Head Like A POLL: ILM Artist Poll #119 - Nine Inch Nails

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1. Songs: Rank up to your top 30 songs by Nine Inch Nails. How To Destroy Angels tracks and tracks from Reznor's soundtrack work are eligible too.

2. Releases: Rank up to your top 10 releases by Nine Inch Nails. Albums, EPs, live albums, and remix albums are all eligible, as well as How To Destroy Angels releases and Reznor's soundtrack releases.

3. Remixes: Rank up to your top 10 remixes, either of Nine Inch Nails tracks or remixes of others by Nine Inch Nails/Trent Reznor.

Send ballots to ilmninpoll AT gmail dot com. Order ballots from highest (#1) to lowest, without numbers, and include your username.

Voting closes approx 12:01am GMT on 19 April 2024 (~3 weeks time)

ufo, Friday, 29 March 2024 02:12 (eight months ago) link

YAAAAAAY LETS FUCKIN GO

werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 29 March 2024 02:18 (eight months ago) link

(also this will be difficult)

werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 29 March 2024 02:19 (eight months ago) link

Got a news alert about some young kids covering "Wish" for charity, which seems ... crazy.

Josh in Chicago, Friday, 29 March 2024 02:34 (eight months ago) link

lol

werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 29 March 2024 02:37 (eight months ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2U0flA_Yp64

one obscurity i wanna highlight immediately is "and all that could have been" from still

ufo, Friday, 29 March 2024 02:55 (eight months ago) link

i think you have that backwards: still is the second disc on All That Could Have Been :)

werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 29 March 2024 03:04 (eight months ago) link

and rules, obv

werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 29 March 2024 03:04 (eight months ago) link

xp to josh - least embarassing line in the nine inch nails song "wish"

stoked for the poll!

gene besserit (ledge), Friday, 29 March 2024 08:11 (eight months ago) link

Hell yeah you just made my spring

octobeard, Friday, 29 March 2024 08:42 (eight months ago) link

How do people generally feel about lurkers submitting ballots for artist polls? Is it frowned upon? Apologies for the ridiculous question...

ashamed, Friday, 29 March 2024 09:47 (eight months ago) link

it's completely fine! the more ballots the better

ufo, Friday, 29 March 2024 09:52 (eight months ago) link

i did a discog run only a few years ago so i should be able to do this from memory … might just run it again tho

still was my fave nin thing for ages, between “and all that could’ve been” and all of the instrumentals

ivy., Friday, 29 March 2024 12:32 (eight months ago) link

from my relisten so far tds kinda towers over everything else but fragile left on its own is close

ufo, Friday, 29 March 2024 13:22 (eight months ago) link

still is so good though yeah, that's a contender for #1 album

ufo, Friday, 29 March 2024 15:00 (eight months ago) link

I will repeat my frequent assertion that 21st century NIN albums > 20th century NIN albums, and count on being the person who votes The Slip highest.

Tahuti Watches L&O:SVU Reruns Without His Ape (unperson), Friday, 29 March 2024 15:16 (eight months ago) link

But I'm curious where the three most recent EPs will end up.

Tahuti Watches L&O:SVU Reruns Without His Ape (unperson), Friday, 29 March 2024 15:17 (eight months ago) link

It's strange to realize as a one-time superfan that I now have not heard the majority of NIN albums.

jmm, Friday, 29 March 2024 15:20 (eight months ago) link

What if I said the Broken EP is the best thing he ever did?

poppers fueled buttsex crescendo (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Friday, 29 March 2024 15:25 (eight months ago) link

You'd be mostly right, especially if you throw in the bonus tracks.

Josh in Chicago, Friday, 29 March 2024 15:29 (eight months ago) link

3 weeks, OK. This is a good motivator to listen to everything post-"With Teeth", most of which I've never heard and/or only heard once.

OH GOD you're including the soundtracks. Fuckkkkk

Premises, Premises (flamboyant goon tie included), Friday, 29 March 2024 15:31 (eight months ago) link

It's so daunting. I'm going to listen to Cortini's "Sonno" and contemplate my participation, that's a lot of music to sort through

Premises, Premises (flamboyant goon tie included), Friday, 29 March 2024 15:32 (eight months ago) link

The releases post 'Hesitation Marks' I'm very hazy on, a good opportunity to explore.

I will however be ignoring the soundtracks, as I do have other stuff to do over the next three weeks.

Thanks for organising ufo!

chap, Friday, 29 March 2024 15:35 (eight months ago) link

I love that record (Sonno). Looks like it's currently off streaming, but still on Bandcamp thankfully.

