It is no secret that Nine Inch Nails is my favorite band. I’ve spent many many days, nights and years, delving deep into the catalog. When you take a real close listen to a lot of the songs and the order they were placed in on the albums, you really get to feel the vibe. For example, The Fragile (my all time favorite NIN album and favorite album EVER), on disc 2 (better known as the right disc), there is an instrumental song called “The Mark Has Been Made” that is a wonderful almost segue into the next song “Please.” This instrumental is a beast live too. Take a moment and let this one sink into your head!
Page Hamilton of Helmet has one of the most distinct guitar sounds in the last 30 years. His style and tone has often been tried to be duplicated and has influenced and inspired countless bands and players. His work in Helmet is truly exceptional along with his other work with Glenn Branca, Band of Susans and his experimental jazz work. His style is so unique that when he’s guested on other band’s albums, there is no denying it’s Page. Here’s a few of the songs he has guested on over the years.
Nine Inch Nails- No, You Don’t (from The Fragile):
Therapy?- Unbeliever (from Troublegum):
Wire- All Fours (from Object 47):
Norma Jean- Opposite of Left and Wrong (from The Anti-Mother):
P.O.D- God Forbid (fro When Angels and Serpents Dance):
Linkin Park- All For Nothing (from The Hunting Party):
When you think of guitar solos, Nine Inch Nails is probably not very high on the first ones that come to mind. That is about to change though. On the epic masterpiece of an album that is The Downward Spiral, there is a song on there that has a guitar solo that oozes the pain and anguish that perfectly coincides with the thematic nature of the record. That song is “Ruiner” and it’s one of the most underrated songs on the album. The solo on the song is actually inspired by Pink Floyd’s “Comfortably Numb.” Trent was interviewed by Guitar World magazine years ago and this is what he had to say about the solo, “Ah yes, the great, Pink Floyd-esque, Seventies-sounding section of the song. That’s just a preset on the Zoom. I think I accidentally called up the wrong patch. I’m not a soloist. I was just laughing when I was playing with this ridiculous sound, recording into the computer saying like, “This is so cheesy,” you know? I later realized that I basically tried to play a “Comfortably Numb”-type solo with this sound. I played the song for Chris, our drummer, and I was thinking, “He’s going to start laughing. It’s silly.” But he goes, “Man, that guitar section was fucking great.” Anyways, this solo when “Ruiner” is played live is stunning.
Nine Inch Nails- Ruiner:
Nine Inch Nails- Ruiner (Live at The Wiltern 2009- FINAL Wave Goodbye Show):
I will never forget the first time I listened to Nine Inch Nails album The Fragile the whole way through. There was something so special about that album. I could and will go into more detail about that album at some point down the road. One of the immediate songs that hit me like a ton of bricks was track number 7 on Disc 1 (or the left side), “Just Like You Imagined.” This instrumental track blew me away. It’s a total encompassing of everything that makes The Fragile so great. The song on the studio recording features David Bowie’s longtime pianist, Michael Garson, who adds some beautiful moments. Live, this song is even better. I’ve had the pleasure of hearing it live a few times and each one of those I was totally in awe at how amazing the song truly is.
I really love going back through albums at different points in time and connecting with songs that I might have not had that connection with at first. On Nine Inch Nails debut album Pretty Hate Machine, there is one song in particular that stood out on my most recent listen. “That’s What I Get” is that song and the more I listen to it now, I hear so many different things in it. This song has an interesting history too. The song was not originally intended to the be on the album, but was rather meant for b-side material, due to not fitting in lyrically with the rest of the songs. Which makes total sense. This track also harks back to “Down In It” based on the use of the same recognizable melodic synth voice. Also, it sort of feels like a precursor to some of the songs on The Fragile in a strange way. When you listen to it and hone in on the verses musically along with the “hammer” synth bassline, there is some of that on songs like “The Mark Has Been Made,” “The Way Out Is Through.” Either way, this song is a great deep cut in the Nine Inch Nails catalog to sink your teeth into.
