OK reader(s), let’s get this out of the way: I’m a huge Nine Inch Nails fan. I’ve got everything from the entire catalogue…including several versions/re-releases of stuff I already have.
For those of you that don’t know, Trent Reznor (the NIN mastermind) assigns ‘Halo’ numbers to every official NIN release so that you have something to collect and also so that you know what is ‘Trent’ approved’.
my first legally acquired NIN release
My Tuesday Treasure this week is the first ever Nine Inch Nails release what I purchased. And here, for your annoyance is the whole story behind it:
It was nearing the end of 1995. I was just turned fifteen and had only just learnt to defend myself against the bullies by using humour as a suit of armour. My favourite music up to this point was Mike Oldfield, Jeff Wayne’s still excellent masterpiece ‘War of the Worlds’, Holst’s Planets and an assortment of eighties crap that my sister listened to that I liked; including 2 Unlimited, New Kids on the Block and the list gets more embarrassing.
Living in High Wycombe was not great for a skinny, pale fifteen year old. The conservatives had raped the country of it’s dignity and substance, much like they are doing now. I was going to school and dodging bully bullets every day and I was growing angrier with each passing day.
One Saturday I was at the market with two old school friends of mine, Alex and Tom. Alex was into music I had never heard of before like Portishead and Blur. While at the market Alex picked up the latest release from something called ‘Nine Inch Nails’.
The release was ‘Further Down The Spiral’. I will write a future post about this release later as there is also a story behind this release too! Needless to say I stole a cassette copy off Alex and listened to it over and over again, mesmerised by the new sounds I was hearing. I had no idea who or what NIN were or that what I was listening to was a remix album and that far superior work lay ahead.
Eventually I wanted more. It was like a drug. My anger had a tap and it suddenly poured out. But I was running dry again and needed more NIN to feed on. Trent was by this time working on the ‘Lost Highway’ soundtrack and I had heard stories that a new song ‘The Perfect Drug’ would be coming soon.
On catching up with some mates during break-time, I learnt that NIN was really just one bloke called Trent Renzor [sic]. He also had been going for years and had some amazing albums and EPs out there, not that I knew what an EP was.
Later…
I dragged my bones to Scorpion Records, the best place in High Wycombe where you could buy anything from Pop to Alternative, Thrash Metal to Dance. They also knew what they were talking about. Sadly they were closed/bought out several years ago when Wycombe decided to open a giant, soulless shopping centre with an over-priced HMV in it.
In Scorpion I found many NIN releases but the one that caught my eye was one called ‘Broken‘. With its fiery cover and giant ‘N’ I thought this might be the place to start. It also appeared to have a blue sister released called ‘Fixed’. I assumed that if I liked ‘Broken’ then I would also buy ‘Fixed’.
I purchased my CD. I knew nothing of this release other than it was mainly guitars from my research in the playground.
‘Broken’ contains Trent’s angriest songs in the smallest, most concentrated form and it was just what I needed right when I needed it. From the opening of ‘Pinion/Wish’ to the violent conclusion of ‘Gave Up’ my teenage pain found a soul-mate, someone who was clearly feeling the same way.
I also loved the inner notes that spoke to me about being in ‘bondage’ and the double meaning that came with it.
I went back to Scorpion days later and picked up ‘Fixed’ and quickly I was a Halo collector.
Amusingly a year later my copy of ‘Toy Story’ was dropped on ‘Broken’ which left a rather solid dent in the top of the casing. A perfectionist Halo hunter at the time, this really pissed me off. But now I love it. As I look at this old CD now I remember how far I’ve come since I picked it up in Scorpion Records that sunny Summers day.
It was the start of a connection between a socially awkward nerd-kid and a musician who would connect him to music, anger and what it means to just be human and yourself that he would never have known otherwise.
Thank you Trent and thank you ‘Broken’ for being the start of my collection.
‘Broken’ is still in my collection. ‘Toy Story’ is long gone and was never replaced.
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as with ‘broken’ if you listen all the way to the end of the disc you are rewarded with 2 hidden tracks.
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“no new tale to tell, twenty six years on my way to hell”
“i’m going all the way down, i’m leaving today”
“the blind have been blessed with security”
“jesus christ on ecstasy”
“i smashed myself to pieces, i don’t know what else to do”
“wish there was something real, wish there was something true”
“i want to do terrible things to you”
thought exodus 