MetalSucks

Back in August, Gary “Lucky Motherfucker” Suarez got to see Nine Inch Nails perform their seminal release, The Downward Spiral, in its entirety as part of their “Wave Goodbye” tour. For those of us who weren’t lucky enough to be there, I attempted to compile video bootlegs of the entire performance. Turns out, I shouldn’t have wasted my time. Our friends at Metal Injection report:

One NIN fanatic searched far and wide and found 11 different people at the show who bootleged it (in HD nonetheless!), they edited it and now, presumably with Trent’s blessing, the entire show is online and downloadable for FREE. You can stream it above, download a torrent, iPod version or just a DVD burn. Click here to download it.

Even if Trent hasn’t approved of this yet, I have a hard time imagining that Mr. “Fuck the Record Labels, Steal My Album” would have a problem with it. But whatever the case, I’d like to applaud this awesome fan for all his hard work, which will now allow the rest of us to live vicariously though some means other than a critics’ description.

Here’s a video from the performance, now edited together:

-AR

No, Trent Reznor won’t be fucking you like an animal anytime soon: he has apparently tied the knot with some chick named Mariqueen Maandig, formerly of a band I’ve never heard of called West Indian Girl. A half-dozen reader e-mails pointed me to Pink is the New Blog, where photos from the wedding have been posted, and I wanted to re-post them here for two reasons:

1. Romantic wedding photos somehow seem to go against everything Reznor stands for. And to that end…
2. …he looks SO UNCOMFORTABLE in the first, posed photo. I’m not blaming the guy – I’m completely incapable of looking natural in cheesy pictures myself, so I sympathize – but still, kinda funny. Also, why is hand on her ass?

Enjoy the pics.

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A tweet from former Nine Inch Nails touring member Danny Lohner has alerted us to the fact that Pretty Hate Machine, Trent Reznor’s awesome debut, was released twenty years ago today.

Wow. Hard to believe that that’s true – and it’s funny that so many people forget that Reznor actually started doing his thing in the 80s.

Anyways, to celebrate, here’s the video for “Head Like a Hole.” Like most people, I imagine, this video made me aware of NIN for the first time. And it’s still an awesome song.

-AR

In honor of Alaskan metalcore band 36 Crazyfists’ new DVD, Under a Northern Sky (in stores October 27), a list of 35 other famous, metal, heavy, and/or crazy fists:

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We’ve covered industry pundit Bob Lefsetz in this space before (most famously his public debate with Ki$$ scumbag Gene Simmons); Lefsetz’s rants against the music industry are sometimes pure genius while his take on modern music is more often than not woefully out-of-touch, but he’s nothing if not endearing in his conviction and passion for the art form of music. His latest notable quotable (as deemed so by Bram Teitelman of Metal Insider) heaps praise upon Nine Inch Nails opening act Dillinger Escape Plan, whose noise/math metal we’ve of course been following for years but who’ve just reached the level where they’re on the radar of walled-up industry higher-ups like Lefsetz:

Encore two was performed with the Dillinger Escape Plan. An act I’d never heard of, but I’ll never forget. A complete band, a NIN doppelganger, who took the stage with such energy that you could feel it blasting in your face. The drummer pounded, then they kicked around his big bass drum, threw it in the air. The guitarist twirled his guitar around his body, again and again. And the lead singer jumped into the audience. Rick Mueller said it was the most exciting act he’d seen all year, Jim said he wanted to see them again. All I’ll say is they got my attention!

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Yes. Yes, I do feel guilty for enjoying this.

But still.

Anyone remember when Trent Reznor and Dr. Dre were talking about doing an album together? Think that this is what it would have sounded like, or am I not giving Dre enough credit? This is how out of the loop I am on modern hip-hop. I haven’t bought a rap CD since Ice Cube’s The Predator. And I just wrote “rap CD.”

Who my caucasian?

-AR

Thanks to Voltron Futura for the tip.

I guess it’s an NIN kinda day around here. Check out this Brat-produced mash-up sent in by reader Travis Palano of Nine Inch Nails’ “The Hand That Feeds” and Rick Astley’s “Never Gonna Give You Up.” Of all the mash-ups we’ve posted, this is one of the best in terms of the key and pitch of the vocal track actually consistently matching up with the key and pitch of the instrumental. The chorus ends up sounding anti-climactic as compared to either of the two originals, but it’s still a pretty bangin’ mix.