Back in 2001, the first Lara Croft Tomb Raider movie with Angelina Jolie came out. There was a lot of hype about the movie and it was pretty meh. The one thing that I really enjoyed about this movie was the soundtrack, in particular, the song “Deep” by Nine Inch Nails. The song has some interesting history. It’s been argued that this was written specifically for the soundtrack while others say it was written during The Fragile era. I tend to agree with the latter. There’s even some speculation that “Deep” has some tie ins with the song “Even Deeper.” The video for the song is quite cool and interesting. The story in the video is told in reverse, with the end of the story beginning the video. Anyways, when you are a big Nine Inch Nails fan like myself, you tend to get excited anytime you hear a NIN song in a movie or trailer. This song is a pretty cool jam and deserves some more attention, so enjoy it!
Since there is a plethora of live performances all over the internet, why not start featuring some of the most memorable ones. And what better place to start than with the now legendary performance Nine Inch Nails put on at Woodstock 94. The story of this one is absolutely nuts. One that you should really look into. Their “mud soaked” set is infamous and so damn good. The setlist is truly something awesome as well. It’s one of those shows that I can watch and listen to all the time.
I woke up this morning in a very Nine Inch Nails kind of mood. While going through my routine when that happens (One day I’ll explain what it all entails), I remembered there was a really cool collaboration that occurred in 2006 between Nine Inch Nails and Bauhaus frontman Peter Murphy. At the time, Bauhaus was opening for NIN on the second leg of the With Teeth tour. During this time, there were special radio broadcasts they did together. Here are a handful of these wonderful collaborations.
Many years ago, when Nine Inch Nails released their live album, And All That Could Have Been, there was a deluxe edition that came with an extra disc. This extra disc, entitled Still, contains original instrumentals and stripped down versions of old songs. Trent has stated that some of the tracks on Still are evolutions of rejected themes that were originally written for the Mark Romanek film One Hour Photo. One such song that has always had my attention was the version of “The Day The World Went Away.” This version gives off a very different vibe for sure.
Today, saw a surprise release of two new Ghosts albums from Nine Inch Nails. In a statement released by Trent and Atticus, they had this to say about the release.
“FRIENDS-
WEIRD TIMES INDEED…
AS THE NEWS SEEMS TO TURN EVER MORE GRIM BY THE HOUR, WE’VE FOUND OURSELVES VACILLATING WILDLY BETWEEN FEELING LIKE THERE MAY BE HOPE AT TIMES TO UTTER DESPAIR – OFTEN CHANGING MINUTE TO MINUTE. ALTHOUGH EACH OF US DEFINE OURSELVES AS ANTISOCIAL-TYPES WHO PREFER BEING ON OUR OWN, THIS SITUATION HAS REALLY MADE US APPRECIATE THE POWER AND NEED FOR CONNECTION.
MUSIC – WHETHER LISTENING TO IT, THINKING ABOUT IT OR CREATING IT – HAS ALWAYS BEEN THE THING THAT HELPED US GET THROUGH ANYTHING – GOOD OR BAD. WITH THAT IN MIND, WE DECIDED TO BURN THE MIDNIGHT OIL AND COMPLETE THESE NEW GHOSTS RECORDS AS A MEANS OF STAYING SOMEWHAT SANE.
GHOSTS V: TOGETHER IS FOR WHEN THINGS SEEM LIKE IT MIGHT ALL BE OKAY, AND GHOSTS VI: LOCUSTS… WELL, YOU’LL FIGURE IT OUT.
IT MADE US FEEL BETTER TO MAKE THESE AND IT FEELS GOOD TO SHARE THEM. MUSIC HAS ALWAYS HAD A WAY OF MAKING US FEEL A LITTLE LESS ALONE IN THE WORLD… AND HOPEFULLY IT DOES FOR YOU, TOO. REMEMBER, EVERYONE IS IN THIS THING TOGETHER AND THIS TOO SHALL PASS.
WE LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU AGAIN SOON.
BE SMART AND SAFE AND TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER.
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