Nine Inch Nails recently released a new album, taking Radiohead's idea of "pay what you want" to a new level of customer appreciation. You can download The Slip absolutely free at theslip.nin.com. One of the cool "geek" elements of this album is found when you load it into iTunes. Each track has it's own individual artwork. They seem loosely based on Year Zero artwork and are compelling in that it adds that extra twist that NIN is coming to be known for.This album has a lot of diversity on it. It's obvious that Trent Reznor is still in the same mindset that produced With Teeth and it's less accessible followup Year Zero. There are several songs on this album that would have fit nicely on Teeth. There are also some obvious lingerings from The Fragile here, with some of the songs ambling about with no real destination, but still very listenable, a definite improvement over the droning songs of Fragile.
The album kicks off with an intro titled "999,999" that leads into "1,000,000" which I think is pretty brilliant, actually. "1,000,000" is very much a similar song to "Only" from Teeth. When I wrote notes for this review I put that it's just missing the hi-hat. That's definitely true. Damn good song, one of my faves on this album.
The feeling quickly transitions as "Letting You" comes on. It's a politically charged rager that hearkens to "Starfuckers, Inc" from Fragile. Looking at the lyrics, you quickly see that this song is about the complacency and apathy of the human public toward our government representatives doing all this damage to the world. I think it is specifically about Americans, but could easily be applied to the globe.
"Discipline," the albums first single, brings the missing hi-hat from "1,000,000" and the drone of "The Day the World Went Away" from Fragile, but with the syncopation this song moves rather than slowly lagging until boredom and sleep set in. As a first single it was a smart choice because it encompasses several elements of recent NIN singles into one cohesive song. However, I'd be surprised if this was the biggest single on the album.
The album continues with "Echoplex" and "Head Down," both of which are time machines to the Teeth era of NIN with "Head Down" showing some influences from the gritty Year Zero. It's groovy. It moves. But like a lot of songs on Year Zero there is a lot of superfluous noise for texture. Then comes a signature song that Reznor has been adding to each of his albums since Further Down the Spiral's "Hurt" took off. "Lights In the Sky" definitely fills the role, and with zeal. From the piano to the soft whispered vocals, if this song were more profound and compelling, it would be called "Hurt II".
Then comes the interesting tangent that I didn't expect, but wasn't really surprised to find. "Corona Radiata" gets it's name from the area in the lower part of the upper brain that controls nearly all the neural communication to and from the cerebral cortex. I wonder if Reznor got inside someone's brain and found this song playing. It is a mash of drowning piano sound for more than four minutes before any guitar shows up. Then, inexplicably, there are some cat noises at the end. It's completely instrumental, and the only track I skip while listening to the album. "Corona" is quickly followed by "The Four Of Us Are Dying" which is in the same vein, but much more listenable. "Four Of Us" is immediately reminiscent of the more sweeping soundscapes of Fragile, but with a point and a purpose. There is even a Broken feel to the song, while no lyrics appear. The two songs together account for more than ten minutes of instrumental music and a bridge to the final track.
In the closing minutes of The Slip the listener gets thrown back to a darker day when Nine Inch Nails was just a project, not yet an iconic band. The tempo changes are reminiscent of Pretty Hate Machine with the purity of anger found on the first three NIN albums. With whispered vocals and a crescendo building to a scream Reznor makes it perfectly clear that he knows "What this is all about" and claims that he knows "Exactly what I am".
I know, too. Trent Reznor and company are amazing musicians with yet another brilliant album under their collective belts.
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