Albums That Blew My Mind: "The Downward Spiral" by Nine Inch Nails

Like many people in my age range, my first exposure to Nine Inch Nails’ music was the video for “Closer,” (uncensored version here) which even in its censored version was one of the most disturbing music videos I had ever seen. It became kind of infamous during middle school, largely because of beating heart, spinning pig head, the bondage stuff, and of course, the chorus. While I thought it was a cool song (what middle school aged student isn't going to think a song about sex that uses naughty words is cool?), I didn't really pay too much attention to it.

This was the case until the my freshman year of high school (1999, or NIN_eteen NIN_ety NIN_e, as the case could be), when NIN released The Fragile (which will get its own Albums That Blew My Mind post in due time). After seeing the video for "We're In This Together," and picking up a copy of The Fragile, I knew I wanted more Nine Inch Nails. This led to a brief battle over if I could purchase the album (the lyrics to "Big Man With a Gun" did NOT go over well), but I eventually persisted and was able to buy a copy.

Upon first listening, I immediately noticed a feeling of discomfort. I was used to heavy music (although, admittedly at the time, I was big into the rap-rock mix), and even Nine Inch Nails' late 90s sound, but this album was somehow different. It just sounded... unclean. The music itself was just a layered wall of sound that sounded like skin scraping against concrete. The mix was complex and sounded evil . The lyrics dealt with dark topics (addiction to drugs, control through sex, suicide, etc.). This was certainly a different beast than any other album I owned at the time. Even the album art seemed dirty. The pictures were of death and decay. The album was recorded at the house where Sharon Tate was murdered by the Manson family... this thing was certainly not a family friendly record.

So, as a person who doesn't do drugs, isn't depressed, and by all accounts is relatively "normal," why does The Downward Spiral blow my mind, considering the paragraph written above?

I think to a certain extent, a lot of people like delving into the "dark" areas that they normally wouldn't want to go, and The Downward Spiral does a great job serving as a guide into the world of self destruction. There are many who believe the album follows the story of a protagonist who strips away each layer of his addictions, and as he does, he slips further into madness. This is the first half of the album, ending with "Big Man With a Gun." As "A Warm Place" starts and the second half begins, the man decides to kill himself, and after having one last encounter with a whore, shoots himself in the head. As the final track, "Hurt," plays, the protagonist reflects on what has happened as he bleeds out. I find this an interesting take on what is going on because it makes sense following the lyrics and tone of the album, but at the same time is never explicitly stated.One is able to take the album on its surface is they choose to do so, but they can also delve deeper into the meaning if they want to.

I especially love this album because of the amazing musicality in it. Trent Reznor may not be the greatest at playing any of the instruments present on the album, but he is a master at layering sound and dissonance into a fantastic sounding product. One can listen to the songs, and they work, but when one really begins to pay attention to EACH thing going on during the tracks, that is when the songs really begin to shine. There are a surprising number of instruments, samples, and distortions going on at any given time. Because this album is industrial, many of these samples are not true instruments (for example, a gunshot is used as a drum in "Mr. Self Destruct"). To take such chaos, and turn it into a cohesive product is no easy task.

It's hard to say why Nine Inch Nails and The Downward Spiral struck and continues to strike such a strong chord with me. In high school, I can see why the antisocial nature of the songs and the darkness would have appealed to the outsider that I was, but now at 25, I am a completely different person, and yet I still come back to this album on a regular basis (I've bought three copies on CD thus far). I was beyond excited when I found out that The Downward Spiral was played in its entirety on a few of the Wave Goodbye shows. Maybe one day in the future, I'll get the chance to hear it live.

