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

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

Even Deeper was my #3... for some reason I thought it was certainly going to make the top 30 :(

love the outro, hate the "naa naa, na-na-na naaaaghghgh"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FNaZKus4NN4

Ringfinger live in 91. I love the songs on PHM but the live versions do it much more for me. A large part of this being the audio quality of the bootlegs: I've got a major weak spot for drum machines swathed in tape hiss.

https://i.imgur.com/euHH1Tz.jpeg
42. Reptile
Released on The Downward Spiral, 1994
144 points, 5 voters
Studio version
Radio performance with Peter Murphy, 2006

unpopular opinion maybe but i still really love this song, one of my favorites on DS because of the way it fits into the narrative etc

and that Peter Murphy version is so good

https://i.imgur.com/bCrK1MA.jpeg
41. All Time Low
Released on Hesitation Marks, 2013
150 points, 5 voters
Studio version
Live 2013

“Reptile” was a very late cut from my ballot - the arrangement is top-tier but that are a few TDS tunes which I feel match it but where I like the song more.

https://i.imgur.com/UW7MyAW.jpeg
40. That's What I Get
Released on Pretty Hate Machine, 1989
158 points, 4 voters
Studio version

this is another on pretty hate machine that i was surprised that it was as high as it was

This is second tier PHM for me only because I find it a bit whiny

“All Time Low” is monumental

https://i.imgur.com/23CGtTy.jpeg
39. The Big Come Down
Released on The Fragile, 1999
162 points, 5 voters, 1 #1 vote
Studio version
Live 2008
Live 2013

https://i.imgur.com/oknaqQM.jpeg
38. Hurt
Released on The Downward Spiral, 1994
168 points, 7 voters
Studio version
Live 1995
Live 2006
Live 2008
Live 2013

https://i.imgur.com/y6xTg6r.jpeg
37. Various Methods of Escape
Released on Hesitation Marks, 2013
190 points, 5 voters
Studio version

https://i.imgur.com/TDEr4q0.jpeg
36. God Break Down the Door
Released on Bad Witch, 2018
192 points, 6 voters
Studio version

https://i.imgur.com/vZZ4a3e.jpeg
33. Copy of A
Released on Hesitation Marks, 2013
194 points, 9 voters
Studio version
Live 2013

https://i.imgur.com/dF8PR7I.jpeg
33. She's Gone Away
Released on Not The Actual Events, 2016
194 points, 6 voters
Studio version

https://i.imgur.com/fokLep3.jpeg
33. The Background World
Released on Add Violence, 2017
194 points, 6 voters
Studio version

i thought Hurt might be higher but i guess maybe everyone thought that collectively & didn’t place it higher lol

oh "she's gone away" is from and not the actual events, i should have caught that

no 'and' in the title either

i'm not really surprised by hurt being this low it's just ultimately not that interesting

https://i.imgur.com/JhQde0O.jpeg
32. Everything
Released on Hesitation Marks, 2013
198 points, 5 voters
Studio version

now this is one i was not expecting

https://i.imgur.com/J7Tfjp3.jpeg
31. Only
Released on With Teeth, 2005
218 points, 7 voters
Studio version
Music video
Live 2006
Live 2008

31. Only - 218 points, 7 voters
32. Everything - 198 points, 5 voters
33. Copy of A - 194 points, 9 voters
33. She's Gone Away - 194 points, 6 voters
33. The Background World - 194 points, 6 voters
36. God Break Down the Door - 192 points, 6 voters
37. Various Methods of Escape - 190 points, 5 voters
38. Hurt - 168 points, 7 voters
39. The Big Come Down - 162 points, 5 voters, 1 #1 vote
40. That's What I Get - 158 points, 4 voters
41. All Time Low - 150 points, 5 voters
42. Reptile - 144 points, 5 voters
43. Burn - 140 points, 5 voters
43. Every Day Is Exactly The Same - 140 points, 4 voters
45. Ringfinger - 138 points, 4 voters, 1 #1 vote
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

I’m a high “That’s What I Get” voter, mostly because it’s a clear precursor to “We Share Our Mother’s Health”. Totally agree that it’s whiny, which doesn’t bother me since Trent as producer >>>>>>>>>>>>> Trent as vocalist >> Trent as lyricist and I pay attention accordingly.

Hmmm that lineage does make sense to me - Dreijer really has built a career out of flying the flag for post-PFM dance pop.

Has Reznor ever messed with Caribbean drums?

I don't dislike "Everything", exactly, but it's definitely one of the few tracks on Hesitation Marks that I didn't consider voting for at any stage.

*post-PHM

ooh yeah i definitely hear how it could have inspired "we share our mother's health" but those synths are really the only bit i care about

i appreciate that "everything" sounds a bit like new order in places but it's just uncanny and doesn't really have enough going on

all uncanny, no valley

i do really like "all time low", that's my favourite off hesitation marks. it really goes on a journey in the same way as a lot of tracks from the fragile do.

Definitely thought "Only" would be top 20. I'm guessing the top 20 will be mostly 80s/90s cuts then