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.
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