Some songs to check out:

-"Eraser" live in 1995

-"March of the Pigs" music video

-"Hurt" from a Hurricane Katrina benefit concert (Trent lived in NOLA for years)

-"Heresy" live in 2009

-"Mr. Self Destruct" live in 2009 from the final "Wave Goodbye" club shows

Concert Review: Scale the Summit/DTP/Cynic/BtBaM @ The House of Blues 1/24/10

This was a tour that I was excited about as soon as I heard about it, but for the first time, it was for the opening bands, not the headliner. I've been a Devin Townsend fan for about five years now, but had never been able to make it to a show when he was in Chicago with either The Devin Townsend Band or Strapping Young Lad. In those five years, Townsend had become one of my favorite musicians. I've gotten into Cynic and Scale the Summit fairly recently, but both were touring on really good albums and both had some serious potential to put on a great show, so I was really excited to see them too. Between the Buried and Me wasn't really on my radar, so I figured if they were good, it was just a bonus. If not, I had no complaints about dropping $27 ($15 plus Ticketbastard fees.... yes, I'm serious) just to see StS, DTP, and Cynic at the House of Blues.

We got to the House of Blues about 4:30, doors opened at 5:00, and we were inside by about 5:10. I saw Black Label Society in 2005 at the Chicago House of Blues, but I had forgotten how small it was. With as small as the floor is at the HoB, we decided just to stand back in the corner of the main floor. That way we weren't near the moshpits (I can't stand moshing... what's the point?) nor right next to the PA, as I was just getting over some ear ringing and didn't want to have that happen again. After making two quick trips to the bar (including the soon to be traditional shot of Jagermeister), we were ready for the show to begin. The House of Blues has a no camera policy, so no photos from this one.

Scale the Summit began promptly at 5:30. They're an instrumental band from Austin, Texas. They played for a half an hour, and were great. All the members in the band (two guitars, bass, and drums) are pros on their instruments. I don't remember the songs that they played (I listen to their albums while I'm working, so I'm not conscious of song titles), but I was impressed. They do some really intricate harmonies, and both guitarists are very capable of soloing. They didn't have a ton of stage presence, but that is to be expected considering the style of music.

Up next was The Devin Townsend Project. Under normal circumstances, Devin Townsend could have easily headlined this show. However, with his two years out of the touring business, he wanted to get back into it slowly. Devin is a goof, and I'm not sure that the people in the audience who weren't familiar with him were quite ready for it. He started off his set by saying that the audience was in for "30 straight minutes of pure, unadulterated nerdcore," before going into to a heavied up version of Disruptr (from another show). After that, the band went into Supercrush! with Devin handling the verses, and singing it flawlessly (studio cut). He did this because Anneke Van Giersbergen, who sang on the album, didn't go on tour. One of the things that Devin likes to do is make fun of the crowd (and the stereotypical metalhead), and it was at this point that he pointed out that "there were 10 men to every man" in the crowd and that the next song was dedicated to the "Ladies.... all six of you out there." This was Kingdom (studio cut), which had myself and Bruno looking in amazement at each other on how good the drums sounded. It was easily the most brutal drum sound I've ever heard live. They cut right the mix and were loud, but crystal clear. The guy on the mixing board was AWESOME! Next was Truth (live in '99), which got me chuckling with some of the faces Devin was making during it and also got the hair on my arms to stand up when the "Hallelujahs" kicked in midway through. He played part of OM and finished his thirty minutes with By Your Command (studio cut), which was pretty cool. I thought that The Devin Townsend Project would be great, and they certainly did not disappoint.

Next up was Cynic. Cynic's music is a really hard to explain, and they're even harder to explain live. Their music is really technical and they have two vocalists: one who sings into a kind of vocal processor and another who does death metal style vocals. It's a really strange combination that's very unique. I don't remember the setlist, as the lighting, the music itself, and the atmospheric quotes floating through the PA really just mellowed me out for their set, even when it was heavy. Cynic is the kind of band that I'd imagine would be great to see with one's mind "expanded," if one was into that kind of thing. I do remember being asked by the band to do some yoga midway through their set. The sound was absolutely killer during Cynic as well (either this tour brought along a hell of a sound man or the HoB employs a great one). Everything was crystal clear throughout. I was really blown away by how good they were live, and I would love to see them again. Because even the studio cuts don't really show how they are live, here are two live clips from other shows on the tour: Evolutionary Sleeper and Nunc Fleuns/The Space For This

