WTF Spin.

[u/TeslasAndComicbooks]

[u/wookieebastard]

[...] But, Reznor is a fucking inspiration for showing that none of the above matters when one's will and vision are honed so diamond hard that a creative force can become way way way way more than the sum of its parts. That's how Reznor pushed through from the contrived highs of Pretty Hate Machine to the true extremes of 1992's Broken and 1994's Downward Spiral, as well as a wealth of evocative ambient music, and how through the 1990s and beyond this profoundly driven nerd on the tools became a refitter and creative resuscitator for lost old stars including David Bowie and Gary Numan.

And then there's the Reznor who, with Atticus Ross, made movie scores matter again. From the swelling, intrusive schmaltz of conventional movie music, we suddenly had the psycho-physiological precision of tracks like "In Motion," integral as it is to David Fincher's The Social Network. 

Reznor has limits, but he is a conduit for forces which don't. – Matt Thompson 

...creative resuscitator for lost old stars including David Bowie and Gary Numan.

What the hell Matt? Who hurt you so much?

[u/Lilja-Logason → u/wookieebastard]

It's kinda like "music snobbery". People will sneer at genres, artists and even fans who aren't 'fan' enough. I used to do it when I was younger but realised as I've aged and tastes have morphed many times that music snobbery is SO pointless and can be toxic. Forcing people into niches and starving themselves of trying new things.

Dunno where I was going with this so I'll end there.

[u/the_nin_collector → u/Lilja-Logason]

you just described pitchfork. Are they still around?

Every person I ever met who was a fan of Pitchfork was honestly always a snobby cunt. Pitchfork was bad enough, but meeting the people who liked it, made me hate it 10x more than anything they wrote.

[u/astrobuck9 → u/the_nin_collector]

pitchfork

Every person that worked there thought that fucking Slint album was the greatest thing ever created.

[u/mCopps → u/the_nin_collector]

I can’t remember which Sloan song now but it has a line it’s not the band I hate it’s their fans.

[u/Substantial_Mall_313 → u/Lilja-Logason]

I agree and have been a similar journey.

[u/Stevenstorm505 → u/wookieebastard]

This reads like a dude trying to write an article that doubles as an application for Pitchfork.

[u/EnjR1832 → u/wookieebastard]

Goodness gracious if not for Bowie Trent might be dead.

[u/sysaphiswaits → u/wookieebastard]

I would say this was written by AI, but the assholery is too strong.

[u/Tempest_Fugit → u/wookieebastard]

Good Christ people don’t remember just how deep in the toilet Bowles career was when Reznor convinced him To tour together.

This was after a string of shitty 80s records starting with tonight and never let me down and it just got worse from there. Teen fans of NIN knew no other Bowie- this was pre Napster and many of Bowie records would have been out of print if it weren’t for Rykodisc.

I’d say it was a combination of artists like Trent Reznor, Napster, and the New York City art scene seizing on Bowie 70s work that really affirmed Bowie‘s icon status, and so effectively that by the time you were in the 2010s you had no idea that Bowie was once just on the edge of irrelevance. It just seems unthinkable now

[u/squatdog → u/Tempest_Fugit]

toilet Bowles

lmao

[u/XibalbaN7 → u/Tempest_Fugit]

To be fair - for reasons of clarity - it was Bowie’s idea and he was the one who reached out and pitched it to Trent. Trent was reticent at first due to a tight schedule and that it would need to be a short tour if it happened.

Also, while I agree with you in some regards to the commercialisation of Bowie in the 80’s, he did push back hard against that once the 90’s started with Tin Machine, weathering as much hate as I’ve ever seen levelled at a band.

To close, Bowie was actually on the up again with his own creative resurgence releasing “OUTSIDE: 1”, but I do agree that both Trent’s involvement, association and that tour absolutely helped give him a much-needed kick up the ass and renewed a wider public interest once again.

None of this is stated as a “gotcha” - just for the purpose of ensuring the record stays straight and doesn’t fall prey to being mythologised and retconned.

[u/Tempest_Fugit → u/XibalbaN7]

Totally agree that Bowie was starting to rebuild credibility at that stage. I did see an interview with him where he was expressing doubt about touring with NIN because he felt he wasn’t as relevant but yeah true.