Does Further Down the Spiral count as remixes? Even the self-remixes?

Jordan s/t (Jordan), Friday, 29 March 2024 15:36 (eight months ago) link

as i’ve posted in every nin thread for the past few years:

hesitation marks >>>>>>

ivy., Friday, 29 March 2024 15:37 (eight months ago) link

I've not listened for years, but remember finding it mostly a bit of a drag? 'Copy of A' and 'Satellite' are bangers though.

chap, Friday, 29 March 2024 15:41 (eight months ago) link

I'll start there, thanks ivy.

Premises, Premises (flamboyant goon tie included), Friday, 29 March 2024 15:52 (eight months ago) link

Im nervous my ballot might include the entire downward spiral but we'll see

gman59, Friday, 29 March 2024 15:54 (eight months ago) link

it took me a few years to realize how good it was

ivy., Friday, 29 March 2024 15:54 (eight months ago) link

xp

ivy., Friday, 29 March 2024 15:55 (eight months ago) link

I'm just listening to hesitation marks for the first time, 'everything' stood out as being almost like... the beatles?!?!? ('almost' doing a lot of work there of course.)

I owned every halo up to 11, then just stopped bothering, didn't even buy the fragile, though I'm reasonably familiar with it. maybe played the next two albums once or twice. I'll do my best to catch up over the next three weeks.

gene besserit (ledge), Friday, 29 March 2024 16:01 (eight months ago) link

I have a sense With Teeth might be A-tier and just caught me in an awkward post-fandom stage when I was too busy listening to Can or whatever.

jmm, Friday, 29 March 2024 16:04 (eight months ago) link

I'm going to have a lot of With Teeth tracks. I remember being really impressed by Hesitation Marks too but don't think I've heard anything since, except for an odd track or too that didn't leave much of an impression.

Jordan s/t (Jordan), Friday, 29 March 2024 16:06 (eight months ago) link

ivy’s five-point campaign for hesitation marks as the best nin album:

1. it’s the funkiest. maybe a side/meta argument i could make is that trent’s funkiness is what ultimately separates him from his peers in industrial/ -rock and -metal and is one of the reasons his music ended up being so successful. e.g. the sheer amount of space between the bass drum and the snare in “closer” and how it’s such a wide and unstable space it makes you want to snap your body in half from the intensity of the gravity

2. it’s the most minimal i.e. it does the most with the least. not that i’m looking for minimalism from nin (i am all about the brutality and anger being dramatically contrasted with the melancholic stillness and beauty) but what can i say it really fucking works when combined with the aforementioned funkiness, like watching a construction site come to life and breakdance

3. idk sometimes i can’t listen to the downward spiral or the fragile because they are consummate bummers, that’s why they’re so good obv, like the guy swam deep in the voidlike blackness of his own bullshit and resurfaced to tell us about it, and we recognized something in it in ourselves, and that very dynamic is the reason why i became a nine inch nails fan. but there’s something so much more I HATE TO SAY IT BUT mature about the way this album depicts the same feelings still following you even if they never quite take over entirely like they used to

4. prob the most instances of “this song ended in a very different place from where it started” on a nin album

5. i saw them twice in this period, first with gybe! and second with soundgarden, two of the best shows ive ever seen (obv, its nin). i took my mom with me both times. she got really into nin just from osmosis, a side-effect of raising a kid like me. they played “the hand that feeds” all the time on one of the music video channels i watched. it’s still her favorite song

ivy., Friday, 29 March 2024 16:17 (eight months ago) link

But I'm curious where the three most recent EPs will end up.
Voting for at least 3 tracks from these. I like the post reunion stuff significantly higher than everything after TDS but pre breakup/pause. Tried With Teeth again a little while ago preparing to be pleasantly surprised and couldn’t even get through the whole thing.

“How the west was really won” from the Watchmen show is also top tier

Doctor Madame Frances Experimento, LLC", Friday, 29 March 2024 16:27 (eight months ago) link

the last three tracks on with teeth are really where it’s at

ivy., Friday, 29 March 2024 16:28 (eight months ago) link

it took me a few years to realize how good it was

The thing about Hesitation Marks (as I've said before) is that all the advance singles kinda sucked as singles, but worked brilliantly in the context of the whole album.

Tahuti Watches L&O:SVU Reruns Without His Ape (unperson), Friday, 29 March 2024 16:31 (eight months ago) link

Are Reznor remixes in the running? His remix of Curve's "Missing Link" is pretty cool.

