This DVD has definitely rekindled my appreciation for the music of nine inch nails. I hadn't been listening to as much NIN in recent times. (The reason being that no matter how good something is, it's impossible to focus on all the good things in the world all the time.) But today, I was going back and listening to the familiar tracks off the cds they've put out over the years. Brilliant stuff all over again. Each album has a different flavor and texture, but it's all got Trent's trademark style. Perhaps we should declare this NIN appreciation week! (I even thought about putting this back on my cover page, but I still like my current one too much to do that.)

And now we have the discovery of the secret undocumented extra dvd stuff. A performance of Reptile -- way cool. A video of The Day the World Went Away (audio recorded live, but with other imagery). Several tv commercials which make you do a double take to check if your hardware is getting fried (Trent has a history of such pranks). Good stuff.

Finally, the last undocumented egg features a cameo appearence by The Reverend himself! The audio for that last bit isn't near the quality of the rest of the concert. It sounds like a bootleg tape, but it's great fun anyway. A few moments where two of the Great Figures of Modern Music share a stage together. (I suppose that does depend on what the definition of "Great Figure of Modern Music" happens to be. I'll neglect to specify this definition for the moment, and just say "It's true!")

:)

...And I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who has been inspired to dig out those old nails discs for another listen after seeing this show.

[Bitscape does just that presently.]

Take, for example, the song Ruiner, from The Downward Spiral.

I could go on and post the rest of the lyrics, but... I suspect excessive text lyrics without might start to to bore people. Maybe they already have. Oh well. So be it.

Um, what was I going to say? ... Oh yes, it's that the lyrics are NOT the clincher that makes that song so powerful. So of course, me simply posting the words conveys nothing of what I am trying to talk about. lol. It's really the sound that really gets the message across.

Because anyway, most of the ranting during the verses (I only posted the first verse) get lost under the noise, to the point that even after having listened to the song hundreds of times, I wouldn't be able to tell what half the words are unless I look at the lyric book. But they are there. And the fact that they are so muddled to the point of being lost in the den of noise only furthers the point: That the speaker has lost his power amidst the overwhelming currents surrounding him.

Then the chorus comes on. A monolithic wall of sound, consuming and trampling everything in its path. I remember the first time I heard this song, on the night I bought The Downward Spiral cd in 1994. The sound evoked in my mind a marching metal giant machine the size of a mountain, rolling across the land. Flattening. Impervious. Unbreakable and unstoppable.

Then, after the second verse, there is a momentary respite from the machine, and quite pseudo-guitar solo and muffled synths, during which there might be some recovery. But no sooner has there been time to catch our breath, when with a single harsh beat, the monster returns at full force.

The chant continues, and the machine marches on. But now, the narrator is the machine, having assumed its full armor and unwavering hardness, reflected both in the lyrics and the way the music drives it on at full intensity.

As far as the story of the album goes, this leads us right into track 7, "the becoming", in which this assimilated state is described in greater detail.

(brace for boredom)

Although the music does much to augment it, the lyrics in that part basicly tell the story.

Hmmm... I seem to have gone on and on with this one. I should do it more often. :)

Imagine the scenario... all the now fully grown NIN fanboys of ages past coming out of the woodwork upon the release of the new ultra-spiffy concert dvd. Oh wait. I don't have to imagine. It's happening. In my own living room.

Blah. I'm going to bed. Nice dark music for the brain to suck on. Goodnight.