Hi, guys and dolls! I'm Bryan, AKA The Horned King. I was thinking about Nine Inch Nails, and how the band's music has evolved over the years. The influence of NIN is undeniable, as the legendary Johnny Cash demonstrated with his haunting cover of Hurt.
My wife and I went to a NIN show in Dallas last year. She was unfamiliar with them, having been mainly a pop and classic rock fan until she met me. She called it loud, sad music. We had fun trying to figure out how to dance to it.
I think Trent Reznor's music is still very enjoyable, and his lyrics are relevant to our times. And I was wondering what you think of NIN...?
In high school, circa 1993, my fellow drama students first introduced me to Nine Inch Nails lyrics, lyrics which they wrote on the chalkboard, like poetry. They played it for me on their car stereos. This was sexy, angry music of a whole new genre. Loud and crunchy at times, or ambient and haunting. I liked it.
I wanted to impress two hot drama chicks, haha!, so I eventually learned to play Hurt on the piano, and at a party I unleashed it on the girls. It left a lasting impression, and even though I was two grades behind them, they paid more attention to me after my impromptu recital.
I asked for a CD player for my birthday. Yes, my first Sony discman, in 1993! I humbly admit that Nine Inch Nails, The Downward Spiral, was the second CD that I ever owned. (The first was What If God Was One Of Us? singer Joan Osborne's debut, Relish.)
The happy-go-lucky 1990s came and went, as I prepared for college and a career in broadcasting. In my mid-20s, I worked at a pop radio station, where Nine Inch Nails would've been wholly unwelcome. As a DJ, I collected so many MP3s and CDs, they piled up anywhere I could stack them.
It was during that time that I fell deeply in love, eventually we married, and my beautiful wife found out she was expecting -- my first little girl! (You should have seen me at the ultrasound, beaming!)
All this time, I had forgotten my original copy of The Downward Spiral at my parents' home, and in late 2007, it was rediscovered there, as Dad and Mom prepared to sell the house.
After they returned "Halo 8" to me, I dusted off the still unscratched CD, like some relic from a time capsule, and played it in my car, for the first time since the '90s, as a matter of fact.
I still play it if I'm driving by myself, because no one else in my family has a clue about this music. They would surely think the CD player was messing up if I played March Of The Pigs, with its fuzzy 7/8 beat.
Still, coming from a somewhat edgy, industrial '90s band, The Downward Spiral sounds surprisingly mellow now, to me, when I compare it to the messy and in-ya-face crap sometimes broadcast on contemporary radio.
My most powerful memory of "Halo 8" is of playing it late nights in the mid-'90s, as I got ready to fall asleep in my black Nine Inch Nails T-shirt. I had hot girls on my mind from drama class, and Hurt to learn on the piano.
I wonder if my sweet Tawny would like me to play it for her around the house? I don't want to make her cry, though!
[ 18. June 2008, 01:34: Message edited by: The Horned King ]
Posted by ISIS (Member # 1780) on :
Hey Horned King- I haven't seen you around here in awhile (but I haven't been around here either).....I remembered though from before that you were not married when you use to post, so congrats on your marriage. I hope all is well for you. I have never heard even 1 song by this group....but it is nice to see you again. Posted by MotleyRulz (Member # 3598) on :
Seeing them live and in person at Woodstock 1994 in that huge mud pit was when I really began to notice them. I bought "Pretty Hate Machine" back when it came out on CD and it was unlike anything I'd ever heard before. I still listen to "Terrible Lie" daily. Their performance at the Woodstock festival was by far my fave. They bring back memories of my college years and not having a care in the world. You could tell they were gonna be big plus everyone says that performance and the exposure really put them on the map. Trent seems to have really calmed down today and laid off the drugs. The DVD "And All That Could Have Been" is in my top five of concert DVD's. Have you heard any of the new Ghosts I-IV or The Slip releases? The Downward Spiral was and still is a masterpiece.
[ 18. June 2008, 06:09: Message edited by: MotleyRulz ]
Posted by P.S. It's Paul.... (Member # 1022) on :
Purely for the sake of keeping everything on topic, I'm moving this thread over to the Social Club.
Posted by Muffy Tepperman (Member # 1551) on :
Horned King how awesome for you with the accomplishments in your life..
I remember seeing Head like a Hole on 120 minutes and always loving it.....but not really knowing much about the band. The Downward Spiral was a big deal.....NIN became pretty mainstream.....would the drama class girls have loved them before haha
Hurt is one of my favorites songs the lyrics the music it's one of those that gives you chills everytime you hear it. When Cash covered it!.........I cried.......I grew up loving Cash and how crazy that he could sing it with the same strength and delivery and Rezner. I saw their Spiral tour......the dropped sheet with the b&w film was great. Marilyn Manson and the Jim Rose Circus side show opened for them......my friends and I actually met Twiggy and Jim Rose haha and Jim Rose was the weird one......haha Twiggy was nice and pretty straight......anyway i'm a NIN fan and Reznor fan for sure!!
Posted by pettyfan (Member # 2260) on :
The first NIN song I ever heard was "Something I Can Never Have." I was in college at the time, and it completely summed up how I felt at that time. I'm not a big NIN fan, but I still love that song, and I also like "Hurt." Someone mentioned the Johnny Cash version...I've heard it, but I still prefer the NIN version.
Posted by NowhereGirl (Member # 465) on :
the first song i heard was "hurt" and i immediately bought the downward spiral. i haven't always payed NIN a lot of attention but i do like the music. just this week, i have been listening to the year zero remixed cd...
or Y34RZ3r0r3mix3d
i too, prefer NIN's version of hurt more than johnny cash....