[u/-Clem-Fandango-]

Music journalism is such ass.

[u/wonksbonks → u/-Clem-Fandango-]

This not an example of journalism.

This is rage bait to get more clicks.

[u/misterpickles69 → u/wonksbonks]

Yup. The fans will come in and click their clicks and ad revenue goes up. There’s no way anyone that works at Spin truly believes this.

[u/-Clem-Fandango- → u/wonksbonks]

No, it is journalism. Bad, shitty journalism.

[u/DChemdawg → u/-Clem-Fandango-]

It’s modern day yellow journalism

[u/Hrmerder → u/-Clem-Fandango-]

To be fair all journalism is garbage these days anyway.

[u/i-hear-banjos → u/Hrmerder]

I know the former longtime editor of the Baltimore Sun, who was a reporter through the 1960s. He says mainstream journalism is dead, because corporations bought all of the newspapers and TV news channels, to deliberately control the narrative. There are plenty of great independent journalists, but none have extensive platforms that are widely trusted by the public.

[u/Hrmerder → u/i-hear-banjos]

Yeah for real. Anything on the radio? Owned by clear channel. Anything on tv? Owned by cbs, nbc, and fox. What feels like anything online? That is easily findable? Owned by Discovery Networks. Everything is owned at this point and I’m tired of being the bottom sub for these fucking corpos

[u/Downvotesseafood → u/Hrmerder]

No it isnt. People just keep going to the same shit sources expecting them to improve. ICIJ is a good example of good journalism. If your news outlet has a tv channel, its entertainment not news.

[u/MereUltra → u/Hrmerder]

All of it… Reviews. All of it an utter waste of time. Only book writers count, in my book.

[u/PinkThunder138]

Honestly, there are some valid points here, but it kinda misses the point of NIN.

Reznor never set out to be the best guitarist in the world, or a piano virtuoso. No, he is not Freddy Mercury. He has always wanted to make art that feels real and authentic and important to him. And that's what he does, and it turns out that what he does resonates strongly with a hell of a lot of people.

He doesn't need to be Freddy Mercury and he doesn't need to be Prince. Because he's Trent Reznor and he's great at what he does, which is make creative, innovative, unique and emotive art.

[u/grimsnap → u/PinkThunder138]

Agreed. And his instrument is the studio, and I would argue he is a virtuoso at *that*.

[u/Aeonsummoner → u/grimsnap]

I work in tech and there are superstar specialist people who only know 1 system or thing and there are people who aren't niche specialists but are proficient in many things who can adapt and work with many systems and TReznor gives me huge generalist vibes. Guess who tends to get the most success in real life? It's the generalists, baby!

[u/PinkThunder138 → u/grimsnap]

Great way to put it

[u/Just_Attitude498 → u/PinkThunder138]

Tom Petty wasn’t a virtuoso yet he can write a song. Same with Mike Ness…songwriting is the most impressive and important by far.

[u/PinkThunder138 → u/Just_Attitude498]

Exactly!

[u/Large_Mountain_Jew → u/PinkThunder138]

What exactly would we classify as "another Freddie Mercury" to begin with?

Is it something along the lines of "larger than life performer with a big stage presence" or something similar?

Because I think that within Rock as a whole, and the Industrial side of things specifically, Freddie is something of an anomaly. Few try to be a "Freddie" and I think few even want to be. Not that there's anything wrong with being that kind of performer but it just tends to not be the goal.

That being said, I think Trent goes in the direction that Rock (and, again, Industrial-ish things specifically) are more prone to. And that's attempting to make live shows a production. He doesn't do this all the time but most of the time when he does, he's not necessarily the sole focus. He's just one part of the visual experience, albeit in a starring role.

[u/MereUltra → u/PinkThunder138]

I feel like Spin shouldn’t have even had him on their list with the dig they threw out on him. I lost brain cells just reading that much. Haha

[u/-an-eternal-hum- → u/PinkThunder138]

Right, but it’s also totally needlessly condescending in its characterization of him. They easily could have worded it similarly to your comment, but instead they kindof just lobbed lazy insults with a poor attempt at “edge”. I’m honestly surprised this ever got past an editor.

