BY MIKEY MIGO
Everyone has their favorite bands, songs, and music videos. Meanwhile, others have their obsessions. The obsessions where you go out and buy any and every album, single, import, and swag you can of one specific thing. When you're a kid, it's normally a superhero, cartoon, or something silly. There are plenty of females in their twenties and above who are obsessed over "Twilight" just as much as their tweenage counterparts. For whatever reason, someone connects with a certain chunk of art and it becomes part of them.
That's exactly what it is, it's a connection. Something within the medium you're fixated over actually brings out an interest in you. Music is no different. In high school I knew kids obsessed with the likes of Eminem, Limp Bizkit, Metallica, and Creed. It's probably safe to say that the white kids no longer dye their hair blonde to emulate Em, the Limp Bizkit and Creed people moved on to Nickelback and Lil Wayne, and with good behavior, the Metallica fans will be getting out of prison in no time.
Then there's music you grow with. It's not a passing phase or a situation where you're obsessing over the next "wacky hair colored" emo-rockers. It's your father's Neil Young, Aerosmith, Bob Dylan, or other band with respect and longevity that you grow with.
For me that band is Nine Inch Nails.
I had always liked that "Head Like a Hole" song during the early and mid 90's. I didn't know much about it, but it stood out to me and I ended up recording it off the radio and onto cassette tape so I could listen to it again in the future. Then "Closer" came out and I knew what I heard before was by the same bad. So with my purchase of "The Downward Spiral", the doors opened. I went back and got "Pretty Hate Machine", "Broken", and started to fill out my collection of "halos" (Each NIN release is numbered with a different halo).
I loved what I heard, but I wasn't sold. At this point, I loved music but did not have a favorite band. That quickly changed with the release of "Fragile". I was in high school and while the people around me were on their TRL kicks, I found myself traveling back to the early 90's. The magical double disc set that is "Fragile" is what opened my mind, heart, and soul to Nine Inch Nails.
Instantly when non-fans hear Nine Inch Nails they put a "goth" or "dark" label on it. I was never either of those, but that connection to the words and melody that Trent Reznor shared with the world meant a lot. I am a fan of the "goth" scene, but it never defined my personality or my style. Still, this was and still sadly is a label that I have to shrug off. If you've gone to a Nine Inch Nails show during this millennium you'd know that the "gothic people" are very much the minority in the melting pot that is NIN fans.
Any way, with the release of "Fragile" I got to attend my first concert. My first concert was A Perfect Circle opening for NIN at the UIC Pavillion in Chicago. That night and experience changed everything. I was already an artsy person, but my love for the art of musical performance was really born that night. It would be the first of an uncountable amount of concerts that I'd go to. No matter what though, you always remember your first.
We have to fast forward a few years because all Trent really released was "Deep" for the Tomb Raider soundtrack. Good song, but we wanted a full album to enjoy. What we got was "With Teeth". Many fans will quickly write it off as the worst album, but I don't agree. "With Teeth" gave us "The Hand That Feeds", "The Line Begins to Blur", "Sunspots", "Beside You In Time", and a hand full of really good tracks. The album just didn't have that epic flow to it that the others did, which is why I think it gets the flack it does. For me, "All The Love In The World" was my favorite track. So much that I named my second low budget indie movie the same thing.
A new album meant a new tour. I was ready this time. I was no longer a teenager and could actually go to more than one show. My telemarketing job didn't agree with the tour schedule so I just flat out quit my job of four years. I gave up my last real taste of job security just so I could go to four shows within the same two weeks. That sounds crazy to most people, but I have no regrets. The "With Teeth" tour was great and it was fun hitting up most of the Midwest in the process of seeing them play.
Soon after we were hit with "Year Zero", "The Slip", and "Ghosts". Trent was throwing more music at us than our brains could really process. The days of a five year wait were over. With having so much time to process the music, you tend to become obsessed with certain tracks for awhile. You find meaning and a connection with a certain song and you play it over and over again. I'm fairly sure I've been obsessed with every song and lyric Trent has released at one point in my life for different and sometimes stupid reasons. With these new albums, again, came another tour. Sadly, I couldn't afford the outrageous ticket price for Lollapalooza and missed that round of shows.
Before this recent tour began, Trent Reznor made the announcement that Nine Inch Nails is done (at least for awhile) and there would be no more touring. This was a huge blow to many people, but really it's understandable. When I look at bands like Aerosmith and others who have put in at least 20 years, you can literally count how many steps the performers have lost. As selfish as I want to be about it and say I want more and more and more, I'd rather see Trent go out with dignity and relevance as to fade into obscurity. He deserves that much.
So I got my last chance to see Nine Inch Nails. This past Friday, May 29th 2009, I went to Chicago to see my favorite band of all time for most likely the very last time. I won't lie; the emotions were very strong during the performance. Out of the seven times I've seen NIN before this, the set list was about half filled with songs that I've never dreamt of hearing and seeing live. For some reason whenever I see "Gave Up" performed live it strikes a chord, but this was different. I got to see "I'm Afraid of Americans", "The Becoming", "Heresy", "Fragile", and so many other songs that I've been addicted to over the years. As the end feedback of "Head like a Hole" blared over the speakers I couldn't help but feel as if a chapter of my life had ended. It's not as if I felt depressed or upset about it being the last show. The last show was amazing and I couldn't have asked for a better experience.
Life goes on. I'll find other music to obsess over, probably even Trent's future works. I can honestly say that Nine Inch Nails will ALWAYS be in my collection and I will always value and appreciate the time and effort that Trent Reznor put in to share himself with the world. Of course I'll always want more, but as a wise man once said "If I can't have everything, then just give me a taste".
Nine Inch Nails is no better than whatever YOUR favorite band is. Surely, I could argue with you about it, but it would be a moot point. Art is seen with individual eyes. Trent Reznor isn't God, but for this fan the music has a divinity to it that really can't be described. Through ups and downs, good times and bad, I've found myself more times than not going back to that Nine Inch Nails CD collection. If you're a music fan then you already have your own reasons for that love. In my case, Nine Inch Nails has always been the roots of my love for music.
|