Posted by 80'sRocked (Member # 6979) on :
Pretty Hate Machine in 1989 I believe. Great stuff.
Posted by joker (Member # 3840) on :
the first time i heard this band was when head like a hole cam,e out i watched the head like a whole video on mtv thats how i descovered this band
Posted by StevenHW (Member # 509) on :
I had never heard of Nine Inch Nails until I saw the music video of his one-minute song "Pinion". Weird weird stuff. Kinda like a David Lynch movie. Posted by The Horned King (Member # 2691) on :
Yeah, what a way to come back from being off the '80s rewind for two years -- Post about a mainly '90s-centric band, hahaha!
Hey, Isis and Muffy, thanks for the congrats. I was spending time with my sweetheart, starting my own family, and I was gone a lot of nights with my band, as well, when I would normally be online chatting with you all. I have a great wife and daughter, as well as some very cool stepkids, and a funny little cat.
We finally got a PC connected to the Net last year, and not just my laptop, so it is easier to come back and visit. (My laptop is a relic now anyway, a Compaq Presario that decided to deep fry its hard drive.)
I was going to say, NowhereGirl, that I also like Nine Inch Nails' version of Hurt the most, and it was just awesome that Johnny Cash picked that song to be his last "magnum opus," as Charlotte the spider put it.
No, Motley Maestro, I haven't heard the new Ghosts or anything else. I can't wait to get back into that kind of music again. I have a lot of time to do that, now that I am watching my baby daughter during the day and not working so much. I go to Youtube and Yahoo Music a lot.
PettyFan, that is one of the coolest songs, "Something I Can Never Have." I love the reverb and sad piano melody. It reminds me of Alanis Morrisette's "Uninvited."
StevenHW, there is one NIN video not meant to be seen by human eyes. Beware... I am talking about "Happiness in Slavery." If you know about this one, I sympathize. It's pretty gruesome! Worse than David Lynch, I thought, hehe!
I have to say, '80sRocked, that Pretty Hate Machine has spent more time in my CD player than The Downward Spiral. I like them both.
And, joker, don't you long for the days when you could see cool videos like "Head Like A Hole" on MTV, when MTV was the BOSS of the music video industry?
On that note, I gots to go. It is past my bedtime. I have to rest up for a play I am acting in this weekend...
By the way, my wife and I are going to see a KILLER concert this Monday night: Cyndi Lauper, the B-52's and Joan Jett, live in Oklahoma City. Hooo-hooo!!!
Posted by jdocster04 (Member # 5752) on :
Everything Zen - There's no sex in your violence...
The first time I had ever heard of them was in 1995 (I think). My friend kept singing this song and saying "There's no sex in your violence"... I was like, what are you listening to dude? Good band... Posted by pettyfan (Member # 2260) on :
quote:Originally posted by jdocster04: Everything Zen - There's no sex in your violence...
The first time I had ever heard of them was in 1995 (I think). My friend kept singing this song and saying "There's no sex in your violence"... I was like, what are you listening to dude? Good band...
I thought that was Bush?
Posted by jdocster04 (Member # 5752) on :
quote:Originally posted by pettyfan:
quote:Originally posted by jdocster04: Everything Zen - There's no sex in your violence...
The first time I had ever heard of them was in 1995 (I think). My friend kept singing this song and saying "There's no sex in your violence"... I was like, what are you listening to dude? Good band...
I thought that was Bush?
Busted! Yup. That's Bush... I was thinking of "like an animal" by NIN. My friend used to sing both of these songs and he introduced me to these groups. I just got them mixed up. Good catch...
Posted by StevenHW (Member # 509) on :
Part of Jdocster04's post:
quote:Yup. That's Bush... I was thinking of "like an animal" by NIN. My friend used to sing both of these songs and he introduced me to these groups. I just got them mixed up. Good catch...
That NIN song that goes "I'm going to f____ you like an animal", is called "Closer". I tried to sing that song once at a karaoke bar, but nearly got tossed out because the bar owner didn't like to hear any swear words out loud! Posted by jdocster04 (Member # 5752) on :
quote:Originally posted by StevenHW: Part of Jdocster04's post:
quote:Yup. That's Bush... I was thinking of "like an animal" by NIN. My friend used to sing both of these songs and he introduced me to these groups. I just got them mixed up. Good catch...
That NIN song that goes "I'm going to f____ you like an animal", is called "Closer". I tried to sing that song once at a karaoke bar, but nearly got tossed out because the bar owner didn't like to hear any swear words out loud!
I was kind of timid about posting the f_ part... I wish I could have seen you do the karaoke though. I would have laughed my @ss off... It's amazing what alcohol will do to you isn't it. Posted by joker (Member # 3840) on :
everything zen is bush and not nine inch nails
Posted by jdocster04 (Member # 5752) on :
quote:Originally posted by joker: everything zen is bush and not nine inch nails
Thanks for pointing that out... Posted by halekido (Member # 7119) on :
1989-I was in the navy; stationed in Norfolk, VA. I was reading an issue of Rolling Stone. The first NIN album was reviewed; quite positively. I went next door (it was in a mall) to a music store and bought "Pretty Hate Machine". I listened to it later that night on my ship. Been hooked ever since. Great music. Reznor is a genius.
Posted by records1black (Member # 7105) on :
The first saong of there I heard was The Perfect Drug. I bought the single!!! I love that song its ace.
Posted by records1black (Member # 7105) on :
Soz for the mistakes in that post, christ I really must give up typing at 1am!!!
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Yup. That's Bush... I was thinking of "like an animal" by NIN. My friend used to sing both of these songs and he introduced me to these groups. I just got them mixed up. Good catch...