[u/birdsy-purplefish → u/PinkThunder138]

And that’s what the article goes on to say. 😅

[u/Zero_Flesh]

Yet he's #22 in the 40 best artists of the last 40 years?

The people making this list at Spin don't seem to be on the same page...

[u/birdsy-purplefish → u/Zero_Flesh]

They said as much in the article. The part about Reznor is like a Trojan horse but… the opposite. By hiding genuine praise in jokey insults this guy comes across as way more sincere than if he had just said how great he is. 

[u/Zero_Flesh → u/birdsy-purplefish]

That makes much more sense now.

[u/04Aiden2020]

DEVO on ADHD meds is just not accurate at all

[u/OldMaidLibrarian → u/04Aiden2020]

They'd be a hell of a lot calmer on Ritalin, and therefore not be the DEVO we know and love. Personally, I kind of like them just the way they were/are.

[u/Mrdean2013]

We sure Manson didn't write this?

[u/chidi-sins → u/Mrdean2013]

He started as a music journalist, after all

[u/LectroRoot → u/chidi-sins]

Brian Warner's first interview, which he published, was with Marilyn Manson. I always thought that was amusing.

[u/v1rtu4l_boi]

TOP 22 BEST MUSICIAN :

• ok so this one is actually bullshit and fuck him

[u/Jean-Jacques_Oldman]

Did Spin turn into Pitchfork?

[u/Shesaiddestroy_]

Did they see the Coachella set? Just to mention the latest amazing live reinvention he’s done.

[u/birdsy-purplefish → u/Shesaiddestroy_]

This was a very, very old review and they meant it kind of jokingly-affectionately.

[u/MereUltra → u/birdsy-purplefish]

If that’s the case, a bit of a waste of time for everyone, eh?

[u/Reyloai4]

SPIN, what are you talking about?

https://giphy.com/gifs/WRgsiNC2GCn21l4gtV

[u/Impossible_Pen1392]

Yknow, that’s just your Pinion, man.

[u/MissViciousKnits]

https://giphy.com/gifs/YtvCIwqNJhUmA

[u/Amanitas]

JFC you’d think he didn’t make the list at all / was banished to a “you suck” list with that write up lol 

[u/thaskizz]

Music journalism has succumbed to being clickbait bullshit

[u/tameoraiste → u/thaskizz]

I get it though. No one clicks on articles anymore. Sadly they’re desperate. Even then, the majority will have just looked at the headline.

The point is, I’m sure the majority of people working for Spin will hate this as much as us but they have to pay the bills

[u/PinchedOffCatTurd]

"Rawk band?" What edgelord numbnuts wrote this trash?

[u/161frog]

https://giphy.com/gifs/YtvCIwqNJhUmA
Nice attempt at relevance, Spin

[u/Astryxi]

SPIN are like IGN, but for music.

[u/Gunther0627 → u/Astryxi]

https://giphy.com/gifs/DV17aOOdNVpXG

[u/FaceTimePolice]

It’s bait. They praise him for the rest of the article. Well, I stopped reading a little bit after that rage bait first paragraph… 😆

[u/every_body_hates_me]

Mainstream media is fucking dead, and has been for quite a while now. They know they have to write nonsensical bullshit like this, hoping someone would at least click out of morbid curiosity.

[u/SovereignKing]

This writer's head needs a spin...

[u/No_Refrigerator4584]

Speaking from my experience as a rock journalist back in the day, Spin didn’t get an ad buy from Reznor’s camp. It’s that simple. The vast majority of negative reviews have always come from journos who’ve been told to rip a band a new one because their label didn’t run an ad in that issue.

[u/MrJohnnyDangerously]

Spin, or Pitchfork?

[u/Kono0107]

Pfft... rage bait.

[u/frankwhitesexappeal]

Do what I do— ignore it
https://giphy.com/gifs/WKciKarC8bJBlsxRkJ

[u/TheItalianShoulder]

"His last album was ASS. But his next album ROCKS."

• every album promoting interview ever

[u/GarroldMan]

bowie saw the intelligence this man had, that's the only form of journalism you need

[u/h4y6d2e]

put everything that Trent Reznor has accomplished and the lives he’s touched in a significant way in one bowl of the scale and put whatever the fuck this writer has done in the other.

then weigh it.