-VN

Not all of us were lucky enough to join Mr. Suarez at Webster Hall this past Sunday to watch Nine Inch Nails perform The Downward Spiral in its entirety as part of their farewell tour (Which I don’t really believe is a farewell tour anymore than the countless Ozzy or Rolling Stones farewell tours were really farewell tours, but whatever. I guess if anyone is cool enough to keep his word, it’s Trent Reznor.).

Luckily, this is 2009, and there are now bootlegs of the performance all-over the web. So I sniffed around YouTube and have constructed the Downward part of the concert as best I can (I didn’t seek out the other songs the band did ’cause, frankly, I’m just too lazy). A few exceptions: I could only find an abbreviated version of the title track, and can’t seem to find “I Do Not Want This” at all for some reason. So this will have to do.

Please join me now in living vicariously through some lucky fan’s cell phone camera…

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Last night, I was among the privileged few permitted to attend the Nine Inch Nails show at Webster Hall, the second of four sold-out NYC club shows from the arena-filling industrial rock act. The setlist from the previous night at Bowery Ballroom appeared heavy with newer songs, which admittedly had me pretty skeptical walking into one of my least favorite venues in this city. That fat stinking sweaty territorial assholes had commandeered spots on the balcony railings to bootleg the show only added to my sense of dread that the show would disappoint. I found a halfway decent spot on the upper level and braced myself for the shitty sight lines and poor ventilation that defines Webster Hall concert experience.

Fortunately, Trent Reznor had something special in store for the crowd that would make up for everything: playing the entire The Downward Spiral LP from start to finish.

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When I was a teenager, if my father ever insulted me (and when he did, it was usually because I was being a little asshole and totally had it coming), he would immediately thereafter look at his watch. He was timing me to see how fast I could come up with a witty retort. That probably sounds fucked up, but I’m actually really glad my dad did that – it’s definitely one of the reasons I grew up to be such a prick, but, without tooting my own horn, I am very good at being a prick (you’re reading this website, after all) in no small part because of my old man’s insistence that I learn to properly defend myself in a verbal battle.

If only young Chaim Witz’s father had been as determined as Poppa Rosenberg to whip his son into mental shape. ‘Cause grown-up Witz (that’s “Gene Simmons” to you) is like the fat bully in the school yard – he’s way too dumb to trade barbs at an adult level, so he just says something sophmoric and unfunny and tries to claim said comment as a victory.

For example, look at this video of Simmons “debating” with music-biz guru Bob Lefsetz. Lefsetz criticized Simmons’ understanding of the way the music industry works today, and all Simmons can come up with by way of retort is to make fun of Lefsetz’s name. Forget, for a second, that’s not entertaining; it’s not even on-subject. It’s like watching Chris Farley tell David Spade “You’re a thick… candy…” in Tommy Boy. I mean, I almost feel bad for Simmons.

And now Simmons is losing a verbal war in the press with Trent Reznor, for the same reason: he just cannot hold his own in a debate.

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I imagine that when the members of, say, Daath get together for rehearsal, no one expects to be paid for said rehearsal. They’re all dudes who are friends – some of them even grew up together, if I’m not mistaken – and it’s not like they’re making squillions of dollars playing metal. Rehearsal, then, has to be viewed as an investment – get better as a band, put on a good show for the crowd, and, knock on wood, your band will get bigger and the money will come.

I also imagine it’s different being in someone’s solo band. If your boss is Ozzy Osbourne or Axl Rose or Dave Mustaine or Trent Reznor, there’s going to be a lot of money involved, and your creative input is going to be somewhat limited (I imagine). I know for a fact that the members of nu-GN’R are paid an annual retainer, just in case they’re needed; I assume members of certain other solo bands are given a similar (if perhaps less lucrative) deal. And actors definitely get paid to rehearse; granted, the rehearsal rate is less than the performance rate, but the unions insist that if you want an actor there for rehearsals, he or she must be compensated.

Now. Sebastian Bach’s record sales obviously are not what they used to be. But the guy still opens for arena bands, routinely plays large festivals, and, by his own admission, gets paid very large sums of money to appear on crappy reality shows. Doing something like, say, paying for his band’s member’s gas so they can get to rehearsal seems reasonable, especially when you’re talking about dudes like Metal Mike Chlasciak, who, even if he’s not exactly Zakk Wylde, has played with dudes like Halford, and is definitely a “known entity.”

