And POLL That Could Have Been: ILM Artist Poll #119 - Nine Inch Nails - RESULTS

I’m really happy Further Down The Spiral is getting so much love in this poll

(I wouldn’t have imagine Fragile at #2 - wow!)

i didn't expect it either, but the total points was close. the #1 vote difference is what put Fragile ahead.

I guess I can understand being the only #1 for Pretty Hate Machine. It's not without its flaws, but I do think it's the most charming NIN album with the most memorable highs.

Every time I play PHM I’m somehow surprised anew at how gripping it is.

I wasn't sure which I was going to put first - I hadn't listened to either in a decade or more. phm may (arguably) have the 'best' (catchiest, most melodic. whatever) songs but the arrangement/production/sound palette on tds is in an absolute league of its own.

It was hard to work out where to rank PHM, it's probably the NIN release I've played the most in my life because I bought it (on tape) at a point when I only owned a handful of albums but I think it's been surpassed many times over (I had it at #8 in the end I think). Hesitation Marks kept creeping up my ballot, glad to see it so high.

I prefer the international Further Down the Spiral although I realised my favourite tracks are mostly the ones that appear on both versions.

MAYBE I'M ALL MESSED UP

Really happy to see the Fennesz remix of In This Twilight top the remix poll. It's truly a marvel and one of the best things musically that Trent's been involved with imho.

Surprised The Fragile: Deviations 1 and Ghosts didn't place on the releases poll! Excited for the tracks now.

do people want top 60 tracks or top 50? i can do either but only have images for top 50

i'll try to get through these quickly

60. In This Twilight
Released on Year Zero, 2007
88 points, 5 voters
Studio version
Live 2008

59. The Only Time
Released on Pretty Hate Machine, 1989
96 points, 3 voters
Studio version

58. Kinda I Want To
Released on Pretty Hate Machine, 1989
98 points, 2 voters
Studio version

this one was a surprise to see, it always seemed like a lesser track on phm to me

57. Dead Souls
Released on The Crow soundtrack, 1994
102 points, 3 voters
Studio version

i love Dead Souls so much

56. Running
Released on Hesitation Marks, 2013
106 points, 3 voters
Studio version

53. This Isn't the Place
Released on Add Violence, 2017
110 points, 5 voters
Studio version

53. Suck
Released on Broken, 1992
110 points, 6 voters
Studio version

53. Less Than
Released on Add Violence, 2017
110 points, 6 voters
Studio version/music video

51. Even Deeper
Released on The Fragile, 1999
112 points, 3 voters
Studio version
Live 2013

51. Leaving Hope
Released on Still, 2002
112 points, 4 voters
Studio version

i really recommend the live version of "even deeper" there

https://i.imgur.com/mRHVhiA.jpeg
49. The Great Destroyer
Released on Year Zero, 2007
116 points, 6 voters
Studio version
Live 2007
Live 2014

https://i.imgur.com/qi3irH7.jpeg
49. Shit Mirror
Released on Bad Witch, 2018
116 points, 3 voters
Studio version

https://i.imgur.com/7KL0Xt6.jpeg
48. Sanctified
Released on Pretty Hate Machine, 1989
124 points, 4 voters
Studio version
Live 2013

even deeper wayyyyyyyyyyyyyy too low

https://i.imgur.com/lyRY0lC.jpeg
47. The Hand That Feeds
Released on With Teeth, 2005
134 points, 6 voters
Studio version
Music video
Live 2006
Live 2008
Live 2013

i really regret not managing to fit "even deeper" on my ballot after hearing that live version

i'm surprised "the hand that feeds" was this low, it's quite good at what it does really

Me too! Figured it for top 25 at least

same. expect WAAYYYYY higher

last one for now:

https://i.imgur.com/yDumcC4.jpeg
46. I Do Not Want This
Released on The Downward Spiral, 1994
136 points, 5 voters
Studio version

58. Kinda I Want To
Released on Pretty Hate Machine, 1989
98 points, 2 voters
Studio version

― ufo, Wednesday, April 24, 2024 6:32 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

this one was a surprise to see, it always seemed like a lesser track on phm to me

― ufo, Wednesday, April 24, 2024 6:32 PM (one hour ago) bookmarkflaglink

I had it at #3, which pushed it over the edge. During voting, I got kinda obsessed with a minor similarity to Genesis's Tonight Tonight Tonight. In retrospect, I might have had it a little high. :)

it didn't make my ballot, but this was one of my favs off PHM in my peak NIN fandom.

