Nine Inch Nails' Hesitation Marks streams for free on iTunes

The new studio album from Nine Inch Nails titled Hesitation Marks officially drops next week on September 3rd, but it was put up for free streaming via iTunes last night as a sneak preview. I'm sure because of it the album has leaked online but that isn't important. I listened to Hesitation Marks last night because I am an impatient fangirl and although I wouldn't say it is a bad album I definitely wouldn't say it is a favorite.

I am a major Nine Inch Nails fan and have been listening to them for many years. I haven't encountered a time when I didn't really like something that Trent Reznor gave us so I am a bit lost right now. I mean, I'm not a huge fan of With Teeth but even then I didn't feel the way I do now. I think the album started off strong with the tracks "Copy of A" and "Came Back Haunted," but after those it just morphed into what felt like one giant, 50min song. It all sounded very similar and was dull and quite boring. Ordinarily I would have been bobbing my head to a beat but I only found myself doing that when "Satellite" was playing.
Yes I have to admit... I only liked three songs, maybe four. The saddest thing for me is two of those I have been listening to for a while now because Trent released "Came Back Haunted" and "Copy of A" early. The majority of the songs were just a dull roar for me. It sounded like Trent was still in movie mode and created another score only this time he decided to put words to each song. It felt very forced.
Now with all that said, I wouldn't call this a bad album. It is identifiable and you can tell it is Nine Inch Nails. I just feel like Trent was trying to mix all of his sound from the past 20+ years instead of trying to move to a new area like he continuously has done with each album release. When you look at the musical evolution of Nine Inch Nails it is rather incredible and noticeable. With Hesitation Marks it's like he sat down and was like, let me just mix everything and see what happens. It should have worked but I don't think it quite got there.
I'm not saying I don't want to own this album because I will, but I would put Hesitation Marks on the same level of The Slip and With Teeth (to some extent). It has a few good songs but it isn't an album I would listen to straight through more than I had to.


It's alright. I still love you, Nine Inch Nails. See you in November.

#NIN2013 #HesitationMarks

Nine Inch Nails announces 2013 US tour dates

Nine Inch Nails has released the US and Canada tour dates for the 2013 Tension tour!

9.28  St Paul, MN (Xcel Energy Center)
9.30  Kansas City, MO (Sprint Center)
10.01  St. Louis, MO (Chaifetz Arena)
10.03  Monreal, Quebec (Centre Ball)
10.04  Toronto, Ontario (Air Canada Centre)
10.05  Cleveland, OH (Wolstein Center)
10.07  Auburn Hills, MI (The Palace of Auburn Hills)
10.08  Pittsburgh, PA (Petersen Events Center)
10.11  Boston, MA (TD Garden)
10.14  Brooklyn, NY (Barclays Center)
10.15  Newark, NJ (Prudential Center)
10.18  Washington, DC (Verizon Center)
10.19  University Park, PA (Bryce Jordan Center)
10.21  Raleigh, NC (PNC Arena)
10.22  Nashville, TN (Bridgestone Arena)
10.24  Atlanta, GA (Philips Arena)
10.25-27  Ashville, NC (Mountain Oasis Electronic Music Summit)
10.30  Sunrise, FL (BB&T Center)
10.31  Orlando, FL (Amway Center)
11.01-11.03  New Orleans, LA (Voodoo Festival)
11.05  San Antonio, TX (AT&T Center)
11.08  Los Angeles, CA (Staples Center)
11.09  Phoenix, AZ (US Airways Center)
11.11  El Paso, TX (Don Haskins Center)
11.13  Broomfield, CO (1stBANK Center)
11.15-16  Las Vegas, NV (The Joint)
11.18  Portland, OR (Rose Garden Arena)
11.19  Spokane, WA (Spokane Arena)
11.21  Vancouver, British Columbia (Rogers Arena)
11.22  Seattle, WA (KeyArena)
11.24  Edmonton, Alberta (Rexall Place)
11.25  Calgary, Alberta (Scotiabank Saddledome)


I'm pissed because they chose 1stBANK Center up in Broomfield, but I will go up there for NIN. I don't see why they didn't just pick Pepsi Center.

This NIN tour will feature Trent Reznor, Robin Finck (returning), Josh Eustis, Ilan Rubin (returning), and Alessandro Cortini (returning). I am excited to see Robin Finck come back despite me secretly hoping Aaron North would make a comeback, but not all dreams can come true. I was also hoping Trent could pull Josh Freese back into the groove but again... you can't have it all.