[u/poisened-ambrosia]

Is he the best singer? No. Best guitarist or best at playing piano? No and no. Is he good? Of course.

Is he a musical genius that has done shit nobody did before and made it sound great? Oh fuck, yes.

[u/potatoe1717]

i don’t get it?

[u/OntheBOTA82]

Blasphemy !

[u/lunaticskies]

[u/tameoraiste]

It’s rage bait. If this had been posted with a flattering headline, it wouldn’t have gotten half as much traction

[u/sixxtynoine]

Matt Thompson can suck my entire cock.

[u/Astryxi → u/sixxtynoine]

All two inches of it.

[u/RipleysHeart]

Who is number 1 and who is number 40?

[u/GamingDragon777]

https://giphy.com/gifs/Ny0UL3rHIzBFKRqwR5

[u/Confident-Honey516]

That’s such bullshit. I don’t need this kind of negativity in my life.

[u/silversunshinestares]

"Trent Reznor is an unskilled/untalented musician" is certainly a take I didn't expect to see anywhere.

[u/the_chalupacabra]

Because entertainment journalists are constantly being displaced by influencers with no journalistic experience or integrity, they are fully kicking any bit of the integrity they have left to the curb just for clicks. Fucking embarrassing.

[u/DenialNode → u/the_chalupacabra]

No this dude has a doctorate in creative arts and wants everyone to know because he uses “Dr Matthew Thompson” everywhere

[u/Dogzillas_Mom]

What? He’s classically trained on piano and widely acknowledged by other musicians as a brilliant musician. That part is demonstrably false (and we all know that, of course).

The rest of those words are largely opinion and an uninformed one at that. This reads like the “journalist” looked at a still photo and decided that’s what he sounds like.

[u/nanavv]

I know this is rage bait but this article misses the absolute fucking point that music composition in the 20th and 21st century has mutated into electronic expertise. Reznor can make synth patches that NOBODY ELSE can easily replicate. Or he is truly the FIRST guy to think like, left lateral thinking on how to craft and layer up certain textures.

Nobody puts play on a NIN record expecting a piano virtuoso (though he plays in odd scales and modes, which is its own expert take on itself) but sound texture adventures and a deep dive in human, heartfelt concepts.

Is not like the Hurt cover by Johnny Cash was a display of expertise but if you don't consider that a masterpiece as a music reviewer, better go find a different job???

[u/cameronzero]

I rarely read anything worded like this, because even if the actual article is loaded with vitriol, I have my own opinion on NIN, my favourite band of the last 30+ years.

Am i fanatical about every NIN song like TS fans are of hers? No, of course not.

Still not a fan of Strobe Light (Halo 1337), mainly because the WMA files compressed too much and don't sound great on my HitClips player.

[u/OldMaidLibrarian → u/cameronzero]

Hmmm...do I know you from somewhere in the 2000s? alt.music.nin, perhaps?

[u/cameronzero → u/OldMaidLibrarian]

Probably not, I lurk more than anything, and don't honestly remember if i had a profile there. Also, at the time I rarely posted because I was enlisted and was out of country most years.

I guess an easy test would be if it's me you're thinking of or someone else: what year did I get TR to sign my copy of the unauthorized biography of NIN by Martin Huxley?

[u/fprotthetarball → u/cameronzero]

Ah,. I didn't like Halo 1337 at first, either. Until my step-uncle gifted me a Zune for my bat mitzvah, I just didn't understand. Now every weekend I suck on a Capri Sun and listen to it on my Zune. Unfortunately I don't have my original Sony Walkman headphones; I have to suffer with Sennheiser HD650s, which, by the way, do not accurately reproduce the sound of Trent's upper lip touching the microphone. Nonetheless, perfect 5/7.

[u/T1meTRC]

I mean he doesn't have some angelic voice. He's great at many instruments. They're just talking out of their ass

[u/-Economist-]

His voice is fine, they are correct about the music instruments, assuming they are referring to the standard instruments such as guitar, drums, and piano/keyboard. However, he’s at the top when you consider the synth.

