Music DVD Review - Metal Machine Music: Nine Inch Nails And The Industrial Uprising.

Originally posted on the NEWLY revamped website of Blogcritics Magazine on 5/1/09

Industrial music has been underground for most of its three decades of existence. And the artists who inhabit it would love for it to stay that way. But sometimes a musical genre contains a break out artist who can simultaneously reinvent, revitalize and reel in hundreds of thousands of new fans into it. For industrial music, that artist was Trent Reznor and his Nine Inch Nails.

The important history of industrial rock before Nine Inch Nails, the artists who influenced Nine Inch Nails, along with a verbal biography of NIN’s leader Trent Reznor is the main focus of this long but extraordinary DVD entitled: Metal Machine Music: Nine Inch Nails And The Industrial Uprising.

It features numerous rare live clips of premier industrial artists including Einsturzende Neubauten, Ministry, Throbbing Gristle, Skinny Puppy, NIN and pre-NIN Trent Reznor as well as extensive interviews about their impact on industrial music with NIN biographer Tommy Udo, ex-NIN member Richard Patrick (1989-1993), ex-NIN drummer Chris Vrenna (1989-1997), Genesis P-Orridge of Throbbing Gristle, and journalists from Metal Edge and Revolver magazine, among others.

In the DVD, you learn from Throbbing Gristle’s P-Orridge that a depressed economy in England, construction outside its surroundings and a desire to create a type of original music that incorporated disturbing art was what inspired his group’s sound and performance in the mid-‘70s, the same period punk rock came into being. In fact, true to punk rock/DIY form, TG made it a point to play without a drummer, which was an unoriginal instrument to P-Orridge and instead used special effects and homemade tape-based samplers to create much of its sound, which the group called “industrial” via its own label (Industrial Records).

TG’s self-created sound proved inspirational to later industrial acts and its label, along with Mute Records, finally gave a home to similar experimental industrial acts (Fad Gadget, Cabaret Voltaire, Einsturzende Neubauten), according to the narrator. A black-and-white photo of the latter group in the DVD standing in front of machinery further illustrates its true industrial creations.

One of the key expert points on the formation of industrial music in this DVD comes from Ned Raggett of Metal Edge, who states that not only can it not be defined as a particular set of sounds, but that it has roots in everything from disco and avant garde (i.e. Fad Gadget), and jazz to Kraftwerk and other early electronic experimentalists.

After going through the history of early Industrial Records and Mute Records acts and the more aggressive, bludgeoning music of early ‘80s industrial acts that followed, including Skinny Puppy and Ministry/Revolting Cocks, you realize the purpose of this narration was to explain how most of these aforementioned groups had a profound influence on the early Nine Inch Nails sound, on its debut record Pretty Hate Machine in particular. After all, as Richard Patrick (Filter, ex-NIN) recounts, Reznor once told him during a Revolting Cocks concert that its (and Ministry’s) lead singer Al Jourgensen was his “f-ing idol.” Interestingly, music experts in the DVD say David Bowie is also considered an influence on Reznor. The fact that the two toured together in 1995 and recorded together in 1997 provides further evidence this is not a far-fetched claim in the least.

Speaking of 1995, by this time period NIN went from being a theater-touring big name to an arena-level power player in rock and roll, thanks not only to the rough and raunchy Downward Spiral hits “March of the Pigs” and “Closer” but to an unforgettable, mud-and-rain-soaked show at Woodstock 1994 in front of 300,000 fans in New York, according to Vrenna. This is when industrial rock started to go mainstream (for a short period of time). NIN’s success helped open the doors for other industrial metal acts including Marilyn Manson, Stabbing Westward and Richard Patrick’s post-NIN band Filter, though they are only briefly mentioned here. Perhaps more about those bands’ impact on industrial music could’ve been explored on this DVD.

The rest of this film explores the importance, meaning and circumstances regarding later Trent Reznor/NIN albums, including what critics, including those at Metal Edge consider the most “revolutionary” release in any kind of music, the Ghosts I-IV album. With Reznor’s decision to self-release it in many forms, some limited (and sold-out), others more inexpensive, it was a successful album that netted more than $1 million, even if it was also the quietest, least abrasive release of his career. Even if the critics on the DVD don’t think Reznor’s recent output is his best, they all praise his creative marketing skills and ponder the influence it will have on the music industry in general.

