Chris DeLine

Whereas one must turn off their phone, email and instant messenger services in addition to making sure their pet and/or child has been fed and appropriately sedated before even considering making it through Ghosts I-IV in a single sitting, Trent Reznor artistically departs from that vision with The Slip. In doing so however its ten tracks are scattered, often confronting one another with such distinct sounds; considering it an album to be listened to from start to end quickly becomes a distant thought. In pieces The Slip is phenomenal, touching on Year Zero with its “Survivalism” Jr. “1,000,000″ it also wields tracks such as the introductory “999,999″ and “Corona Radiata;” both clearly Ghosts-castaways. With the approach taken however, Reznor allows for unique nuances to not only see release, but become prominent. “Letting You” sounds like a personal response to the agro-industrialism of the Spawn soundtrack and the albums lead non-single “Discipline” flaunts what may (or may not be) vocal slips during the first verse. The Slip is a solid release, its pieces far stronger than the album as a whole, however releasing such a collection may possibly indicate that Reznor may eventually go one step further in his journey to slight the recording industry and forget about releasing songs in the form of an album altogether. Or maybe it is just scattered, either way it’s worth the price of admission.

[This post was first published by Culture Bully.]