The Void-Go-Round

Nine Inch Nails/the Jesus & Mary Chain/Tobacco-9/27/18 Fox Theatre, Atlanta, GA

2018-09-30T15:23:00.000-04:00

March 8, 1988 was the day I went to the Fox Theatre with my parents my younger sister Stephanie to see Linda Ronstadt when she was promoting her Mariachi album Canciones de mi Padre. I don’t remember much about the show other than Ronstadt singing songs from that album as it was entirely in Spanish yet the venue was tremendous. I haven’t been to the Fox Theatre since then as I have no idea why until this past May when I went to collect tickets to see Nine Inch Nails and the Jesus & Mary Chain in the second of two shows both bands are playing at the Fox Theatre making it my first time at the venue in 30 years.

Since this is the fifth time I will have seen NIN, I knew it was going to be a big deal yet at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta is an even bigger deal as they’re sharing the bill with the Jesus & Mary Chain whom NIN had opened for back in 1990. 28 years later, the two share the bill as arriving into the Fox Theatre around 6:40 PM as once I walked in. I went to a place that is very special. Other venues I went to have their moments but there is something about the Fox Theatre that carries an air of history and beauty that is indescribable. From the staircases, the lounges, and the halls. It’s a place that has a special aura that can’t be duplicated as I was in awe of what I was seeing. Once I found my seat which was the farthest nosebleed seat of the venue but directly in front of the stage. Just seeing the entire theatre, the balconies, and lights is really a thing of beauty.

At 7 PM, the opening act in Tobacco appeared on stage for a 30 minute set that had some interesting visuals with a couple of 3D spheres at each side of the stage with strange visuals. The music had its moments but I eventually found myself becoming bored by it as he got a decent reception. There were a few cuts that were danceable but the rest was just noise that I found to be un-engaging. After a break between performances, the Jesus & Mary Chain arrived at 7:50 PM to the sounds of the Beach Boys’ Pet Sounds as a great introduction as the lights dimmed. Then comes the opening bars of Just Like Honey which shocked me as that song is really my favorite song of theirs as once Jim Reid’s voice appears. I knew I was in for a trance as this was a band that delivered from start to finish.

Consisting of Jim and guitarist William Reid along with guitarist Scott Van Ryper, bassist Mark Crozer, and drummer Brian Young along with a female backing vocalist for Just Like Honey. Things got more intense in the song Head On as I knew I was in for a damn good performance from a band that was once notorious for playing 20-minute sets in the past due to the Reid brothers’ notorious onstage fights. Instead, they played a 50-minute set filled with such classics songs as Blues from a Gun, Far Gone and Out, I Hate Rock N’ Roll, Reverence, Cracking Up, and a couple of deep cut in In a Hole from Psychocandy and Between Planets from Automatic. From their most recent album in Damage and Joy, two songs Amputation and All Things Pass are played as it showed the band still offering the goods. The band itself was loud and intense though their performance didn’t show it with Jim Reid just being straightforward and always clutching on the microphone stand while William Reid focuses on the guitar.

The Jesus & Mary Chain as a whole are just phenomenal as the chemistry in the entire band is solid in terms of the musicianship and energy. If one was to put this band against anything else that is on the charts right now or trending on radio and YouTube. The Jesus & Mary Chain would put everyone to shame as they were just tight in the performance as my ears were ringing a bit after the performance but it felt good. Not since Bauhaus in 2006 when they toured with NIN had I not been impressed by a band from the past just deliver as if age didn’t slow them down. After their performance ended at 8:45 PM where they got a great reception, there was a break between performances where I walked around the theatre and the lounges just soaking in the atmosphere of the location.

Everyone in the theatre were cool as I chatted up with a couple who had last seen NIN five years ago at the Philips Arena which I also attended as they too preferred this venue. The guy I think was from South America as he had seen David Bowie during the Sound + Vision tour of 1990 and still had his old T-shirt as I was envious of him as I had the chance to see Bowie in 1995 but unfortunate events happened. At around 9:10-9:15 PM, the lights at the theatre turned off as NIN arrived onstage with the opening bars of the infamous live-only track Now I’m Nothing which they haven’t performed since 2009. It would lead to Terrible Lie as it kicked things off with a bang though I think I saw Trent tripped before the end of the song when he was walking past Ilan Rubin’s drum riser.

The band that consists of vocalist/guitarist/keyboardist Trent Reznor, guitarist/keyboardist Robin Finck, keyboardist Atticus Ross, keyboardist/bassist/guitarist Alessandro Cortini and drummer/keyboardist/guitarist Ilan Rubin is definitely the most intense and blistering line-up of NIN that I have seen in the five times I had seen them live. I always felt that NIN in a five-piece outfit is at its strongest and they just kicked a lot of ass from start to finish. The musicianship is top-notch as the chemistry within the band is incredible with Finck always running around on stage while Rubin is just a beast on the drums. Cortini on his own set-up riser of keyboards and guitars had a presence of himself while Ross doesn’t really do much movement yet he manages to do a lot with what he’s doing as a musician.

Known for also putting on immense lighting and such, NIN has once again delivered in terms of what they can do visually where the lights and stage set-ups are on point. The usage of colors in lights definitely help set a mood yet it is the performance of Copy of A that is really the most impressive with its homage to the stuff Talking Heads did with Stop Making Sense. The lights they used in front of the stage would create these amazing shadows that would keep moving at a certain frame speed definitely shows a band that is willing to take risks to put on a show that delivers on what an audience would pay for. The attention to detail in the lighting and moods help solidify NIN as a live act that continuously pushes the boundaries of what can be done.

While I admit to being a bit disappointed in the lack of new material from the recent trilogy of new records that NIN has released in the past two years with only one song in This is the Place from Add Violence being played. The material that was played was still incredible as surprises in a few deep cuts like La Mer from The Fragile was played that featured Finck playing marimbas which was a surprise. Another big surprise that shocked me was playing a cover of Joy Division’s Digital as I tried to do the Ian Curtis dance. I don’t think I did a good job but I was having too much fun. The reception the band received from the audience that night is astounding. Especially during the encore as Reznor is happy to know that NIN still matters and that there’s people who are still willing to see NIN as they end the whole set with Hurt just minutes before the nighttime curfew ended at 11 PM.

NIN as a live entity is a completely different version than what Trent Reznor does in the studio. This was close to being better than the first time I saw them in June of 2006 when they toured with Bauhaus and TV on the Radio as that remains the best show I’ve seen from them. Yet, I think because of the venue as well as the overall performance of NIN has me wanting to say it’s the best show that I’ve seen. My only gripe is that the set list didn’t do enough new songs while I still have a few mixed feelings towards Tobacco. The Jesus and Mary Chain were definitely intense and incredible as they made the show a whole lot of fun and loud as the double-bill of them and NIN is really something any fan of good music should check out. More importantly, it was at the Fox Theatre as it’s just a perfect venue with a great sound system, atmosphere, people, and its sense of history. I hope the band does another show at the Fox Theatre soon as I hope to see them again real soon.

Setlist: Tobacco: Human Om/Streaker/Lipstick Destroyer/Can’t Count on Her/Warlock Mary/Stretch Your Face/Creepy Phone Calls/Smoky Mountain Neverthing

Jesus & Mary Chain: Just Like Honey/Head On/Amputation/Between Planets/Blues from a Gun/All Things Pass/Some Candy Talking/Far Gone and Out/Cracking Up/In a Hole/I Hate Rock N’ Roll/Reverence

NIN: Now I’m Nothing/Terrible Lie/Last/Letting You/Piggy/This Isn’t the Place/The Frail/The Wretched/The Becoming/Closer/La Mer/Reptile/Copy of A/The Good Soldier/Survivalism/Digital/Wish/Head Like a Hole

Encore: Help Me I Am in Hell/Happiness in Slavery/Even Deeper/Hurt

The Jesus & Mary Chain: Studio Albums: (Psychocandy) – (Darklands) – (Automatic) – (Honey’s Dead) – (Stoned and Dethroned) – (Munki) – (Damage and Joy)

Live/Compilations: (Barbed Wire Kisses) – (The Sound of Speed) – (Hate Rock N’ Roll) – (The Complete John Peel Sessions) – (Live in Concert) – (The Power of Negative Thinking: B-Sides & Rarities)

Nine Inch Nails: halos: halo 1 - halo 2 - halo 3 - halo 4 - halo 5 - halo 6 - halo 7 - halo 8 - halo 9 - halo 10 - halo 11 - halo 12 - halo 13 - (halo 14) – (halo 15) – (halo 16) – (halo 17) - (halo 18) – (halo 19) – (halo 20) – (halo 21) – (halo 22) - (halo 23) – (halo 24) – (halo 25) – (halo 26) – (halo 27) - (halo 28) – (halo 29) – (halo 30) – (halo 31) – (halo 32)

seeds: (seed 1) – (seed 2) – (seed 3) – (seed 4) – (seed 5) – (seed 6) – (seed 7) – (seed 8)

Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross Film Soundtracks: null 1 - null 2 - (null 3) – (null 4) – (null 5) – (null 6) – (null 7)

Soundtracks/Miscellaneous: The Broken Movie - Natural Born Killers OST - Quake OST - Lost Highway OST

Live Shows: (NIN/Bauhaus/TV on the Radio-6/7/06 Atlanta, GA Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheater) – (NIN/Deerhunter-8/13/08 Duluth, GA Gwinnett Arena) - (Jane’s Addiction/NIN/Street Sweeper Social Club-5/10/09 Atlanta, GA Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheater) – NIN/Godspeed You! Black Emperor-10/24/13 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena

© thevoid99 2018

Nine Inch Nails-The Day the World Went Away (halo 13)

2018-09-27T14:24:00.001-04:00

Released on July 20, 1999 from Nothing Records and Interscope Records, the single for The Day the World Went Away (halo 13) is the first single from Nine Inch Nails from their group’s third full-length studio release The Fragile. The single marks a departure as well as a preview of what is to come from NIN as it would feature the song plus a remix of the song and a B-side that would also appear on the album. The result is one of the group’s finest singles.

The single opens with a slightly shortened version of the song as it is this haunting yet drone-based track led by its soothing sounds of synthesizers and followed by layers of dreamy yet distorted guitars that include a few melodic notes. The song then goes into a quiet tone with its synthesizers as Trent Reznor sings lyrics that are filled with loss that play into the idea of the unknown following death as he’s later joined by a group of singers singing along with for its coda. The remix known as the (quiet) mix opens with Reznor singing the melody with other vocalists from the original song plus Kim Prevost as it is a more somber take of the song driven by atmosphere textures of wind noises, soft guitar strums, and a piano as Reznor sings the song as it is later followed by soft percussions to close the song. A second remix from the single’s 12 inch release is from Porter Ricks that is essentially a dub-based remix driven by a thumping beat and distant vocals that is presented through a low mix.

The single’s B-side in Starfuckers, Inc. is a fast-paced rocker co-written with then-NIN programmer/keyboardist Charlie Clouser opens with bopping and fast-paced beats with Reznor snarling through lyrics in his disdain towards stardom and celebrity with a chorus that goes into rock mode with hard-hitting drums and driving guitars. The chorus feature a group of backing vocalists that say the words “starfuckers incorporated” as it includes a quiet section of Reznor singing lyrics from Carly Simon’s You’re So Vain as it play into the idea of fame and celebrity as the single version of the song features a sample of Shout It Out Loud from KISS at the end of the song.

The single for The Day the World Went Away is an incredible release from Nine Inch Nails that marks a new and daring direction from the outfit. Notably as it showcases ideas of what is to come as well as providing ideas that are familiar but also with something fresh. In the end, the single for The Day the World Went Away is a remarkable record from Nine Inch Nails.

Nine Inch Nails: halos: halo 1 - halo 2 - halo 3 - halo 4 - halo 5 - halo 6 - halo 7 - halo 8 - halo 9 - halo 10 - halo 11 - halo 12 - (halo 14) – (halo 15) – (halo 16) – (halo 17) - (halo 18) – (halo 19) – (halo 20) – (halo 21) – (halo 22) - (halo 23) – (halo 24) – (halo 25) – (halo 26) – (halo 27) - (halo 28) – (halo 29) – (halo 30) – (halo 31) – (halo 32)

seeds: (seed 1) – (seed 2) – (seed 3) – (seed 4) – (seed 5) – (seed 6) – (seed 7) – (seed 8)

Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross Film Soundtracks: null 12 - null 2 - (null 3) – (null 4) – (null 5) – (null 6) – (null 7)

Soundtracks/Miscellaneous: The Broken Movie - Natural Born Killers OST - Quake OST - Lost Highway OST

Live Shows: (NIN/Bauhaus/TV on the Radio-6/7/06 Atlanta, GA Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheater) – (NIN/Deerhunter-8/13/08 Duluth, GA Gwinnett Arena) - (Jane’s Addiction/NIN/Street Sweeper Social Club-5/10/09 Atlanta, GA Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheater) – NIN/Godspeed You! Black Emperor-10/24/13 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena - NIN/Jesus & Mary Chain/Tobacco-9/27/18 Atlanta, GA Fox Theatre

© thevoid99 2018

Nine Inch Nails-Closure (halo 12)

2018-09-17T16:22:00.000-04:00

Released on November 25, 1997 from nothing records and Interscope Records, Closure (halo 12) is a 2-VHS set home video release from Nine Inch Nails that features a documentary of the band’s tour in 1994 and 1995 in the first VHS tape and a collection of their music videos from 1989 to 1997 in the second VHS tape. The release would mark the end of a successful period for NIN and its mastermind Trent Reznor as it is a retrospective release of sorts of the band’s career from that point on. The result is one of the finest home video releases for any musical act.

Self-Destruct (tape 1)

Nine Inch Nails: "Closure" part one: Self Destruct (1997) from Nine Inch Nails on Vimeo.

Directed, edited, and shot by Jonathan Rach with additional footage from Jeff Richter, the documentary film doesn’t really have a narrative as it’s a collection of performances and backstage footage during the band’s tour for The Downward Spiral in 1994 and 1995. Throughout the entirety of the tour, Reznor would struggle with stardom while trying to have a good time whether it’s backstage antics with members of the live band at the time such as drummer Chris Vrenna, guitarist/keyboardist Robin Finck, keyboardist James Wooley (who would leave the group in December of 1994), Wooley’s replacement Charlie Clouser, and multi-instrumentalist Danny Lohner. Along with shenanigans with one of the opening bands in Reznor’s protégé Marilyn Manson as well as the Jim Rose Circus, the film would feature cameo appearances from El Duce of the Mentors and Lou Reed who compliments Reznor’s approach to rock music.

The footage that was shot on video at was the norm at the time where it would look grainy but there is something unique to the way it looks. Even as it has a sense of realism into the performances that includes a duet of the song Hurt with David Bowie who would also appear in a backstage scene talking with Reznor and other members of NIN at the time. The video would also showcase Reznor and Clouser doing work on music for the Natural Born Killers soundtrack. It’s a documentary that is filled with a lot of excitement even though alternative music at the time was trying to avoid the antics of rock stardom and the usual forms of debauchery including trashing dressing rooms and groupies.

Music Videos (tape 2)

The collection of videos is presented with footage directed by Peter Christopherson that mixes stock footage with material that comes in between the music videos the band did from Down In It to The Perfect Drug as the only music video from that period that doesn’t appear is Burn from the Natural Born Killers soundtrack while Sin appears in a partially-edited version. While many of the videos on the tape do appear years later on YouTube uncut and uncensored (including the widely-popular video for Closer in its uncut form), the collection would also include three video clips exclusive to the release such as a different video for the song Gave Up that is completely different from the video made for The Broken Movie that is directed by Jon Reiss which has the band recording the song at the infamous home where Sharon Tate was killed by the Charles Manson family as it features a young Marilyn Manson playing guitar on the track.

The collection included three live videos for the songs Wish, Hurt, and Eraser as Hurt was an official video release as these three live videos directed by Simon Maxwell for what was supposed to be a live video concert film that was eventually rejected by Reznor aside from the three videos that appear. Both Hurt and Eraser have the band performing behind a projection screen with footage appearing for the audience to see.

Halo 12-DVD appendage

In August of 2004 while recording the fourth full-length album With Teeth as well as doing remastering for a 10th Anniversary release of The Downward Spiral, Reznor announced plans for a DVD release of Closure with additional material that would include additional rare footage, rehearsals, a photo gallery, unreleased versions of scrapped music videos for March of the Pigs and Hurt, making-of footage for a couple of music videos, and live footage from Lollapalooza ’91 and Woodstock ’94. It was supposed to come out later that year but issues involving Interscope Records postponed the release indefinitely as a DVD/Blu-Ray release as of 2018 still hasn’t come to fruition. The main bulk of the bonus feature is a 50-minute compilation of live footage from the band’s early tours from 1989 to 1991 including news snippets and interviews with the band during that time that included future Filter co-founder Richard Patrick, Wooley, and the late Jeff Ward of Lard. The section also showcases the band’s very first show back in 1988 as well as tour antics from the Self Destruct tour including a hilarious tribute to This is Spinal Tap.

