how could i ever think its funny how everything that swore it wouldn't change is different now just like you would always say we'll mke it through then my head fell apart and where were you?14 responses total.
This must be the morning-after poetry item...
Not original, either. This person is a big NIN fan. This piece is from the album probably not coincidently entitled The Fragile.
Line 4 is: everything you swore would never change (or something like that... my version's closer, at any rate) (i bring you closer to trent)
welcome to (cyber) Fragle Rock!
I'm still surprised that this album didn't sell better. I guess my generation of angst-ridden whiny teens has graduated into other music, and the replacing generation is still listing to NSync. Which isn't to say that this is just an angsty, whiny album. I think it's rather brilliant, but it didn't have much of a market.
It was too mature. Its emotional duress was more complicated and polished than
the raw gonna-eat-worms-and-die mentality of The Downward Spiral.
That, and the best candidate for serious radio play had a title they couldn't
even say on the radio; the title is repeated enough that it had to be censored
to the point of losing sense (Starfuckers, Inc.). When it was played on MTV,
I also noticed that Trent had changed a line, which made me think that Ms.
Simon's legal folks had threatened him with a lawsuit ("You're so vain, I bet
you think this song is about you" had been changed to something entirely
different in the video, which was called "Starsuckers, Inc.").
The best magic, at least for the entertainment value, was Trent + Manson...
Trent provided the musical skill, complexity, and pure emotion, and Manson
provided the Hollywood Clown motif, much better than his predecessor, Alice
Cooper (who had a few stern words for Manson back in MM's heyday). "Antichrist
Superstar" stands out as a grand example of the genre (for better or for
worse). While "Holy Wood" and "The Fragile" are both excellent albums, each
lacks the half the other provided.
Artistically, and technically, I think "The Fragile" is Trent's best work
(including the MM production), but when I heard it, I knew it wouldn't sell
up to its potential.
I should also have commented above that the other strong radio-oriented track
was far too sweet for NIN's old hardcore fans, even though it did wind up
being the track with the most airplay, I think ("You and me / Even after
everything / You're the queen and I'm the king" ... although alienation is
still a theme, it's Depeche Mode-style love-alienation, not NIN-style
suicidal-alienation: "You and me / We're in this together now / Nobody can
stop us now").
I don't think the theme of the song bothered people so much as the fact that it was fairly fun of the mill. As songs go. Starfuckers, obviously, had the most kick, and it's a fair example of Reznor's artistic integrity-the most playable song on the album was also the least playable. Still, I think it's mostly a trend issue. He's not in vogue anymore, and neither is Manson.
This is true, that both of their fames were highly tied to trend. I'm surprised Tool's latest is doing well, considering how artsy-fartsy it is.
Tool has been "artsy-fartsy" for a while now. This album is actually less ethereal and more accessible than AEnima, I believe. Tool cuts fans from a bit of a different cloth than NIN and Manson. Both of the latter wwere much more popular and media-loved during their heyday, but Tool has built a more consistent fanbase that doesn't folllow trends as much. That isn't to say it's a better fanbase or less angsty, but Tool has a different sort of appeal. They really got started during the grunge era, sruvived that, and now they're doing well in the alt-divorce period (where harder alternative has turned into rap-metal, and the fans who don't follow that have moved into pop). If they stay together, I wouldn't be surprised to see them expand past this as well. It definitely is interesting to see that two harder, artistic albums that run along the dark side would have different amount of success. Remember, though, that Tool is not burdened with the expectations of NIN. Success for Tool is not necessarily success for Reznor. People expect different things from the bands, too. NIN tends to get classified purely as angst and despair, perhaps a bit like rap-metal wades through so much anger. Tool provides more thoughtful music and a better balance of emotions. There's anger (AEnema, anyone?) but there is much more than that. Yeah, I'm a big Tool fan, and this winds up sounding like a big endorsement for Tool, but I'm a fan of all the genres brought up here. Believe it or not, I *am* trying to be impartial. :)
((Should I link this to music .cf, or will that just tick off carson? :) ))
#9> I think we differ on whether "Aenima" or "Lateralus" is less accessible. "Aenima" had more tracks that were radio-appropriate, but that may just be because they went nuts with making the songs long on "Lateralus" (one positive to long heavy metal songs, btw: lap dances; the last lap dance I got was to "Aenema," which was strange in and of itself, but at least it was looooong). But I agree that Tool has aged with its fans. That, and heavy metal fans tend to be much more loyal than other types of fans, and Tool is more attractive to those fans than NIN is. (Look at how many years Motorhead has gotten away with putting out what is basically the same speed-metal album, and Yngwie Malmsteen [among others] is actually starting to build his fanbase back up again.) "Opiate" is heavy metal with just a slight edge of grunge; "Pretty Hate Machine" is less classifiable, but is best classed as synthrock, I guess, and at any rate comes off as more "trendy." Those are the albums where the fanbase started getting built. I also wonder how much APC affected Tool... I could see two effects, both of which probably boosted sales of Lateralus: (1) For the hardcore Tool fans, APC was a "threat" of "what could be" -- if you don't like APC, BUY LATERALUS, let Maynard know; (2) for those who liked APC, Lateralus is a nice mutt album, with features of both Tool and APC (although more Tool)... so, in that way, it's less threatening than "Undertow," which is a long way from APC (and hence likely to pull in some APC fans who hadn't liked Tool. Taken from the "Hooker with a Penis" perspective, APC was a win-win situation for Maynard, when it was timed: If it failed, it would make Tool fans rally around the next Tool album; if it succeeded, it would pull in some fans to the Tool camp. Maybe "Hooker with a Penis" *isn't* ironic, after all. ;}
I think the success of APC is exagerated a bit; most of its buyers were probably Tool fans first. I haven't seen any demographic info to back this up, though. Lateralus' songs are all long, but they're easier to break down. If people just listen to the first half of AEnima, they'll come away with much easier music than the second half. I'm still hearing new things in Third Eye every time I listen to it, and I listen to it a lot. Tool deliberately selected its hard pieces to put Opiate together. Most of Undertow already existed by then.
I agree that APC would not have succeeded had it not been fronted by Maynard.
which is sort of sad, since I'm rather impressed with the ability of the other band members.
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