The Ghosts of Greatness Past
…or How I Learned to Start Worrying and Hate the Bomb
RationReality continues our probe into the minds of modern musicians with examinations of two highly regarded bands: Wilco and Nine Inch Nails. Although they may seem like unlikely bedfellows they are both part of a phenomenon we’ll refer to as manic confusion. This phenomenon has multiple sources. It’s only known cure is Ration Reality Intelligence.
NIN and Wilco have transformed themselves many times. I suppose it was inevitable that this would take a bad turn somewhere along the line. The issue at hand is their latest incarnations. Both acts have stripped away what they saw as artifice in favor of a leaner, less complicated sound, forgetting in the process that their complexity and avant garde tendencies are what got them to where they are today. Both bands began their careers with bare bones type records, Wilco’s A.M.
Wilco broke through with the much lauded and incredibly dense Yankee Hotel Foxtrot in 2002 after a highly publicized bout with Reprise Records. In 1994, NIN made history with The Downward Spiral
Then Wilco’s Jeff Tweedy and NIN’s Trent Reznor got sober. Lord knows I applaud them for that as doing so in this industry is no small feat… BUT, they have fallen pray to a state of confusion that I can tell you is very real and very dangerous.
They’ve bought into the idea that their former masterworks are somehow invalid because of their lack of sobriety.They mistakenly believe, like many others, that that music they made back then was created under an influence that somehow made them not themselves.
Wrong. Drugs don’t change who you are. They may enhance certain things, force others to the front, but it’s still you. Where would we be without inebriated musicians and songwriters? I’ll tell you where. We’d be listening to toothpaste jingles on AM radio in a dust bowl.
The other causes of this massive and manic confusion are the audience and the media. Both parties lack the perspective and objectivity needed in a healthy relationship. People make snap judgements. They have unreasonable standards and expectations and sadly, some artists listen to them. Once that begins it’s a downward spiral indeed.
The artists start second guessing themselves. They stop trusting their instincts. They start playing down to the audience. Trends are chased, bottom lines become a concern. Next thing you know you’ve made the worst record of your career and it’s called Year Zero
This album is stale, wooden and lacks all critical and commercial appeal. It doesn’t even have a decent single. Shit, Trent barely cobbles together a listenable melody, let alone an actual hook. And this is coming from a critic who has enjoyed every NIN record to date including With Teeth
At least With Teeth had possibilities. Many bandwagoneers trashed that record, but go back and listen to the singles: Only, Every Day is Exactly the Same and The Hand That Feeds. I dare anyone to tell me those songs don’t have masterfully crafted hooks. And although the album as a whole was flawed, it still felt honest.
This new disk feels like it was ghost written by a fly-by-night production team that I hope to never see again. I haven’t been this disappointed since the Knicks lost to the Rockets in ‘93.
Thankfully there’s still hope for the new album by Tweedy and Company. My harsh assessment thus is based only on interviews Jeff’s done recently denouncing Yankee Hotel Foxtrot and a handful of songs they’ve leaked that have about as much life a quadriplegic narcoleptic opium addict. But that’s only a few tracks and maybe they’re not final masters. Maybe the rest of the album will have the texture and strange beauty of their past triumphs.
You should be able to see the blood seeping from my violently crossed fingers by now. Don’t be alarmed.
I live for great records and artists like Wilco and Nine Inch Nails have delivered over and over and they have a responsibility, not to us but to themselves as artists to make the most artistically honest recordings they can possibly create. My message is this: Kurt Vonnegut said to always write for one person, yourself. When you start trying to be everything to everyone you end up being nothing to anyone.
We here at Ration Reality believe that certain things are not being said in the world today, it being easier to go along with so-called “conventional wisdom”. This must stop before we confuse and destroy everything that is good in our rapidly deteriorating world.
We call on fans and critics to be more responsible in their roles. Music at it’s best is a collaboration. The best records involve all the players and a fair amount of outside help. Bands always play better when faced with good crowds. We all feed off of one another and it’s time we started acting like we know what the fuck is up. My criticism here is an angry letter to loved ones who have disappointed me. I’m calling them out because I care and want to see them happy and free.
My best friends are the ones who can look me dead in the eye and tell me I’m fucking up with nothing but love in their hearts. If we all act accordingly “Something like heaven may dawn.” (The Great Bill Hicks)
God Bless You, Jeff, Trent and everybody fighting in the struggle.
May all our sins wash away like temporary tattoos.
J. Eugene Wilson
-random- -submit- -blogarama- -technorati- -del.icio.us- -digg it!-
I believe remaining clean and sober is extremely important for any addict. Nevertheless, part of me wants to see Joe Perry get good ‘n’ coked-up again for just one album!)
Soil Erosion Ape
June 16, 2007 at 1:49 pm
I respectfully disagree with your “year zero” review. I think Year Zero is what NIN needed to get back on track. With Teeth I regard as a “Paint by numbers” album, very commercial and made specifically for radio. It has decent songs (Beside you in time) but for the most part, it sounds all too familiar.
trendyhipster
June 16, 2007 at 3:14 pm
Hi
I’ve removed the post on my blog that you linked to. No hard feelings but I wasn’t mocking NIN when I did it, but I realise now that it looked like it. I love Year Zero. :) Please don’t be nasty to me….
pinklefish
June 17, 2007 at 6:36 am
I was the one who made the link. I love NIN and I thought your blog entry was a riot!