Then in 2006, material for the 2-disc DVD release was leaked through the Pirate Bay BitTorrent site that would include an audio commentary track by Mark Romanek for the making of the Closer music video who reveals many of the tricks that he did on the video including information of the film stock. The most popular rumor about the leak is that it came from Trent Reznor himself who hasn’t denied nor has he said that he was the one who leaked it.

Closure is a tremendous home video release from Nine Inch Nails as it showcases the outfit at the time when they were extremely popular as well as creating music that was daring. Though it’s unavailable publicly in a physical component, it does remain one of Trent Reznor’s finest releases as well as marking the end of an era for NIN. In the end, Closure is a spectacular release from Nine Inch Nails.

Nine Inch Nails: halos: halo 1 - halo 2 - halo 3 - halo 4 - halo 5 - halo 6 - halo 7 - halo 8 - halo 9 - halo 10 - halo 11 - halo 13 – (halo 14) – (halo 15) – (halo 16) – (halo 17) - (halo 18) – (halo 19) – (halo 20) – (halo 21) – (halo 22) - (halo 23) – (halo 24) – (halo 25) – (halo 26) – (halo 27) - (halo 28) – (halo 29) – (halo 30) – (halo 31) – (halo 32)

seeds: (seed 1) – (seed 2) – (seed 3) – (seed 4) – (seed 5) – (seed 6) – (seed 7) – (seed 8)

Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross Film Soundtracks: null 1 - null 2 - (null 3) – (null 4) – (null 5) – (null 6) – (null 7)

Soundtracks/Miscellaneous: The Broken Movie - Natural Born Killers OST - Quake OST - Lost Highway OST

Live Shows: (NIN/Bauhaus/TV on the Radio-6/7/06 Atlanta, GA Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheater) – (NIN/Deerhunter-8/13/08 Duluth, GA Gwinnett Arena) - (Jane’s Addiction/NIN/Street Sweeper Social Club-5/10/09 Atlanta, GA Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheater) – NIN/Godspeed You! Black Emperor-10/24/13 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena - NIN/Jesus & Mary Chain/Tobacco-9/27/18 Atlanta, GA Fox Theatre

© thevoid99 2018

Nine Inch Nails-"The Perfect Drug" Versions (halo 11)

2018-08-11T23:30:00.000-04:00

Released on May 13, 1997 from nothing records and Interscope Records, “The Perfect Drug” Versions is a maxi-single release devoted entirely to remixes to the Nine Inch Nails song The Perfect Drug. Featuring a remix from NIN in its leader Trent Reznor with Keith Hillebrandt as well as remixes from two acts from the nothing records label in Meat Beat Manifesto and Plug plus Spacetime Continuum, the Orb, and Aphrodite in an extra track from the record’s vinyl release. The result is one of the strongest single releases from NIN.

The first remix by Jack Dangers of Meat Beat Manifesto is a dub-based mix with pulsating sounds of cymbal crashes and break-beats along with bleeping synthesizers and vocals that drive through the song as well as putting Reznor’s vocals in parts of the song with some warbled mixes on the vocals. The second remix by Luke Vibert in his Plug moniker is a more rhythmic mix with its emphasis on whispered vocals, pulsating beats and synthesizers as well as layers of textures in the mixes of the vocals as well as instrumental breaks in the middle of the track. The NIN mix by Reznor and Keith Hillebrandt along with additional mixing by Brian Pollock opens with a slow and warbled mix of Reznor’s vocals with distorted rhythmic beats accompanying the vocals and wind sounds before being covered by sounds of swirling electronics and pulsating drum n’ bass beats where its rhythm would heighten up by its driving synthesizers and distorted beats.

The remix by Jonah Sharp in his Spacetime Continuum moniker opens with chiming instruments and mid-tempo percussion beats with Reznor’s whispering vocals as it would include melodic synthesizer textures and rhythmic electronic swirls that include layers of percussions in the mix. The Orb’s remix from Alex Paterson, Andy Hughes, and Thomas Felhmann with Hughes doing the engineering work opens with warbled electronic sounds and vocals presented in different speeds and pitches which would later include pulsating beats and swirling synthesizers. The final remix by Gavin King in his Aphrodite moniker is from the single’s vinyl release as it include bits of the song’s lyrics in the vocals to a rhythmic and fast-paced track with its pulsating beats, wavy synthesizers, and throbbing bass lines. Added as an extra track for the single’s release in Europe, Australia, and South Africa is the original song from the Lost Highway soundtrack which is this mixture of industrial rock and drum n’ bass elements as it was a transitional single for NIN at the time.

“The Perfect Drug” Versions is a brilliant maxi-single release from Nine Inch Nails. Featuring six incredible remixes of the song that was to represent a thrilling emergence of electronic music in the late 1990s. The single is a reflection of this emergence while managing to give some of these artists the chance to deconstruct one of the group’s most popular songs. In the end, “The Perfect Drug” Versions is an amazing single from Nine Inch Nails.

Nine Inch Nails: halos: halo 1 - halo 2 - halo 3 - halo 4 - halo 5 - halo 6 - halo 7 - halo 8 - halo 9 - halo 10 - halo 12 - halo 13 – (halo 14) – (halo 15) – (halo 16) – (halo 17) - (halo 18) – (halo 19) – (halo 20) – (halo 21) – (halo 22) - (halo 23) – (halo 24) – (halo 25) – (halo 26) – (halo 27) - (halo 28) – (halo 29) – (halo 30) – (halo 31) – (halo 32)

seeds: (seed 1) – (seed 2) – (seed 3) – (seed 4) – (seed 5) – (seed 6) – (seed 7) – (seed 8)

Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross Film Soundtracks: null 1 - null 2 - (null 3) – (null 4) – (null 5) – (null 6) - (null 7)

Soundtracks/Miscellaneous: The Broken Movie - Natural Born Killers OST - Quake OST - Lost Highway OST

Live Shows: (NIN/Bauhaus/TV on the Radio-6/7/06 Atlanta, GA Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheater) – (NIN/Deerhunter-8/13/08 Duluth, GA Gwinnett Arena) - (Jane’s Addiction/NIN/Street Sweeper Social Club-5/10/09 Atlanta, GA Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheater) – NIN/Godspeed You! Black Emperor-10/24/13 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena - NIN/Jesus & Mary Chain/Tobacco-9/27/18 Atlanta, GA Fox Theatre

© thevoid99 2018

Various Artists-Lost Highway OST

2018-08-06T18:50:00.001-04:00

Released on February 19, 1997 from nothing records and Interscope Records, the soundtrack to the David Lynch film Lost Highway is an audio companion piece to the film produced and assembled by Trent Reznor. Featuring two score pieces from Reznor as well as a new song from Nine Inch Nails, the album also include original score pieces by longtime Lynch collaborator Angelo Badalamenti as well as contributions from Marilyn Manson, the Smashing Pumpkins, Barry Adamson, David Bowie, Rammstein, Lou Reed, and Antonio Carlos Jobim. The result is a thrilling and eerie soundtrack from Trent Reznor and David Lynch.

The album opens and ends with David Bowie’s I’m Deranged from his 1995 album Outside as it is this ominous track with pulsating synthesizers and drums along with driving guitars and Mike Garson’s piano flourishes as Bowie sings the song’s haunting lyrics as the opening version of the track fades out in the middle while the closing track opens with a fade-in of Bowie’s vocals in its reprise version. The first of two instrumental tracks by Trent Reznor in Videodrones: Questions is a forty-four second instrumental piece of wind-like textures and loops with contributions from Peter Christopherson of the industrial group Coil. The Perfect Drug by Nine Inch Nails is the first song by the outfit to not be written solely by Trent Reznor as it was written with then-live band members in multi-instrumentalist Danny Lohner, keyboardist/programmer Charlie Clouser, and drummer/programmer Chris Vrenna as it is this mixture of industrial rock with the drum n’ bass electronic sub-genre as it feature cryptic lyrics from Reznor with driving guitars, pulsating beats, hammering live beats with a drum solo, and flourishing synthesizers.

The first of seven score pieces by Angelo Badalamenti in Red Bats with Teeth as it is this jazz piece with as it includes a bopping rhythm with flourishing pianos, layers of saxophones including a blazing solo by Bob Sheppard as it play into the world that Bill Pullman’s character is in as his character is a jazz musician. Badalementi’s Haunting & Heartbreaking is this soothing ambient piece that is performed by Badalamenti with the City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra as it is a haunting track that play into the sense of horror that Fred and Patricia Arquette’s character Renee is encountering. From the Smashing Pumpkins is the song Eye as it is this somber electronic ballad with a rhythmic drum machine beat and warbling synthesizer melodies as Billy Corgan sings the song’s melancholic lyrics as it is one of the strongest cuts on the album.

The third Badalamenti score piece in Dub Driving is this bass-driven cut co-written with David Lynch that led by a melodic bass line from Peter Richards with as it features backgrounds of soothing guitars along with some percussions from Lynch and soothing keyboards from Badalamenti and Robert Muller. The first of four contributions from Barry Adamson is the first variation of a music theme for Robert Loggia’s character Mr. Eddy as it features dialogue of Mr. Eddy driving his car as it is this cool, jazz-like track with eerie horns, melodic organs, and a smooth and steady percussive track that delves into different time signatures as it builds up some momentum. The second version of the theme is a more menacing version that play into Mr. Eddy’s notorious temper as it relates to a reckless driver as it features some woodwinds to play up the atmosphere of the track. A cover of the Drifters’ song This Magic Moment from Lou Reed from a Doc Pomus tribute album is another standout cut as it has Reed singing the song with melodic guitars and driving power chords as it is a snarling yet somber cover from Reed.

The fourth Badalamenti piece in Fred and Renee Make Love is a haunting orchestral track led by soothing bass and atmospheric textures during a sex scene between Fred and Renee. The first of two cuts from the shock rock industrial group Marilyn Manson is Apple of Sodom as it is this bopping mid-tempo track with its steady drum beats, warbling guitars and keyboards, and Manson’s creepy vocals as it play into lyrics of temptation and terror as it is another of the record standout cuts. Antonio Carlos Jobim’s Insensatez is a soothing bossa-nova track led by soft percussions and a melodic piano track as it play into the tired mood of the character Pete Drayton who is played by Balthazar Getty. A shortened version of Adamson’s piece Something Wicked This Way Comes is this groove-based instrumental with samples from Massive Attack and a couple of tracks as it this mixture of jazz and trip-hop that appears in a party scene in the film where Fred meets the mysterious man that is played by Robert Blake.

A cover of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ I Put a Spell on You by Marilyn Manson from the group’s Smells Like Children EP is this fierce and menacing version of the song with driving guitar riffs, Manson’s screams, and heavy rhythms as it plays into the character of Alice, also played by Arquette, as she tells Pete a story about Mr. Eddy. The next two score pieces from Angelo Badalamenti in Fats Revisited which is a piano-based track that is a darkly-comical piece with string flourishes while Fred’s World is a more eerie piece with haunting synthesizer textures that play into the horror that Fred is about to encounter that would end with a laugh from the mystery man. The first of two tracks from the German industrial metal group Rammstein from their 1995 debut album Herzeleid is a shortened version of the song named after the band as it is this fierce and intense track with driving metal guitars and hard-hitting beats with vocalist from Till Lindemann.

The fourth and final score piece from Barry Adamson in Hollywood Sunset is this soothing ambient piece with some throbbing percussive beats and warbling organs to help set a mood for the dark aspects of the film. The second Rammstein contribution in a shortened version of Heirate Mich is bopping yet driving track led by rhythmic drums and metallic guitar riffs with Lindemann providing a dark mood to the song as it help play into the suspense of the film. The final Badalamenti score piece in Police as it has these sounds of police sirens created by strings as it play into some of the mystery of what is happening as it closes with dialogue from the film where a character says “Dick Laurent is dead”. The second Trent Reznor score piece in Driver Down is this instrumental piece produced with Peter Christopherson as it is this industrial-metal track with driving guitar riffs from Danny Lohner and hard-hitting drums from Chris Vrenna as it include wailing sounds of loops and synthesizers with Reznor also playing a saxophone on the track as it fades into the album closer in the reprised version of David Bowie’s I’m Deranged.

One song on the film that doesn’t appear on the soundtrack album is a cover of Tim Buckley’s Song to the Siren from the 4AD label outfit This Mortal Coil that is performed by Elizabeth Fraser and Robin Guthrie of This Mortal Coil as it this devastating and haunting version due to Fraser’s vocals as it plays during a sex scene between Pete and Alice.

The soundtrack to Lost Highway is an incredible soundtrack album from Trent Reznor. Along with the score contributions from Angelo Badalamenti and Barry Adamson, the record is definitely an adventurous and eerie album that play into the dark world of David Lynch with songs from David Bowie, NIN, Lou Reed, Marilyn Manson, Antonio Carlos Jobim, and Rammstein. In the end, the soundtrack to Lost Highway is a sensational album from Trent Reznor and David Lynch.

Related: Lost Highway

© thevoid99 2018

Nine Inch Nails-Quake OST

2018-07-30T00:29:00.000-04:00

Released on June 22, 1996 from id Software, the music soundtrack to the video game Quake is a soundtrack album of instrumentals written by Trent Reznor and performed by members of the live version of Nine Inch Nails in Reznor, drummer/programmer Chris Vrenna, guitarist Robin Finck, multi-instrumentalist Danny Lohner, and keyboardist/programmer Charlie Clouser. The album would be a mixture of industrial rock that NIN had popularized along with some ambient music that Reznor would later explore into his film score work more than a decade after the release of the soundtrack.

The album opener is its main theme as it is driven by pulsating beats, looped guitar riffs, soothing synthesizers in the background, and looped screams by Reznor as it would soften up into this eerie ambient piece in the middle. Aftermath is this haunting track filled with sounds of winds mixed in with warbling and soothing synthesizer textures with soft beats in the background as it help maintains a mood for the game. The Hall of Souls is another ambient-based piece with sounds of droning and buzzing synthesizers in the background with some siren-like textures in the background and other warbling noises that help add to horror of the game as the sound would intensify as it goes on with sounds of dripping synthesizer drones. It is Raped is a mesmerizing track that is also ambient-based but with its layers of buzzing synthesizers and pulsating beats in the background under the sound of soft yet siren-like synthesizer swirls and electronic textures that fade in and out as it includes bits of saxophones.

Parallel Dimensions is based mainly on loops though sounds of a thumping beat and fan-like sounds in the background with warbling synthesizers as it maintains this repetitive sound of loops as it appears on one of the game’s levels to help maintain that dark atmosphere. Life is this hypnotic track led by this sound of warbling yet heartbeat-rhythmic synthesizer loop with swirling electronic backgrounds that appear as it help add to the sense of terror and suspense. Damnation is a cut that is largely-based on dark ambient textures with its eerie and soothing synthesizers, buzzing electronic sounds, soft yet metallic percussive beats, and sounds of insects that would intensify in sound as it help play into the suspense.

Focus is this cut that slithers with its synthesizers and warbling electronic textures that would build up with sounds of bubbling guitar textures as it would maintain this atmosphere of terror that goes on in the game. Falling is a short three-and-a-half minute piece of droning and ominous sounds of electronic textures with low-key beats in the background that appear in the middle with windy and machine-like sounds. The album closer The Reaction is a track that feature crackling sounds that would appear in the background with soft metallic percussion loops and dissonant electronic textures that would by layered by sounds as if it’s playing underwater which add to the dark atmosphere during the game.

The soundtrack to Quake is an excellent album from Nine Inch Nails as well as fans of the game series. Though it’s more of an experimental record of sorts that would later pre-date some of the recordings Trent Reznor would make more than a decade later. It is still a fascinating album that showcase a brief period of Reznor doing a small project that would later be a precursor of the work he would do in the world of film. In the end, the soundtrack to Quake is a superb soundtrack album from Nine Inch Nails.

Nine Inch Nails: halos: halo 1 - halo 2 - halo 3 - halo 4 - halo 5 - halo 6 - halo 7 - halo 8 - halo 9 - halo 10 - halo 11 – halo 12 - halo 13 – (halo 14) – (halo 15) – (halo 16) – (halo 17) - (halo 18) – (halo 19) – (halo 20) – (halo 21) – (halo 22) - (halo 23) – (halo 24) – (halo 25) – (halo 26) – (halo 27) - (halo 28) – (halo 29) – (halo 30) – (halo 31) – (halo 32)

seeds: (seed 1) – (seed 2) – (seed 3) – (seed 4) – (seed 5) – (seed 6) – (seed 7) – (seed 8)

Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross Film Soundtracks: null 1 - null 2 - (null 3) – (null 4) – (null 5) – (null 6) - (null 7)

Soundtracks/Miscellaneous: The Broken Movie - Natural Born Killers OST - Lost Highway OST

Live Shows: (NIN/Bauhaus/TV on the Radio-6/7/06 Atlanta, GA Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheater) – (NIN/Deerhunter-8/13/08 Duluth, GA Gwinnett Arena) - (Jane’s Addiction/NIN/Street Sweeper Social Club-5/10/09 Atlanta, GA Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheater) – NIN/Godspeed You! Black Emperor-10/24/18 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena - NIN/Jesus & Mary Chain/Tobacco-9/27/18 Atlanta, GA Fox Theatre

© thevoid99 2018

Nine Inch Nails-Further Down the Spiral (halo 10)

2018-07-17T23:50:00.000-04:00

Released on June 1, 1995 from nothing records and Interscope Records, Further Down the Spiral (halo 10) is a remix album that feature many remixes of material from The Downward Spiral that are mixed by not just Nine Inch Nails but several other artists and producers. Among them are NIN cohorts Sean Beavan, Brian Pollock, and then-live keyboardist Charlie Clouser as well as Rick Rubin, members of the industrial group Coil, J.G. Thirlwell, and a couple of original compositions by Richard D. James as Aphex Twin. The record showcases new interpretations of the songs from The Downward Spiral as well as pushing the art of what remixes can be in what is certainly one of the finest records from NIN.