Josh in Chicago, Friday, 29 March 2024 16:56 (eight months ago) link

i'm not really expecting anyone to vote for the soundtracks that's more just there if anyone really wants to include them because they already have strong opinions

reznor remixes of others/self are eligible for the remixes poll

ufo, Friday, 29 March 2024 18:05 (eight months ago) link

the best track on with teeth is "all the love in the world"

bad witch is excellent and probably a top 4 release for me

ufo, Friday, 29 March 2024 18:09 (eight months ago) link

Oh right, listening to Bad Witch now and it's ringing a bell, sounds fantastic.

Jordan s/t (Jordan), Friday, 29 March 2024 18:59 (eight months ago) link

the whole Year Zero remixed album pretty much rules imo

werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 29 March 2024 21:15 (eight months ago) link

i was starting to figure out my ballot last night and my top 10 might be just Broken minus “Pinion” lol

Broken still goes, i love it so muchhhhhhh

werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 29 March 2024 21:17 (eight months ago) link

i don't really care for broken beyond "wish" honestly

ufo, Friday, 29 March 2024 21:43 (eight months ago) link

(recoils)

werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 29 March 2024 21:52 (eight months ago) link

i enjoyed this comment on those kids doing a cover of Wish: “Fistbump… Thank god that little girl said Fistbump”

orifex, Friday, 29 March 2024 22:00 (eight months ago) link

the dfa influence is so strong on with teeth it's pretty funny. "only" especially

ufo, Friday, 29 March 2024 22:11 (eight months ago) link

Totally, so blatant but it works.

Jordan s/t (Jordan), Friday, 29 March 2024 22:23 (eight months ago) link

The Fragile: Deviations 1 > The Fragile imho, though there's a few songs that def benefit more from the vocals.

I feel I can play Deviations end to end with no need for skipping.

octobeard, Friday, 29 March 2024 23:42 (eight months ago) link

Years ago I made a custom mixtape of the Fragile I called "Center" (complete with outtro/intro editing to make it work as a fluid whole). Here's the track list:

The Way Out Is Through
The Day the World Went Away
Somewhat Damaged
Into the Void
Just Like You Imagined
The Fragile
The Frail
The Big COme Down
Complication
The Mark Has Been Made
10 Miles High
Pilgrimage
Underneath It All
La Mer
The Great Below

This would possibly be my #1. Also it was truly tough picking The Way Out Is Through over Somewhat Damaged as an opener. They're both perfect for that.

octobeard, Friday, 29 March 2024 23:45 (eight months ago) link

cool it with the patronizing tone

but my issue is that you are framing this around a binary of addiction vs sobriety in terms of good and bad and that is a deeply fucked narrative

you are allowed to enjoy or not enjoy whatever albums you like but once you start critiqueing feelings as “genuine” vs non-“genuine” w/r/t sobriety i am absolutely going to call it out because that kind of thinking is misguided & is actually damaging?

and if you can’t see that idk what else to say

werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 19 April 2024 22:28 (eight months ago) link

you are framing this around a binary of addiction vs sobriety in terms of good and bad and that is a deeply fucked narrative

But...but...how else do you explain Aerosmith?

(N.B. I disagree with octobeard's analysis because I've always thought 21st century NIN > 20th century NIN)

Instead of create and send out, it pull back and consume (unperson), Friday, 19 April 2024 22:38 (eight months ago) link

This is the beauty of a poll. Stoked to see what the results will be

octobeard, Friday, 19 April 2024 22:44 (eight months ago) link

but my issue is that you are framing this around a binary of addiction vs sobriety in terms of good and bad and that is a deeply fucked narrative

I hope you're not implying that I'm suggesting that addicts with pain and trauma make better music than sober people, that's absolutely not what I'm trying to say. Addiction and his lifestyle fueled a lot of demons that he channeled in his music (and the way he expressed this was how he connected with his 80's/90's audience), this is stuff he's discussed in countless interviews - I don't think anything I'm saying is that controversial, just a difference of opinion!

octobeard, Friday, 19 April 2024 22:51 (eight months ago) link

I think the reason Bad Witch grabbed me so much is that it was raw.

