Head Like A POLL: ILM Artist Poll #119 - Nine Inch Nails

I think it’s fair to say that his work after The Fragile generally is most interesting to the extent that it pushes in different directions rather than seeking to preserve the feeling of his earlier work - even when those directions are basically diametrically opposed e.g. Hesitation Marks vs Not The Actual Events / Bad Witch (the former of which reminds me of the abstract aggression of post-comeback Wire; the latter just builds on that with added cabaret vibes rather than more rawness, I think).

But none of that has anything to do with drugs / addiction in my view.

basically every direction he's pushed in has been good except the slip & ghosts i-iv, just the execution has varied in quality

No love for Year Zero anyone??

i've found there to be a pretty clear hierarchy with nin: 80s/90s > 10s > 00s.

hard disagree with the 80s/90s. re-listening to PHM was shocking to me. it's so completely singular in their discography. reznor kinda laid down one of those kids books where you could choose your own adventure and the future Downward Spiral area of exploration won out.

Which part of the quote are you disagreeing with?

sorry - the grouping of the 80s and the 90s output. PHM just stands as an outlier.

I agree with that in some ways but also PHM / Broken / TDS are all so different from each other that grouping any of them together as a single era seems a bit odd. Much more continuity between TDS and The Fragile IMO

oh yeah i'm just talking about these periods in terms of quality, not saying each period is distinct stylistically. broken was obviously quite a major change from pretty hate machine, before the downward spiral reconciled the two. there's more continuity between tds/the fragile but the fragile draws a lot less on synthpop and is just generally less pop.

Hesitation Marks is sounding/feeling better than remembered.

I forgot all about “Everything”, it seems!

Add Violence is SOLID.

I don’t know if I gave the 2016/2017/2018 releases enough attention at the time.

I hadn't heard Year Zero or some of the other more recent releases and there was some good stuff, but it didn't really impact my ballot. I also realized that Funky Trent is my favorite Trent, and there's a lot of either slow plodding or rock & roll uptempo grooves. Also With Teeth really did bring the hooks.

How rad would it have been if the Broken tape had put Physical and Suck on an answering machine microcassette instead of just sticking them on side b?

can i just say that "suck" is an amazing song and cutting it from my ballot was heartbreaking

I haven’t gotten to the cutting stage yet :-(

with nin cutting is inevitable (terrible joek sorry sorry i’ll go now)

my ballot has a lot of hesitation marks

same lol

I forgot all about “Everything”, it seems!

This is my least favorite song by far on that album. Just doesn't even sound like NIN to me.

can i just say that "suck" is an amazing song and cutting it from my ballot was heartbreaking

It really is! My 2nd fav on Broken behind Happiness in Slavery. It is insanely funky

Just doesn't even sound like NIN to me.

which is why i put it high up on my ballot! it def *sounds* like NIN, but feels not so much like a NIN song for me. it was like the first time i heard Into The Void. it just didn't sound like the typical type of song he would write, and it was great!

What's the new deadline for this?

roughly 12:01 am monday gmt

Just want to say that I have really enjoyed trying to get my thoughts in order for this poll. NIN are in this sweet spot for me where I am deeply familiar with enough of the music that it feels worthwhile to try to engage with the process properly, but unfamiliar with enough of it that the engagement has also been a total voyage of discovery.

ballot sent and almost before realizing my selection pool had nothing from phm or the fragile.

there is still time for ballots for a bit longer still

So you can vote for this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mGaoMBlUbU

or this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLPcE-5YWKI

i think i'm still waiting on a ballot from western with bacon flavor, is there anyone else?

I just want to say thanks ufo for keeping this ILM madness going.

NIN isn't one of my bands but looking forward to the playlist.

xp you got mine - i was the jerk with "the frail/wretched" as one song

ah ok!

we have 20 ballots now which is alright. i don't think there's any outstanding?

ok poll's closed. rollout will be sometime soon but idk exactly when yet

how many ballots did u end up with??

oh lol nvm i can totally read i swear

I meant to vote in this, but just couldn't get it together in time. Looking forward to the rollout!

I was right *there* for NIN: into plenty of adjacent bands, danced to Head Like A Hole at various appalling indie clubs, and was friends with people who had the Reznor aesthetic in their bones (and on their feet) but the band somehow totally passed me by. Am here for the rollout.

the results rollout is underway!

And POLL That Could Have Been: ILM Artist Poll #119 - Nine Inch Nails - RESULTS

pic.twitter.com/5WYY3MQOmh

— 𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐄 𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒 (@maletearsmusicx) May 20, 2024