The album opens with a remix of Piggy subtitled (Nothing Can Stop Me Now) that is produced by Rick Rubin that starts off soft with sounds of creaking noise loops and smooth yet distorted beats by famed session musician Kim Bullard that is followed by melodic pianos until the chorus kicks in with pulsating beats and thrashing guitars by Jane’s Addiction/then-Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist Dave Navarro as the remix moves back and forth in structure. The Art of Self Destruction is a remix of Mr. Self Destruct that is featured in three different mixes. Self Destruction, Part One by the then-live line-up of NIN in vocalist Trent Reznor, guitarist Robin Finck, multi-instrumentalist Danny Lohner, keyboardist/programmer Charlie Clouser, and drummer/programmer Chris Vrenna along with engineers Sean Beavan and Brian Pollock is really a re-interpretation of the song with Reznor whispering the song’s lyrics with wailing and layered guitars from Finck and Lohner, warbling beats from Clouser and Vrenna, and other electronic textures as well as a noisy guitar solo by Finck and a hammering and thrashing instrumentation towards the end.

The other two remixes in The Art of Self Destruction are by J.G. Thirlwell as Self Destruction, Part Two emphasizes on the chugging beats, layers of electronic noises, and Adrian Belew’s wailing guitar work as it would include other layers of sounds including samples of different percussions and noises that include a sample of Time by David Bowie. Self Destruction, Final is a continuation of its predecessor by Thirlwell with its emphasis on bopping percussions, noisy synthesizers, and looped guitar tracks by Belew that starts off as an instrumental until Reznor’s vocals appear after three minutes of instrumental as the chorus would include more beats and guitars as well as samples of Bowie’s Time that would pop up later and in a loop.

A remix of The Downward Spiral subtitled (The Bottom) by Peter Christopherson, Jhon Balance, and Drew McDowall of Coil with Danny Hyde is an atmospheric remix that starts off with warbling sounds of synthesizer textures and Reznor’s soft vocals with some distortion that would then be followed by sounds of sprinkling synthesizer melodies that is carried by sounds of guitars, pulsating beats, and synthesizers in the background as it is one of the album’s standout cuts. A remix of Hurt subtitled (Quiet) by Trent Reznor is essentially a cleaner mix of the song from its album version as it has less of a static filling in the background along with a cleaner guitar sound and a climax that is less impactful.

The first of three remixes of the song Eraser by Coil and Danny Hyde feature different takes on the song as the first remix subtitled (Denial; Realization) opens with sounds of swirling guitar and electronic loops that becomes clearer by the song’s guitar riffs and screams in the background that would intensify with its beats and Reznor’s vocals in parts of the songs that he sings. The second remix subtitled (Polite) is a calmer version of the song that is driven by a melodic yet swooning synthesizer with some strings in the background as Reznor sings lyrics of the song. Erased, Over, Out is the third remix as it emphasizes on the warbling synthesizers being looped with slow screams that would reverberate throughout the entire track.

The first of two contributing tracks by Aphex Twin in At the Heart of It All as it is this track with distorted yet throbbing beats with metallic drum beats as well as sounds of bass-drone synthesizers that is definitely inspired by NIN that has James emphasizing on atmosphere and distortion. The second Aphex Twin contribution in The Beauty of Being Numb is a track in two parts with the first by NIN with Beavan and Pollock is Mr. Self Destruct being played backwards with additional instrumentations that goes on for more than a minute-and-a-half until it becomes a completely different track by James that is largely an ambient pieces with warbling noises in the background to James playing a smooth piano track as it would crossfade into the album closer Erased, Over, Out.

The international version of Further Down the Spiral (halo 10 v2) is a different version of the album that is presented in ten tracks rather than the 11 in the U.S. version with some major differences. Tracks such as Self Destruct, Part Two, Hurt (Quiet), Eraser (Polite), Erased, Over, Out, and The Beauty of Being Numb are replaced in favor of a live version of Hurt, Self Destruct, Part Three, and two remixes of Heresy and Ruiner by Charlie Clouser. The live version of Hurt which was the version used for the song’s music video is powerful with the piano replacing the guitar on the song with Reznor being more emotive in the song vocally. Self Destruct, Part Three by J.G. Thirlwell is the remix that follows closely to the original song with additional textures in some of the quieter parts as well as in Belew’s guitar.

The remix of Heresy subtitled (Version) by Charlie Clouser that emphasizes on a pulsating yet steady beat with warbling vocals and other textures such as samples from a TV show in the remix as it is standout. Clouser’s remix of Ruiner subtitled (Version) as it is a synthesizer-driven remix with Reznor’s whispering vocals as the verses are switched from the original as it include some rhythmic beats, pulsating live drums, and warbling vocals for the song’s bridge as it’s another example of Clouser’s brilliant contributions to NIN. The Japanese version of the album included an extra track which is a remix of Reptile in Reptilian by Dave “Rave” Ogilvie that appeared previously in the single for March of the Pigs.

Further Down the Spiral is an incredible remix album from Nine Inch Nails. Not only the album, in its two different versions, is an exciting album that gives listeners ideas of what songs can be in their different interpretations but also show that NIN can do so much for others in manipulating their songs or be inspired by the group such as Aphex Twin in the 2 contributing tracks Richard D. James provide. In the end, Further Down the Spiral is a spectacular remix album from Nine Inch Nails.

Nine Inch Nails: halos: halo 1 - halo 2 - halo 3 - halo 4 - halo 5 - halo 6 - halo 7 - halo 8 - halo 9 - halo 11 – halo 12 - halo 13 – (halo 14) – (halo 15) – (halo 16) – (halo 17) - (halo 18) – (halo 19) – (halo 20) – (halo 21) – (halo 22) - (halo 23) – (halo 24) – (halo 25) – (halo 26) – (halo 27) - (halo 28) – (halo 29) – (halo 30) – (halo 31) – (halo 32)

seeds: (seed 1) – (seed 2) – (seed 3) – (seed 4) – (seed 5) – (seed 6) – (seed 7) – (seed 8)

Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross Film Soundtracks: null 1 - null 2 - (null 3) – (null 4) – (null 5) – (null 6) - (null 7)

Soundtracks/Miscellaneous: The Broken Movie - Natural Born Killers OST - Quake OST - Lost Highway OST

Live Shows: (NIN/Bauhaus/TV on the Radio-6/7/06 Atlanta, GA Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheater) – (NIN/Deerhunter-8/13/08 Duluth, GA Gwinnett Arena) - (Jane’s Addiction/NIN/Street Sweeper Social Club-5/10/09 Atlanta, GA Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheater) – NIN/Godspeed You! Black Emperor-10/24/13 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena - NIN/Jesus & Mary Chain/Tobacco-9/27/18 Atlanta, GA Fox Theatre

© thevoid99 2018

Various Artists-Natural Born Killers OST

2018-07-12T18:59:00.000-04:00

Released on August 23, 1994 from nothing records and Interscope Records, the soundtrack to Natural Born Killers is an audio companion piece to the Oliver Stone film of the same name. Produced by Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails with music direction from Stone and supervision by Budd Carr, the album is a mixture of songs that appear on the album as well as musical pieces that is mixed in with audio from the film. The result is one of the most intense and mesmerizing film soundtracks of the 1990s.

The album’s opener and penultimate track both come from Leonard Cohen as the former in an edited version of Waiting for the Miracle is a haunting ballad while the latter in the more upbeat The Future play into the chaos and joy of Mickey and Mallory Knox as they’re top-notch songs from Cohen with the former seguing through dialogue of a man trying to flirt with Mallory as it kicks in towards the song Shitlist by L7 that is this intense, hard-rocking song. The song appears to introduce Mickey and Mallory in their element as killers as it would segue into Dan Zane’s instrumental Moon Over Greene County as it is this country music piece with dreamy guitars and harmonicas as Mickey and Mallory threaten the diner’s sole survivor. A remixed version of Patti Smith’s Rock N’ Roll N***er by Mark “Flood” Ellis appears in the film’s opening credits and in a scene at a super pharmacy as it is this blazing punk rock song that is fierce and abrasive.

Nine Inch Nails: Burn (1994) from Nine Inch Nails on Vimeo.

A shortened version of the Cowboy Junkies’ cover of Lou Reed’s Sweet Jane is presented in a somber ballad to express the love between Mickey and Mallory which is a standout track as is another ballad in a cover of the 1950s pop ballad You Belong to Me by Bob Dylan as it’s this simple acoustic ballad from Dylan that is one of his finest recordings. An edited version of Duane Eddy’s instrumental The Trembler with its electric guitar twangs and riffs is a standout as it play into Mickey’s escape from prison. One of the new tracks made specifically for the film’s soundtrack is Burn by Nine Inch Nails that feature these intense trash-can sounding beats, layers of melodic and droning synthesizers, Reznor’s angry vocals, and an odd structure that includes a fast-paced bridge with swirling guitars and keyboards that live drum tracks from NIN cohort Chris Vrenna. The track is one of three tracks Reznor contributes to the album that include an edited/expanded version of Something I Can Never Have that expands on the instrumental for a stark scene with Mickey and Mallory while the other contribution is the ambient-based instrumental A Warm Place that play into a confrontation between Mickey and Jack Scagnetti.

Route 666 that is mainly a score piece by one of the film’s editors in Brian Berdan that features dialogue spoken by the character Wayne Gale who talks about a highway that is considered deadly as it segues into another audio collage piece in Totally Hot that features an edited excerpt of Kipenda Roho by Remmy Ongala and Orchestra Super Matimila as it is this vibrant Latin-jazz piece mixed in with dialogue of the film as it relates to the media coverage of Mickey and Mallory Knox. Patsy Cline’s Back in Baby’s Arms is a standout track as it is this upbeat country song that is a rich song that play into the love life of Mickey and Mallory. An edited version of Taboo by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Peter Gabriel is this eerie song filled with Ali Khan’s chants and Gabriel’s ambient background as it play into the dark world of Mallory as it would lead into another audio collage track Sex is Violent that features excerpts of Jane’s Addiction’s Ted, Just Admit It and Diamanda Galas’ cover of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins’ I Put a Spell on You that play into Mallory’s sexual desire and a bad encounter with a young man.

The edited version of History (Repeats Itself) by A.O.S. is a haunting ballad that play into the dark journey of Mickey and Mallory that would segue into the edited/extended version of Something I Can Never Have and a score piece entitled I Will Take You Home by Russel Means that is essentially an audio version of a scene with Mickey, Mallory, and Means’ character as this Navajo doing a chant that would unfortunately give Mickey nightmares. An edited version of Drums A Go-Go by Hollywood Persuaders is a percussion-based piece with bombastic horns and percussions that play into the terror that Mickey and Mallory is dealing with. Hungry Ants is a music piece that features excerpts of two instrumentals by Barry Adamson in Checkpoint Charlie and Violation of Expectation as it play into Scagnetti’s meeting with Warden Dwight McClusky with the first part being this smooth yet pulsating piece and the second half being this ambient-like piece.

Dr. Dre’s The Day the Niggaz Took Over is this throbbing yet sonically-intense song with its broad production of beats and electronics as the song feature lyrics about the 1992 L.A. riots with Dre, Snoop Dogg, RBX, and Dat Nigga Daz rapping about the riots as it plays into a scene in prison. A cover of Cissie Cobb’s Born Bad is a scene that has Mallory singing the song with Scagnetti entranced by her singing as it’s a great piece for the scene. Fall of the Rebel Angels by Sergio Cervetti is this dark ambient music piece that play into Mickey’s meeting with Wayne Gale as it would segue into the fast-paced industrial song Forkboy by Lard as it is this intense and aggressive song that features blazing vocals from Jello Biafra in a side-project from Al Jourgensen of Ministry. Batonga in Batongaville is an audio collage piece that features excerpts of A Night on Bare Mountain by Modest Mussorgsky that is performed by the Budapest Philharmonic Orchestra as it is this intense track of Wayne Gale reporting a prison riot as it would lead into the NIN instrumental A Warm Place.

Allah, Mohammed, Char, Yaar by Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and Party that features except of Diamanda Galas’ Judgement Day is a music piece that play into the prison riot as it this vibrant chant piece with traditional instruments that layered vocals from Ali Khan and Galas. Appearing at the end of Leonard Cohen’s The Future is a comedic dialogue that relates to Wayne Gale and his fate which would lead to the album closer in Tha Dogg Pound’s What Would U Do? as it is this song with its upbeat yet bopping beats, swooning synthesizers, and fast-paced raps from Dat Nigga Daz and Kurupt that features contributions from Snoop Dogg and Jewell which is this upbeat gangsta rap song that is really a bonus track on the album since the song doesn’t appear in the film.

Among the material that isn’t on the soundtrack but appeared in the film are excerpts of Rage Against the Machine’s Bombtrack and Take the Power Back, Marilyn Manson’s Cyclops, Leonard Cohen’s Anthem, the Shangri-Las’ Leader of the Pack, the Specials’ Ghost Town, two cuts by Peter Gabriel in The Rhythm of the Heat and In Doubt, and the Cowboy Junkies’ If You Were the Woman and I Was the Man as they appear in brief moments in the film whether it’s in darkly-humorous pieces or something violent.

The soundtrack to Natural Born Killers is a tremendous film soundtrack thanks in part to the work of Trent Reznor. Not only does it serve as this great audio companion piece to the film but it also play into the idea of what a music soundtrack should be rather than just a compilation of songs from a movie. In the end, the Natural Born Killers soundtrack is a sensational soundtrack album from Trent Reznor and Oliver Stone.

Related: Natural Born Killers

© thevoid99 2018

Nine Inch Nails-Closer to God (halo 9)

2018-07-07T19:28:00.000-04:00

Released on May 30, 1994, the Closer to God remix EP (halo 9) is a singles release to promote the song Closer as it include five remixes of the songs plus the original song, two other remixes, and a B-side cover of Soft Cell’s Memorabilia. The EP doesn’t just showcase variations of the song through its remixes and reinterpretations but also showcase material that presents ideas of cuts from The Downward Spiral in a re-interpreted and remixed form. With NIN leader Trent Reznor heading the compilation along with collaborators such as live band members Chris Vrenna and Robin Finck as well as studio collaborators in Sean Beaven and Brian Pollock. The record include contributions from Jack Dangers of Meat Beat Manifesto, the industrial group Coil, Adrian Sherwood, Bill Kennedy, Scott Humphrey, Dave “Rave” Ogilvie, and several others. The result is a marvelous and enthralling remix EP from NIN.

The closing track of the EP is Closer as it is the song where many of the remixes in this record comes from. With its heartbeat rhythm sampled from the Iggy Pop song Nightclubbing, layers of synthesizers that range from melodic, eerie, and unsettling, spurts of guitars, and Reznor’s haunting lyrics of sex and loneliness. It is definitely one of the definitive songs of the 1990s as it has this layer of richness in its production while also being dangerous in its lyrical content. The opening track of the EP is a rework of the song in Closer to God that is produced by Reznor, Sean Beaven, and Brian Pollock that has different arrangements to the lyrics and sound where it’s more upbeat in its presentation with distorted and warbling beats, melodic synthesizers, driving guitars, and Reznor’s snarling vocals to re-worked lyrics of the song. The first of four remixes of Closer in (Precursor) by Coil and Danny Hyde as it’s a remix that is emphasized on atmosphere by distorting Reznor’s vocals on the song with warbling layers of synthesizers, smooth yet throbbing beats, and bass grooves that would scratch through the track.

The (Deviation) remix by Jack Dangers of Meat Beat Manifesto and Craig Silvey is mainly driven by droning bass lines, gangsta-funk whistles, a steady yet throbbing rhythm, and droning guitar loops as it play with song’s arrangements and instrumentations. The (Internal) remix by Bill Kennedy, Scott Humphrey, John “Geetus” Aguto, Paul Decarli, and Eric Claudiex is emphasized on its vocals panning left to right and vice versa in its stereo setting along with some of its instrumentations and more emphasis on the beats to help drive the remix as it is one of the record’s more complex mixes. The (Further Away) remix by Kennedy, Humphrey, Aguto, Decarli, and Claudiex is a mix that is emphasized on atmosphere with its warbling synthesizer loops, a slower beat with samples from another B-side in the instrumental A Violet Fluid, distorted vocals, and twangy guitars as it another layered remix that help play into the richness of the song.