idk i mean this didn't come out of nowhere, not the actual events is also really raw and add violence is like an attempt to compose yourself in between two breakdowns... part of why i love that trilogy of releases

ivy., Friday, 19 April 2024 23:07 (eight months ago) link

there isn't really one generalization i can make about his releases post-sobriety. i think they all take a concept as far as they can, except for maybe the slip (concept for which must've been "we need new bangers in the set")

ivy., Friday, 19 April 2024 23:10 (eight months ago) link

and that's basically true of all of his work beforehand

i also don't think "find my way" has anything melodically in common with "underneath it all" and every artist recycles themselves, it's called style

ivy., Friday, 19 April 2024 23:11 (eight months ago) link

i also feel like there's the implication here that ppl successfully shrug off their demons after getting sober and no longer feel the tension they once did when they were fucked up. folks, that ain't the case

ivy., Friday, 19 April 2024 23:12 (eight months ago) link

if you *think* it's missing, that's fair, but... let me be clear, that continues to be a projection

ivy., Friday, 19 April 2024 23:14 (eight months ago) link

exactly

werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Friday, 19 April 2024 23:20 (eight months ago) link

i've found there to be a pretty clear hierarchy with nin: 80s/90s > 10s > 00s. there's still some worthwhile stuff from the 00s but with teeth through to the slip is the weakest run. he/they have been pretty creatively reinvigorated the last decade or so though

ufo, Friday, 19 April 2024 23:21 (eight months ago) link

I think it’s fair to say that his work after The Fragile generally is most interesting to the extent that it pushes in different directions rather than seeking to preserve the feeling of his earlier work - even when those directions are basically diametrically opposed e.g. Hesitation Marks vs Not The Actual Events / Bad Witch (the former of which reminds me of the abstract aggression of post-comeback Wire; the latter just builds on that with added cabaret vibes rather than more rawness, I think).

But none of that has anything to do with drugs / addiction in my view.

Tim F, Saturday, 20 April 2024 02:34 (eight months ago) link

basically every direction he's pushed in has been good except the slip & ghosts i-iv, just the execution has varied in quality

ufo, Saturday, 20 April 2024 03:47 (eight months ago) link

No love for Year Zero anyone??

octobeard, Saturday, 20 April 2024 04:41 (eight months ago) link

i've found there to be a pretty clear hierarchy with nin: 80s/90s > 10s > 00s.

hard disagree with the 80s/90s. re-listening to PHM was shocking to me. it's so completely singular in their discography. reznor kinda laid down one of those kids books where you could choose your own adventure and the future Downward Spiral area of exploration won out.

Western® with Bacon Flavor, Saturday, 20 April 2024 04:53 (eight months ago) link

Which part of the quote are you disagreeing with?

Tim F, Saturday, 20 April 2024 05:14 (eight months ago) link

sorry - the grouping of the 80s and the 90s output. PHM just stands as an outlier.

Western® with Bacon Flavor, Saturday, 20 April 2024 05:36 (eight months ago) link

I agree with that in some ways but also PHM / Broken / TDS are all so different from each other that grouping any of them together as a single era seems a bit odd. Much more continuity between TDS and The Fragile IMO

Tim F, Saturday, 20 April 2024 06:10 (eight months ago) link

oh yeah i'm just talking about these periods in terms of quality, not saying each period is distinct stylistically. broken was obviously quite a major change from pretty hate machine, before the downward spiral reconciled the two. there's more continuity between tds/the fragile but the fragile draws a lot less on synthpop and is just generally less pop.

ufo, Saturday, 20 April 2024 07:26 (eight months ago) link

Hesitation Marks is sounding/feeling better than remembered.

Marten Broadcloak, mild-mannered GOP congressman (Raymond Cummings), Saturday, 20 April 2024 15:27 (eight months ago) link

I forgot all about “Everything”, it seems!

Marten Broadcloak, mild-mannered GOP congressman (Raymond Cummings), Saturday, 20 April 2024 15:33 (eight months ago) link

Add Violence is SOLID.

Marten Broadcloak, mild-mannered GOP congressman (Raymond Cummings), Saturday, 20 April 2024 15:53 (eight months ago) link

I don’t know if I gave the 2016/2017/2018 releases enough attention at the time.

Marten Broadcloak, mild-mannered GOP congressman (Raymond Cummings), Saturday, 20 April 2024 16:15 (eight months ago) link

I hadn't heard Year Zero or some of the other more recent releases and there was some good stuff, but it didn't really impact my ballot. I also realized that Funky Trent is my favorite Trent, and there's a lot of either slow plodding or rock & roll uptempo grooves. Also With Teeth really did bring the hooks.

