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For a musician that has, in times and confines passed, been known to take as many as five years to follow up a record, that Trent Reznor has released four albums of material (three of all-new songs and one remix disc) in only fifteen months doesn`t just say that the singer thinks he has something to prove, it screams it. Now freed from the confines of a major label, Reznor has elected to use his newest effort as the thing that every musician on a major has claimed their output is anyway – an advertisement to sell concert tickets – and made The Slip available as a free download via Nine Inch Nails` web site.

The thing of it is, given the care put into the band`s previous releases, it`s difficult to say that freedom and volume of output is something that is of remarkable benefit to Nine Inch Nails.

Okay, the brass tacks of The Slip go about like this: anyone that has been a fan of Nine Inch Nails for a while knows that as meticulously produced and constructed as any of the albums tend to be, there are invariably a couple of songs that fade into the background and bridge momentum between singles. This isn’t a bad thing because they keep the album’s energy up and, in a live context, they tend to whip the fans on the floor into a frothing frenzy. These are the tracks (like “Happiness In Slavery,” “March Of The Pigs,” “Sin,” “Perfect Drug” and “Starfuckers, Inc.”) that actually make for a magical live experience more than the staple singles that everyone hopes they’ll hear.

They’re also the sort of songs that the first side of The Slip is comprised of.

The record hits the ground running with “!,000,000” and maintains a breakneck pace through “Letting You,” the hard-hitting “Discipline” and the vintage death disco strut of “Echoplex” before letting the vibe slip slowly with the attenuated boogie and beats of “Head Down.”

At that point, things start to get noticeably more methodical in pacing and delivery and also looser insofar as the instrumentation and mixes being a little airier and more haphazard. After the first half, “Corona Radiata” backs “Lights In The Sky” both in tempo and approach with a piano-reliant delivery that forces texture to take the fore and relies heavily on it in order to get the tracks over. The problem with that is, without hook-heavy tracks before them to offer contrast, these two songs offer the impression that the album is simply winding down early.

The production gets even more lax in “The Four Of Us Are Dying” too and by the time “Demon Seed” sputters to a close and Reznor is left muttering to himself that he’s reaching the point, one can’t help but wonder which point he’s reaching for.

This all sounds hyper-critical and maybe it is but, after the career that Nine Inch Nails has had, the idea of an intrinsically flawed record appearing from them that also doesn’t have at least one requisite hit is just so alien. For better or worse, The Slip simply does not have a landmark, staple, signature song. Needless to say, this is not the typical album from Nine Inch Nails, but it isn’t (not in the strictest sense anyway) bad. It will translate incredibly well in a live setting between the blockbuster hits, but you might not know the names of these songs right off the top of your head. The Slip is a different approach for Nine Inch Nails to take and it takes some getting used to.

Artist:
www.nin.com
myspace.com/nin

Download:
Download The Slip for free here.