The remix of Heresy known as (Blind) by Dave “Rave” Ogilvie, Anthony Valcic, and Joe Bisara is a fast-paced and dance-driven mix of the song with more emphasis on pulsating beats and warbling synthesizers as well as a mix of Reznor’s vocals in a whispered tone from its demo and other textures. The cover of Soft Cell’s Memorabilia by Reznor, Beaven, Pollock, Chris Vrenna, Robin Finck, and John Van Eaton as it feature scratchy layers of synthesizers and sequencers with a warbling beat, distorted guitars from Finck, and Reznor’s smooth vocals as he sings Marc Almond’s sexually-driven lyrics as it include samples from a prank sex phone call to someone named Sugar and a friend. March of the Fuckheads by Adrian Sherwood is a track that takes many of the instrumentation of tracks from The Downward Spiral into layers of warbling marching beats, sprinkling synthesizers, and other layers of electronics.

The record was released in two versions as the U.S. version features all of the tracks on one entire CD while the British imported version was released in a 2-disc set for collectors as the first disc featured Closer and its remixes while the second disc featured Closer to God and the three non-Closer cuts.

Closer to God is a phenomenal remix EP from Nine Inch Nails. It’s a record that showcases the outfit at its most complex with its approach to remixes as well as creating reinterpretations of the song as well as an offbeat yet fun B-side cover of a song by Soft Cell. In the end, Closer to God is a sensational record from Nine Inch Nails.

Nine Inch Nails: halos: halo 1 - halo 2 - halo 3 - halo 4 - halo 5 - halo 6 - halo 7 - halo 8 - halo 10 – halo 11 – halo 12 - halo 13 – (halo 14) – (halo 15) – (halo 16) – (halo 17) - (halo 18) – (halo 19) – (halo 20) – (halo 21) – (halo 22) - (halo 23) – (halo 24) – (halo 25) – (halo 26) – (halo 27) - (halo 28) – (halo 29) – (halo 30) – (halo 31) – (halo 32)

seeds: (seed 1) – (seed 2) – (seed 3) – (seed 4) – (seed 5) – (seed 6) – (seed 7) – (seed 8)

Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross Film Soundtracks: null 1 - null 2 - (null 3) – (null 4) – (null 5) – (null 6) - (null 7)

Soundtracks/Miscellaneous: The Broken Movie - Natural Born Killers OST – Quake OST - Lost Highway OST

Live Shows: (NIN/Bauhaus/TV on the Radio-6/7/06 Atlanta, GA Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheater) – (NIN/Deerhunter-8/13/08 Duluth, GA Gwinnett Arena) - (Jane’s Addiction/NIN/Street Sweeper Social Club-5/10/09 Atlanta, GA Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheater) – NIN/Godspeed You! Black Emperor-10/24/13 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena - NIN/Jesus & Mary Chain/Tobacco-9/27/18 Atlanta, GA Fox Theatre

© thevoid99 2018

Nine Inch Nails-The Downward Spiral (halo 8)

2018-06-26T23:34:00.001-04:00

Released on March 8, 1994 on nothing records and Interscope Records, The Downward Spiral (halo 8) is the second full-length studio release from Nine Inch Nails that would mark the act in their commercial and critical peak as well as bringing industrial music/industrial rock into the mainstream for better and for worse. Songs written, produced, and performed by Trent Reznor with production by Mark “Flood” Ellis on several tracks. The album would mark Reznor’s first collaboration with mixing engineer Alan Moulder who was known then for his work with My Bloody Valentine and Curve. The album would also feature contributions from then/future members of the NIN live band in drummer/programmer Chris Vrenna, keyboardist/programmer Charlie Clouser, and multi-instrumentalist Danny Lohner as well as other contributions from Jane’s Addiction/Porno for Pyros drummer Stephen Perkins, King Crimson guitarist Adrian Belew, Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee, and Reznor’s old Exotic Birds bandmate Andy Kubiszewski.

The album would be the first of several concept albums Reznor would make for his career as he would explore the ideas of self-destruction, anger, and self-loathing on this record as these are themes he would venture into for much of his career. Musically, the album would mark a major evolution of NIN where the pop elements of Pretty Hate Machine and the abrasive industrial metal of Broken would mesh into something far more intricate sonically as well in its atmosphere. The result would be one of the finest albums of the 1990s as well as a definitive recording in the history of popular music.

The album opener Mr. Self Destruct opens with sounds of a beating sampled from George Lucas’ THX 1138 as the beats continue that is followed by these eerie layers of noisy and chugging beats as Reznor sings quietly until he snarls through the chorus with lyrics that are filled with an element of nihilism and darkness. The song, through its intense production by Reznor and Flood, would also include a quiet section that include these swirling guitar textures by Adrian Belew that would later build up. The mid-tempo jazz-inspired Piggy is led by this slow yet steady rhythm as Reznor with its smooth bass line, noisy synthesizer backgrounds, a swooning organ, and Reznor’s soft yet crooning vocals as he sings these lyrics of indifference and disappointment as it would get a little intense though maintaining its steady rhythm that includes a warbling drum solo by Reznor. Heresy is this beat-heavy track filled with driving synthesizers, pounding beats, and Reznor’s distorted vocals as he sings about the fallacy of revolution with a rocking chorus with the words “God is dead and no one cares. If there is a hell, I’ll see your there” as it include some guitars and droning synthesizers.

The album’s first single March of the Pigs is a fast-paced song with pummeling beats mixed with live drums, melodic synthesizer drones, and a driving guitar to Reznor’s snarling vocals as he sings these lyrics that are confrontational as it has this unique structure where it is this song that would rock and then go into a soft-mode by its droning synthesizers and a melodic piano riff as Reznor sings the song in a normal tone. The album’s second single Closer is definitely one of the most famous songs by NIN due to its explicit lyrics of sex and alienation as well as its offbeat presentation with a heartbeat rhythm sampled partially from the Iggy Pop song Nightclubbing. The song’s production by Flood and Reznor with Alan Moulder’s intricate mixing would include these layers of synthesizers that are melodic to eerie during the second verse as it would later include snarling guitars towards its coda as Reznor sings in a distorted manner as it is one of the finest songs of the 20th Century.

Ruiner is a multi-layered track with rhythmic beats, scratchy electronic textures and swirling synthesizers that would become aggressive through Reznor’s snarling vocals in part of its verse and then go into something grand for its chorus that is filled with lyrics of existence and searching for answers to questions that are complex. It’s a song with a unique structure in its tempo and tonal changes as it includes a middle part with Reznor playing a fuzz-based guitar solo that is accompanied by windy keyboards. The Becoming is a mid-tempo track led by a dissonant piano riff with scratchy synthesizer textures, hammering beats, sampled noises from the film Robot Joxx as Reznor sings in a calm manner through these lyrics of loss and de-humanization as it would include a mixture of acoustic and electric guitars from Adrian Belew as it is one of the album’s standout cuts.

I Do Not Want This is a mid-tempo track that is led by looped drum fills by Stephen Perkins through Reznor and Flood’s treatment and Moulder’s distorted mixing as Reznor sings calmly in the song as he plays a few piano chords with noisy synthesizers in the background. Reznor would sing these calm yet unsettling lyrics of loss and anger as it would include these bridges as he sings in a distorted mix that add to the darkness and then return to something calm only to snarl through its chorus with driving guitars. Big Man with a Gun opens with screams by Tommy Lee as it is followed by pummeling beats, driving synthesizers, thrashing guitars from Danny Lohner, and Reznor’s vocals as he sings darkly-comical lyrics of violence and madness as it is one of the album’s controversial songs but in an offbeat way. The instrumental A Warm Place is this haunting yet beautiful cut that is led largely by its swooning synthesizers with its rich production by Flood and Reznor as it has these ambient elements and melodic synthesizers that is really one of the album’s best cuts.

Eraser starts off with scratchy noises and eerie humming as it then followed by these steady yet hammering mid-tempo beats which is later followed by droning synthesizer melodies. The sounds of synthesizers and its production would intensify with sounds of dissonant guitar melodies appearing and then would soften up with Reznor singing these haunting lyrics of despair as it then goes into full-blown rock with its angrier sound with Reznor screaming for death. Reptile is a mid-tempo track that starts off in quiet tone with sounds of industrial machines sampled from the 1989 film Leviathan and bleeping synthesizer melodies before becoming this menacing and broad song filled with powerful beats, droning synthesizers, and Reznor’s haunting vocals as he sings these rich yet dark imagery into the lyrics that add to this growing air of loss and inhumanity as the song later include snarling guitars in another of the great cuts on the album.

The album’s title track starts off quietly with its haunting sounds of flies and droning noise textures as it would followed by a melodic acoustic guitar and it would slowly build up into something menacing and unsettling into something intense in a low mix by Moulder through sounds of screams, driving guitars, Andy Kubiszewski’s warbling drums, and Reznor quietly singing lyrics of a man committing suicide in graphic detail. The album closer in Hurt is definitely one of the most famous songs by NIN as this haunting ballad that is led by sounds of winds, a distorted acoustic guitar, and Reznor’s calm vocals to lyrics of despair and loss that would include this chorus that is accompanied by Chris Vrenna’s steady drumming. It is a powerful song that do play into this sense of loss but also acceptance as it is another of the finest songs of the 20th Century that would later be covered famously by country music legend Johnny Cash.

On November 23, 2004, the album was re-released and reissued for its 10th anniversary in two different formats with the first being a dual-disc version (halo 8-DVD-A) which presents the album in a new remastered (not the Godfather of Soul with the same name) for both CD and DVD with the DVD portion featuring the album its 5.1 Surround Sound mix by Reznor and James Brown (not the Godfather of Soul of the same name) plus music videos for March of the Pigs, Closer, and Hurt as well as a photo gallery of the album’s artwork by Russell Mills and its discography at that time. The deluxe edition of the album (halo 8 DE) features the original album with its 5.1. Surround Sound mix by Reznor and Brown as well as a second disc of material from that period including two non-album tracks from film soundtracks, remixes from singles and the Further Down the Spiral remix album and three unreleased demos.

The two non-LP cuts from film soundtracks that NIN has contributed with the first being a cover of Joy Division’s Dead Souls for the 1994 film The Crow by Alex Proyas which was also a bonus track for the Japanese edition of The Downward Spiral. Slowing the original song’s tempo a bit for a smooth mid-tempo tone, Reznor would play much of the instruments with a steady bass line, driving guitars, throbbing beats from Chris Vrenna, and Reznor’s calm vocals as he sings Ian Curtis’ dark and moody lyrics. From the soundtrack to Natural Born Killers that Reznor produced is the song Burn which is mainly a mid-tempo track with trash-can like beats, layers of synthesizer textures from melodic bleeps and droning sounds, and Reznor’s angry vocals that play into its dark lyrics as it would include a section of the song that is intense and fierce with its guitars and live drums from Chris Vrenna.

From the March of the Pigs single is the instrumental B-side A Violet Fluid with its bubbling synthesizers and noise loops and the extended remix of the song in All the Pigs, All Lined Up with sounds of crowd noises, pig snouts and additional instruments in that remix. From the Closer to God remix EP are two remixes of the song Closer and a B-side cover of Soft Cell’s Memorabilia. The Precursor remix of Closer by the industrial group Coil with Danny Hyde is an atmospheric remix filled with warbling layers of synthesizers, distorted vocals, and smooth bass grooves on the remix while Closer to God is a re-working of Closer with new arrangements on the instrumentation by Reznor, Sean Beavan, and Brian Pollock as well as re-worked lyrics by Reznor who also sings the song. The cover of Soft Cell’s Memorabilia by Reznor, Vrenna, Beaven, Pollock, Robin Finck, and John Van Eaten along with samples of a prank phone sex call is an offbeat cover with thumping, distorted beats as well as scratchy synthesizers, soft guitar wails, and Reznor’s calm vocals as he sings Marc Almond’s salacious lyrics.

From the 1995 Further Down the Spiral remix album are three remixes from that album as the first a remix of Piggy called (Nothing Can Stop Me Now) that is produced by Rick Rubin as it starts off as a soft remix with creaking sounds of noise-loops with its chorus featuring pulsating drum beats by famed session musician Kim Bullard and driving guitars by Jane’s Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro. The remix for The Downward Spiral known as The Bottom by members of the group Coil with Danny Hyde starts off as this haunting mix with layers of noise loops of the song with warbling whistles as it is then followed by a scream and is largely filled by this sound of sprinkling synthesizer melodies with warbling beats and wailing guitars appearing. The (quiet) remix of Hurt by Reznor is a cleaner mix of the song with a more clear sound on the guitar and a less dramatic climax with some of its distorted sounds from the original album.

Exclusive to the deluxe edition of the album are its three demos which were previously unreleased with two of its demos for Ruiner and Reptile with the latter called Liar were produced by Reznor and Flood while the demo for Heresy is produced by Reznor. The demo for Ruiner doesn’t feature the hammering beats in the final version for its verses until it reaches its bridge while it has portions of the song that doesn’t have Reznor singing parts of the song during its grander moments. Liar is a demo that is nearly realized in its final version though Reznor’s vocals sounds more like a draft of what he wanted to do vocally though it didn’t have the proper mix that would be provided by Alan Moulder. The demo for Heresy is presented in a slower tempo in its beats with Reznor whispering on the vocals for the song’s verse as the chorus include a droning bass line.

The Downward Spiral is an outstanding album from Nine Inch Nails. It is an intense and rich album in terms of its aggression, high-octane production, fusion of hard-edge industrial rock with elements of pop and experimental music, and abrasive yet complex lyrics. It is an album that has this element of danger but also with songs that are fun to sing along to no matter how nihilistic some of the songs are. In the end, The Downward Spiral is a magnificent album from Nine Inch Nails.

Nine Inch Nails: halos: halo 1 - halo 2 - halo 3 - halo 4 - halo 5 - halo 6 - halo 7 - halo 9 – halo 10 – halo 11 – halo 12 - halo 13 – (halo 14) – (halo 15) – (halo 16) – (halo 17) - (halo 18) – (halo 19) – (halo 20) – (halo 21) – (halo 22) - (halo 23) – (halo 24) – (halo 25) – (halo 26) – (halo 27) - (halo 28) – (halo 29) – (halo 30) – (halo 31) – (halo 32)

seeds: (seed 1) – (seed 2) – (seed 3) – (seed 4) – (seed 5) – (seed 6) – (seed 7) – (seed 8)

Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross Film Soundtracks: null 1 - null 2 - (null 3) – (null 4) – (null 5) – (null 6) - (null 7)

Soundtracks/Miscellaneous: The Broken Movie - Natural Born Killers OST – Quake OST - Lost Highway OST

Live Shows: (NIN/Bauhaus/TV on the Radio-6/7/06 Atlanta, GA Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheater) – (NIN/Deerhunter-8/13/08 Duluth, GA Gwinnett Arena) - (Jane’s Addiction/NIN/Street Sweeper Social Club-5/10/09 Atlanta, GA Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheater) – NIN/Godspeed You! Black Emperor-10/24/13 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena - NIN/Jesus & Mary Chain/Tobacco-9/27/18 Atlanta, GA Fox Theatre

© thevoid99 2018

Nine Inch Nails-March of the Pigs (halo 7)

2018-06-20T19:07:00.002-04:00

Released on February 25, 1994 on nothing records, TVT Records, and Interscope Records, the single for March of the Pigs (halo 7) is the first single from Nine Inch Nails sophomore full-length studio release in The Downward Spiral. The single serves as a preview of sorts of what is to come from the album as it features the song as well as a remix of the song and two remixes of another track from the album by longtime Skinny Puppy collaborator/producer Dave “Rave” Ogilvie and a B-side instrumental. The result is a release that would pave the way for NIN’s rise into the mainstream.

The title single is led by a pummeling beats set in a distorted drum machine mix with actual life drums that is followed by bass-droning synthesizers and driving guitars as Trent Reznor sings and snarls through the song with its abrasive and confrontational lyrics. The song would have a break where it would soften up with a simple beat, shimmering synthesizers, and Reznor’s calm vocals that is followed by a melodic piano riff as it returns into rock mode and then into soft mode. The remix for that song in All the Pigs, All Lined Up is an extended mix of the song with more synthesizers, guitars, and extended outros with some crowd noises and pig snouts in the mix. The instrumental B-side A Violet Fluid is a one-minute, five-second track filled with warbling beats and bubbling synthesizer melodies as well as noise-loops.

