zero buildup, and wasn't given the exhausting wait and anticipation that characterized every other Nine Inch Nails album. With Year Zero, we saw arguably Nine Inch Nails finest record, a well written record and a combination of all the best elements of Nine Inch Nails (ballads, soundscapes, pop, funk, electronic, etc. etc.), in an album with urgent sonic and lyrical direction. The Slip lacks that direction, but again tries to combine all of Nine Inch Nails best elements into an even shorter format of ten songs, with no marketing and little publicity, leaving the music to stand naked. And what is here is an interesting but varied set of songs, but a flawed and uneven album which fails to achieve the strength or scope of its predecessor. Even still, it is already strong enough to stand alongside the rest of the Nine Inch Nails catalogue. One can only wonder how the album would have turned out, had it been forced into the mundane workings of the record label system. Probably not as interesting.
Now for the music itself. The album starts with "999,999," a cold instrumental that sounds like an updated version of "Pinion" from Broken. This assessment is further backed as it segues into the crashing rush of "1,000,000," a dirty rocker with blaring synths and harsh guitar riffs. Reznor's trademark tambourine helps make this a head-nodding rocker. But Reznor's continued weakness in lyricism shows in The Slip, and certainly hinders it. Because he doesn't have a tight and structured concept that was used in Year Zero, the songs are left to stand on their own. This can be seen on the singles, "Discipline," and "Echoplex," which are the solid dark electro-pop that Reznor has been dabbling in since Pretty Hate Machine. Trouble is, he reverts back to the standard production and plain songwriting that plagued With Teeth, with some updates for his newfound experimentation.
The album is truly at its best when it deals in extremes. "Letting You", a worthy crossover between "Burn" and "The Perfect Drug," surges as the BPM counter goes off the chart and the distorted vocals chant inaudibly. It's followed by the jumpy "Head Down," a garage electro-rocker with a crafty looseness. Again, the vocals and lyrics are borderline laughable, sounding phoned in, which is oddly possible given how quickly these songs were produced and shipped (digitally of course). The album takes an unexpected turn during the second half. The typical Nine Inch Nails ballad "Lights in the Sky" is a moody piano driven track that is all atmosphere and little song, but Nine Inch Nails albums have always been about atmosphere. And things are taken too far on "Corona Radiata," a challenging and sparsely arranged experimental instrumental which goes nowhere for four minutes until the beats come in for a messy close. It's very much along the lines of Bowie and Eno's Berlin ambiance, with the apocalyptic edge that was explored in Ghosts I-IV.
The most rewarding song on The Slip might very well be its last, the humorously titled "Demon Seed." Coming after three low-tempo tracks, "Demon Seed" comes in sounding like the "new" Nine Inch Nails at its best. It's confident, well-produced, and combines the pop and experimental sides in a closer that's fierce and memorable. It's the brightest spot in a second half that is alienating following the pace set by the album's first half. And in just ten songs, one can't help but feel that the album ends abruptly, considering the usual length of Nine Inch Nails releases.
It will be interesting seeing how this album ages with time and repeated listens, considering it had relatively zero buildup, and wasn't given the exhausting wait and anticipation that characterized every other Nine Inch Nails album. With Year Zero, we saw arguably Nine Inch Nails finest record, a well written record and a combination of all the best elements of Nine Inch Nails (ballads, soundscapes, pop, funk, electronic, etc. etc.), in an album with urgent sonic and lyrical direction. The Slip lacks that direction, but again tries to combine all of Nine Inch Nails best elements into an even shorter format of ten songs, with no marketing and little publicity, leaving the music to stand naked. And what is here is an interesting but varied set of songs, but a flawed and uneven album which fails to achieve the strength or scope of its predecessor. Even still, it is already strong enough to stand alongside the rest of the Nine Inch Nails catalogue. One can only wonder how the album would have turned out, had it been forced into the mundane workings of the record label system. Probably not as interesting.