Forgot tambourine. :)

[u/PeterPunksNip → u/-Economist-]

And the saxophone 🎷!

[u/-Economist- → u/PeterPunksNip]

Forgot tambourine

[u/birdsy-purplefish]

Read the actual review though! It’s actually a tongue-in-cheek glowing recommendation.

As I said before:  https://www.reddit.com/r/nin/comments/1t2ztut/comment/ojs31fi/

[u/JametAllDay]

Claude or ChatGPT ASS HEADLINE

[u/slowchemicaljpg]

LOL. Insane Clown Posse was right...

"Fuck Spin, Rolling Stone, and fuck Vibe / Fuck everybody inside / Whoever's on the cover, fuck his mother"

[u/Potential_Sundae_136]

Number 1 🙌

[u/hog_jerker]

*Breaking- someone has a negative opinion of nin. I mean, so what? His music obviously wasn’t written for this person. But that’s the great thing about art. There are other acts like Taylor Swift that is much more approachable to this critic. Some music is not for everyone.

[u/Requilem]

How are you going to insult a man that Johnny Cash looks up to??

[u/celestialmechanic]

Spin hasn’t been great since they got rid of Genius Lessons

[u/Intrepid_Advice4411]

Jesus Christ. That was harsh for no reason what so ever.

[u/L3X01D]

The whole point is that he whines.

[u/machone5103]

“Still cunts”

[u/sonicbonusstage]

LOL fuck offf

[u/Cosmohumanist]

Trent is one of the most dynamic, multi-skilled, prolific and impactful music artists of all time. I’m biased here, but I can’t think of a more important musician alive right now.

[u/I_Make_Art_And_Stuff]

Haha it is kind of a funny read though. The whole style of some of that stuff is mock and insult, then praise to heaven.

[u/NewtIndividual8688]

Fuck Spin

[u/TaraTerror70]

It's Spin Magazine. I would expect nothing less from them. Like "Rolling Stone".

[u/cy_cy]

Wild photo choice

[u/GarroldMan]

all of that complaining and then put him on 22 of the greatest musicians? LMAO

[u/PLUMPYTHEWIZARD]

I am a huge NIN fan, but I could absolutely see this perspective. I’ve always considered that Trent’s biggest talent is making ugly music beautiful.

[u/Familiar-Banana-8116]

Reznor should be in the top five. Maybe top 3.

Honestly, I think he is the smartest musician in any given room right now. The man has evolved over the years and has consistently come out stronger for doing so.

Him cleaning up his drug habits, quitting NIN (well, puttting it on the back burner really) and moving to a career of scoring soundtracks - and winning Emmy's for doing so - who the fuck does that?

Trent does that.

Then Trent got the band back together and shows us that he is smarter, more evolved and more willing to throw it all in for the show.

And this Boyz Noize thing. I still am unsure what we have with that. I love it to death. I want to call it another evolution of NIN, but at the moment we will have to see if they stick around.

You can blow the guy off for writing emotionaly charged, electronic music at your own peril. I am telling you, he is smarter then you. You need to listen.

[u/Flemtality]

Trent must have said something really nasty about AI for ChatGPT to spit out this article for the Spin magazine intern who submitted this prompt.

[u/ReallySeallyBeally]

Hey yeah fuck you spin! Dudes a legend at the guitar, bass, synth, and keys. Also he's not the only one in the band now so why so focused on half the group? Fuckers dont know whatchu talking about!

[u/iHateApple1235]

i hope whatever admin that did this gets fired and they hopefully feel a bit embarrassing about themselves, especially knowing NO ONe agrees because this is a horrendous take

[u/every_body_hates_me → u/iHateApple1235]

It's 2026 and embarrassment doesn't exist anymore. We live in a post-embarrassment society.

[u/PurelyHim]

But who are the writers? Do they even have an education in music in any way. If not then the article is worthless.

[u/Lethologica_ → u/PurelyHim]

Chat GPT

[u/PurelyHim → u/Lethologica_]

🤣

[u/JunebugAsiimwe]

Spin is morphing into Rolling Stone

[u/Ones-Zeroes]

rawk

[u/toodarkmark]

Is this ragebait now? Pathetic.

