NIN Review series Part 9: The Slip

AngryByrd Apparently Trent Reznor felt so bad about having so many delayed albums that he released TWO WHOLE ALBUMS in 2008!! I already covered the first one, Ghosts I-IV, a mostly instrumental experiment in sound. In this post though, I'm covering the album released very shortly after. The album, titled The Slip, was released for free suddenly on NIN's website, catching many fans by surprise. The album was concieved as a gift to fans, and after listening to it, I would say it's a nice little album.

This album is a short, sweet, 10-song album that's much shorter than any of NIN's other full albums. It's about 45 minutes long, and when you're used to hour long NIN albums, it can seem a bit short. It is understandable though, since The Slip was originally supposed to be an EP. While it is short, it makes alright use of its time. This album isn't legendary or anything, but's it's definitely worth listening to.

Some of the songs lack in heaviness noticeably, but this is really the only big gripe I have with this album. There definitely aren't any songs I hate. On the other end though, there aren't really any songs from this album that I love. I do LIKE pretty much all of the songs, but like Year Zero, there really aren't any huge standouts. Unlike Year Zero though, Trent's vocals and lyrics are both great and the music is mostly good. It's basically Year Zero, but with no political commentary, and songs that are actually good.

The Slip is definitely a crowd pleaser, and I feel like most NIN fans would appreciate this album. While you can't get it for free anymore, it's available on iTunes, and it's not too expensive. If you just want a nice little NIN album to make you happy, you should definitely buy and listen to this album. However, it's definitely not as good as Pretty Hate Machine, The Fragile, or anything up until With Teeth, so don't expect to hear your new favorite album. I give The Slip a 6/10.

Comments

Is that Hesitation Marks review ready yet? I'm not rushing or anything, just curious that's all. - visitor

I'll be honest, it might be a while. I haven't had time to even listen to the album yet. It'll probably be around pretty soon, but I can't promise anything. It'll come out when it comes out. - AngryByrd