The first of two remixes of Reptile by Dave “Rave” Ogilvie in Reptilian is a track that emphasizes on many of the song’s instrumental textures in its mid-tempo yet hammering beats, warbling layers of synthesizers, and extended instrumental passages into the song with its beats and synthesizers. The second remix in Underneath the Skin is largely an instrumental mix that emphasizes on pulsating beats layering upon the song’s original beats along with some synthesizer loops mixed in. The mix also has some extended instrumental passages with bits of the vocals that appear at times as it is one of the finest remixes for NIN. The single was released in two versions with the U.S. version containing the song as well as three remixes and a B-side while the U.K. version was a 2-disc set with the first disc featuring a clean version of the song plus the album track Big Man with a Gun, All the Pigs, All Lined Up, and A Violet Fluid while the second disc features the original song plus the two Reptile remixes.

March of the Pigs is an excellent single release from Nine Inch Nails. Not only does it feature interesting remixes and material that would showcase what was to come from Trent Reznor. It’s a single that is one of the band’s strongest releases as well as showing a new side of the outfit. In the end, March of the Pigs is a brilliant single from Nine Inch Nails.

Nine Inch Nails: halos: halo 1 - halo 2 - halo 3 - halo 4 - halo 5 - halo 6 - halo 8 – halo 9 – halo 10 – halo 11 – halo 12 - halo 13 – (halo 14) – (halo 15) – (halo 16) – (halo 17) - (halo 18) – (halo 19) – (halo 20) – (halo 21) – (halo 22) - (halo 23) – (halo 24) – (halo 25) – (halo 26) – (halo 27) - (halo 28) – (halo 29) – (halo 30) – (halo 31) – (halo 32)

seeds: (seed 1) – (seed 2) – (seed 3) – (seed 4) – (seed 5) – (seed 6) – (seed 7) – (seed 8)

Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross Film Soundtracks: null 1 - null 2 - (null 3) – (null 4) – (null 5) – (null 6) - (null 7)

Soundtracks/Miscellaneous: The Broken Movie - Natural Born Killers OST – Quake OST - Lost Highway OST

Live Shows: (NIN/Bauhaus/TV on the Radio-6/7/06 Atlanta, GA Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheater) – (NIN/Deerhunter-8/13/08 Duluth, GA Gwinnett Arena) - (Jane’s Addiction/NIN/Street Sweeper Social Club-5/10/09 Atlanta, GA Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheater) – NIN/Godspeed You! Black Emperor-10/24/13 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena - NIN/Jesus & Mary Chain/Tobacco-9/27/18 Atlanta, GA Fox Theatre

© thevoid99 2018

Nine Inch Nails-Fixed (halo 6)

2018-06-15T18:52:00.000-04:00

Released on December 7, 1992 on nothing records through TVT Records and Interscope Records, Fixed is a remix EP by Nine Inch Nails that serves as a companion piece to the Broken EP as it features six different remixes to songs on the album. The record is the first of several remix recordings Trent Reznor would release as it would often serve as companion pieces to any album or record that was made. The record would feature remixes from Reznor as well as NIN cohorts Chris Vrenna, James Wooley, and engineer Sean Beavan along with members of the industrial group Coil, producer Butch Vig, producer J.G. Thirlwell, artist Paul Kendall, and performance artist Bob Flanagan. The result would be a standard bearer of what a remix record should be in the realm of alternative music.

The opening track is a remix of Gave Up by Coil with Danny Hyde as it starts off with these warbling layers of vocals and keyboards as it turns into something speedy and frenetic with its beats, pulsating vocal sounds, synthesizers, and guitar spurts as it is a major standout of the record which kicks things off to a great start. The first of two remixes for the song Wish is by J.G. Thirlwell who emphasizes on loops of the song’s beats and synthesizers while extending pieces on some of the instruments and creating new sound effects for some of the instruments and for Reznor’s vocals. The remix for Happiness in Slavery by Trent Reznor and Chris Vrenna with loops by Paul Kendall is largely an electronic take on the song with more emphasis on its synthesizers and drum machine beats as they’re extended to serve as an instrumental piece with screams from Bob Flanagan’s from the song’s video.

Throw This Away is a remix of Last as it’s a remix in two parts with the first section by Reznor and Vrenna that emphasizes on the bass line from Suck with windy sounds in the background that would warble through soft vocals of the song as it would build up into something more intense with hammering beats and driving guitars from an edited and aborted remix by Butch Vig that would later be released publically in 2007 in its full version. The second remix of Wish in Fist Fuck by J.G. Thirlwell that is largely an instrumental take on the song with extended loops on the drums and guitars as well as warbling synthesizers and distorted samples from the musical Showboat and a speech by Timothy Leary as it would become intense toward its coda. The closer is a remix of Happiness in Slavery entitled Screaming Slave by Reznor, Vrenna, Sean Beavan, Bill Kennedy, Martin Brumbach, and screams by Bob Flanagan. It’s essentially an instrumental take on the song that features warbled synthesizers and loops with bits of the original song appearing with waves of noisy synthesizers in the remix.

Fixed is a phenomenal remix EP from Nine Inch Nails. Not only is it a fitting companion piece to Broken but it’s also a record that serves as what Trent Reznor could do in bringing others to create new interpretations of his songs and make it sound unique. In the end, Fixed is an incredible remix EP from Nine Inch Nails.

Nine Inch Nails: halos: halo 1 - halo 2 - halo 3 - halo 4 - halo 5 - halo 7 – halo 8 – halo 9 – halo 10 – halo 11 – halo 12 - halo 13 – (halo 14) – (halo 15) – (halo 16) – (halo 17) - (halo 18) – (halo 19) – (halo 20) – (halo 21) – (halo 22) - (halo 23) – (halo 24) – (halo 25) – (halo 26) – (halo 27) - (halo 28) – (halo 29) – (halo 30) – (halo 31) – (halo 32)

seeds: (seed 1) – (seed 2) – (seed 3) – (seed 4) – (seed 5) – (seed 6) – (seed 7) – (seed 8)

Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross Film Soundtracks: null 1 - null 2 - (null 3) – (null 4) – (null 5) – (null 6) - (null 7)

Soundtracks/Miscellaneous: The Broken Movie - Natural Born Killers OST – Quake OST - Lost Highway OST

Live Shows: (NIN/Bauhaus/TV on the Radio-6/7/06 Atlanta, GA Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheater) – (NIN/Deerhunter-8/13/08 Duluth, GA Gwinnett Arena) - (Jane’s Addiction/NIN/Street Sweeper Social Club-5/10/09 Atlanta, GA Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheater) – NIN/Godspeed You! Black Emperor-10/24/13 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena - NIN/Jesus & Mary Chain/Tobacco-9/27/18 Atlanta, GA Fox Theatre

© thevoid99 2018

Nine Inch Nails-Broken (halo 5)

2018-06-12T00:31:00.000-04:00

Released on September 22, 1992 by Interscope Records with partnership from TVT Records and Nothing Records, Broken is an extended play recording by Nine Inch Nails that marks a total shift from the previous sound from their 1989 debut album Pretty Hate Machine. Written, produced, and performed by Trent Reznor with additional production by Mark “Flood” Ellis on two tracks and two cover songs on the record. The record that feature contributions from collaborator Chris Vrenna, Martyn Atkins of Pigface, Filter co-founder Brian Liesegang, and longtime engineer Sean Beavan. The record was made in secrecy through various studios under different names at a time when Reznor was at odds with TVT Records over Reznor’s future and the type of music Reznor wanted to do. That eventually led to Interscope Record’s co-founder Jimmy Iovine to buy Reznor’s contract with TVT and give Reznor and his then-manager John Malm Jr. their own vanity label in Nothing Records. The resulting EP would be one of Reznor’s great achievements.

The first of two instrumental tracks in Pinion opens the record as it’s a one-minute intro that builds up in its volume softly with sounds of distorted guitar power chords that builds up with atmosphere electronic loops in the background emerging as it gets louder where it serves as an intro to the next track Wish. The song is accompanied by sounds of winds blaring through the song’s production with thumping beats as Reznor sings nihilistic lyrics that feature spurts of distorted and driving guitars. The song’s lyrics are definitely dark as the chorus include some low-key yet warbling synthesizers in the background as it would later feature live drum tracks from Chris Vrenna and Martyn Atkins as it is one of the heaviest songs that NIN has done.

Last is a metal-based song with driving guitars and hard-hitting drums in a mid-tempo setting with snarling vocals from Reznor as he sings dark and lyrics of despair as he knows that his time won’t last. It’s a song that has tempo changes that include a slightly-faster tempo during the bridge and hard-hitting sounds in the chorus thanks in part to its production by Reznor and Flood. The instrumental Help Me I Am in Hell is this quiet yet dissonant track driven by a guitar and a soft bass with atmospheric synthesizers in the background to build up a sense of momentum in the track while the guitars remain simple and to the point. Happiness in Slavery is this broad and heavy track led by pulsating and bombastic beats as Reznor screams “slaves scream” as he would sing these cryptic lyrics of slavery and oppression as the song is driven by spurting guitars and melodic synthesizers as it has this amazing structure in its production and attention to detail in where to put a synthesizer in the track as well as its guitars.

Gave Up is a song with different time signature changes as it starts off as a mid-tempo track with melodic synthesizers and pulsating beats as Reznor sings through filtered vocals to moody lyrics as it then kicks into a fast-paced chorus of driving guitars and drums as the song moves back-and-forth. Reznor and Flood’s production on the song would play with that structure as there is a bridge that mixes all sorts of sounds as Reznor sings the line “I tried but I gave up” repeatedly. The record on CD would then be followed by 90 seconds of silence in tracks 7 to 97 as they would later be removed in the 2017 reissue of the record on digital and vinyl where two extra tracks appear.

The first is a cover of Adam and the Ants’ Physical as it is this mid-tempo track chugging bass and guitars to a steady and bopping rhythm as Reznor sings Adam Ant’s playful and salacious lyrics as it include songs of barking dogs (Reznor’s then-puppy Maise) as the guitars and drums would intensify as the song goes on. The record closer Suck is a remake of a song Reznor co-wrote with the industrial group Pigface that was co-founded by Atkins. Reznor’s take included a sturdy yet melodic bass line, spurting synthesizer melodies, bopping beats, and these eerie lyrics of despair as the chorus would be hard-hitting with its beats and blazing power chords on the guitar.

Broken is a phenomenal EP from Nine Inch Nails as it display a major change in sound and production from Trent Reznor from the synth-pop aesthetics of his debut album to something much broader and complex. As hard-hitting and abrasive as this record is, it is also a record that has elements of melodies that does make it engaging no matter how intense the record is. In the end, Broken is an incredible record from Nine Inch Nails.

Nine Inch Nails: halos: halo 1 - halo 2 - halo 3 - halo 4 - halo 6 - halo 7 – halo 8 – halo 9 – halo 10 – halo 11 – halo 12 - (halo 13) – (halo 14) – (halo 15) – (halo 16) – (halo 17) - (halo 18) – (halo 19) – (halo 20) – (halo 21) – (halo 22) - (halo 23) – (halo 24) – (halo 25) – (halo 26) – (halo 27) - (halo 28) – (halo 29) – (halo 30) – (halo 31) – (halo 32)

seeds: (seed 1) – (seed 2) – (seed 3) – (seed 4) – (seed 5) – (seed 6) – (seed 7) – (seed 8)

Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross Film Soundtracks: null 1 - null 2 - (null 3) – (null 4) – (null 5) – (null 6) - (null 7)

Soundtracks/Miscellaneous: The Broken Movie - Natural Born Killers OST – Quake OST - Lost Highway OST

Live Shows: (NIN/Bauhaus/TV on the Radio-6/7/06 Atlanta, GA Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheater) – (NIN/Deerhunter-8/13/08 Duluth, GA Gwinnett Arena) - (Jane’s Addiction/NIN/Street Sweeper Social Club-5/10/09 Atlanta, GA Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheater) – NIN/Godspeed You! Black Emperor-10/24/13 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena - NIN/Jesus & Mary Chain/Tobacco-9/27/18 Atlanta, GA Fox Theatre

© thevoid99 2018

Nine Inch Nails: Sin (halo 4)

2018-06-06T22:50:00.000-04:00

Released on October 10, 1990, the single for Sin (halo 4) is the third and final single from Nine Inch Nails from its debut album Pretty Hate Machine. The single features three remixes of the song by Adrian Sherwood and Keith LeBlanc plus a B-side in the cover of Queen’s Get Down, Make Love produced by Al Jourgensen of Ministry under the Hypo Luxa alias. The remix single would help the song become not just a popular live staple for NIN but also one of its quintessential recordings.

The remixes of Sin is in three different versions as the short version at four-minutes and nineteen seconds was released for the song’s very controversial music video while the long version at nearly six minutes both versions is given more dance-based rhythms to the song with the long version featuring extended synthesizer pulses with layers of synthesizer melodies and extended breaks in the instrumental while the short version is an edited version of the song. The instrumental dub mix is emphasized on many of the instruments in the song with few of the vocals appear every now and then in just three words of the song in warbled and heightened mixes. The cover of Queen’s Get Down, Make Love is a mid-tempo track with samples of the 1962 film version of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, a Japanese porn film, and Queen’s We Will Rock You as it has a unique structure. It starts off smooth and slow with some funky guitars and layered synthesizers as Trent Reznor sings Freddie Mercury’s salacious lyrics and the song then rocks full-on for its chorus.

The single for Sin is one of the finest releases from Nine Inch Nails as it just spans a total of nearly 20 minutes in its four tracks. Along with a great B-side that would become a live staple for some time, the single definitely plays up into what NIN would do for clubs as well as their reputation as must-see live act.

Nine Inch Nails: halos: halo 1 - halo 2 - halo 3 - halo 5 – halo 6 - halo 7 – halo 8 – halo 9 – halo 10 – halo 11 – halo 12 - halo 13 – (halo 14) – (halo 15) – (halo 16) – (halo 17) - (halo 18) – (halo 19) – (halo 20) – (halo 21) – (halo 22) - (halo 23) – (halo 24) – (halo 25) – (halo 26) – (halo 27) - (halo 28) – (halo 29) – (halo 30) – (halo 31) – (halo 32)

seeds: (seed 1) – (seed 2) – (seed 3) – (seed 4) – (seed 5) – (seed 6) – (seed 7) – (seed 8)

Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross Film Soundtracks: null 1 - null 2 - (null 3) – (null 4) – (null 5) – (null 6) - (null 7)

Soundtracks/Miscellaneous: The Broken Movie - Natural Born Killers OST – Quake OST - Lost Highway OST

Live Shows: (NIN/Bauhaus/TV on the Radio-6/7/06 Atlanta, GA Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheater) – (NIN/Deerhunter-8/13/08 Duluth, GA Gwinnett Arena) - (Jane’s Addiction/NIN/Street Sweeper Social Club-5/10/09 Atlanta, GA Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheater) – NIN/Godspeed! You Black Emperor-10/24/13 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena - NIN/Jesus & Mary Chain/Tobacco-9/27/18 Atlanta, GA Fox Theatre

© thevoid99 2018

Nine Inch Nails-Head Like a Hole (halo 3)

2018-06-04T22:58:00.000-04:00

Released on March 22, 1990, the single for Head Like a Hole (halo 3) is the second single from Nine Inch Nails from its debut album Pretty Hate Machine. The U.S. maxi-single features five remixes of the song plus two remixes of Terrible Lie, two remixes of Down In It along with its demo. Many of the remixes are by Trent Reznor and Mark “Flood” Ellis as well as contributions from Keith LeBlanc as it play into the song’s presentation of industrial thrash and engaging lyrics.

The first of five remixes for Head Like a Hole opens with the remix entitled (slate) is a more dance-driven song with its warbling layers of synthesizers and emphasis on higher pitches in the synthesizers, bass, and guitar spurts. The (clay) remix by Keith LeBlanc is essentially a single-edit version of the song with vocal layers in the song’s chorus to open the song as it’s the most famous version of the song that would accompany its music video. The (copper) remix is an extension of the (slate) remix but with more warbling beats and pulsating synthesizers in the background as it would feature a coda of Queen’s Body Language repeated in a playful way. The fourth remix entitled You Know Who You Are by Reznor and Flood is an instrumental remix of the track with more emphasis on the pulsating synthesizers and atmospheric textures of the song. The fifth and final remix of the song in (soil) is a more rhythmic take on the song with its emphasis on its beats as well as a warbled mix on the synthesizers.

The first remix of Terrible Lie entitled (sympathetic mix) by Trent Reznor and Flood doesn’t do much with the song as it removes some of the synthesizers in the song as well as create something different for its intro as a single mix for the song. The (empathetic mix) features a much different intro with its beats and emphasis on expanding the song into a six-minute, eleven-second track with different takes on the backing vocals in the chorus and in some of the synthesizers on the track. The two remixes of Down In It in (shred) and (singe) appear on the single as additional tracks with the latter being extended by eighteen seconds. The demo version of that song appears as what one would expect in a demo with hollowed drum machine beats, melodic synthesizer spurts, a guitar spurt, and Reznor singing. The closer for the single is an unlisted track that is essentially an audio snippet of Heather “Princess” Day praising NIN during their infamous appearance on Dance Party U.S.A.

