SIGHTS AND SOUNDS OF NIN
--- Import Halo Releases
NINE INCH NAILS - DOWN IN IT.
reznor's first single, it was the first sight of nin on the music
scene, just before he released his first album which quickly rose up the
charts. first pressed on vinyl and then released on cd after the
full-length album came out. the video for this song, while it
may not compare with the ones recently released, is still decent. the
uncensored and extended versions (rare sights) depict reznor lying dead
and disfigured in a pool of blood, his flesh covered with cornstarch.
during the taping, the camera floated away (mounted on a baloon) and was
recovered to be seen as a snuff film. an investigation followed and the
rest is hard copy history. also known as halo one.
NINE INCH NAILS - PRETTY HATE
MACHINE. this was reznor's first album, and
quickly after release it turned multi-platinum. it is still bought today
by many, and remains as a classic in all techno-industrial fans minds.
reznor toured after the release of this, on his now i'm nothing
tour, and did not release another album until 1992. after the release of
this reznor was depicted in spin magazine as the "leader of the industrial
revolution", which angered him much. he does not view his music as
"industrial" but is fine if you call his music "industrial". this release
also launched great publicity for his label, tvt, which eventually
attempted to control him beyond belief. phm is still on the billboard
charts for backcatalogue albums. also known as halo two.
NINE INCH NAILS - HEAD LIKE A
HOLE. a jam packed maxi-single, tvt forced trent into releasing this single with
the "ugly cover art" in the domestic u.s. and to have it contain a
lot of mixes. tvt's desire for more publicity continues. the
u.k. release was how trent intended it to be released, in color and all.
the video for this depicted tribal ritual and rock concert thematics as
the same thing. the flood mix version (rare sight) was also released, it
containing a few added shots of reznor hanging from a bird-cage-shaped
cage, entangled in magnetic tape. the u.k. import of the single contains
the opal remix not found on the normal u.s. version. also known as
halo three.
NINE INCH NAILS - SIN.
reznor's third single off of his hit lp, it contains his first
cover, get down make love, a queen song. the cover was helped in
production by alien jourgensen, a member of ministry. a bit more colorful
than the previous release, it also contains a few good mixes. a video for
sin is rumored to exist, and was released for a limited time, but
then quickly withdrawn and banned for its content. it is still wondered
today as to what the video contained, as it has not made its way onto any
bootleg tapes or copies by hand, although brief descriptions of it
mentioned by certain individuals have described it as two half-naked men
throwing blood on each other. go figure. also known as halo four.
NINE INCH NAILS - BROKEN.
reznor's release of this ep and its harsh angry style was deeply
influenced by trent's legal battles with nin's previous record label, tv
toons records. it is a six song work filled with rage, hate, and a lot of
anger. many were not too impressed with this release after the great
release of phm, but it accomplished what trent wanted. a vast difference
from phm, focusing more on guitar than synthesized keyboard lines. this
anger stemmed from his anger toward tvt, which led him to sign on interscope
and create his own label, nothing records. a movie for broken was made
by trent and peter 'sleazy' christopherson (of coil) and was never
officially released outside of trent's circle of friends, but has somehow
made it to the bootleggers. it is very violent and is too intense for
young viewers, which fits the mood of the album exactly. also
known as halo five.
NINE INCH NAILS - FIXED. the
group of six remixes of various tracks off of the previous ep,
broken, reveals reznor and his team's prowess in remixing and digital
mastery. a good group of synthesized tracks, fixed gets some of the
guitar and anger out of broken and turns into an industrial dream.
it sucessfully interprets the angst-filled songs from broken into new
tracks of synthesized melody and dismelody. fifty thousand were slated
for u.s. release. it has been packaged along with halo seven and halo
nine at various points in time. technically a single, it is almost
an album in itself, and is a good complement to the previous halo,
broken. also known as halo six.
NINE INCH NAILS - MARCH OF THE
PIGS. reznor's pre-single to his second album, it
contained the first track to hit the charts off the new lp. there were
two videos made for march of the pigs. the first, directed by
christopherson and reznor, was trashed (and has not made a public
appearance yet, on official or bootlegged material) for it did not
clearly interpret the song and did not portray nin the way trent
wanted to, as nin had been out of sight for two years now. the
second video, a one-shot live performance, was released and the
audio was released on the cassingle of halo nine. the u.k.
import came as two discs, and included big man with a gun as one
of its tracks. it was also packaged with fixed in some cases, to
be called fixed pig. also known as
halo seven.
NINE INCH NAILS - THE DOWNWARD
SPIRAL. nin's second full-length album
combines the guitar and angst from broken along with the light side and
synthesizers of phm into a new form of music seen here on tds. fourteen
tracks depict a person throwing all of his life away, eventually
concluding in the title track, the downward spiral, in which the person
then dies. a revolutionary album, reznor's latest and finest, and well
worth the wait. this concept album was one of the "most commercial
uncommercial albums" of 1994, which saddened trent. 1994 was a year
to "come to grips" on how big nin had become. after the release of
the downward spiral the new live band (consisting of reznor, chris
vrenna, danny lohner, robin finck, and james wooley [later replaced by
charlie clouser]) began a year-long tour. the japanese import
contained dead souls (placed between big man with a gun and a warm
place) as a bonus track. also known as halo eight.
NINE INCH NAILS - CLOSER TO
GOD. the second track off the downward spiral, this
single holds remixes of closer, heresy, march of the pigs, and a
cover of a soft cell song called memorabilia. a very good listen, it
widens the spectrum of nin. closer was the song that did it.
everyone liked it. country fans liked it. rap fans liked it.
the video was done extraordinarily well. this song's release as
a single was the gateway for nin into other items of business, such
as the performance at woodstock 94 and the production of the
natural born killers soundtrack. the video was shot on old 1920's
camera on film stock (directed by mark romanek) which gave it
the appropriate feel. the u.k. import came as two discs, entitled
further away and closer to god, although the spine of the cd
reads as closer. it was also packaged in the uk along with
fixed in some cases, and called closely fixed.
also known as halo nine.
NINE INCH NAILS - FURTHER DOWN THE SPIRAL.
after a year of haloless releases, trent reznor assembles this collage
of remixes on an ep of several tracks taken from halo
eight, including everything from mr self destruct to piggy,
eraser to the downward spiral, and finally, hurt.
compiling remixes from such bands as aphex twin, coil, and nin
themselves, this release encompasses and emphasizes about every
emotion prevalent on halo eight. very similiar to the fixed
genre of remixes, these tracks barely resemble anything to their
original form; and each is very unique, all the while retaining
a sort of continuity. the uk import contains extra tracks
such as mixes of heresy and ruiner. also known as halo ten v2.
--- Other NIN Sights and Sounds
other visual
stimulation
nin sound files (.mod,
.s3m, .wav, .au, etc.)
jason patterson, (patters@conduits.com), in cooperation with nothing records. © 1995, 1996.