RegularJoan

Of course, I still stand by everything I've written...

You've almost convinced me: now I'm going to listen to Nail by Foetus too :)

Thinking it over, discussing the musicians who have influenced or not influenced the Nin or any other group is just a waste of time. Let me explain: all musical influences undergo a reinterpretation by those who experience them. It happens that by reworking them, a completely new and different musical language is defined, one that has nothing to do with those influences, where it is impossible to distinguish the individual elements, the different styles, etc. Perhaps you can sense them, but you cannot be certain of what you assert. Obviously, this applies when a musician reaches artistic maturity. This is how I see it. I hope I’ve been clear.

Well, who says I couldn't agree with you? Maybe by delving deeper into my "industrial listens"? Undoubtedly, NIN have taken and plundered a lot from the great tradition of the '70s and '80s, but, without a doubt, they've done so by adding a minimum of artistic depth to that sort of "sound collage" that emerged from it, unlike Marilyn Manson (how I hate to repeat that damn name). If we examine closely, almost all great bands have somehow reclaimed the legacy of their predecessors; in fact, nothing comes from nothing, and Pretty Hate Machine is perhaps the NIN album where all those influences you mention are felt the most: this is because the "NIN project" was still in its infancy. Later on, the musical discourse seems to have evolved like it does for great writers: first they plunder from the authors they love, then gradually they form their own style. And then Trent Reznor added "melody" to the industrial and noisy path of his predecessors: that doesn't seem negligible to me; furthermore, he made sure that industrial music broke free from certain "underground" molds, completely merging with rock. That said, I'm off to look for Cop Shoot Cop.

Well, Radiohead: it's possible to innovate pop while being mainstream, as in their case, and while holding a role of "marginal innovators." It's also true that their latest albums, on an emotional level, leave much to be desired, but there is a considerable sonic exploration that is influencing many young bands, even if it doesn't make Radiohead the new "Brian Eno." It depends on how we set the conversation: do we want innovation or emotion? If we seek emotion, we might as well choose the Manics, who, as I said, might have changed a little in their composing style over the years, but in the end, they continue to recycle themselves a bit and move us in the same way, which becomes a bit tiresome in the long run. I'd like them to be braver, that's all, even when it comes to delivering emotions.

yeeeesss!

Did you call me? Here I am. The difference between Reznor and Manson is essentially this: Nine Inch Nails, while being a band with a huge commercial following, manages to create music of great quality as well as "art," innovating and experimenting. Marilyn Manson, on the other hand, is simply a commercial phenomenon: he doesn't make quality music, but relies exclusively on baroque and vulgar poses (among other things recycled from the great artists of the industrial and glam punk scenes of the seventies and eighties) rather than on the artistic level that a song can or cannot achieve. To convince yourself, just compare any Manson track to half a minute taken from any Reznor song. So it can't be said that they are both "uninspired"; however, I agree with you regarding the merchandise: both characters played a lot on the dark and cursed image.

p.s. pretax, it’s always a pleasure to chat with you :)

that scream is like the installations of Lucio Fontana: so perfect, yet so perfect that it tricks you into believing it is extraordinarily real. those plays of light so balanced in their arrangement that they trap you in a labyrinth, and what you felt was a pure sense of claustrophobia...just like Frankie Teardrop's scream. Even those barely hinted sounds in the background that can be heard throughout the piece seem like beams of light illuminating a stage on which a tragedy is being performed.

A perfect record, claustrophobic, a nightmare soundscape, built on sound architectures that resemble true stage installations (and indeed Martin Rev was involved in set design): like the scream of "Frankie Teardrop," so well-timed and perfect in its temporal sequence that it seems real, or the beats of "Remember" and the rock pulses of "Ghost Rider." Truly beautiful, enough to give you goosebumps, this muffled experimental jazz of Suicide? It’s not just an album; it’s a theatrical piece.