The U.K. version of the single that was released in late 1990 features the (clay) and (copper) remixes of the song as well as an additional remix that didn’t appear in U.S. releases known as (opal). That remix features an array of live instrumentation that is sampled from the song Tambourine by Prince & the Revolution with some distorted and whispering vocals from Reznor as it include some warbling synthesizers and some pulsating beats that is sampled from another Prince track in Release It as it’s one of the finest remixes that Reznor and Flood has done.

Head Like a Hole is a terrific single from NIN as it would help establish the band as a major force in alternative rock at a time when audiences were craving for something different that wasn’t glam metal or polished mainstream rock. The single showcases the song’s importance in underground clubs that would help bring attention to industrial and electronic music into the 1990s.

Nine Inch Nails: halos: halo 1 - halo 2 - halo 4 – halo 5 – halo 6 - halo 7 – halo 8 – halo 9 – halo 10 – halo 11 – halo 12 - halo 13 – (halo 14) – (halo 15) – (halo 16) – (halo 17) - (halo 18) – (halo 19) – (halo 20) – (halo 21) – (halo 22) - (halo 23) – (halo 24) – (halo 25) – (halo 26) – (halo 27) - (halo 28) – (halo 29) – (halo 30) – (halo 31) – (halo 32)

seeds: (seed 1) – (seed 2) – (seed 3) – (seed 4) – (seed 5) – (seed 6) – (seed 7) – (seed 8)

Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross Film Soundtracks: null 1 - null 2 - (null 3) – (null 4) – (null 5) – (null 6) - (null 7)

Soundtracks/Miscellaneous: The Broken Movie - Natural Born Killers OST – Quake OST - Lost Highway OST

Live Shows: (NIN/Bauhaus/TV on the Radio-6/7/06 Atlanta, GA Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheater) – (NIN/Deerhunter-8/13/08 Duluth, GA Gwinnett Arena) - (Jane’s Addiction/NIN/Street Sweeper Social Club-5/10/09 Atlanta, GA Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheater) – NIN/Godspeed! You Black Emperor-10/24/13 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena - NIN/Jesus & Mary Chain/Tobacco-9/27/18 Atlanta, GA Fox Theatre

© thevoid99 2018

Nine Inch Nails-Pretty Hate Machine (halo 2)

2018-06-03T21:44:00.000-04:00

Released on October 20, 1989 by TVT Records, Pretty Hate Machine (halo 2) is the first full-length studio album release from Nine Inch Nails with all songs produced, arranged, performed, and programmed by its mastermind Trent Reznor. Along with production contributions from Mark “Flood” Ellis, John Fryer, Keith LeBlanc, and Adrian Sherwood as well as contributions from NIN cohorts in Chris Vrenna and Richard Patrick. The album is a collection of songs that would showcase Reznor’s approach to the sound of industrial music that had become an underground sensation through acts like Ministry, Einsturzende Neubauten, and Skinny Puppy but with a more sonic approach to the production as well as elements of pop craftsmanship in songwriting. The result is one of the finest debut albums of the 1980s.

The album’s opening track is the second single Head Like a Hole as it opens with this array of flourishing keyboard sounds that is followed by pulsating beats that help sets up the song into this intense and upbeat song with its bass-heavy synthesizers and steady rhythm. The lyrics of the song is filled with a lot of angst and power in its act of defiance as it is surrounded by tribal chants in the background courtesy of the layered production by Reznor and Flood. The song’s chorus with its driving guitars is definitely an example of great pop craftsmanship as it rocks and easy to sing-a-long to. Terrible Lie is a more mid-tempo song with its heavy beats, melodic synthesizers, thrashing guitars, and Reznor’s snarling vocals as he sings lyrics filled with disdain towards the idea of faith as it has element of direct anger towards God.

The album’s first single Down In It is a mid-tempo song with drum machine beats that would pulsate amidst its layers of synthesizers with some melodic keyboards and guitar spurts courtesy of the song’s production from Reznor, Adrian Sherwood, and Keith LeBlanc. The song also feature Reznor singing in a rap-like tone with its lyrics that are filled with a lot of despair about one’s self. The mid-tempo ballad of sorts in Sanctified is led by a melodic bass line as well as soft beats and lush yet heavy synthesizers. The song’s lyrics that are sung calmly by Reznor through its atmosphere production from Reznor and John Fryer show that air of imagery into what Reznor is singing as it include some droning guitars from Richard Patrick who was then the live guitarist of NIN before co-founding Filter in the mid-1990s.

The ballad Something I Can Never Have is one of the album’s standouts in large part to its atmospheric and layered production from Reznor and Fryer with melodic piano parts, soothing yet brooding synthesizers, and Reznor’s calm vocals as he sings haunting yet somber lyrics to play into a sense of loss. The song would also feature atmosphere beats and textures during the song’s chorus as it add to its eerie tone. Kinda I Want To is an upbeat track with bopping rhythms, guitar spurts, scratchy synthesizer textures, and Reznor’s growling vocals as he sings lyrics of yearning and lust. The song opens with this warbling yet atmospheric synthesizers as it would lead into the bulk of the song as it includes a bridge from Down In It with driving guitars and warbling synthesizers. The album’s third and final single Sin is a synth-heavy song led by pulsating yet rhythmic beats that is energetic enough to dance to along as the layers of synthesizers in its production by Reznor and Fryer along with Keith LeBlanc’s re-mixing give the song so much to digest. Even in the song’s lyrics where Reznor would be calm as well as snarl a bit as he sings about the ideas of sin as it include some driving guitars and a collage of hisses and such.

The mid-tempo ballad That’s What I Get is one of the album’s standouts in terms of its layer of warbling synthesizer melodies that is accompanied by melodic blurbs of another synthesizer before it becomes this somber yet ambient tone as Reznor sings the song. The song’s lyrics of longing and despair matches up with Reznor’s calm vocal as it is carried by this incredible production from Fryer who blend the two elements of calm and ferocity. The Only Time is another mid-tempo track that is largely carried by a funky bassline with a steady beat and soft synthesizer blurts for the verse while it becomes a more bopping rhythm for its chorus. Reznor’s snarling vocals play into the song’s humorous lyrics as it play into the joys of fucking as the song also includes a live drum performance late in the song to play into its offbeat tone. The album closer Ringfinger is a melodic yet chilling song due to its mid-tempo presentation with a bopping beat and melodic synthesizers. The song’s lyrics are definitely with entrancing and eerie imagery as it include these layered vocal in the chorus as well as scratchy keyboards and sampled guitars from Jane’s Addiction’s Had a Dad to help drive the song.

The 2010 remastered edition of the album (halo 02R) that is mastered by Tom Baker does broaden the album a bit while getting rid of a few samples from the original album due to licensing reasons yet the changes are just extremely minor. The added track in the remastered edition is a cover of Queen’s Get Down, Make Love that was a B-side to the Sin single that was produced by Al Jourgensen of Ministry under the Hypo Luxa alias. The song with its sample of sexual moans from a Japanese porno film, melodic synthesizers, hammering mid-tempo drums during the chorus, driving guitars, and Reznor’s snarling vocals as he sings Freddie Mercury’s playful lyrics. The song is definitely one of the finest covers that Reznor has done as it include a sample of We Will Rock You by Queen.

Pretty Hate Machine is a phenomenal debut album from Nine Inch Nails. With its mixture of industrial bombast and electronic collage with pop sensibilities that help the songs be engaging. It’s an album that manages to provide what Trent Reznor would do as an artist and as a producer as it remains the outfit’s most accessible work to date but it also maintains an edge that doesn’t play by convention into what would later come for industrial music in the 1990s. In the end, Pretty Hate Machine is a spectacular album from Nine Inch Nails.

Nine Inch Nails: halos: halo 1 - halo 3 – halo 4 – halo 5 – halo 6 - halo 7 – halo 8 – halo 9 – halo 10 – halo 11 – halo 12 - halo 13 – (halo 14) – (halo 15) – (halo 16) – (halo 17) - (halo 18) – (halo 19) – (halo 20) – (halo 21) – (halo 22) - (halo 23) – (halo 24) – (halo 25) – (halo 26) – (halo 27) - (halo 28) – (halo 29) – (halo 30) – (halo 31) – (halo 32)

seeds: (seed 1) – (seed 2) – (seed 3) – (seed 4) – (seed 5) – (seed 6) – (seed 7) – (seed 8)

Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross Film Soundtracks: null 1 - null 2 - (null 3) – (null 4) – (null 5) – (null 6) - (null 7)

Soundtracks/Miscellaneous: The Broken Movie - Natural Born Killers OST – Quake OST - Lost Highway OST

Live Shows: (NIN/Bauhaus/TV on the Radio-6/7/06 Atlanta, GA Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheater) – (NIN/Deerhunter-8/13/08 Duluth, GA Gwinnett Arena) - (Jane’s Addiction/NIN/Street Sweeper Social Club-5/10/09 Atlanta, GA Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheater) – NIN/Godspeed! You Black Emperor-10/24/13 Atlanta, GA Philips Arena - NIN/Jesus & Mary Chain/Tobacco-9/27/18 Atlanta, GA Fox Theatre

© thevoid99 2018

Nine Inch Nails-Down In It (halo 1)

2018-06-02T17:04:00.003-04:00

Released on September 27, 1989, Down In It was the first major release of Nine Inch Nails as the first single that was written, produced, and performed by Trent Reznor under its main discography surname in halo 1. The song would feature two remixes by Adrian Sherwood and Keith LeBlanc as it would define NIN’s sound in its blend of industrial rock textures and pop craftsmanship that would make Reznor one of the top figures of the 1990s alternative music scene.

The song is this mid-upbeat track with a collage of synthesizer melodies and textures with some rhythmic drum beats and Reznor kind of rapping through the song as its lyrics is filled with element of despair. There’s bits of guitars in the song as it is truly this odd yet catchy song as the first track of the single is known as (skin) which would be the same version that appeared in the album Pretty Hate Machine. The two remixes by Adrian Sherwood and Keith LeBlanc would extend the song or add more textures. The first remix entitled (shred) gives the film an extended outro to play into the song’s muddy synthesizers as well as its metallic guitar spurts, warbling beats, and other textures in the synthesizers and song’s production. The (singe) mix is based on the musical form of dub with additional synthesizers, vocals in different parts of the song with elements of repetition, and rhythmic beats that are extended.

The single for Down In It is an excellent release from Nine Inch Nails as it’s an indication of what is to come from Trent Reznor. Especially in the remixes as well as the sonic production of the song of what Reznor would do as an artist and the songs he would create that would provide a template of the different kinds of music it would emerge for alternative music in the 1990s.

Nine Inch Nails: halos: halo 2 – halo 3 – halo 4 – halo 5 – halo 6 - halo 7 – halo 8 – halo 9 – halo 10 – halo 11 – halo 12 - halo 13 – (halo 14) – (halo 15) – (halo 16) – (halo 17) - (halo 18) – (halo 19) – (halo 20) – (halo 21) – (halo 22) - (halo 23) – (halo 24) – (halo 25) – (halo 26) – (halo 27) - (halo 28) – (halo 29) – (halo 30) – (halo 31) – (halo 32)

seeds: (seed 1) – (seed 2) – (seed 3) – (seed 4) – (seed 5) – (seed 6) – (seed 7) – (seed 8)

Trent Reznor/Atticus Ross Film Soundtracks: null 1 - null 2 - (null 3) – (null 4) – (null 5) – (null 6) - (null 7)

Soundtracks/Miscellaneous: The Broken Movie - Natural Born Killers OST – Quake OST - Lost Highway OST

Live Shows: (NIN/Bauhaus/TV on the Radio-6/7/06 Atlanta, GA Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheater) – (NIN/Deerhunter-8/13/08 Duluth, GA Gwinnett Arena) - (Jane’s Addiction/NIN/Street Sweeper Social Club-5/10/09 Atlanta, GA Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheater) – NIN/Godspeed! You Black Emperor-10/24/13 Atlanta GA, Philips Arena - NIN/Jesus & Mary Chain/Tobacco-9/27/18 Atlanta, GA Fox Theatre

© thevoid99 2018

Announcement: The Summer of Cold & Infinite Darkness: A Celebration of NIN

2018-05-27T17:52:00.002-04:00

On June 22, 2018, Nine Inch Nails will release their ninth studio full-length release in Bad Witch aka (halo 32) which will be in conjunction with an upcoming tour in the U.S. and Europe. I will be attending the band's performance on September 27, 2018 at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta which will be the fifth time I will be seeing NIN. To celebrate this event as well as the 25th anniversary of me being a fan. It is time to delve into the band's entire discography (known as halos) from the release of their first single Down In It to Bad Witch which will also include the band's home video/DVD releases, official promotional releases (known as seeds), soundtrack work by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross (known as null), and some bootlegs. I also hope to retrieve three of my old concert reviews from the past shows I had attended with a few re-writes of those shows to showcase my undying loyalty to Reznor and Ross as I hope to close the book on the band's entire of body of work as well as soundtrack contributions of Reznor & Ross.

© thevoid99 2018

Bowie 70

2017-01-08T20:33:00.000-05:00

On January 8, 1947, a baby named David Robert Jones arrived on Earth just twelve years after another legend was born in Elvis Aaron Presley. While Jones would adopt many personas such as Major Tom, Ziggy Stardust, Aladdin Sane, the Thin White Duke, Jareth the Goblin King, and so many others. He would be famously known to the world as David Bowie as the man who, like Elvis before him, would change the world not just through his music but also for what he gave them in their own search for identity. His passing on January 10, 2016 has been catastrophic as tributes were held by many while fans were able to get a final gift from him two days before on his 69th and final birthday with his final album Blackstar. In what would’ve been his 70th birthday, many will hold tribute to him as it would be one of many goodbyes to the man who gave us so much.

For this tribute that I’m writing, I decide to make a list of 70 songs by David Bowie that I love but it will not include many of the hits that many know and love. That is too easy as a list of the hits is just immense. Then of course, there’s the famous album cuts like Moonage Daydream, Quicksand, and many others that fans love as they won’t appear in the list as well as instrumentals as there’s too many great instrumentals to choose. For my approach on this list, I will choose not just album cuts but also rarities, live version, and alternate versions of songs that he did that means a lot. I could make a bunch of explanations on why I chose these songs but that would be too long. These are just songs of Bowie that I really love and feel that anyone who is either new to Bowie or have heard the hits and some famous album cuts should check out as there is so much to what the man has done in the span of a career that will never be equalized. They’re all diverse and has something to offer as it show how broad Bowie was not just as a musician but as an artist who was backed by musicians who knew how to play.

I want to send a special shout-out to the people at the Echoing the Sounds forum for giving me suggestions as they’re just as big fans of Bowie as I am. This list will be broken into chronological periods from the eponymous debut album in 1967 to Blackstar:

Part 1 (1967-1973)

1. Silly Boy Blue (BBC Session)

2. Drive-In Saturday (Live Version 1972)

3. Velvet Goldmine

4. Cygnet Committee (BBC Session)

5. The Prettiest Star (w/ Marc Bolan)

6. Holy Holy (1970 version)

7. Bombers (BBC Session)

8. Moonage Daydream (Arnold Corns version)

9. Lady Stardust (demo)

10. The Wild-Eyed Boy from Freecloud (BBC Session)

11. Conversation Piece

12. Janine (BBC Session)

13. Running Gun Blues

14. Saviour Machine

Part 2 (1974-1982)

15. Space Oddity (1979 acoustic version)

16. Who Can I Be Now?

17. Because You're Young

18. Candidate (demo)

19. 1984/Dodo

20. Fascination

21. Blackout

22. Red Sails

23. Drowned Girl

24. Cat People

Part 3 (1983-1991)

25. Ricochet

26. As the World Falls Down

27. That’s Motivation!

28. Time Will Crawl (MM Remix)

29. Sons of the Silent Age (Glass Spider live w/ Peter Frampton)

30. Never Let Me Down (Glass Spider live)

31. Julie

32. Girls

33. Look Back in Anger (1988 remake)

34. Amazing

35. Prisoner of Love

36. Sacrifice Yourself

37. Shopping for Girls

38. Baby Universal

39. A Big Hurt

Part 4 (1992-2004)

40. Real Cool World

41. Black Tie White Noise

42. You’ve Been Around

43. The Buddha of Suburbia

44. Untitled No. 1

45. Strangers When We Meet (Outside Version)

46. A Small Plot of Land

47. I'm Derange

48. Subterranean/Scary Monster (live w/ Nine Inch Nails)

49. Dead Man Walking (acoustic version)

50. Seven Years in Tibet (Mandarin version)

51. I Can't Read (The Ice Storm version)

52. Seven

53. Can’t Help Thinking About Me (VH1 Storytellers)

54. Survive

55. Let Me Sleep Beside You (Toy Version)

56. Stay (BBC Live)

57. Shadow Man (Toy Version)

58. Heathen (The Rays)

59. The Loneliest Guy

60. Fall Dog Bombs the Moon

61. Bring Me the Disco King

62. Loving the Alien (Reality Tour)

Part 5 (2013-2016)

63. Valentine’s Day

64. (You Will) Set the World on Fire

65. You Feel So Lonely You Could Die

66. If You Can See Me

67. Sue (in the Sea of Crime) (Nothing Has Changed version)

68. Girl Loves Me

69. I Can’t Give Everything Away

70. No Plan

Thank you David. We will miss you.

