I love this topic. It’s a lot of fun to showcase a song at a time that deserve their due. As I’m sure over time, you’ve all come to realize that Nine Inch Nails is my all time favorite band. Through the years, Trent has written some pretty amazing songs and a lot of them have never really gotten the attention the deserve. One such song I’d like to highlight is “Getting Smaller” from 2005’s With Teeth. I still remember hearing this song for the first time and thinking to myself, what a great song this is, and as time went on I kept thinking why wasn’t this song a single or a live staple. Something fun about this song is that the drums on this track were played by the one and only Dave Grohl. This song too, is one of the best songs on With Teeth. I truly hope that when Nine Inch Nails comes back around to touring again, this song makes the set list.
It’s no secret that I have a deep affinity for Nine Inch Nails. Ever since I first heard the band back in 1990, I’ve been enthralled by what Trent has created. Each album has it’s own unique way of taking you on this journey that is really hard to explain. It’s like you are sucked in to every emotion and ride the wave. That’s part of what makes Nine Inch Nails albums so great. From start to finish and with every listen there is something special about the songs and how the ebb and flow just takes you away. So, take a deeper dive into the end of album songs by Nine Inch Nails.
Ringfinger (from Pretty Hate Machine):
Suck (from Broken):
Hurt (from The Downward Spiral):
Ripe With Decay (from The Fragile):
Right Where It Belongs (from With Teeth):
Zero Sum (from Year Zero):
Demon Seed (from The Slip):
Black Noise (from Hestitation Marks):
Burning Bright (Field On Fire) (from Not The Actual Events):
The “title track” topic is quite fun. The title track is one of those songs that has always left a mark with me. I’m sure many of you out there, like myself, like to really delve into the “why” part of albums. As I mentioned before, these songs seem to have a certain vibe that brings the whole album together. Check out these songs by Nine Inch Nails and then go back and listen to the albums as a whole.
I’m sure you all know by now that Nine Inch Nails is my favorite band. While thinking of what to share with you all today, I wound up with the song “Only” in my head. There are a few things about the song that are really cool. For starters the song was the number one song on the modern rock charts for seven straight weeks when it was released. “Only” is the 20th most played song in the bands live history. And, the music video for the song, which was directed by David Fincher, is one hell of a great video and truly artistic. The CGI heavy video is one of the most intriguing videos in the latter part of Nine Inch Nails’ history. David Fincher and Trent Reznor are one hell of a team together. Their shared vision and ability to create genuine art is profound. Enjoy this great and now classic video.
Nine Inch Nails- Only:
Here’s a bonus… Check out this awesome remix EL-P (from Run The Jewels) did:
Nine Inch Nails- Only (EL-P Mix):
It’s really interesting to think about all the B-sides a band has. A lot of the time the songs that didn’t make the album are actually really good but just didn’t fit in the scheme of things. The other day while in the car with my wife, the Nine Inch Nails song “Non- Entity” came on and it got me thinking about all the songs that Trent has written over the years that didn’t get put on albums or even released. So naturally I went on a binge of listening to all the B-sides, covers and unreleased tracks by Nine Inch Nails that I could. Here are a bunch of my favorites. (more…)
It’s really crazy to think that it has been ten years since I turned 21 and Nine Inch Nails released With Teeth. I remember the day it was released very well. It was the day of my 21st birthday (May 3rd). A few weeks before I had attended a listening party for the album and was very excited to know that it would be coming out on my birthday, added incentive of sorts. I remember putting the cd on in my friends car and blasting the ever living guts out of it, thinking to myself wow, this sounds great.
Originally the album was to be called Bleedthrough and was a concept based on the exploration of “loss and possible discovery of self, along with alternate layers of reality and perception set inside a nightmare you can’t seem to wake up from; with lots of feedback”. Not long after though Trent stated that the name was changed because “it was supposed to be about different layers of reality seeping into the next, but I think some people were thinking about blood or a tampon commercial”. “‘Bleedthrough’ is no more,” Reznor wrote in a message posted on nin.com, “as the songs and concepts matured, the focus and theme of the album shifted somewhat–leaving me feeling that title was inappropriate. Or you could just say I changed my mind. Yes, the new album has a title and track list, and no I’m not telling you what it is yet”. During the writing of the album Trent began to realize that the songs didn’t fit in to the concept and could stand alone without the need for an all encompassing concept. It was during this time that Trent was also heavily inspired by the use of more analog electronic effects and instruments, specifically tape delay and modular synthesizers, The drums on the album are courtesy of Josh Freese and Dave Grohl.
To me, With Teeth is as close as Trent will get to going back to that “RAW” feeling like he did with Broken. There are so many great songs on this album. The live versions of these songs translate so well. I had the opportunity to see them during this album and it was a great show. Songs like “You Know What You Are,” “The Line Begins To Blur,” “The Hand That Feeds,” “Beside You In Time,” and “Right Where It Belongs,” still stand out to me from those shows. I just wish Trent would play “Getting Smaller” at more shows!!
With Teeth stands up 10 years later and sounds fresher than most of the generic rubbish that is being churned out these days. Trent always stays true to where he is at in his life. This album truly represents getting his life in order and reflecting on the past as to not fall back down that trail again. With Teeth is and was the logical next step in the evolution of Nine Inch Nails. Here hoping that evolution continues!
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