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Nine Inch Nails: Difference between revisions
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Nine Inch Nails is an [[Industrial Metal]] band who have been rolling around the musical scene since 1989, releasing music videos which have ranged from politically subversive to the sort of video which answers the question 'What if ''[[Hostel]]'' had been a set for music videos?'
They're somewhat unusual in that [[I Am the Band|it's essentially one man]], Trent Reznor, who's done all of it. Most members have come and gone, occasionally contributing to albums but mostly staying for the live shows. As of 2009, Reznor's decided to retire from touring, though he's going to continue to release albums under the Nine Inch Nails name.
The music is surprisingly varied, from ear-destroying screaming guitar-death on ''Broken'' to beautiful, mellow piano pieces on ''Still''; but most of it falls squarely under [[True Art Is Angsty]].
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* [[AcCENT Upon the Wrong SylLABle]]: [[Title-Only Chorus|U-WIH-thu TEE-thuh!]]
* [[Addiction Displacement]]: After finally getting clean of drugs and alcohol, Reznor became a weight-lifting enthusiast.
* [[Alone in a Crowd]]: "All the Love in the World."
* [[Angst]]: Most songs.
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* [[God Is Dead]]: "Heresy".
* [[Happiness in Slavery]]: The song is the trope namer!
* [[Heterosexual Life Partners]]: From about 1985 until 1997, Trent had this kind of relationship with Chris Vrenna.
** This friendship spanned earlier than that; they became friends as teenagers, owing to the fact that they grew up within fifty miles (90 km) of one another (Vrenna is originally from Erie, Pennsylvania; Reznor is from a town called Mercer, about forty minutes south).
** Lately, he seems to be developing this type of relationship with Atticus Ross.
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* [[Mondegreen]]: In one interview Trent Reznor wanted to drive home the point that in "Head Like a Hole" he is saying "God/money" and not "Got money?", and in "Down in It", he is saying "I was up above it" and not "Eyes of a puppet."
** There's a photo out there of one of guitarist Aaron North's setlists on the With_Teeth tour, that reads "Down In It, aka Eyes Of A Puppet", along with a few other jokes.
* [[Mood Dissonance]]: "The Becoming" contrasts ominous industrial sounds and lyrics about dehumanization with surprisingly low-key vocals.
* [[Mood Whiplash]]: "March of the Pigs," and "With Teeth." Also arguably "I Do Not Want this," especially if you agree with the popular theory that it's [[Split Personality|two different sides of the]] [[Makes Sense in Context|character speaking]].
** Song-to-song transition example: on ''The Downward Spiral'', the noisy and hyper-aggressive "Big Man with a Gun" is followed by the calm ambient soundscapes of "A Warm Place," which is then followed by the slow-burning aggression of "Eraser."
** Which is ''then'' followed by the pulsing, ripping sound of "Reptile."
* [[My God, What Have I Done?]]: Quite a few of Trent's songs are about regret; notable examples are "Gave Up" (After everything I've done/I hate myself for what I've become) and "Zero Sum" (Shame on us/After everything we've done.)
* [[Nietzsche Wannabe]]: The character in ''[[Concept Album|The Downward Spiral]]'', to the point of [[God Is Dead|actually quoting him]]. Trent himself had moments like these in earlier interviews.
* [[Obligatory Bondage Song]]: Subverted by "Happiness In Slavery".
** Quite frankly, Trent has many songs that seem like this unless you're following the continuity of [[Concept Album|the album they're in]]. "Meet Your Master" is a good example of this. Alternatively, you might not realize that songs like "Happiness in Slavery" or "Head Like a Hole" are actually about record labels unless you actually know about Trent's history with them. There's also "Sin," which sounds like a song about D/s, which really isn't helped by the ridiculously fetishistic [[Music Video]]...which is a lot like [[And I Must Scream|most]] [[Bound and Gagged|of]] [[Whip It Good|their videos]]. So really, it's more like Obligatory Bondage Music Video...
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* [[Product Placement]]: Could easily be a coincidence, but in [[Millennium Trilogy|a film that Reznor worked on the soundtrack for]] a character is seen wearing a Nine Inch Nails t-shirt.
* [["The Reason You Suck" Speech]]: "No, You Don't" is basically one big verbal bitch-slap to someone who [[Fanon|may or may not be]] [[Courtney Love]] (she gets a more direct mockery in the video for "Starfuckers Inc."). Also, "You Know What You Are?", and arguably "Happiness in Slavery".
** Also, "Starfuckers Inc." itself counts as one (possibly also at [[Courtney Love]], though it's also said to be directed at [[Limp Bizkit|Fred Durst]] and [[Marilyn Manson]] as well- [[Take That|it even imitates Manson's apparent habit of having to record vocals in MANY takes...]] Funnily enough, he later [[Crowning Moment of Awesome|joined Reznor on stage to perform it]].)
** Those songs only really count as this outside the context of the albums they're part of (with the exception of You Know What You Are?", which does not come from a concept album). Within the context of the albums to which they belong, they mostly just reinforce said concept and are (or seem) much less directed at any one person...
* [[Record Producer]]: Trent's personally produced every single NIN album, with help from various others at some points, like Adrian Sherwood and John Fryer (''Pretty Hate Machine''), Flood (''Broken'', ''The Downward Spiral'') and Alan Moulder (''The Fragile'', ''With Teeth''). All the NIN albums since ''Year Zero'' have been credited to Reznor, Moulder and Atticus Ross.
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* [[Recycled Trailer Music]]: Quite a few action movies use NIN songs in their trailers nowadays.
* [[Religion Rant Song]]: "Heresy" and "Ruiner" from ''The Downward Spiral'', "Terrible Lie" from ''Broken'', and judging by [[Word of God]], "Capital G" from ''Year Zero'' as well.
* [[Sampling]]: Not only from the obligatory old horror and sci-fi movies, but also occasionally from other artists. ''Pretty Hate Machine'''s liner notes thanked [[Prince]], [[Public Enemy]] and [[
** An expansive list can be found [http://www.ninwiki.com/Samples_In_NIN_Songs here]. The most unusual samples on the list include Saddam Hussein's trial verdict and a ''[[YouTube]] video of [[Bioshock]] cosplay.''
* [[Self-Backing Vocalist]]: Virtually all of the background vocals on Trent's songs are...well, Trent. The only songs with audibly non-Trent contributions from the band's entire career are "La Mer" (which is instrumental apart from Denise Milfrot's French mumbling) and "Pilgrimage" (which is instrumental with indistinct militaristic chanting in the background).
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