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Old 01-29-2010, 05:24 PM   #23
flylock shox
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You can't judge NIN on the basis of one particular song. For the most part, Reznor created albums rather than compilations of singles, so you generally have to listen to the whole album to get the whole effect (not the case for Pretty Hate Machine, but likely the case for every album since).

You also can't judge NIN on the basis of one particular album, as they are some distinct differences between the approaches taken with his major successes. Pretty Hate Machine is raw, simple, but was innovative at the time it was released. Downward Spiral is complex, completely groundbreaking when it was released, and just generally brilliant. The Fragile is a complete range of sounds, and is largely instrumental, with very few tracks appropriate as singles.

A lot of people now do what Reznor did, or have adapted his innovations into their own work. To someone listening to NIN now, it may be hard to understand what the big deal is, but if you listened to NIN back when he was about the only guy doing what he was doing, you'd have a different appreciation for him. I think the Downward Spiral is a masterpiece album, but if you listened to it for the first time today, you might think it sounds the same as lots of other stuff. But that's only because other artists have built upon what he started.

If you do like NIN, but wish it sounded just a bit more evil, PIG is another fantastic industrial artist.

Of course, if you want something a bit more evil-sounding, and a bit more maintstream, there's always Rammstein (if yelling in German can be considered "mainstream").
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