What happened to NIN?

[raphael90]

I can no longer find "Pretty Hate Machine" in the stores nor does the TVT website list NIN as an artist. Apparently they have dropped them??? Does anyone know if they've taken the albums off the market? PHM is such a classic, I can't believe they'd pull it....does anyone know if Trent plans to re-release it?

Only respond to this please if you've got an answer or civil comment...I don't want any "Who cares" or "ummmm" answers please

[Kid Icarus]

Perhaps the stores were just sold out?

I've found a few copies of PHM around here. Won't buy it, 'cause i've got a lot of friends with it that would let me borrow it.

[Voltron]

PM Rez...he's a NIN freak

[raphael90]

My other tip off was that Amazon.com has it on Special order now...I take that as the kiss of death for any cd.

Yeah, shoulda just PM'd Reznorite instead of posting this...I was just curious if anyone knew anything.

[Reznorite420]

Originally Posted by raphael90

I can no longer find "Pretty Hate Machine" in the stores nor does the TVT website list NIN as an artist. Apparently they have dropped them???

NIN went off TVT records about 10 years ago. Trent formed his own division of Interscope called Nothing Records and every album has been released under that label since.

BTW, your best bet to find PHM would probably be either eBay or half.com.

EDIT: Here is the home page for Nothing Records.

EDIT 2: I just checked amazon.com, and all it says about its availability is, "Please note that labels occasionally run out of stock [blah blah blah]...". That's just their way of saying they don't know if they have any or not, but they will hopefully get more on the way soon.

Besides, it shouldn't be too hard to find it at a place like Wal-Mart or Best Buy (heck, I got my copy of PHM at the former for about 13 bucks); it's pretty much one of the only ones you can find now, along with The Downward Spiral, Further Down the Spiral, The Fragile, and Broken.

Another little personal note: maybe PHM is running out all of a sudden because of the anticipation for the next few NIN releases due out this year, and new fans are probably wanting to "get used to the sound from the beginning", if you get my drift. Boy I'll tell you they'll be in for a surprise when and if they get this next release expecting a similar sound. I'll let you know what I mean later if you'd like (this is directed to anybody who wants to know).

EDIT 3: I take it back...after a look at my NIN cds, the last album to have the TVT label on it was Halo 10, Further Down The Spiral, which was released in January 1995, so I guess that would make it 9 years instead of 10.

[raphael90]

Perhaps you're right....but I got kinda concerned when none of the stores retail or used even carried the cd (its been almost a month since I saw one, but it is possible its selling too fast). I did know NIN was no longer with TVT, but I do remember they had PHM and the remix cds on the site...now there's no mention of NIN or anything there. I wondered if TVT just decided to let the cd go...it's a bestseller so it doesn't make sense letting it go.

As for the hint about something new, didn't he already release something new last year...or was it 2002? I'm still limited to "Broken" and "PHM" in my NIN category.

[Reznorite420]

Yes, he did release a Halo in 2002 (Halo 17) named "And All That Could Have Been", but it wasn't really new in the sense you're talking about; it consists of one disc containing material from the Fragility v2.0 tour he made in 2000 (all songs on it originally coming from ealier releases of course) and another disc containing, in a deconstructed/mimalist fashion, 4 previously released songs, 4 new instrumental tracks, and 1 new vocal song. There's also a DVD (2 disc) version by the same name, but in a clever marketing ploy it contains a few songs not on the CD version and hidden menus accessing just as hidden bonus materials.

Another catch: when the album first came out, there was also a limited edition 2 CD set containing both the liver concert tracks and the studio material, but of course it lived up to its title and thus the chances of finding one brand new are close to nil, and only the single CD version of the live material is readily available (which comes in different packaging). Let me show you:

2-disc limited edition:




Single disc edition (live only)




But behold! All is not lost for those wanting to get the second disc! It can be bought exclusively at this page. This doesn't, however, keep me from wanting the 2-disc version...being the NIN purist that I am, I want anything for even the slightest difference.

About this new slew of alubums due out this year: the one released in 2002, while an offcial release, was not an LP. Due this year is the next LP "enclave" that Trent has consistently kept a pattern with ever since he started (he's released an LP every 5 years since 1989). Before the LP is released, he makes a somewhat short remix EP, entitled as a song on the corresponding LP, so listeners can get a taste of what's going to be on the LP. Then comes the LP itself sometime in Autumn. By late December of the same year, he releases another remix EP also entitled as a track on its respective LP, only this time it's at least slightly longer that the previous EP. Come the beginning of the next year, Trent releases yet another remix EP, but this time he chooses a title related to the title of the LP itself rather than giving it a track name and makes it just a tad longer than previous EP again. The only enclave to have gone against this so far is, ironically, the PHM enclave, in which Halo 4 has both a title taken from a track on the LP ("Sin") and a shorter track length then the previous EP (only 4 tracks as opposed to Halo 3's 10-track listing). Let me show you what I mean again:

