Since seeing
out his record deal with 2007's "Ground Zero" Trent Reznor
has become increasingly prolific and, whilst never someone
you could describe as a luddite, has embraced the easy
access medium of the internet with arms wide open. "The
Slip" is the latest offering from NIN and is also the latest
high profile release to be distributed via the internet
directly from an artist, at least initially in this case as
there is a physical release due as well, and when you
consider that you can currently obtain the album in a
variety of high quality audio formats, completely free of
charge with Reznor's full blessing record companies must be
starting to be very concerned about artists taking control
of their output in this way.
Sticking two
fingers up at the record business is always good fun and
should be applauded but is "The Slip" actually any good? In
a word, yes. As an album it has taken the shorter more
immediate song structures of "Pretty Hate Machine" and
allied them to the sonic experimentation and lyrical
misanthropy of "The Downward Spiral" to great effect. The
best example of this is "1.000.000" with its up-tempo fuzzed
up bass lines and a chorus that echoes "Bite The Hand That
Feeds" but the whole of "The Slip" is a true return to form
that longstanding fans will be glad of after the misplaced
angst of much of "With Teeth" and the sprawling, overlong
"The Fragile".
In fact the biggest endorsement I can give this album is
that, despite having the opportunity to download a CD
quality version, and having the facility to create a
physical copy from those files. I would happily pay for a
copy. Believe me, its worth it....