I’m going to go ahead and predict “Only” in the top 20

I have a notion about that song that I’ll share as soon as we get to it

summary so far:

46. I Do Not Want This - 136 points, 5 voters
47. The Hand That Feeds - 134 points, 6 voters
48. Sanctified - 124 points, 4 voters
49. The Great Destroyer - 116 points, 6 voters
49. Shit Mirror - 116 points, 3 voters
51. Even Deeper - 112 points, 3 voters
51. Leaving Hope - 112 points, 4 voters
53. This Isn't the Place - 110 points, 5 voters
53. Suck - 110 points, 6 voters
53. Less Than - 110 points, 6 voters
56. Running - 106 points, 3 voters
57. Dead Souls - 102 points, 3 voters
58. Kinda I Want To - 98 points, 2 voters
59. The Only Time - 96 points, 3 voters
60. In This Twilight - 88 points, 5 voters

and full albums results:

1. The Downward Spiral - 306 points, 17 voters, 7 #1 votes
2. The Fragile - 230 points, 15 voters, 4 #1 votes
3. Pretty Hate Machine - 222 points, 17 voters, 1 #1 vote
4. Broken - 196 points, 15 voters, 1 #1 vote
5. Hesitation Marks - 148 points, 13 voters
6. Further Down the Spiral - 98 points, 9 voters, 2 #1 votes
7. With Teeth - 96 points, 12 voters
8. Still - 92 points, 8 voters
9. Bad Witch - 76 points, 8 voters
10. Add Violence - 72 points, 7 voters
11. Fixed - 58 points, 5 voters, 2 #1 votes
12. Not the Actual Events - 56 points, 7 voters
13. Year Zero - 52 points, 6 voters
14. Closer to God - 22 points, 2 voters
15. March Of The Pigs - 16 points, 1 voter
15. The Fragile: Deviations 1 - 16 points, 1 voter
17. Ghosts V: Together - 14 points, 3 voters
18. The Slip - 12 points, 2 voters
19. Y34RZ3r0r3mix3d - 10 points, 2 voters
19. Ghosts I-IV - 10 points, 2 voters
21. Watchmen: Volume 1 (Music from the HBO Series) - 6 points, 1 voter
21. Quake - 6 points, 1 voter
23. Ghosts VI: Locusts - 4 points, 2 voters
23. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (Original Soundtrack) - 4 points, 1 voter
23. "The Perfect Drug" Versions - 4 points, 1 voter
23. Broken (film) - 4 points, 1 voter
27. Watchmen: Volume 3 (Music from the HBO Series) - 2 points, 1 voter
27. Closure - 2 points, 1 voter, #1 votes
27. The Vietnam War (Original Score) - 2 points, 1 voter, #1 votes

I voted for both “kinda I want to” and “the only time” - love how the back end of PHM basically gives up on the angst and just becomes about illicit sex.

going to do 5 more now

https://i.imgur.com/P1iFwa2.jpeg
45. Ringfinger
Released on Pretty Hate Machine, 1989
138 points, 4 voters, 1 #1 vote
Studio version

https://i.imgur.com/Ev7nqP4.jpeg
43. Burn
Released on Natural Born Killers soundtrack, 1994
140 points, 5 voters
Studio version
Music video
Live 2009

https://i.imgur.com/ZMABIEK.jpeg
43. Every Day Is Exactly The Same
Released on With Teeth, 2005
140 points, 4 voters
Studio version

actually need to leave it there

aaaaaaaaaaaaHHHHHHHHHHHHHH MOTHERFUCKER!

Ringfinger was my #1! Unlike yesterday's entry from my list, Ringfinger is a decades-long, deeply held #1 NIN song for me. Verse one feels almost like a 60s or 70s soul song, like some Al Green or something. Verse two is, I admit, pretty stupid. Crap about Jesus on a cross that is not unlike the lyrics I tried to write in 7th grade. In revisiting Pretty Hate Machine, I found that to be the case with most of the songs on the album - moments of sublime beauty and transcendent emotion juxtaposed against "I can't believe I wrote that when I was 13" juvenalia. It doesn't matter to me - I'm fine with it and accept it

The intro does a lot to lure me in: the sparse 4/4 kick drum underneath the alternating synth and bass lines is so hypnotic, made doubly so by letting you sit through 8 repetitions of the riff lasting 30 seconds. I think a lot of artists would have probably just left it at 4. And then, pulling the same trick, the awesome, cathartic outro bassline lasts for almost 2 minutes!

Anyway, glad enough other people voted for it that it made it to the rollout.

I thought I voted for it but apparently not! It was very hard and somewhat arbitary to decide which to pick and which to leave, especially from phm. The intro is good and the outro is great but musically the verse isn't so strong. At least be thankful he rewrote the chorus lyrics from the demo:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ROYVYVPqj34

(Literally the first time I've listened to that in 30 years, after hearing it coming out of someone's tent at a music festival in 1994)

I’m convinced that if “Less Than” had come out during the imperial period it would have been a huge hit.

xp: yeah, I listened to the demo for the first time during this poll. Definitely glad he worked on it a little longer.

in the chorus of Ringfinger does anyone hear the sounds of someone tapping an incandescent light bulbs 3x repeatedly?

Ringfinger remains one of my favorite tracks from PHM. Its production is singular. I have long been a bit of a lyrical apologist for that album, most of the songs on it exhibit some form of "juvenalia".

(it also made my ballot too)

"If I was twice the man I could be I'd still be half of what you need" is a great Reznorian equation. If Ringfinger had sounded more like the live versions from the period heard on live bootlegs it'd have made my ballot and been pretty high up.

link to a good example?? very curious