Deep Dark Secrets of Nine Inch Nails ~ Blog Six
When asked to listen to and analyze an episode of The Edge Ongoing History Of Music Podcast I was instinctively drawn to the May 25th entry Deep Dark Secrets of Nine Inch Nails. My reasoning behind this is the recent surfacing of their song Closer 1994 on social media. Knowing little about the band I was drawn to the statement of their secret history. To begin, I understood their grunge and dark aesthetic. Between the band's name and known songs, it is clear what time of music they would make. Yet, I was surprised to hear snippets of their earlier songs. Sounding almost like a “darker” 80s band, or “Angry Loverboy” as the host, Alan Cross, used to describe an early song of the band. Trent Reznor the lead singer of the band always knew the type of sound he wanted in his music, and it took working with many professionals and producers to finally get there. Even in the first drafts of the band's first album the sound was quite there (referring back to what Alan Cross had stated). Hearing this is what first surprised me. As stated the name Nine Inch Nails itself has that gritty feel to it, hearing that not only did the band not achieve this type of sound until they secured a contract but also Trent Reznor himself performed many songs in the past that sounded nothing like what he truly had wanted. Along with this, I was surprised to find out through the podcast that Trent Reznor used mostly computer-generated acoustics within his songs. Although having a technology sound to the song I'm familiar with, it was surprising to learn that Trent Reznor had stated how he didn't try to use real acoustics until he started performing with real summers and guitarists and heard that computer-generated sound wasn't always the same. Unsurprisingly, Trent Reznor was very interested in synthesizers and/or keyboards whilst growing up, most likely leading to this usage of computers within his work. I was overall interested in the controlling contract that TVT had the band in. seeking a new contract the band recorded a song in secret that was then held to be redone without Trent Reznor's voice in it. Hearing many claims of controlling contracts within the music and even film industry it was not surprising to find out how the time spent with TVT was mostly the band wondering if they will make it out alive. The band was prohibited to absolutely anything, could make music the way they wanted to and barely passed by. The last new years of their context were spent in legal battle yet when finally out of the redistricting contract did Nine Inch Nails succeed and go platinum. Finally, a question I obtained from this podcast was, what is currently happening with the band. The band contained popularity within the 1900s and into the 2000s yet is still securing the same fame. I know that the song I had mentioned, Closer, had become popular to use on TikTok, yet, older songs tend to do so on this app. It is common for rock bands from the time to maintain a cult following yet it is not mentioned if the band is still popular and suki fight for their edgy style anymore.