Studio Releases: David Bowie (1967 album) - David Bowie (1969 album) - The Man Who Sold the World - Hunky Dory - The Rise & Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars - Aladdin Sane - Pin Ups - Diamond Dogs - Young Americans - Station to Station - Low - "Heroes" - Lodger - Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps) - Let’s Dance - Tonight - Never Let Me Down - Tin Machine - Tin Machine II - Black Tie White Noise - Outside - Earthling - ‘Hours…’ - Heathen - Reality - The Next Day - *

Live Releases: David Live - Stage - Ziggy Stardust & the Spiders from Mars - Tin Machine Live: Oy Vey, Baby - Bowie at the Beeb - (Live at Fashion Rocks (w/ Arcade Fire)) - (Live Santa Monica ‘72) - (Glass Spider Live) - (VH1 Storytellers) - (A Reality Tour)

Soundtracks: Christiane F. - Labyrinth - The Buddha of Suburbia - (Lazarus)

Miscellaneous: Peter and the Wolf - Baal - Sound + Vision - (Early On (1964-1966)) - (All Saints) - Toy - (Nothing Has Changed) - (No Plan)

© thevoid99 2017

Kraftwerk-9/6/16 Cobb Energy Centre, Smyrna, GA

2016-09-07T21:44:00.002-04:00

Kraftwerk. The German electronic group that are really the godfathers of electronic music is probably one of the most influential groups in the history of popular music. Their innovative usage of the synthesizers, vocoders, and other electronic-based instruments that would be the basis for all of electronic music definitely changed the course of music despite the fact that they still haven’t been inducted in the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame even though they’re not a rock band. Yet, Kraftwerk’s influence in popular music is undeniable as it helped pave the way for the synth-pop groups of the 1980s to emerge while David Bowie was inspired by them for the title track to his 1976 album Station to Station. In the early 1980s, Kraftwerk would also play a key role in the emergence of hip-hop when Afrikka Bambaatta and Soulsonic Force sampled the title track of Trans Europa Express and the song Numbers for the very seminal Planet Rock.

While the group is currently led by its co-founder Ralf Hutter with longtime electronic percussionist Fritz Hilpert and another longtime member in keyboardist/percussionist Henning Schmitz along with live technician Falk Grieffenhagen who joined the group in 2013. The band has maintained that sense of prestige as they’re currently taking part of another American tour of their 3-D show which includes a rare show here in Smyrna, GA at the Cobb Energy Centre. The idea of them coming to somewhere like Atlanta as they’ve been known for playing mostly major cities like New York City and Los Angeles is just astonishing. For me, it was something where I had to go as it is likely this is the only show they might ever play here and fortunately, it was only a few minutes from where I live.

Leaving at around 7:45 as it was just a nice drive from my home to the Cobb Energy Centre which I have never been at. It is a beautiful place as I was at the second mezzanine in a good seat where it was in the middle right towards the stage. There were a few people dressed up like members of the band during the 1970s as one of them got his vinyl copy of Tour de France Soundtracks signed by the band. At around 8:35, noises from the stage began to emerge with the curtain displaying images of pixilated robots in front of the curtain with a screen behind the curtain going on. Then, the house lights were off as the band made their arrival to the stage to begin with the song Numbers. The downside of the show is that despite the amazing light and screen show they display. It has to be seen in 3D with 3D glasses as they’re given to the audiences for free as they get annoying to wear throughout the show. Yet, what they do with the 3D effects actually makes the glasses worth it no matter how annoying they are.

The fact that a lot of the visual effects come right at the screen and in display in 3D is truly wondrous as it is clear that in an age of high-energy lights and spectacles that is common with a lot of EDM shows. Kraftwerk is a group that does it right by just going for something simple but also create something that is truly out of this world. Notably in the visual performances for tracks like Computer Love, The Man-Machine, and Spacelab where in that track. There are these gorgeous 3D images that includes a Google Earth map pointer on Smyrna, GA which got cheers while the satellite seen on 3D would be right at the audience. The song would end with a flying saucer landing in front of the Cobb Energy Centre as it is one of the visual highlights. Songs such as The Model and Tour de France feature film clips in the background with the latter featuring added visual 3D effects as it also can be seen without the glasses.

Other highlights are some of the backing videos for the songs Autobahn and Trans Europa Express as it has these gorgeous images that play into the world of modernism. Another highlight of the show was in its encore for Robots where robots appeared moving around with video images behind them. It is a moment that is just fun to watch while the group would return for the final two songs as they would wear these unique costumes throughout the show as it featured lights on the suits that would appear for a different song.

Though the show wasn’t a full sellout, the reaction from the audience was definitely positive despite the fact that everyone has to sit though there were a few in the back that was dancing to the music. It was hard to sit and not stand just so the music can be enjoyed. Before the show began, ushers revealed that recordings can’t be allowed but since this is the age where everything has to be captured on a phone. Some were able to record whatever they can as did I though I only got a minute of Computer Love through the phone while I also, guiltily, admit to taking some pictures of the show while frequently apologizing to the man sitting in front of me as I don’t know how to turn off the flash. Plus, it’s not my phone as it’s my mother’s as it is something I don’t own (and I just lost the photos and videos when trying to copy them into my laptop).

The show overall is incredible as it’s really a once-in-a-lifetime event. Kraftwerk really put on something that music fans have to see. It’s not just in the music as it sounds great while putting on a set devoted to some of their finest songs. Especially as the men who were the godfathers of the electronic music scene not only still manage to create a show that will never be replicated but also prove they’re still ahead of everyone else. In the end, Kraftwerk 3D is an experience that is really unlike many shows that are out there.

Setlist: Set 1: Numbers/Computer World, Computer Love, The Man-Machine, Spacelab, The Model, Neon Lights, Metropolis, Autobahn, Geiger Counter/Radioactivity, Tour de France, Trans Europa Express

Encore: Robots, Planet of Visions, Music Non Stop

© thevoid99 2016

What I'm Listening to: May 2016

2016-05-31T14:36:00.000-04:00

Album of the Month: Radiohead-A Moon Shaped Pool

There is no question that Radiohead is one of the most important bands of the last 25 years. The run they had since their 1995 sophomore release The Bends to 2007’s In Rainbows is pretty much a streak of albums that many of today’s artists/bands wish they could have. While 2011’s The King of Limbs was polarizing, the band’s ninth release isn’t just a return to more experimental ideas but it is an album that has a lot more going for. Notably in the way the band mixes their idea of art-rock with these orchestral flourishes courtesy of guitarist Jonny Greenwood. Every song on the album is just phenomenal while the big standout is a recorded version one of the band’s very old songs in True Love Waits as it feels like a new song all over again.

Song/Single/Music Video of the Month: Bat for Lashes-Sunday

The second song and video from the upcoming album The Bride by Bat for Lashes is a more upbeat yet eerie song as it also has an air of darkness. The video itself feels like a continuation of where its predecessor In God’s House as it is set on the road but with a lot of ghostly images. Lyrically, the song has these haunting imagery into what she is singing as it plays into elements of death. The video itself feels very surreal where it is obvious that it is inspired by some of the works of David Lynch.

Mini-Reviews

Ariana Grande-Dangerous Woman

Now as someone who is in his mid-30s, Ariana Grande is probably the last artist I would listen to as I’m not part of her demographic. I prefer Frank Zappa and Yoko Ono instead of a lot of today’s music as it doesn’t do anything for me. Yet, I will admit that every once in a while. There is a pop song that comes into my radar and I could get a reaction of this. Ariana Grande is actually a good singer as I did like the song Problems a few years ago but this one is incredible. She’s a singer that can really sing and doesn’t need a bunch of machines to make her sound good as this song is just really good with a bit of danger while the video itself is definitely nice to look at.

The Stone Roses-All for One

The first new recording by the Stone Roses in 22 years is an event as they are one of the greatest bands to come out of Britain. Of course, when it comes to the Roses. Expectations are high and it often can fall short of what people want but since this is from a band that hasn’t made any new recordings in a long time. They deserve some benefit of the doubt as this song is actually really good. Sure, it’s more based on rock with a few psychedelic flourishes but it really does rock as it features a blazing solo by John Squire while it features a steady rhythm from Mani and Reni and raspy vocals from Ian Brown. Who cares if it’s not as good as previous work. It’s a song that at least has more heart and soul than whatever bullshit that people are calling rock nowadays.

Due to the lack of albums that are covered for this month, the reason is due to the work I’ve been doing on covering Prince’s discography as it has been huge as well as being a massive undertaking. I took a break from the project though I do plan on finishing it as the inaugural piece of this series of lists called Ranked… Next month will not just feature Prince but also some favorite acts like the Cure whom I hope to see later in June during their tour.

© thevoid99 2016

What I'm Listening to: April 2016

2016-04-30T18:26:00.000-04:00

Album of the Month: PJ Harvey-The Hope Six Demolition Project

If there’s one person who is pretty much making unparalleled with anyone at the moment, it’s PJ Harvey. Dating back to her 1992 debut album Dry, Harvey has been making albums with such consistency and care as she is someone that continuously pushes her own boundaries and never makes the same record twice. Her ninth (eleventh if you count her work with John Parish) studio release is no different as it is her most socially-conscious record to date as many of the lyrics relate to people who are disenfranchised in places as Washington D.C. Kosovo, and Afghanistan. Musically, Harvey harkens back to earlier ideas while delving into other ideas such as psychedelia, blues and folk as cuts like A Line in the Sand and The Wheel are prime examples of a woman who has no equal. While other female artists like Beyonce and Taylor Swift maybe selling more records and be seen as icons. Neither of those bitches hold a candle to what Polly Jean Harvey is doing.

Song/Single of the Month: Hope Sandoval & the Warm Inventions-Isn’t It True/She’s in the Wall

Whenever Hope Sandoval is coming out with something new whether it’s in Mazzy Star or in her project the Warm Inventions with My Bloody Valentine drummer Colm O’Ciosoig. It’s always exciting to hear as the leading single from their upcoming third album showcases that amazing voice with some amazing instrumentation. The first single is just upbeat thanks in part to O’Ciosoig’s drumming while the B-side is just this simple folk-ballad as Sandoval’s dreamy and nocturnal vocals are just seductive. There are really no vocalists like her and hearing her again is a joy.

Video of the Month: D’Angelo w/ Princess (Maya Rudolph & Gretchen Lieberbaum)-Sometimes It Snows in April

Every tribute towards Prince has of late has everyone doing the song Purple Rain which is fine and all but Prince fans know there’s so much more to the man. On The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon, D’Angelo decided to do something else and what better song to pay tribute to Prince than one of his most beloved ballads with the aid of Maya Rudolph and Gretchen Lieberbaum on backing vocals. It’s just a simple piano ballad that is really one of his most touching songs. Yet, when D’Angelo says Prince’s name is where for anyone that is a fan. Yes, the tears will start flowing as this is just the best tribute to Prince himself from my point of view.

Monthly Mini-Reviews

Deftones-Gore

Though they’re unfortunately lumped into that sub-genre of late 90s/early 2000 metal known as nu-metal, what Korn, Linkin Park, and Limp Bizkit lack isn’t just consistency but also the will to push themselves musically. The band’s eighth studio release isn’t just an album that is very heavy musically and sonically but also has the band just doing so much more while taking risks as they’re pretty much at a point where they don’t need to coast on their past glories. It’s not just the single Prayer/Triangles that is a key example but also cuts like Doomed User, Hearts/Wires, and the title track that show that they can still be heavy but also have a sense of melody as Deftones have now affirmed themselves as one of the premier metal bands like those that had done so much to the genre like Black Sabbath, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and Metallica.

Autolux-Pussy’s Dead

For all of the praise that is lavished on mediocre acts like Maroon 5 and Coldplay, it is clear that the one band the public really need to hear is Autolux as their third album Pussy’s Dead is just incredible. With its mixtures of blues, art-rock, and jazz, the album showcases a sense of musicianship that isn’t heard a lot through the playing of its bassist Eugene Goreshter, guitarist Ken Andrews (from the band Failure), and drummer Carla Azar as they all sing. Songs like the single Soft Scene, Listen to the Order, Junk for Code, and Brainwasher showcase music that is dangerous yet exciting as this is a band more people really should discover.

The Joy Formidable-Hitch

One of the newer and more exciting bands to emerge in the past five years, the Joy Formidable have brought a sound that is a mixture of straight-ahead rock with elements of shoe gaze that made their 2011 debut album The Big Roar one of the year’s finest. While their sophomore release two years later in Wolf’s Law was a good album, it didn’t have the immediacy or strength of the first. The band’s third release doesn’t just mark a newfound maturity in the band musically but also in terms of its production where the band produced the record themselves at the home of vocalist/guitarist Ritzy Bryan outside of Molds in Wales. It’s not just that sound of the band is fuller but also with a sense of confidence in songs like the single The Last Thing on My Mind as well as cuts like Liana, The Brook, and The Gift where it’s not just the band displaying a musicianship in the more rock-based songs. They also dabble with folk and traditional musical genres as it shows a band not just coming into their own but a band that has what it takes to be something important.

King Crimson-Live in Toronto 2015

King Crimson is pretty much one of the definitive bands in the world of progressive rock as there isn’t really thing bad to say about them. In another series of live recordings the band is releasing in their DGM label is from a live show the band in Toronto in 2015. Led by the band’s founder in guitarist Robert Fripp, the line-up includes regular collaborators in bassist Tony Levin, drummer Pat Mastelotto, and saxophonist/flautist Mel Collins along with new members in drummers Gavin Harrison and Bill Rieflin and guitarist/vocalist Jakko Jakszyk. The material features an array of songs and instrumentals from many of the band’s near 50-year history as it very exciting as well as loud while it is really a live record fans of the band need to have.

Pet Shop Boys-Super

Pet Shop Boys are one of those acts from the 80s that should never be considered a nostalgic act as they’ve continued to put out music that is very vital and creative. The band’s thirteenth studio release does have the band not only flirt with current dance trends in the single The Pop Kids. Yet, it is in the middle of the album where tracks like The Dictator Decides, Pazzo!, Inner Sanctum, and Undertow showcase the duo of Neil Tennant and Chris Lowe at their strongest. Not only in terms of its production but also in how heavy it sounds. Though it’s a somewhat uneven album, it is one of the group’s worthwhile recording in a 30-year history that shows them still going strong.

Animal Collective-Painting With

Animal Collective are probably one of the great acts of the 2000s in terms of being out there and experimental. Yet, their tenth studio album is kind of a let down considering that there’s not a lot of material that stand out nor does it really have them do anything new. While the single FloriDada is a killer opening track, the rest of the album doesn’t hold up as it’s kind of a dud considering that there’s too much experimentation and not enough work in turning these ideas into songs.

Yeasayer-Amen & Goodbye

The band’s fourth release is once again a very adventurous and weird album as it’s a band creating something that is surreal and enthralling. Though it doesn’t have a lot consistency and can sometimes be weird for its own good. The album does at least have some songs that do stand out like Dead Seas Scroll, Gerson’s Whistle, and I Am Chemistry. Especially as there’s also album cuts that manage to help out with rest of the album despite some of the issues in its sequencing.

© thevoid99 2016

Prince (1958-2016)

2016-04-21T18:07:00.004-04:00

Prince Rogers Nelson aka Prince aka the Artist Formerly Known as Prince. What is there to say about him? The man was a genius. Not just as a songwriter, a producer, a performer, and a musician. He was a lot of things and more. The man was essentially it. In a decade that was defined by superstars and icons, it can be debated on who was the bigger star yet Prince was undoubtedly a man in his own world in terms of his showmanship and the fact that he could play like a motherfucker. Some said he was a bit like James Brown in terms of being a performer. Some said he was like Stevie Wonder for the fact that he could play so many instruments and be so gifted. Some said he was like Little Richard in terms of flamboyance and showmanship. Some said that he was a bit like Jimi Hendrix in terms of his skills as a guitarist. Yet, he’s all of those things but he is Prince.

For anyone born in the 1980s such as myself as there was always one or maybe more that people loved. Though for me as a kid, it depended on who I was into at the time in the age of MTV. Whether it was David Bowie, Michael Jackson, Van Halen, Talking Heads, the Clash, Bruce Springsteen, and the Cars. Prince was also part of that circle as songs like When Doves Cry, Let’s Go Crazy, Little Red Corvette, 1999, and Raspberry Beret were part of that soundtrack of songs I was listening to at age of three to five. Once I would grow up as so many things were happening and I was in elementary school, Prince was still around though the kids were more into hip-hop and hair metal but I still thought Prince was cool. Once I became a teenager and the music I was listening to and would become part of the soundtrack of my life were Nirvana, Nine Inch Nails, Pearl Jam, Metallica, and the Red Hot Chili Peppers but Prince was still around as he had songs I liked at the time like 7 and Cream.