Well, Baz disagrees. He’s looking for a new guitarist and a new bassist, and, more specifically, he’s looking for someone to do it for bubcus. Check out this statement from the Old Dude Gone Wild:

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The following comes directly from Mr. Reznor:

Wow. This sounds a) awesome, and b) like it’s going to fucking impossible to get into.

-AR

The Ghostbusters video game is just meh, and the dudes who are writing Ghostbusters 3 also wrote Year One, which means – no shock here – Ghostbusters 3 will probably suck.

But at least we have ridiculous mash-ups like this to keep our love of Dr. Peter Venkman and company alive!

-AR

[via Topless Robot]

A Nine Inch Nails live show is, truly, something to behold. It won’t shock anyone that Trent Reznor puts a massive amount of attention and care into his concerts; not just in the selection of the set list, but in terms of the stage show, the lighting, the on-screen visuals, etc. You could argue that Reznor is over-compensating for the fact that his band requires samples and drum loops as much as they require excellent musicianship, but attending a NIN gig is never just going to see another concert; it’s going to have an experience. And Reznor always makes sure that his fans get their money’s worth.

But now those evil Viacom bastards are reporting that Reznor is retiring from the stage:

Click to read more…

In a not-that-surprising turn of events that I predicted back when musicians first starting jumping on the Twitter train, NIN frontman Trent Reznor — former Twitter king — is now railing against the service, though not for the reason I initially thought. According to a lengthy blog post by Trent on the NIN.com forum [via Metal Insider], the Internet haterati and psychopaths appear to have gotten the best of Trent, and he’ll be pulling out of social networking entirely for the time being:

I will be tuning out of the social networking sites because at the end of the day it’s now doing more harm than good in the bigger picture and the experiment seems to have yielded a result. Idiots rule.

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Speaking to Spinner.com earlier this week, Trent Reznor said of his former protegé, Marilyn Manson, “drugs and alcohol now rule his life.”

And now this BBC interview pretty much seems to prove it.

This is funny/sad, and worth a listen even if (or maybe especially if?) you don’t like Manson.

-AR

[via Blabbermouth]

…don’t.

We still haven’t heard the full album, The High End of Low, but the band has sent out a six song sampler, featuring three songs we’ve already heard and three brand spankin’ new ones. And while the songs aren’t terrible, exactly, they certainly don’t sound anything like the band that made Antichrist Superstar or, um, anything else from the original Twiggy Ramirez-era.

Click to read more…

Speaking of Chris Cornell’s epic fail…

You may remember that Trent Reznor took a shot at Cornell over Twitter last month. Not content to leave “Fuck You” enough alone, Reznor has now launched what is pretty much the funniest, if not most convincing, April Fool’s prank of the year, offering an alleged download of a new album, The Strobe, on the NIN website. Here’s a description of the album:

To download NIN’s new full-length album Strobe Light, PRODUCED BY TIMBALAND, enter a valid email address in the fields below. A download link will be sent to you immediately. Your credit card will be charged $18.98 plus a $10 digital delivery convenience fee. Your files will arrive as windows media files playable on quite a few players with your name embedded all over them just in case you lose them. You will also receive an exclusive photo and a free email account with our partner Google’s Gmail service.

Your email will be kept confidential and will not be used for spam, unless we can make some money selling it.

Click to read more…

Seriously, anyone who doesn’t love Trent Reznor has to be some kind of massive tool. As if all the crap he does didn’t already make him pretty much the coolest living rock star in the world today, he’s now giving away more free music – a sampler featuring some NIN songs, Street Sweeper tracks, and, perhaps most excitingly, new, Reznor-produced music from Jane’s Addiction.

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Headbanger’s Blog just alerted me to the fact that Trent Reznor allegedly left the following message on Twitter:

“You know that feeling you get when somebody embarrasses themselves so badly YOU feel uncomfortable? Heard Chris Cornell’s record? Jesus.”

All I have to say is this:

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!

As you were.

-AR

P.S. I know what you’re thinking: “What the fuck does that picture of Eliza Dushku have to do with Trent Reznor or Chris Cornell?” And the answer is, as far as I can tell, nothing. I did a Google image search for “Trent Reznor” “Chris Cornell” in hopes of finding a photo of the two singers in friendlier times, and instead the picture of Dushku sticking out her chest came up. And since she’s really hot, I thought, hey, why the heck not?