During Cynic's set, there were some people who wanted them to go heavy the whole time, including one person who kept screaming, "Slayer!" I thought it was strange until Cynic finished, when I saw most of the older part of the crowd leave the front area, and a bunch of younger kids fill it up quickly. This younger group was obviously going to be more rowdy. That, combined with the thought of getting back to Union Station for the 8:40 train (the next train didn't leave Chicago until 11:40) had us thinking that we may skip early if we didn't like Between the Buried and Me. All it took was three minutes of BtBaM and we were out the door. I don't really want to waste the space writing about them, as I want the memory to be Cynic headlining the show. It's the first show that I've been to where there was almost two different demographics there to see the opening bands and the headliner. It was a strange combination. After the awesome sets by DTP and Cynic, BtBaM was not going to cut it for me.

Overall, it was a really good show that highlighted some of the bands on the periphery of the metal world. I'm glad that shows like this still happen. Hopefully The Devin Townsend Project and Cynic will come back in the near future as headliners, so we, the audience can get a full length set from both of these great bands.

Why Does Discussing College Coaches Make Me Feel Like I Need To Take a Shower?

What a couple of weeks it's been for coaches of major college programs. Here's my takes on all the big comings and goings:

-Brian Kelly (left Cincinnati for Notre Dame): I don't really have a problem with Kelly leaving Cincinatti for Notre Dame. ND, as much as I dislike it (Overrated U, in my book), is still one of the premiere coaching jobs in the game. With Kelly's background, it must have been especially appealing. My issue is with the timing. He really left his players at Cincinnati hanging for the Sugar Bowl, which was not right. I don't fault them at all for rallying against him (really, Coach, announcing you're leaving at the season victory banquet wasn't a good choice). He should have waited. I understand there is a lot of work to do in South Bend to move on from the Weis years, but you can't tell me it couldn't have waited until the second week in January. He built Cincinnati into a big football program, and I don't understand why he wouldn't want to coach his last game there against Urban Meyer, Tim Tebow, and one hell of a Florida team.

-Mike Leach (fired from Texas Tech)/Mark Mangino (resigned amidst pressure from Kansas)/Jim Leavitt (fired from USF): I have some mixed feelings on these firings. If what they're accused of doing is true, then it is fair that they're gone from their coaching jobs. There's no place in football for sadism in punishment, especially at an age when a coach is still supposed to be a mentor to his players. That being said, football is a violent, draining sport that does require some harsh drills and practice methods. There needs to be a quality middle ground between playing through pain and going too far.

-Pete Carroll (left USC for the Seattle Seahawks): I actually have no problem with Carroll leaving USC. I question why he would want to leave USC for the NFL, especially when LA has no pro team, but he is leaving USC in better shape than he found it. My only concern is that he's bailing right before the hammer comes down on the athletic program because of the Reggie Bush/OJ Mayo/other player mishaps. My feelings on this one may be changed once the NCAA speaks on the matter.

-Lane Kiffin (left Tennessee for USC): I understand that Kiffin has connections to USC that preceded his attachment to Tennessee, but Kiffin has proven to be a tool with this move. Bolting after one season isn't cool, especially with the way he sold himself to UT last year. This jams his recruited players, and may jam the whole school if any sanctions come down from Kiffin's numerous recruiting violations. Kiffin also leaves with UT's defensive coordinator and their head of recruiting. With signing day only a few weeks away, Tennessee is going to be in a huge jam in the ultra competitive SEC. The news that they've been trying to get some Tennessee players to follow them to USC doesn't help either. Can someone explain to me what Lane Kiffin has done to be this desirable by so many football programs?

And In Other Shocking News, This Morning the Sun Rose in the East...

