...And Here We Remain (A Wave Goodbye to Nine Inch Nails)

A new blog post on the Nine Inch Nails Myspace page announced that they have posted more photos from a few of their final shows for the Wave Goodbye tour. For many, Nine Inch Nails has been the band that has pulled them out of Hell, slapped them across the face and got them back on track. Reznor's deep and personal lyrics have made some of their loneliest times not as desolate as they seemed.

It was years ago when I had a crush on a girl whose favorite band was Nine Inch Nails. I borrowed my friends NIN collection to burn and study so that I may look more appealing in my crush's eyes. I was not impressed. I wanted more simplistic rock music like the Sex Pistols or the Clash and not these extremely complex, highly disastrous, heavily distorted, introspective masterpieces. After my inevitable rejection from the girl who was four years older than me, I found myself in a state of depression and it was here in this dark place where my solitude was broken by the emotive and very personal records of Nine Inch Nails.

Nine Inch Nails has always been a one man operated machine. Michael Trent Reznor has been portrayed by many fans as "a savior of rock music," or "prince of pain," or "the Antichrist," a bad influence, or a genius. When growing up, Reznor studied classical piano and, as stated by his grandfather in an interview, was a wiz. After several occurrences in his late teens with joining a few electronic bands in the 80's such as Option 30. Reznor idolized artists such as Depeche Mode, Gary Numan, and Ministry. Eventually Reznor was able to produce his debut Nine Inch Nails album "Pretty Hate Machine" in 1989, which immediately went Gold and later went platinum (meaning it sold 1,000,000+ copies worldwide).

All of Nine Inch Nails releases have been a success. Due to it's constantly growing fan base, Nine Inch Nails has done nothing but impress fans with every new release. In 1992, breaking free from TVT Records and joining with Interscope, NIN released the EP "Broken" along with the single "Wish" which went on to win a Grammy for best metal performance. The 1994 album "The Downward Spiral" has been deemed the best Nine Inch Nails record going quadruple platinum (4,000,000 copies sold) being the Nine Inch Nails album that put Reznor on the map. It has been normal for Nine Inch Nails to release albums four years apart. Reznor always challenged himself when it came to composing new music. He has stated that he has a, "Okay, that one was good, now let's make a better one," attitude. Constantly manipulating computers, synthesizers and guitars to change their sounds, Nine Inch Nails' creates new sounds that are a breath of fresh air from the constant chatter over played on the radio

Along with Nine Inch Nails' unique sound, the soulful lyrics have also made them known. Why do so many like Nine Inch Nails? Perhaps it's because Reznor puts himself on the same level. On top of all the chaos, he is still just as human as any of us. He is there with us when we're down, pissed off, or feel like dancing.

Along with being a hit and something new in the record stores. Nine Inch Nails brought a new uniqueness to the stage. Trent would scream, swear at the crowd, destroy equipment, flaunt himself, making the show just as unpleasant as the music. The live act was something new and different from the albums. More raw, more aggressive and more powerfully emotive. There was a sense of welcome and a sense of discomfort as an audience member.

Nine Inch Nails has been one of those bands that never gave a shit about what people thought, and Trent always did what he damn well pleased. In 2004 when the album With Teeth was released, along with their hit single "The Hand That Feeds," NIN was asked by MTV to edit out their anti-Bush administration lyrics in order to perform on the channel. Where many would have obliged, Nine Inch Nails refused and walked away the bigger person.

Nine Inch Nails made the turn from strong emotional music to powerful politically charged compositions. Year Zero followed close in the footsteps of 1994's The Downward Spiral as one of NIN's best recorded albums, depicting a dystopian future if things did not straighten out by 2022. Again using new and improved tools and whatever could make a noise, Year Zero was possibly more noisy and chaotic than The Downward Spiral.

And now after years of abuse, noise, chaos and the embodiment of the darkest parts of the human mind, we must say goodbye. We say goodbye to one of the most brilliant minds in the modern arts. Hats off to Nine Inch Nails, best of luck in future endeavors Trent, your music will be missed. And thanks.

-Dalton

Gamer Film Review

After having gone to see the film Gamer, starring the worlds favorite Spartan and phantom Gerard Butler, I felt that a positive review was in order. When I first saw the trailer for this film I was ecstatic, I wanted it in the cinema the next day. Being both a Butler fan and a sucker for science and dystopian fiction, I was pumped for it’s release. Not to mention that the gamer in me was crying tears of joy.

Before going to go see this film, that was starting to dive into it’s last stretch in the theaters, I read a couple reviews online, choosing what ever ones popped up first on Google and found that they both spoke rather negatively about the film. After having this bad luck with Google I then jumped to good old Youtube and again clicked on what seemed to be the most legitimate review. The very non-enthusiastic guy standing stiff on the screen gave it a rather decent rating, three stars. However, he fully noted that he was not a fan of the genre which was a huge effect on his report of the film. Needless to say, I did not allow this to effect my decision to see the film on the big screen.

I had no choice but to go see it in one of the most unpleasant cinemas in my area. It’s cheap, you can buy food and beer while being waited on by a waiter or waitress while sitting at a huge long table with reclining chairs. This is not what I go to the movies for. Getting myself positioned and ready for the film to begin, I ordered up a large Pepsi, because heaven forbid they should serve Coke, the best cola, but beggars can’t be choosers, and readied myself for the worst.

All the disappointing reviews did one thing and that was make this film look like the best thing on the face of the earth. Gamer was emotive and addressed so many social issues that it is going in my personal collection of favorites. The cast was great, the cinematography was fantastic and the script seemed solid enough.

Many reviewers have addressed the film for having too much seemingly needless nudity and sexual situations. From what the trailers show you would agree with these statements, however there are many other aspects about this new futuristic society that aren’t shown properly in the trailers. There is the game Slayers as featured in the trailers that Gerard Butler is a puppet for, however where there is one genre of games that allow the player to control real humans there is another. I won’t say much more than what I am about to for fear of spoiling the film too much, but there is another game that mimics “The Sims.” I’ll let your mind dwell on that for a minute.

This film touches on many social issues, humanity’s love for violence, hunger for anything sex, passion for other’s suffering and all it’s (humanity's) animalistic natures. Basic morality. The film really portrays humanity as an evil entity that likes to use others for their own benefits, also touching down to just how perverted we all are at our cores. This film is just a fantastic milestone in science fiction.

It is a very difficult film to review. It is so dense that it is nearly impossible to not give something away. The trailers are a flaw, that do this film no justice. Gamer’s trailers were perfect, however we are so used to previews that show us the story from beginning to end giving us an idea of how it will end, Gamer’s never do this and that is fantastic. I don’t want to see a movie before I actually see it. But now I’m diving a bit too much into personal views and tastes. In today’s spoiled society, the trailers for Gamer do not do the film much justice. If you are a closed minded person who saw the trailer you wouldn’t think there was any story which is probably what most have felt. However, the films story may only be brief but it was solid.

All in all the thought the film was worthy of any home collection, though I don’t think I would recommend it for youngsters under seventeen. Any teen younger than that will just use it as an excuse to not download porn and will not be able to actually take in the story, all they’ll be thinking is “boobs, boobs, touching, boobs, boobs, blood, gore, violence, boobs, blood” perhaps not in the order. I give this film four stars. Nothing but entertaining, I wanted to cry, I was on the edge of my seat, and I was guessing. It was a great film.

-Dalton