[Update 6/6] Adrian Belew has left the tour lineup citing that it was "just not working." No word yet on who will be replacing Belew in the lineup. 

Nine Inch Nails to release new single on Thursday

O...M...G...


Nine Inch Nails will release the new single from their new album this Thursday, June 6th. The single will be "Came Back Haunted."
The Los Angeles radio station KROQ describes the single as being closer to NIN's roots and not so much the "experimental material Trent's done in the last five years."


I am so excited I could burst. Now to go listen to some NIN all night. kbai

[Random] My top 10 Nine Inch Nails music videos

Movie news has been pretty slow lately, so why not do some random fun stuff. After the announcement that Nine Inch Nails is returning this year I started listening full force again and watching the music videos. I saw a columnist on Bloody-Disgusting sharing his favorite NIN videos, so I thought I would do the same. It's always fun to see the comparisons.



10. Starfuckers, Inc.
I think my love for this video, and song in general, is based on principle. Trent released it to stiff it to the music industry, I think. The video is what it is, but I still love it. Enjoy some "Starsuckers."

09. Wish
This is a great song in general and the video is a good mixture of crazy. I remember seeing it for the first time when I was like 13 on the Closure VHS set. I prefer the live versions of "Wish" but this classic album version with the video is always good, too.

08. March of the Pigs
I put this at #8 simply because the video isn't anything special, but the song is. I would put the song a lot higher on the list, but the video is very simple.

07. Survivalism
This is a good one off Year Zero. I love the lyrics to the song and I think the video correlates perfectly with the theme of not only the song but of the album itself. I also love how they incorporated the music video into the Lights in the Sky tour.

06. The Perfect Drug
Great video and a great song. Simple as that. For some reason I can't find the original video on YouTube to link down below, but you can probably find it somewhere. It's definitely worth seeing. All that's on YouTube is remixes and RockBand clips.
[EDIT] I totally spaced the NIN Vimeo page. You can watch the official video here: http://vimeo.com/3612941

05. Down in It
This is another one that I remember from the Closure set and I always loved it. It might just be because I love the song (favorite off Pretty Hate Machine) but either way it is a good video. The story behind it is even better. You guys should Google that one.

04. Pinion
This is one that is short and sweet... and awesome as shit.

03. Help Me I Am In Hell
Another that is pretty short and sweet. It is just amazing, though.

02. Happiness in Slavery
This is a close run for first place, but it still can't beat my first choice. This video is just incredible and it is almost impossible to find on YouTube so I can't link it below. I have no doubt you can find it on Google somewhere so I would suggest finding it and checking it out. Amazing song and a great video companion.
[EDIT] I totally spaced the NIN Vimeo page. You can watch the full, very NSFW, video here: http://vimeo.com/3556108

01. Closer
Yeah, yeah it's a given, right? I don't give a fuck. This is a great music video and I have loved it ever since I was a wee teenager. It is unmatched and no one will ever beat it. Simple as that.

Enjoy =^D

Trent Reznor announces the return of Nine Inch Nails

I am so excited for this I can't really describe how exciting this is. I am so ready for this.

Here's the word from the man himself:

"Nine Inch Nails are touring this year.
I was working with Adrian Belew on some musical ideas, which led to some discussion on performing, which led to some beard-scratching, which (many steps later) led to the decision to re-think the idea of what Nine Inch Nails could be, and the idea of playing a show. Calls were made to some friends, lots of new ideas were discussed, and a show was booked - which led to another, which somehow led to a lot of shows.
The band is reinventing itself from scratch and will be comprised of Eric Avery, Adrian Belew, Alessandro Cortini, Josh Eustis, Ilan Rubin, and me. The first shows will begin this summer, followed by a full-on arena tour of the US this fall, and lots of other dates worldwide to follow through 2014.
Lots of details and dates to come. See you soon.
TR"

Tour dates have yet to be announced, but we do know that the tour will start in the summer of 2013 and extend well into 2014. I am predicting a rather extensive overseas leg of this tour and/or multiple shows in certain cities. The lineup is a bit different but brings back some old faces like Alessandro Cortini who toured with NIN during With Teeth and Lights in the Sky and Ilan Rubin who replaced Josh Freese for Wave Goodbye. The newcomers are Eric Avery from Jane's Addiction, Adrian Belew of King Crimson, and Josh Eustis of Telefon Tel Aviv.

In case you didn't know, Nine Inch Nails is my favorite band so I am just jumping at this. I read about this when I woke up this morning and I was so excited I couldn't bring myself to hop on here and share the news. I have calmed down, barely, but I wanted to share it.