January 11th, 2010 will now be known in the sports world as the day that Mark McGwire finally discussed the past and admitted his past steroid use. McGwire now joins the list of seemingly every MLB superstar in the last 20 or so years to end up admitting using illegal substances (regardless of the MLB and MLBPA's policy at the time, one cannot argue that these drugs were being used for a lawful purpose), or at the least be implicated in doing so. Although the NFL is by far my favorite sport (and this fact in and of itself will put an air of hypocrisy over the next few paragraphs), I still do hold a spot in my sports heart for baseball, which is why, although I was not in the least surprised, it still made me a little sad to hear the confession today.

The two most important issues related to PEDs and baseball in my opinion is the validity of records set while using them, as well as whether Cooperstown should be closed down for PED users. While the popular opinion seems to be to asterisk every record set since the late 1980s, and shut down Cooperstown for players from the Steroid era (or at the least mention that they may have been on the juice), I don't think that either option is viable or correct. I'm sure that we will never know the true extent of the use of PEDs in baseball. How many pitchers that McGwire faced were juicing? What, exactly, constitutes a PED? Big leaguers were notorious users of amphetamines, and many still pop Ritalin because of their "ADD." Steroids clearly make one stronger, and do help the body recover from injury quicker than one would otherwise, but baseball at the professional level still requires an ungodly degree of hand-eye coordination. Steroids can help, but the raw skill needs to be there.

Baseball at the very least dragged its feet (and at the worst allowed this to go on knowingly); now it's time to sleep in that bed. Barry Bonds owns the single season home run record, which is set at 73. Not McGwire's 70. Not Maris' 61. Not Ruth's 60. Bonds also owns the career record, not Aaron. Like it or not, this is fact.

In regards to Cooperstown, my argument is closely aligned with the above. We can't play judge and jury of the past. Steroids are a blight on the game, and do cheapen numbers, but then again, many white players from the years pre-Robinson never had to face the best of the Negro Leagues, which cheapens their numbers as well. The above mentioned point about amphetamines is valid here as well. I'm not sure that speed isn't a more effective PED than many of the steroids on the market available to players today (HGH especially). Cooperstown should remember the best players and moments from the game of baseball (including the all time hits leader, Pete Rose, but that's another rant for later on down the road). Like it or not, both the best moments and players indisputably will involve steroids at some point in time. It's as clear to me as the "flaxseed oil" that Bonds used that he belongs in the Hall of Fame. Roger Clemens does as well. McGwire, Sosa, and Palmeiro don't, but that has nothing to do with their use of performance enhancing drugs.

My final thought on this is that we, the fans, deserve some of the blame. I can legitimately claim ignorance on the home run race of '98, because I was 13 at the time, but we as a collective whole should have known. Men don't increase in strength and muscle mass (especially the shredded look that the sluggers gained) naturally as they age into their late thirties. Heads don't grow past puberty. Neither do feet. All time power numbers shouldn't be set by players nearing twenty years in the big leagues. Shame on us, the fans, for putting our heads in the sand in the name of the long ball. Even more, shame on us now for acting self righteous about it when it was our almighty dollar that created the market for it in the first place. We chide baseball for allowing drugs in the game, while at the same time we clap our hands every fall Sunday as men get bigger and bigger, yet faster and faster.

I just hope that Albert Pujols really is as real as he claims to be, but don't judge me for being skeptical.

My Fantasy Team Doesn't Have Anyone Named Manning or Brees (But There Certainly Are Some Tight Ends)

When someone asks me who I've got starting on my fantasy team, I'm thinking:

or

Not this:

or

Now, before I begin to rant about this, let me say that I have no inherent dislike of fantasy football. At its basis, I like the idea. I play Pigskin Pick'em, and I like to gamble on football (never involving money of course, as sports gambling is illegal in Illinois). Both of the above mentioned methods, as well as fantasy football, are nice ways to care about a game that one otherwise wouldn't. Being the fan of a small market team in the midst of a clear rebuilding phase while living in the third largest media market in the country that I am, I need all the help I can get to care about most of the football games that I see on a normal Sunday. What has been grinding on me the last few years is how fantasy football has integrated itself into the game to such a level that it has seemingly become the focus for far too many people.