Another highlight, and an unexpected one at that occurs when Chris Vrenna, looking into the camera, nearly gets emotional talking about Johnny Cash’s stunning cover of the drugs-and-pain-themed NIN hit “Hurt,” recorded in 2002. Cash knew he didn’t have long to live at the time, and Vrenna knew that as well. But that Grammy-winning cover not only “one-upped” Trent’s original version according to him but actually brought the musician to tears knowing Cash’s condition. At this point you wish Reznor himself would make an appearance and comment about this cover, but such is not the case since the DVD is technically not “authorized” by him.

In all, the Metal Machine Music DVD is essential for Nine Inch Nails fans, not just for all the rare live and backstage footage of a young and current Trent Reznor but for the insight into his music by authoritative sources. Moreover, it was made for those NIN fans who may have missed out on or underappreciated the industrial pioneers who came before and inspired Reznor. The DVD may be over 2 hours long, but viewing it in its entirety is time well spent and serves as both an introductory education class in industrial music and credible biography of Nine Inch Nails, the most successful industrial act of all time.

Music Review: Megadeth - That One Night: Live In Buenos Aires

Note: First published on Blogcritics 9-06-07

If you're in a great band, if you've built up a loyal fan base AND have had some degree of success over the years, there's a good chance that you will put out a live record some day. And if your band has sold over 70 million records worldwide in a span of 20 years, as Dave Mustaine's band Megadeth has, the time has finally come for that definitive live album.

Hardcore Megadeth fans know the band has released a couple live compilations and a fan club-only unplugged album in the past, but That One Night is their first official single show release. It captures a rejuvenated Dave Mustaine and his mates arguably at their absolute peak here, in terms of both performance and energy.

Recorded October 9, 2005 at Obras Stadium in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the concert features more than 100 minutes of non-stop, career-spanning (through 2004's The System Has Failed CD) thrash and speed metal over two discs. The DVD release of this show came out this past spring. It was recently certified Gold, and was as highly regarded as this newly released audio version should and likely will be.

But listening to either of the two CDs, listeners can easily use their imaginations to picture the electricity inside Obras Stadium that October night. The 25,000-strong fans in attendance really brought out the best in Megadeth.

Though Megadeth has gone through many lineup changes over the years, the group that Mustaine put together for the 2005 tour was the most fiery and fiercest in recent memory. It featured the Drover brothers - Shawn on drums and Glen on guitar - and James MacDonough (Iced Earth) on bass. The lone original member and main songwriter Dave Mustaine has likely never sounded better and kicked out more consistent, skull-crushing metal jams and gems than on this night. However, some may be left begging for more, as this 21-song set (like its DVD companion) is allegedly missing some tracks that were played that night, including "Sweating Bullets." Nonetheless, any worries of getting ripped off or not getting your money's worth will go away within minutes of pressing play on your CD player.

From show opener "Blackmail The Universe" to live staples like "Skin Of My Teeth" - both on disc one - and "Peace Sells" (disc two), the band showcases their influential brand of thrash and speed metal to the delight of the masses. The audience not only knows the lyrics to Megadeth's most beloved songs — they sing the opening chords of classics like "Symphony of Destruction" and an extended version of "Trust" — they also make their own vocals where there are none in order to sing along to the guitar riffs and solos on tracks such as "She Wolf."

Dave Mustaine even sings parts of songs like "Trust" in Spanish and allows the audience to sing an extra chorus. Taken together, it may not be the greatest heavy metal concert of all time, but it should certainly be high on anybody's list, as it is the most interactive and truly inspired metal concert put to tape in recent memory (at least according to these ears).

Dave Mustaine has a special bond with the Argentinian people that goes back several years. In the CD jacket, he recounts how fans there rode in taxis driving 100 mph just to hand him gifts in the van he was riding in; others who knew where the band spent their time in the country spelled out M-E-G-A-D-E-T-H "in the rocks of the [Sheraton] hotel landscaping."

But perhaps the most moving of all Mustaine's recollections is when he tells of the first time Megadeth ever played in Buenos Aires. Outside the gates of the show, he met a very sick young boy who suffered from a rare and fatal accelerated aging condition. The boy let Mustaine know how much he loved him and his music and Mustaine let him know the affection was mutual.

So if you had any doubts as to how powerful heavy music can be and what it can mean to people around the world, especially Megadeth's, those doubts should be gone by now. This band played their hearts out for those tens of thousands of fans and recorded a nearly flawless set that Megadeth fans all over the globe will enjoy for years to come.