Still Thinking About Nine Inch Nails

Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor has announced that he is done operating under his infamous moniker. Fortunately, I was lucky to see Nine Inch Nails perform on June 3, 2009 at the Comcast Center in Mansfield, MA. It was incredible to see personal favorites such as "Somewhat Damaged", "March of the Pigs", and "Wish" performed with so much energy in a live setting. It's sad to think that this will be the last time I will see Nine Inch Nails but it was a fitting farewell either way. Mr. Reznor even made a heart wrenching speech before performing "La Mer" about how it was the only song he could write while alone in a Massachusetts home contemplating suicide. Then he announced that he was going to go back there and get married. It shows that he has come quite a long way from the angst ridden and depressing messages in Nine Inch Nails' music. It also provided some insight into why he is ready to throw in the towel along with his trouble with idiots on the internet. Jane's Addiction rounded the night off perfectly with a captivating set of old favorites. I have seen them once before and they have not lost a step in their powerful delivery of classic material. Below are the set lists for the show:

Nine Inch Nails:
Home
Somewhat Damaged
1,000,000
Discipline
March of the Pigs
Piggy
Metal
The Becoming
Echoplex
Burn
Gave Up
La Mer
The Fragile
Gone, Still
The Way Out is Through
Wish
The Hand that Feeds
Head Like a Hole
Hurt

Jane's Addiction:
Three Days
Whores
Ain't No Right
Pigs In Zen
Then She Did...
Up The Beach
Mountain Song
Been Caught Stealing
Obvious
Ocean Size
Ted, Just Admit it...
Summertime Rolls
Stop!
Jane Says

The demise of Nine Inch Nails coupled with the quality of their live show also had me revisiting some of the group's older, more obscure releases. The one that has caught my attention the most lately is the limited edition second disc Still (Halo 17b) which came with the live album And All That Could Have Been (Halo 17a). Still contains intense stripped down versions of classic songs alongside instrumentals and unreleased tracks. These deconstructed tunes are incredible, especially for hardcore Nine Inch Nails fans. Most notable is the version of "Something I Can Never Have", a song that first appeared on Pretty Hate Machine (Halo 2). The version feature here encompasses all of the passion from the original with a vocal delivery that is almost disturbingly intense. The song is followed by another highlight, "Adrift and At Peace", which Reznor stated is the conclusion of "La Mer" from The Fragile. I am posting a link to download the disc since it is very hard to find and I don't think Mr. Reznor would mind given his recent free ventures in the digital realm. Below is the track list as well as the download link.

Still:

1. Something I Can Never Have
2. Adrift and at Peace
3. The Fragile
4. The Becoming
5. Gone, Still
6. The Day the World Went Away
7. And All That Could Have Been
8. The Persistence of Loss
9. Leaving Hope
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