Out of the Loop: Nine Inch Nails Releases Single “Discipline”

As much as I try to be up to date in regard to all things Nine Inch Nails and other various bands, I am disadvantaged for the following reasons:

1. I am completely unaffiliated with the band and all band members
2. I am busy as hell
3. I am a hermit (see reason 2)
4. Apparently not listening to the radio has become a factor as well

 

10:00am–I am sitting in my biopsyc class, listening to lecture with one ear while surfing the internet with both eyes.  Check NIN webpage, though I had just done so at approximately 1:00am, and to my amazement…an update.  Another dreaded teaser “2 weeks”.  So I figure, I actually have time to dedicate to my academic priorities and such before I will be delving back into the obsessive world of NIN cult following.  But no, of course things would be much more complicated and riveting.

6:00pm–Sitting, enjoying a mediocre meal with my good friends, and sipping on my iced tea.  Mid-swallowing, my friend inquires tauntingly, “So how do you like the new NIN single released today?”  And out I spit my drink (figuratively. I saved it last minute, but almost).  The worst moment: the realization that once again, try as I might, I have fallen out of the know, out of the loop and into the obscure world of ignorance.  The perfect exception to “ignorance is bliss” because everyone else in the world (or at least it feels as such) knows about this gem of news and has heard the single before me.  Where have I been?  Thus, despite the wonderful news of new Nine Inch Nails music (with lyrics and Trent’s beautiful voice!), my day was ruined, and I was pissed, pissed, pissed.

So what about all of this?  Today, April 22nd, Trent Reznor released to radio stations nation wide a new single titled “Discipline”.  Apparently the single was released without any forewarning, not even a hint on nin.com, and according to The NIN Hotline, the song was mastered only yesterday.  Perhaps this has relation to the above Flickr photo posted on nin.com on April 8th; perhaps the Four Guys Up To Something were up to a new album to be released in 2 weeks?

Nevertheless, 2 weeks could refer to the final stages in the merging of the nin.com website and The Spiral, the pre-sale of concert tickets, or perhaps the release of the new album to complement this new single.  The rumor mill at Digg.com, which has some pretty colorful comments on the subject, waivers between the new album being released in 2 weeks and according to various DJ’s sometime in July.  Trent speaks nothing on the subject of a new album; his only reference on the NIN website is that some of us “may have heard a new Nine Inch Nails track on [our] radio today” and that the song can be downloaded for free directly from the NIN website.. 

Make what you will of his only hint, “We have some tour info coming… SOON (I know you love that word) as well as some other info about something else, too.”  Yes Trent, you alone have construed such a nasty connotation to such a previously benign word.

What else?  Well apparently, for those who purchased the ostentatious version (“super-ultra-mega-deluxe”) of Ghosts I-IV, Trent has received the 2,500 copies and currently deliberates over hosting a live webcast of the signing process.  Thus, we may observe in real-time a massive hand cramp.  Trent remarks, “These really turned out great and I can’t wait to sign EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM.”  Stay tuned ALL DAY Thursday.  Too bad I will be in class…

 And what of the single itself?  Not bad (obviously, what NIN song is?), but honestly, not my favorite.  From With Teeth to Year Zero we have been observing the slow transition from industrial rock band to mainstream rock, and now with the release of the new single “Discipline” it would seem Trent has been resurrecting his Option 30 days.  “Discipline” certainly brings forth the pop-ish side of Trent, similar to that shown in the remix halo Every Day is Exactly the Same.  Nevertheless, the NIN element is unmistakable, and the song brings good news to those missing the sound of Trent’s voice in the latest Ghosts release.

Addendum: Did Trent actually post this, or are my eyes deceiving me?

Take your shirt off and dance to it!
REMIX it!
Enjoy.