We always hurt the ones we love…
bagel of everything
June 17, 2007 at 6:58 am
Oh plops. I always get these things wrong. Ho hum. I don’t know how to get it back now.
pinklefish
June 17, 2007 at 7:13 am
Warren Zevon reinforces your points. He was a drunk and self-destructive, and his stuff is unevenly great.
Frontier Former Editor
June 17, 2007 at 8:10 am
@ Frontier: Ah, Warren. And unfortunately, you and I are the only ones here that have heard more than ‘Werewolves.’
Jesse Custer
June 17, 2007 at 10:13 am
@ Jesse:Whe I was a kid, I found a copy of Zevon’’s live EP Stand in the Fire on the side of the road(!), as if someone had said, Fuck this shit” and tossed it out…even took care to put it back in the case beforehand. It was kinda like listening to a country-rock Spinal Tap fronted by a somewhat less-spastic, more nasal Joe Cocker. Like Zevon’s career, it was uneven, but had moments of obscene brilliance. “Roland the Headless Thompson Gunner” and “Excitable Boy” should be heard by everyone!
Soylent Ape
June 17, 2007 at 11:42 am
Ah, Ape, I should not have counted you out!
Even in his less-good moments, Zevon was still brilliant. Sort of … I guess I’d call him Jimmy Buffet’s evil twin.
Roland was the song of his that got me first hooked, that and Lawyers, Guns and Money. Some of his later stuff, off The Wind and My Ride’s Here, some of Life’ll Kill Ya … some of that was even better than his early shit.
(I don’t think anyone will disagree that Transverse City and The Mutineer pretty much fucking sucked, though. :P )
Jesse Custer
June 17, 2007 at 11:49 am
“Roland” managed to be artsy, rockin’ and politically-relevant. That combination almost never gets pulled-off. Don’t get me wrong–he WAS brilliant, but even The Beatles wrote some songs that fell way short of the marks they’d set for themselves. It’s sad, though, that without my serendipitous encounter with Zevon’s tunes, he’d just be “that Werewolves of London” guy to me.
Soylent Ape
June 17, 2007 at 5:41 pm
Yeah, same here. Werewolves is the shittiest song he ever did, and it’s the only one that anyone ever hears about. Sad …
Ah, well. What’s really interesting about it is that, for all his bad habits, Zevon still managed to outlive the (relatively) clean-living Robert Palmer …
Jesse Custer
June 17, 2007 at 5:53 pm
@Pinklefish: Thanks for putting it back up! So much awesome!
bagel of everything
June 17, 2007 at 5:58 pm
Sorry, I’ve been busy getting my earlobes stretched out, reading comics (WORLD WAR HULK!) and eating banana cheesecake flautas and being awesome…
A. Awesomely sober! Sober=Good. I will risk my good name and tell you that I count myself among Trent and Jeff and in no way mean to imply that ANYONE should not stay sober. Just try not to suck. I don’t.
B. Did I say I was a huge fan of With Teeth? I’m not. I too think it has some good songs on it but most of it’s not very good. It was ans is the sound of a man starting over with a whole new set of rules. I respect Trent’s choice to do something different with this record but there’s a reason it’s the worst selling nin record of all time (check the stats) and I know it came out recently but evry other nin record was platinum, double or multi by now… I mean, he got his ass handed to him by Avril Lavigne… ugh. Know why? There’s no hooks, no single, not even interesting arraingements. It’s only really daring in that it has none of the things that made every other nin album great. BUT, as I’ve been saying, I love nin and I love Trent. I wouldn’t be so upset if I didn’t. And I’m not going to turn my back on him. I’m not even going to turn my back on this record. I want to believe there’s something I’m missing and I will continue to give it spins. And if I find out I was wrong, I’ll fucking apologize.
C. umm, what was I going to say… oh yeah… WARREN FUCKING ZEVON?!?!?!?! Y’alls friend Bagel taught me a new word recently, it’s called threadjacking. Look it up, go to the corner, think about what you’ve done, then never, ever, ever do it to one of my blogs again. I don’t come to your blogs and blather on about irrelevant shit like “Jimmy Buffet’s Evil Twin”, do I??!?! If I have please point out my mistake so’s I can apologize and smash myself in the forehead with a ball-peen hammer. Not that I’m suggesting any of you do that, no… that would be wrong.
jody eugenius wilson
June 18, 2007 at 2:38 am
So, yeah, Soylent, what do you think about Johnny Cash’s posthumous albums …….
*runs for cover*
Jesse Custer
June 18, 2007 at 2:53 am
Ohhhh, so you got jokes? I just left a very complimentary comment on your stupid blog and now I’m having deep regrets… not like your having after imbibing Satan’s Dookie Butter but regrets none the less. Here’s to beach front property in Arizona. HA!
jody eugenius wilson
June 18, 2007 at 3:24 am
Note from the author: A minor retraction… “the good soldier”, one of the tracks from nin’s Year Zero lp is actually pretty good. It doesn’t stand up to his best work but it’s something. This revelation came from keeping my ears open and giving YZ spins even though I initially didn’t like it. Never say I don’t give it my all, kids. You find me another critic who does that and I’ll give you a shiny new quarter and a pat on the ass.
jody eugenius wilson
June 19, 2007 at 1:12 pm
I want to share one thing, “You dont need to be an addict to be a Heavy Metalist”. Correct the impression of others towards heavy metal. Don’t get wrong I am an addict too, but only to heavy metal music.
metal_sucker
June 21, 2007 at 9:38 pm
I absolutely agree, metal sucker. I tried to make the point that one need not be innebriated to make good music, and certainly not to enjoy it. And I’m addicted to metal, too.
jody eugenius wilson
June 22, 2007 at 6:10 pm
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