I think once I got into my 20s where it was around the time where I had fully immersed myself into the music of Bowie and other older acts like the Beatles, Pink Floyd, New Order/Joy Division, the Clash, and several other acts along with NIN and Radiohead. Prince was someone I was also starting to re-discover but also go into deep into his work as I believe his work from Dirty Mind in 1980 to the original bootleg release of The Black Album in 1987 are his most defining work and a must for any fan of music. Though much of his output after that would have some great moments, they were also moments that were spotty as it’s hard to say if any of the albums he made after that were as good as classics like Dirty Mind, 1999, Purple Rain, and Sign “O” the Times. Albums like Controversy, Around the World in a Day, Parade, and The Black Album had other things to offer as it showed that Prince, like Bowie, wouldn’t be confined to one genre.

While it is obvious that Prince and Bowie are similar and probably were admirers to each other, for anyone that know that a couple of Prince’s songs like Cream and Peach are based on the work of Marc Bolan as it seems like Prince is more of a Bolan fan than of Bowie’s. This is just one of the aspects of Prince that is unique where he can do straight-up 70s glam but also do soul in a song like Money Don’t Matter 2 Night. There was no boundaries in the man while the persona he created was probably more eccentric than Bowie’s from his first appearance on American Bandstand where he didn’t say a word during his interview with Dick Clark to the time he opened for the Rolling Stones during their 1981 U.S. tour where he was wear black underwear, stiletto boots, ass-less chaps, and all sorts of crazy shit during the tour for Dirty Mind where he withstood the boos and catcalls he received.

During that time where I was learning more about him, I realized how way ahead of his time he was while also being very dangerous which is lacking severely in pop music. The line “am I black or white?/Am I straight or gay?” in the title track to Controversy was quite racy for its time while a song as catchy as Little Red Corvette was just as shocking with that line “she’s got a pocket full of Trojans, some of them used”. As a kid, I thought the song was about a car but once I grew up into my 20s and realized what it was about. I was like “Oh!” as I couldn’t believe that got played on the radio and MTV. Once the years went by where Prince’s eccentricities tended to sort of overwhelm the music. I had become a casual admirer of his work while accepting his eccentricities since geniuses are allowed to be eccentric. Still, that didn’t deter me from enjoying his music or his performances such as the one he gave at the Rock N’ Roll Hall of Fame in 2004 where he basically gave one of the best guitar solos on the Beatles' While My Guitar Gently Weeps where he performed the song with Tom Petty and Jeff Lynne in celebration of George Harrison.

Then in February of 2007, he gave what I think is the definitive Super Bowl halftime show performance as he pretty much took every performer before and since to school. There’s great shows but Prince just goes all out in not just doing the hits but also a medley of covers and did something that can be defined as Godlike. Very few can do that. Freddie Mercury did that in Live Aid back in 1985. Prince did that in February 2007. There will never be the likes of that ever. Plus, for someone as serious as Prince is as it comes to his music. There was a man who also had a sense of humor.

One of my favorite thing that related to Prince is a skit from In Living Color which was an add for Prince’s butt-out jeans where Jamie Foxx is Prince and said some of the funniest shit that I have ever heard. It’s a skit that I constantly watch and it never gets old. Then of course, there’s the legendary Charlie Murphy’s True Hollywood Story on Prince on the Chappelle Show in which Dave Chappelle played Prince. It is a must-see as it all revolves around a basketball game between Charlie Murphy’s boys vs. Prince and his boys where it was shirts vs. blouses.

There’s a lot of songs of Prince that I’m sure many love aside from the hits. My favorite album is Sign “O” the Times as it is just nuts in terms of what he was able to do musically in different genres where it also had so much to say. It’s an album that belongs in that list of great double-albums such as The White Album, Exile on Main St., Quadrophenia, The Wall, London Calling, and The Fragile. It’s not just the songs on the album that are so special but the way it flows and talks about elements of spirituality, social issues, love, and other things that can be serious as well as humorous. The fact that he no longer exists nor will be doing any shows or make any albums is unthinkable. Especially as it just adds more sadness to a year that isn’t very good at all. I guess the only thing to say to Prince is thank you for the music and the memories.

R.I.P. Prince Rogers Nelson

© thevoid99 2016

Favorite Albums Friday #3: Rising

2016-04-08T21:02:00.000-04:00

Favorite Albums Friday is a series of mini-essays weekly or bi-weekly that explores classic albums that made an impact on the world of popular music whether are albums famous to the public or albums that the world needs to hear.

Throughout the history of heavy metal, many often wonder when the genre had gone into its periods of decline as some said it was in the mid-1990s because of the emergence of grunge, alternative music, and hip-hop while the most popular consensus of the genre’s first decline was in the late 70s due to the emergence of punk rock in Britain while disco and corporate rock were considered contributing factors to the genre’s decline in America. Yet, there were still some important albums that came out of that period as one of the bands who would still continue to carry the flag of metal was Rainbow as their 1976 sophomore release Rising would be an album that showcased a more symphonic side to the genre.

While it’s a band that always had a constant line-up change for the bulk of its nine-year period from 1975 to 1984 with a reformation from 1993 to 1997. The one constant of that group was its founder and leader in guitarist Ritchie Blackmore. While he is largely famous for his work in the seminal hard rock band Deep Purple, Rainbow was formed just after Blackmore left the group over creative differences as he wanted to go into something more classical-based. Instead, the band in its Mach III line-up of Blackmore, keyboardist Jon Lord, drummer Ian Paice, and then-new members in bassist/vocalist Glenn Hughes, and vocalist David Coverdale were venturing into a more groove-based sound for the album Stormbringer. With Blackmore out of Deep Purple, he decided to form a new project with a band he had encounter earlier called Elf that featured a vocalist who would later become an icon in heavy metal in Ronnie James Dio.

The band’s first release entitled Ritchie Blackmore’s Rainbow wouldn’t just feature interpretations of songs by Steve Hammond and songs based on classical material. It would also feature elements of medieval fantasy courtesy of Dio as the band’s lyricist at the time yet the line-up for the band’s first album was brief as it would the first of many things that would happen for the band as the group’s first tour would consist of bassist Jimmy Bain, keyboardist Tony Carey, and drummer Cozy Powell. Powell was already famous for his work as a session drummer as well as playing with Jeff Beck in the early 70s as he would be the catalyst for what Blackmore wanted musically. Though the first album did modestly well in the U.S. and U.K. because of Blackmore’s name, it was a major hit throughout the rest of Europe where the idea of classical music fused with heavy metal was more accepted than in Britain and America.

The band’s acceptance in Europe would allow them to record their second album in Munich, West Germany at the Musicland studios with Martin Birch who had co-produced the band‘s first album with Blackmore and Dio. With their sophomore album, the band wouldn’t just create something that would push the boundaries of metal and hard rock to new heights but also provide something was also very challenging musically. At the same time, the production would be heavier and broader to capture the scope of the music while Dio’s lyrical approach would contain a sense of imagery filled with ideas of fantasy that relates more to medieval times as the six songs on the album contain a lot of that. Notably the ferocious opener Tarot Woman as it is this song full of power in terms of its blistering rhythm section led by pummeling fills from Cozy Powell’s drums, Jimmy Bain’s heavy bass, and Blackmore’s fierce guitar work. The track opens softly with Tony Carey’s swooning Moog synthesizer before it becomes this menacing song where Dio really shines vocally with his operatic growl.

For someone as small as Dio, the fact that can bring such a massive voice just adds a lot to his legendary status as he would also provide a lot of range in a mid-tempo song like Run with the Wolf that features these raunchy riffs from Blackmore’s guitar that includes a blues-based sliding solo that is supported by a bopping rhythm that include these amazing fills by Powell who is probably one of rock’s most underrated drummers outside of the world of metal. The upbeat cuts like Starstruck and Do You Close Your Eyes definitely plays into that world of fantasy in terms of what Dio is saying lyrically. The former is a blues-based song while the latter is more based in hard rock as both tracks feature amazing performances from Blackmore and Powell in their respective instruments. Another upbeat track in the album closer A Light in the Black definitely has the energy of punk but it’s more based on bits of blues-riffs and pummeling beats. Yet, it would also feature elements of classical in Blackmore’s guitar solo that do display a sense of virtuosity which was something punk wasn’t about at all.

The album’s centerpiece and often considered the band’s crowning achievement is the song Stargazer. Nearly eight-and-a-half minutes long, the song is not just a true definition of an epic song but it has so much to grasp on. Opening with these pummeling and blistering drum fills for a solo by Cozy Powell, it just adds to the musicianship of the song as Bain’s bass and Blackmore’s guitar hits with the latter coming up with these ferocious riffs that go wow, wow-wow-wow, wow, wow-wow-wow, wow, wow-wow-wow, wow, wow-wow. Dio’s vocals is the voice of an angel of metal where it has these ranges that can be calm to operatic as the lyrics he sings are cosmic in their imagery as they’re accompanied by Carey’s swooning synthesizers that sound very symphonic. That sense of orchestration and need to be symphonic would come into Blackmore’s solo that is probably his best solo as it sounds like a violin from outer space.

The album in its initial release on May 17, 1976 was quite daring considering that it was coming at a time when the music scene in Britain was about to change with the emergence of punk as many say the summer of 1976 was the Summer of Punk. Albums like Rising was considered a big no in Britain despite doing well in the U.K. album charts peaking at 6 while doing modestly well in the U.S. peaking at 48. While the band would focus largely with their growing audience in Europe, the line-up of Dio, Blackmore, Bain, Carey, and Powell wouldn’t last as Carey was fired as Blackmore felt his playing was too complicated while Bain was also fired for being seen as substandard in Blackmore’s view. The two would eventually be replaced by David Stone on keyboards and Bob Daisley on bass where they would help complete parts for the band’s third album Long Live Rock n’ Roll. Dio would leave the band after its tour where Blackmore wanted to go into a more commercial, AOR-oriented style.

In the years since the album’s release, it is often considered the band’s best work despite the many changes in line-up and musical styles the band would do. The 2011 deluxe edition of the album would feature not just the album in two different mixes in the mixing stages set in different studios in New York and Los Angeles but also a rough mix as its second disc that featured expanded versions of Stargazer. Unless one is an audiophile, the New York and LA mixes do sound the same but some of the songs have different time lengths while the rough mixes showcase what the band was trying to go for before the final mixes. Yet, the standout in that deluxe edition are the rough versions of Stargazer as one featured an extended keyboard intro by Tony Carey and another version is from a rehearsal as it is very rough but does maintain that sense of power in the song.

It’s been nearly 40 years since the album has been released as it’s also bittersweet as three of the members in the band have currently passed on as bassist Jimmy Bain just passed away in late January to lung cancer while vocalist Ronnie James Dio also succumbed to cancer in May of 2010 and drummer Cozy Powell died in April of 1998 in a car accident. Despite their passing, their contributions to music will live on as Rising still holds up in terms of its ambition and power while also being an album that rocks. It’s also the kind of album that gives hard rock and metal fans something more as some believe this album provides a template of sorts of the metal sub-genre power metal which is very popular in Europe. In the end, Rising is an album that is metal at its finest as it proves to be operatic, loud, and provide some escape thanks to the band that created it in Rainbow.

© thevoid99 2016

What I'm Listening To: March 2016

2016-03-31T15:01:00.000-04:00

As part of a new end-of-the-month series for this blog, I will do not just mini-reviews of new albums that I’ve heard in the following month but also profile songs that people should listen to as well as music videos to watch. With this blog now returning but in a new state where it’s just there every once in a while as I don’t have the desire to write full album reviews for the time being or maybe ever unless it’s for one particular artist or band like I did last month for David Bowie. For now, here is what I heard and such in the month of March 2016:

Album of the Month: Iggy Pop-Post Pop Depression

In his seventeenth and, maybe, final studio album of his near-5 decade period in music, Iggy Pop goes out with a bang in what is definitely an album that few of his age and stature would make. Produced by Joshua Homme of Queens of the Stone Age who plays in the record with Queens multi-instrumentalist Dean Fertita and Arctic Monkeys drummer Matt Helders, the album sounds definitely recalls the work Pop did in the late 1970s with David Bowie as it has that sound of something that is machine like but with an edge that is just terrifying. Songs like Gardenia, Sunday, and In the Lobby showcase not just Pop’s mastery as a songwriter that can create catchy songs but also with a dark edge. Something that occurs in American Valhalla which is one of album’s standout cuts as is the closer Paraguay that is Pop at his most vicious proving that the Godfather of Punk isn’t going away quietly.

Song of the Month: Deftones-Prayers/Triangles

Though they’re often linked to the late 90s/early 2000 metal sub-genre of nu-metal, unlike many of their contemporaries like Korn. Deftones has managed to really create music that is always different with a sense of edge and creativity that really makes them one of the last unsung heroes of metal but also offer audiences something more in terms of melodies. From their upcoming eighth studio album entitled Gore, the leading single is a track that has a lot of layers in its sound from the melodic guitar textures and slow drumming in its verse. Then goes loud and pummeling in its chorus as Chino Moreno’s vocals is even more powerful while the production and sound itself is even more enthralling thanks in part to Stephen Carpenter’s guitar, Abe Cunningham’s drums, Frank Delgado’s ambient-based synthesizer, and Sergio Vega’s bass. This song is a sign that Deftones are back and metal is still alive and kicking.

Video of the Month: Bat for Lashes-In God’s House

From the upcoming fourth release by Natasha Khan’s Bat for Lashes moniker in a concept album The Bride is its leading single In God’s House. The video is truly one of the most gorgeously shot videos in recent years while saying a lot as it plays into a bride dealing with the loss of her groom. Shot in the desert, the video does have this sense of loss but also elements of surrealism in the fact that a car lights up from inside while Khan sings very somber lyrics of what had happened and how her character in the song is just falling apart.

Monthly Mini-Reviews:

Massive Attack-Ritual Spirit EP

It’s been a very long time since Massive Attack put something that has been worthwhile as their trio of 1990 albums in 1991’s Blue Lines, 1994’s Protection, and 1998’s Mezzanine are considered landmarks for the world of electronic music and defined the sound of trip-hop. After that, things have messy as albums such as 2003’s 100th Window and 2010’s Heligoland didn’t have the consistency of their previous albums nor material that is memorable. This 4-track EP however is actually the best thing they’ve done since Mezzanine as it doesn’t just feature the long-awaited return of trip-hop artist Tricky in their first collaboration since Protection in the song Take It There. The track is just one of the highlights as the rest of the record including the song Voodoo in My Blood features the group in their darkest and most dangerous as it is probably a glimpse of hope that the band could deliver once again with a great album as the video for that song starring Rosamund Pike is just phenomenal.

Primal Scream-Chaosmosis

2013’s More Light was a return to form for the British indie-rock group after a near-decade of albums that were messy or misguided as eleventh studio release sort of scales things back a bit while being more of an electronic-based album. Featuring contributions from Haim, Rachel Zeffira, and Sky Ferreira, the album does bear elements of past albums but in a more simplified presentation that also owes more to today’s electro-pop. Yet, the standout cuts in the single Where the Light Gets In with Sky Ferreira and the folk-based ballad in Private Wars with Rachel Zeffira are the big highlights. The rest of the album show that Primal Scream still has some juice left and can still provide music that is vital.

Savages-Adore Life

The second studio release from the post-punk band may not have that same air of thrill like its predecessor. Yet, this album proves that the band still has that ferocity and danger that made them so fucking good in the first place. The album does feature some more melodic elements than its predecessor in cuts like Slowing Down the World, When in Love, and the first single Adore. The rest of the album is about that energy and danger as it is the kind of record that audiences need in a sea of over-produced pop music that plays it safe.

Suede-Night Thoughts

One of the most influential and certainly one of the most important bands of the 1990s Brit-pop movement, Suede who reunited in 2010 and released their sixth studio album Bloodsport to great acclaim returns once again proving that they’re here to stick around. Their seventh studio release may recall some of the ambitious elements of the band’s 1994 album Dog Man Star in terms of its symphonic approach yet it still has that sense of rock bombast that the band is known for. There are also moments that are quite catchy and melodic as it’s an album from front to back that really has a lot of bite and flair for the dramatics that should put the band up there with the many great bands that defined British music.

Underworld-Barbara Barbara, We Face a Shining Future

For anyone that was listening to electronic music in the mid to late 1990s would know exactly who Underworld is as they were one of the groups in that period that defined not just rave culture but also electronic music at its finest. While the group has been keeping a low profile for much of the 2000s as they focused on film scores, they never stopped making albums. Their ninth studio release is the sound of an act that isn’t just feels revitalized but it sounds like a group that is moving forward while creating the kind of electronic music that means something. Not the kind of music that is made for radio and clubs but rather the kind of music that plays into the senses and the body while showing these young deejays with their laptops in how it’s supposed to be done.

© thevoid99 2016