1989-1990 Pretty Hate Machine enclave:
- Halo 1, Down In It (EP 3 tracks)
- Halo 2, Pretty Hate Machine (LP 10 tracks)
- Halo 3, Head Like A Hole (EP 10 tracks, 11 if you count the 3 second hidden ending)
- Halo 4, Sin (4 tracks)

1994-1995 The Downward Spiral enclave:
- Halo 7, March of the Pigs (EP 5 tracks)
- Halo 8, The Downward Spiral (LP 14 tracks)
- Halo 9, Closer to God (EP 9 tracks)
- Halo 10, Further Down the Spiral (EP 10 tracks)

1999-2000 The Fragile enclave:
- Halo 13, The Day the World Went Away (EP 3 tracks)
- Halo 14, The Fragile (LP 23 tracks spanned out on 2 CDs)
- Halo 15, We're In This Together...

Let me stop just a moment and explain Halo 15 for a minute. It was unique in more ways than one. For starters, it was never manufactured in the US. Second, it was divided into 3 parts (discs), each containing 3 tracks, making 9 tracks total. Third, 2 of those 3 discs had the exact same opening track, the title track. Lastly, it's the only EP to have a track that's neither remixed nor new; part 3 contains the full version of "The Perfect Drug", which originally appeared on the soundtrack to the David Lynch fild Lost Highway in 1997. That explains Halo 15, now on with the post:

- Halo 16: Things Falling Apart (EP 10 tracks)

I'll bet you're asking, "Where do Halos 5, 6, 11, and 12 fit into all of this?" Those Halo numbers were more or less "filler" Halos in between the LP enclaves that are separate in style from the LPs. Halos 5 and 6 (Broken and Fixed, respectively) as you know had the more harsh guitar sound and made PHM seem fit for a kid's birthday party. Broken is unique in the sense that it's the only NIN EP to date to contain completely all new material (un-remixed and unaltered). Halo 11 was simply a remix EP containing nothing but remixes for "The Perfect Drug", all but one of them done by someone other than one connected with NIN. Halo 12 is the only Halo that's not an actual music album, but rather a 2 tape VHS set; tape one contains footage of The Downward Spiral tour in 1995 and some backstage footage, albeit in rather bad quality, and tape contains all of the NIN videos made up to that point except for "Burn".

One last comment, and then I'll be done. This new enclave due out this year will be a very minimalist approach and in a style not unlike that of Still (see the above link in this post), so anything on said album is fair game for the style of this next LP. Seeing as you've only really heard PHM and Broken, I'd advise against jumping into this new LP enclave right away so as to avoid confusion when you finally listen to it. What I would recommend is to do the same thing I did and start from the beginning if you can and work you way through all of the Halos. You'll notice how Trent's style gradually changes from year to year, and thus you'll understand why he's decided to give a minimalist approach on this next release.

*WHEW!* Now, it's time for me to get some sleep. I hope I didn't bore anyone with my NIN lesson

[raphael90]

Woah, complete NIN history lesson...thanks for all the info!

One thing I immediately noticed as I looked NIN stuff in the stores was how much of the stuff was just remix cds. The only one I had was HLAH remix cd...personally I preferred only the songs that sounded as close to the versions on PHM, didn't really like the others on there. I guess remixes don't do much for me...however I'm sure the big NIN fan has them all. I just noticed I never see the Fixed EP in stores...is that less common? I find it weird Broken EP isn't really considered just another album because it is like you said all new songs. Yeah, EPs generally are just bite-size albums but still....

I guess the next album to go with is "The Downward Spiral"

[Reznorite420]

Originally Posted by raphael90

I just noticed I never see the Fixed EP in stores...is that less common?

Somewhat. The only place I found it where it wasn't online was at a used CD store in my hometown, and it was in pretty bad shape for the price it was going for. I found it brand new for less at amazon.com.

EDIT: Hey, I just noticed another pattern! In one of the 2 post-LP EPs, Trent's released a cover song. It's always alternated between the second and first:

- Sin, the second post-PHM EP, featured a cover of Queen's "Get Down Make Love"...

- ...then Closer to God, the first post-TDS EP, featured a cover of Soft Cell's "Memorabilia"...

- ...then Things Falling Apart, the second post-The Fragile EP, featured a cover of Gary Numan's "Metal".

So, in that case, we whould see a cover song on Halo 20, assuming he keeps up with both the patterns of releasing an LP after this next album due out and alternating a cover song between the first and second post-LP remix albums. I wonder what he'll cover this time? A Johnny Cash song, perhaps? To commemorate him after his death, considering Cash covered a NIN song and all...who knows?