My biggest complaint is that people are now cheering for stats and players, not the team. I have literally been sitting at a bar watching the early slate of games (my Chiefs almost always play at noon) and seen people wearing a jersey of one team paying attention to every other game because they had fantasy players in that contest. I've seen other people get mad at the quarterback of the team they came in representing because he didn't throw the TD pass to the receiver on their fantasy team. That borders on insane in my eyes. I don't care how the Chiefs win (and they sure haven't been doing much of that lately), all I want on a Sunday afternoon is the W. I don't care if the touchdown came from a J. Charles run or a Chris Chambers catch. All that matters is the win.

ESPN has gotten in on the game too. Mike & Mike have a brief segment every week discussing if one should start or sit players, and there is a show that airs Sunday that does the same on ESPN2. Really, ESPN, is this necessary? Please stick to reporting on the games based on reality.

Now, I wouldn't fault you if you felt that the above two reasons for my dislike of the "dedicated" fantasy football type were just me whining. The thing that really annoys me is when there is a debate about if something that happened in the real NFL game was fair to the owners of that player/squad in fantasy football. Two examples from this season are Peyton Manning being sat in week 16 (championship week for most fantasy leagues) and Maurice Jones-Drew's intentional knee at the one yard line to burn clock time instead of running in the score. I can remember debate on ESPN about both of these decision's impacts on fantasy football, and MJD even went so far as to apologize to his fantasy owners. This is where is really crosses the line in my book. There are plenty of reasons to be mad about Manning being benched (trust me, I sure am), and I can even understand the logic of wanted MJD to never let up on a run, but to be bad because it kept fantasy points off the board? As Chad Ochocinco would say, "Child, please!"

With all this being said, I'm sure I would enjoy playing fantasy football if I ever gave it a shot. If you're one of the people who runs a fantasy squad and keeps your sports priorities straight, nice work. I'm sure fantasy football is only going to get bigger, and eventually I'll come to at least comprehend how it could supercede rooting for a real football team, but for now, the "dedicated" guilty of the above mentioned complaints are giving me at least one reason to be glad the regular season is over.

My Favorite Albums of 2009

2009 had some great albums released in its 365 days. I was originally planning on doing a countdown, but with all the differences amongst the bands, I'm not sure it's appropriate to do so. I also don't want to label this a "best of" list, because although I do listen to a ton of music, I haven't heard nearly enough of the stuff that came out to have a definitive answer as to the best. I'm sure there were some bands that flew below my radar that put out killer music.

I was planning on writing up why I liked each album, but that seemed kind of pointless. Each album had great songs, no filler, and kicked my ass at some point in 2009.

If you like these albums, support these artists by buying their music or better yet by seeing them live.


-Mastodon, Crack The Skye












"Oblivion"
"The Czar"

-Baroness, Blue Record

"A Horse Called Golgotha"
"The Sweetest Curse"

-The Devin Townsend Project, Addicted

"Bend It Like Bender!"
"Hyperdrive!"
"In-Ah!"

-Alice In Chains, Black Gives Way To Blue

"Check My Brain"
"Your Decision"

-Megadeth, Endgame

"Endgame"
"Bite The Hand"

-Scale The Summit, Carving Desert Canyons

"The Great Plains"
"City in the Sky"

-Isis, Wavering Radiant

"20 Minutes/40 Years"
"Hall of the Dead"

Albums That Blew My Mind: "Master of Puppets" by Metallica

If you've known me for any length of time in the last thirteen to fourteen years, you know that music has played and continues to play a major role in my life. From time to time I plan to go into more detail on certain albums that played a big part in the development of my musical taste and styling. Most of the albums I'll be going over are well known. The point of this is to explain how I came to love the record, as well as its specific impact on me, not a song by song breakdown or a review of the album.

There is no album more deserving to begin with than Metallica's 1986 masterpiece, Master of Puppets.