Jordan s/t (Jordan), Saturday, 20 April 2024 16:21 (eight months ago) link

How rad would it have been if the Broken tape had put Physical and Suck on an answering machine microcassette instead of just sticking them on side b?

peace, man, Saturday, 20 April 2024 20:16 (eight months ago) link

can i just say that "suck" is an amazing song and cutting it from my ballot was heartbreaking

ivy., Saturday, 20 April 2024 20:23 (eight months ago) link

I haven’t gotten to the cutting stage yet :-(

Tim F, Saturday, 20 April 2024 20:29 (eight months ago) link

with nin cutting is inevitable (terrible joek sorry sorry i’ll go now)

werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Saturday, 20 April 2024 21:34 (eight months ago) link

my ballot has a lot of hesitation marks

ivy., Saturday, 20 April 2024 21:36 (eight months ago) link

same lol

werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Saturday, 20 April 2024 21:40 (eight months ago) link

I forgot all about “Everything”, it seems!

This is my least favorite song by far on that album. Just doesn't even sound like NIN to me.

octobeard, Saturday, 20 April 2024 22:22 (eight months ago) link

can i just say that "suck" is an amazing song and cutting it from my ballot was heartbreaking

It really is! My 2nd fav on Broken behind Happiness in Slavery. It is insanely funky

octobeard, Saturday, 20 April 2024 22:26 (eight months ago) link

Just doesn't even sound like NIN to me.

which is why i put it high up on my ballot! it def *sounds* like NIN, but feels not so much like a NIN song for me. it was like the first time i heard Into The Void. it just didn't sound like the typical type of song he would write, and it was great!

FRAUDULENT STEAKS (The Cursed Return of the Dastardly Thermo Thinwall), Sunday, 21 April 2024 01:09 (eight months ago) link

What's the new deadline for this?

beard papa, Sunday, 21 April 2024 02:51 (eight months ago) link

roughly 12:01 am monday gmt

ufo, Sunday, 21 April 2024 03:02 (eight months ago) link

Just want to say that I have really enjoyed trying to get my thoughts in order for this poll. NIN are in this sweet spot for me where I am deeply familiar with enough of the music that it feels worthwhile to try to engage with the process properly, but unfamiliar with enough of it that the engagement has also been a total voyage of discovery.

Tim F, Sunday, 21 April 2024 03:40 (eight months ago) link

ballot sent and almost before realizing my selection pool had nothing from phm or the fragile.

Western® with Bacon Flavor, Sunday, 21 April 2024 06:23 (eight months ago) link

there is still time for ballots for a bit longer still

ufo, Sunday, 21 April 2024 23:51 (eight months ago) link

So you can vote for this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0mGaoMBlUbU

or this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLPcE-5YWKI

Vernon Locke, Monday, 22 April 2024 00:00 (eight months ago) link

i think i'm still waiting on a ballot from western with bacon flavor, is there anyone else?

ufo, Monday, 22 April 2024 01:05 (eight months ago) link

I just want to say thanks ufo for keeping this ILM madness going.

NIN isn't one of my bands but looking forward to the playlist.

Bee OK, Monday, 22 April 2024 02:24 (eight months ago) link

xp you got mine - i was the jerk with "the frail/wretched" as one song

Western® with Bacon Flavor, Monday, 22 April 2024 03:19 (eight months ago) link

ah ok!

we have 20 ballots now which is alright. i don't think there's any outstanding?

ufo, Monday, 22 April 2024 03:42 (eight months ago) link

ok poll's closed. rollout will be sometime soon but idk exactly when yet

ufo, Monday, 22 April 2024 04:01 (eight months ago) link

how many ballots did u end up with??

werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 22 April 2024 04:25 (eight months ago) link

oh lol nvm i can totally read i swear

werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Monday, 22 April 2024 04:25 (eight months ago) link

I meant to vote in this, but just couldn't get it together in time. Looking forward to the rollout!

beard papa, Monday, 22 April 2024 16:46 (eight months ago) link

I was right *there* for NIN: into plenty of adjacent bands, danced to Head Like A Hole at various appalling indie clubs, and was friends with people who had the Reznor aesthetic in their bones (and on their feet) but the band somehow totally passed me by. Am here for the rollout.

I would prefer not to. (Chinaski), Monday, 22 April 2024 17:07 (eight months ago) link

the results rollout is underway!

And POLL That Could Have Been: ILM Artist Poll #119 - Nine Inch Nails - RESULTS

werewolves of laudanum (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 24 April 2024 00:52 (seven months ago) link

three weeks pass...

pic.twitter.com/5WYY3MQOmh

— 𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐄 𝐓𝐄𝐀𝐑𝐒 (@maletearsmusicx) May 20, 2024

ivy., Tuesday, 21 May 2024 16:21 (seven months ago) link


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