Not only is it one of my favorite NIN albums in the last few years, it's easily in my top five this year.
Not only is it one of my favorite NIN albums in the last few years, it's easily in my top five this year.
i never get to read whole threads like i used to, but i assume everyone has been talking about how this is the most inspired piece of music trent and atticus have ever created, right?
because holy shit, what an album.
This was released on my birthday! Amazing album and I went to two shows so far. Want to see at least one more!!
I think Trent's vocals and vocal techniques, vocal layers, vocal effects etc... are underrated. I enjoy listening and discovering vocals in the background that I haven't noticed before.
'This Isn't The Place' is a great example of several vocal techniques and applications.
Because of this the 3 albums have become some of my favourites.
TR (and AR) are fucking amazing.
It's hard for me to find any current artists whom can put out an album which such a variety of structures, styles, techniques, stories... and I do search.
I believe that physical world things and emotions can be converted into sound/music; TR is the best I've ever come across at accomplishing this; other than Klaus Badelt, John Williams, James Newton Howard etc... the fact that I put TR in the same category as them says a lot about TR.
Last edited by snaapz; 10-04-2018 at 08:49 AM.
I in fact love the flow of Bad Witch specifically because of its similarities to The Slip. The tight rock songs slowly unraveling into long, open-ended atmospheric pieces.
I feel like The Slip did this better, also the fact that eventually the aggression comes back with Demon Seed, The Slip has one of the best flows of any NIN album. Bad Witch would work more if it had more tracks to prepare you for the transition, like The Slip did. Slip gradually prepares you for the athmospheric pieces, with Head Down going into Lights In The Sky, which goes into Corona, Bad Witch's transition feels little bit more rushed, going straight from drum'nbassy and fast track like God Break Down The Door to I'm Not From This World doesn't work that well, at least in my eyes
I think it works pretty well. Much like Big Man With A Gun -> A Warm Place on The Downward Spiral, it feels like it represents a moment where the tension breaks and there's a brief moment to collect one's thoughts about the situation at hand, and in both cases, the reflection reveals just how utterly fucked the whole situation is.
The transition from Shit Mirror to ahead of Ourselves gets me so hyped it's not even funny.
I put my huge headset on and sat down for a break at work. Turned some music on and started scrolling through some online articles about I-dont-even-remember and over and out started playing. I just froze and sat there staring blankly at nothing, and this sounds cheesy of course, but I felt like I could feel this in my soul. If I have one, anyway.
Thank you Trent,
That was magical. I had 2 of my coworkers staring at me asking if I was okay afterwards, and I said yeah and got up to be alone.
Last edited by Andallthatcouldhavebeen; 10-08-2018 at 04:23 AM.
What the hell is that droning noise in I'm Not From This World? An animal?
And does anyone else hear labored breathing like someone is dying throughout Over And Out? Kind of makes sense with the ending too, like the peaceful sound of death.
I'm pretty much the opposite to this as well. I've found that I listen much more to random tracks from NTAE and Add Violence (Add Violence in particular has pretty bad flow), whereas BW is so much greater than the sum of its songs, and I only get that effect when I listen to it all in a row. I think the flow on it is great. I still think its probably the best NIN since TF - and I've loved everything they've done except WT.
Don't know if anyone has mentioned this, but some of the dialogue from Detective Rust Cohle in the first episode of True Detective sounds very similar to Trent's explanation about the idea behind Bad Witch...
Originally Posted by Rust CohleOriginally Posted by Trent Reznor
Bad Witch, Add Violence, and Not The Actual Events continue to grow and grow on me; every few days they appreciate more in value. Unexpected.
I haven't had this happen since The Fragile.
A small part of me wishes TR/AR would release an album full of I'm Not From This World-type instrumentals, terrifying, dark, dirty stuff much scarier than anything on Ghosts or any of the soundtrack work they've done.
It seems likely with the rate at which they've been putting out soundtrack work that there will be an auteristic horror film at some point that catches their attention and vice versa. Can you imagine something like It Follows with TR&AR scoring? (to say nothing of how perfect Disasterpiece's score for that movie was, I'm just throwing a tonal example out there)
Sorry to go on and on... but listen... in my 19+ years of being a NIN.COM/SPIRAL/ETS form member and many HALO releases I've never went on and on like this.
I have a background in radio as a student, I have spent a lot of time around music and radio operations. In middle school I was in the jazz band (bass guitar). I was in my high schools orchestra (double bass). For years I had a home studio and produced my own tunes, for fun. I listen to a shit tonne of music, I have exposure, to all genres.
I consider myself to be trained.
Regarding NIN...
At first I didn't realize it; but Bad Witch, Add Violence, and Not The Actual Events are fucking amazing.
Last night while on the highway I blasted BW, and when 'God Break Down The Door' came on I was transported to some other planet, or something. For the record I've blasted every NIN song multiple times, some 100's and 100's of times. I've never had a feeling like this.
BW is fucking amazing. There is SOOOO MUCH GOING ON with this album. I won't bother with listing my 100 reasons.
TR/AR did good. TR/AR did real good.
Thanks! That will be all.
I just listened to 'Driver Down' for the first time in maybe 5-10 years... wow... this song could almost be on Bad Witch.
Jump to 3:00 and play the rest, just wait for the sax, the sax almost sounds like the same recording session as with BW (mic, levels, mastering).
Well, damn. I just noticed part of TR's interview that @captainbeyond copied above.
Kinda makes me wonder if Trent ever read or heard about (since it is all popular and stuffs) Plato's Allegory of the Cave. In summary,Originally Posted by Trent Reznor
It seems to fit and he acknowledges philosophical standpoints. Any thoughts, you guys?Plato has Socrates describe a group of people who have lived chained to the wall of a cave all of their lives, facing a blank wall. The people watch shadows projected on the wall from objects passing in front of a fire behind them, and give names to these shadows. The shadows are the prisoners' reality. Socrates explains how the philosopher is like a prisoner who is freed from the cave and comes to understand that the shadows on the wall are not reality at all, for he can perceive the true form of reality rather than the manufactured reality that is the shadows seen by the prisoners. The inmates of this place do not even desire to leave their prison, for they know no better life. The prisoners manage to break their bonds one day, and discover that their reality was not what they thought it was.
The blurb about Bad Witch in the official store also uses the phrase “shadows on the cave wall.” I always viewed it as a Plato reference too.
TR seems like a very well-read, eloquent man. I think he’s sort of had that air about him since his reemergence in 2005, but especially in recent interviews concerning the Trilogy. I also think more research went into these three EPs than we may realize.
Did you guys notice a sax in Shit Mirror too?