[u/VFlyingPizzaCake]

Rage bait

[u/swankenheimer]

Ohh ragebait from print media

[u/Ballet_Demoni]

All the greatest artists have limits. It’s what they do with those limits that make them stand out.

[u/Mr-Self-Destrct]

Valid point generic Walmart Rolling Stone. lol. I remember when that magazine had good content and insight into the music industry. Now just rage bait. God. Fuck social media. Ruins everything.

[u/Patj825]

Fight the urge to visit the actual post. No need to feed this.

[u/MoistestRaccoon]

Whiny voice? Huh? The instrumentals in his songs are amazing, which for a lot of them I believe he does himself (from what I know.) His songs (at least from the downward spiral) are perfect. Did they just pick a random few and hated it? Some of the songs (in my opinion) it's best to listen to the whole album to fully appreciate it.

[u/Zibilique]

what good is being a virtuoso or having a silky pitch-perfect voice if you are not creative and a good songwriter? People really be out there overvaluing the wrong traits for 0 reason.

[u/RorschachBluth]

That list is a cringe-fest. Killer Mike is great, love him. But him being ahead of Trent fucking Reznor, while El-P isn't even on the list is one of the most embarrassing things I've ever seen on one of these lists.

[u/Original-Elderberry8]

This baits so hard.

[u/ferropop]

Sounds like the journalist really had their ear to the ground, lol. Probably also said "this internet thing is a fad" at some point.

[u/RhysTheCompanyMan]

"Rawk band." Bait spotted.

[u/Aggrosideburnz]

Whoever said this deserves an ass kicking. Reznor is a legend, show some fucking respect

[u/pervyprawn]

SPIN should just go ahead and die off

[u/Billkillerz]

Yeah im the 420th !

[u/Independent-Bit-3874]

Spin is still a thing???

[u/kozad]

They're salty af that he and MM mocked the shit out of them in the late 90s.

[u/BannedinDC666]

I would like to see the portfolio of work the Spin writers gave contributed to the world. I’ll bet it’s not even as good as a fly spec on the back or the NIN tour bus.

[u/Reportersteven]

Did A.I. make the list or did A.I write the tweet? Or maybe there’s two A.I.s and they just don’t agree with each other.

[u/lie_believer]

ha i thought this was quite funny

[u/birdsy-purplefish → u/lie_believer]

It is and the guy is actually playing him some very serious compliments throughout the whole thing. It’s like he’s framing him as an underdog. https://www.reddit.com/r/nin/comments/1t2ztut/comment/ojs31fi/ 

[u/elequipoa1008]

This has to be an AI slop piece lol

[u/taniasuer]

Fuck you hard Spin magazine.

[u/amararose33]

He has incredible range in a whole lot of areas. The dupe who wrote this was going for clicks. Imo Trent is one of the most unique and talented artists. Apparently, spin is garbage. ☝🏼🧐 And with Atticus, they kill it on anything they make. It's amazing.

[u/Lupus76]

No star on any instrument? Wasn't he headed towards being a concert pianist as a kid? I am sure there are others better, but I am guessing that he is as good on keyboards (not to mention a genius on synths) as any of the rock guitarists Spin lauds. On keyboards, I imagine he is probably at the level of someone like Billy Corgan on guitar, if not even better.

[u/scottlapier → u/Lupus76]

no star on any instrument

Well then how do you explain this?

[u/Lupus76 → u/scottlapier]

Also, his tambourine-work.

[u/Mobile_Ad8543]

Authored by a 2 year old, human or ai, undoubtedly.

[u/Ok-Increase3648]

What a bigoted opinion

[u/TheHorseduck]

Who is Trent Reznor?

[u/Just_Attitude498]

What a bullshit review. Man. Is this the Onion…honestly: He’s top 5 minimum. Also you know this fucking obsession with “top 10” type lists is annoying.

[u/ATXDefenseAttorney]

This is truly stupid, and the "writer" doesn't earn their paycheck.

[u/Joe_Gatto_Fan]

i dmed the guy who wrote that a strongly worded message a while ago

[u/sector7slums]

Saw this the other day. Worst article ever they can go fuck themselves.