I was first exposed to this monster in the spring of 1997, when I was in seventh grade. Metallica was not an alien band to me at the time; I had been listening to Chicago's main rock station, 103.5 for a few years, and was familiar with the stuff from the self titled album (it was the first CD I ever bought) as well as the singles from Load ("Ain't My Bitch," "Until It Sleeps"). One of my friends told me that if I liked those songs, I should check out Metallica's older stuff. He lent me his copy of Puppets, and I headed home to check it out. At this point, I was just happy to have another disc to put in my new CD boom box. I wasn't really sure what to expect, especially with the cover art's ominous look.

What I got was a sledgehammer to the eardrums. I had NEVER heard anything like it. As soon as the distorted guitars kicked in at the 38 second mark of "Battery" I was hooked. It was the fastest, loudest, meanest music I had ever experienced.

Every song on the album is killer. There is literally no filler to be found. The songs are complex, yet still accessible. Metallica goes from heavy as all hell (tell me you don't want to just break stuff when you hear the title track or "Leper Messiah") to soft (relatively speaking) and reflective in the middle section of "Orion." James' monster right hand and rhythm technique are on display throughout. Kirk's solos blaze. Lars sounds possessed on the drums, and it's astounding to know that Cliff didn't use a pick for any of the bass lines. It's 55 minutes of metal perfection. There's a reason why this album is listed either at or near the top of almost every list of best metal records ever made. It has become popular in the last decade or so to bash Metallica (many times fairly), but anyone who denies the power of Master of Puppets is simply hating on Metallica. I honestly believe it is impossible to like heavy music and not enjoy this record.

So, what did Puppets do for me?

For starters, it was my proper introduction to heavy metal. Everything about it just seemed so dangerous. There was the album cover, with its crosses, puppet strings, and the army helmet, which just looked so damn threatening. It sure looked different than the other albums I had seen. There were the songs about drugs, violence, war, death, and other things that were much more adult than what was popular at the time. The picture in the back of the booklet showed Cliff Burton (bass) flipping the bird, and the rest of the band looked just as pissed off. I was (and am) an extremely shy person, and this image appealed to me. I didn't know much about this metal stuff, but I sure wanted to learn more.

It also got me interested in guitar. After seeing some other pictures of the "old" James Hetfield on the Internet (remember, by '97 Hetfield had short hair and was well dressed, which took some of the edge off) with his Gibson Explorer strapped super low, I thought there was nothing cooler. For being as shy and quiet as I was (and am), something about having the ability to create an ungodly amount of noise sounded pretty nice. Although it would take a few years to convince my parents to buy me another instrument after my failures at viola and oboe, the seeds were planted with Puppets. An Explorer shaped guitar is still on my guitar "to buy" list, mainly because of James. I still think James is untouchable from a cool standpoint from the mid '80s to the early '90s.

This album will probably always occupy the #1 in personally important albums. It's the only record I literally say changed my life.

Some songs to check out:

"Master of Puppets" live in 1986

"Orion" live in 2006 (starts at 1:40)

"Battery" live in 1989


Rest in peace, Cliff. Bang the head that does not bang.

So, What's the Point?

I figure explaining why I'm starting a blog in 2010 is as good of a way to begin my writing as any. There are several reasons why I've decided to start putting my thoughts and opinions to this page:

1. I admit there is a certain level of narcissism involved. If I didn't think my opinions were at least worth reading and thinking about, I wouldn't bother sharing them.

2. To a certain extent, I'm doing this as a type of mental time capsule. I want to look back a few months from now and see what I was thinking.

3. Everything that I write about will hopefully be open for debate. If you disagree, let me know on here or in person.

4. I enjoy writing, and don't really get the chance to do it much these days.

5. I'm a geek. It's how I roll.

This isn't going to be a LiveJournal styled diary. I plan on focusing mainly on my interests of music, sports, movies, and the like. From time to time I'll give my take on a political issue, but I'm not looking to go super heavy here. Like I said, if you read something you like, let me know. If you read something you don't like, let me know.

With that said, here.... we..... go.