Thursday, July 31, 2008

Album Review: The Slip by Nine Inch Nails

Don't we all love free stuff? For this reason alone "The Slip" by Nine Inch Nails gets five stars. The album was available for digital download on Nine Inch Nail's official website in early May.

“This one’s on me,” Nine Inch Nails guru Trent Reznor stated on the site.

Recently, (July 22, 2008 to be exact) the physical album was released accomodating anti-ipod fans who like to sit and stare at album covers for hours.

After escaping "The Man" (aka Interscope Records) frontman Trent Reznor has been busy releasing 2 albums in 2008. His album "Ghosts I–IV" was released just 2 months prior to "The Slip" in March. According to Reznor "The Slip" was recorded in only three weeks.

Reviews of the album have ranged from pure genius to a bore. My first listen had me leaning more towards boredom. We've all heard Reznor's "sound" before, typically consisting of a dark bass, light drum machine and quirky sounds. Could you even tell the difference if someone switched out "The Slip" with another one of his latest albums (especially Ghosts I-IV)?

But after a few listens I found a special creativity and dark beauty hiding beneath that familiar sound. There are a few catchy songs that are constructed more solid than some of Reznor's latest creations, specifically "Discipline" and "Echoplex." My favorite are the haunting instrumentals "Corona Radiata" and "The Four of Us are Dying."

I imagine this ablum will do little for Reznor's commercial appeal. It is not radio friendly. But I never sensed that Nine Inch Nails strove for commerical appeal. Reznor is a true artist and the Captain looks forward to his creations free from the limits of a record label.



2 comments:

p.w. said...

"anti-ipod fans who like to sit and stare at album covers for hours"

oh, i think you've just described me. that's pretty much the reason i bought the cd even though i had downloaded the album previously.

hm, is your blog new? i only see three entries so far. anyway, i look forward to reading more of your reviews!

The Captain said...

it is new. ive had other blogs but this is my first in a while.