Nine Inch Nails: The Slip

Nine Inch Nails
The Slip
Self-Released [2008]









Fire Note Says: Reznor not only stays ahead of the industry with a unique release strategy but The Slip highlights what it really is all about – the music!

Album Review:
Here is a novel idea – Release your album in a high quality format with artwork for free and with very little notice. Sounds crazy right? No it is just the latest from pro-Internet user/sharer Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails. You now might be skeptical that these tracks are throwaways or demos but The Slip is one hundred percent new material that is some of NIN’s best work in years. Unlike the recent NIN release Ghosts I-IV [2008] which was full of sprawling instrumental tracks, The Slip is a concise and focused album that is the bands shortest full length output going all the back to Pretty Hate Machine [1989] running at a simple forty-four minutes. The album is sequenced like a giant wave with towering and bombastic songs up front like the classic sounding track “1,000,000” and first single “Discipline” to the wave falling and dying down, starting with the piano driven and soft spoken seventh track “Lights In The Sky”. This is followed with two instrumental tracks that have a combined twelve minute run which all ends splashing up on the beach with the cranked up closer “Demon Seed”. Not only is The Slip a big thank you for the support from Reznor but it showcases ideas well beyond the current music industry that actually work and I guarantee that when the album hits next month in physical format it will still do well plus a NIN tour that will be one not to miss!

Key Tracks: "1,000,000", "Discipline", "Demon Seed"

Bands With Similar Fire:
VAST
Ministry
KMFDM

Official Nine Inch Nails Website
Nine Inch Nails MySpace
Nine Inch Nails Info [Allmusic]

-Reviewed by Christopher Anthony