Thoughts on Trent Reznor?

Don't care for Manson, but love Reznor to bits even outside his NIN work. He's industrial first and foremost but can easily slip into ambient and electro on occasion; Social Network (being my favourite Fincher collaboration of his) is a prime example. When I think Reznor I think NIN, no apologies, so I'd say my favourite record of theirs would be "The Slip" with "Discipline" being my favourite track...

Haven’t listened to a ton of Manson, but Reznor is one of my all-time favorite music artists. His understanding of how to manipulate timbre and texture is unparalleled, and he really knows how to exploit those parameters to their fullest expressive effect in his film scores. He’s also surprisingly versatile too – the way he can go from aggressive and abrasive to strangely warm and haunting soundscapes in the same album (or even in the same song), shifting from an industrial sound to almost an EDM style at times, and it’s still crazy that he and Ross composed the scores for both Soul AND Mank in the same year, two soundtracks that couldn’t be more different. Love him... and the fact that he’s a two-time Oscar winner.

Do you label him Metal or Rock?
Industrial

Which David Fincher project of his you find most effective?
Love them all, but I’d say The Social Network is his most accomplished score. That thing just pulses with energy, bubbling dread and restlessness mixed with sad pathos. “Hand Covers Bruise” is a classic track, and a masterful bit of minimalistic lyricism. The score overall is also very subtle in the way it cues shifts in the power dynamic between characters (among other pivotal narrative turns) with recurring melodic/bass patterns - not exactly leitmotivic scoring, though it’s similar while doing its own thing entirely. Best score of the decade.

Favorite album / performance / songs / anything
The Downward Spiral is his masterpiece. “Closer” is probably my favorite song, but shout-out to “All the Love in the World,” “The Hand That Feeds,” “Right Where It Belongs,” “The Great Destroyer,” “The Wretched".....

Do you label him Metal or Rock?
yeah I'll say industrial too. Covers more ground.

Do you prefer him to Marilyn Manson or not really?
yeah definitely. Loved Manson in my edgy teen years but don't get anything from him anymore. His last several albums are barely listenable. Reznor has always been a cut above and that was *before* he started composing some killer film scores.

Which David Fincher project of his you find most effective?
probably Dragon Tattoo but I haven't heard a bad Reznor & Ross score yet.

Favorite album / performance / songs / anything ...
With Teeth was probably my favorite NIN album and highlight was "Right Where it Belongs" with that haunting piano melody. Of course "Closer" is iconic and I also always enjoyed "Just Like You Imagined" in spite of (or maybe because of? lol) those 300 trailers.

Like his hero (I guess?) - David Bowie - he's more fascinating to talk about than he is to really listen to very deeply .......Like Bowie, he is a singular figure in his decade of prominence - and built on a great contradiction of his own.......he rose to prominence in the ugliest decade so far in Pop music - "ugly" in subject matter that regularly hit the charts I mean .......and yet he himself is capable of and produced music of almost breathtaking beauty that is not ugly at all ........while making some of the most abrasive (and off-puttingly dour) music too.

In his own genre (Industrial) he codefied sounds as disparate as Skinny Puppy, Ministry, Big Black that never would not have been thought possible to actually hit the top 10 .....and he did it with regularity on challenging albums.....

Like Bowie, I don't think of him as an album artist much as I do a "his hits, in small doses" act - but I like his hits ......I also like Filter's Hey Man Nice Shot which normies think is him anyway .......he's the subject of one of the great putdown quotes in Rock history from his ex-something or other:

Not gonna lie, I was side-thinking of you when watching Moonage Daydream. Like "had pacinoyes been here he would've shouted OH FFS ALREADY!"  (I know you like him enough  )

But the more time passes and the more stories of him I hear, I recognize just how smart Bowie was, other than being so creative and talented... he pops up everywhere. His collab w. Queen ok they were from the same time and the place and they were a bigger act (?) I get that... but to recognize Brian Eno's work at that time and make some records with him... or his surprise appearance at that Morrissey concert... or helping Trent out with his addiction as the video above suggests... and tons of acts he involved himself in that I don't know yet. The man must've really known his audience to predict the type of music they would love from next generation... took all of his chances and opportunities and in 2023 I guess he's more beloved than ever... he's almost like Noah Cross. gambling on the future.