Saturated In Sound 02.06.06
Posted by Jared McGuckin on 02.06.2006
This week, I tear down your idol, Trent Reznor, and expose him as the fake that he is!
Hello faithful readers, I'm Jared McGuckin and you have once again stumbled upon my little corner of 411mania, Saturated In Sound. I don't really have much in terms an introduction this week. Things have been relatively calm around here, aside from my realization earlier in the week, that I fucking hate people who whistle. It's stupid and I find it extremely aggravating. I hate it when people whistle when they're walking down the street, when they're in public bathrooms, when they're in elevators, while they wait for elevators, and when they are walking past my apartment door at 3am, thus waking me up and turning me into a zombie the next morning. People who whistle, especially those people who do it constantly, are now going to be written off as an asshole in my opinion. So, until I get to know people who whistle personally, I will consider whistlers be assholes. And that, as they say, is that. Now, I think that was a nice angry little intro to this weeks topic at hand. But first….
People Actually Read My Column, I Swear…Look at All the Mail
This first letter comes from someone who didn't sign their name….what surprise.
Trent Reznor is full of shit? Your full of shit!
It's not your, it's you're as in "you are". Do you guys see what I put up with?
Trent is God, you're the one whos full of shit. hes a true musical talent.to bad you cant realize that you asshole.
Rob
Trent is God? A "true musical talent"? I'll let you off the hook because, based on your (see, now you can use "your") email, I have the sneaking suspicion that you're (see how that works) a little retarded.
How can you say Trent Reznor is full of shit? You are so wrong, he's one of the few real musicians around today. But I do agree with you about Bono. Kick ass columns dude, keep it up.
Keith
Thanks Keith. I can say that because I have a column and I'll say whatever the hell I want to, that's how. And since you have been reading my stuff, you should know by now, I'm always right about everything.
Kevin dropped us line this week and he said
"Let's face it, if musicians were given recording contracts based purely on
their musical talent there would be a lot of dead air on the radio and a
pretty thin choice of CD's at Best Buy or FYE (Don't even get me started on
that place)."
No, get started on that place. I'd love to hear your thoughts on FYE. I'm
curious. What could you possibly have to say about it? For you to (and make
these quotes in the air with your fingers) "get started" on that place would
be... for MY entertainment. Ha ha ha, oh dear. What a laugh.
but anyway, fuck you. Trent is the fucking man. How can you say there's no
one more fulla shit outside of Bono in the same column you mention Marilyn
Manson? Granted, Manson is actually a smart guy, which makes him that much
more of a dick, but still. If you're gonna file rank on the fulla shit
totem pole, Courtney fucking Love is right under Bono, if not at the very
top.
You've been building up this hate towards Trent but you refuse to spill it
out. Why? Cuz you have to admit he's really better than you say he is? Well
let me tell you something: you want email? Write a column bashing Trent
Reznor. You'll get all the email you'll ever need.
I emailed him back with this reply:
Rest assured a giant tirade on CD stores is in the works, possibly in two weeks, I'm still organizing some ideas for that. Every few weeks I have a column that has a few weeks worth of notes, outline and whole thing, but other times when I just go to the computer and shoot straight from the hip, that's when I get bombarded with mail.
Now as far as Manson goes, what exactly makes him full of shit? Is the whole image thing? Or his music? Well, I think both are full of shit but I tend to cut him a lot of slack because of one thing. He knows he's full of it, and he says it. He has said he does the things he does and says the things he says for attention and shock value. He doesn't
take himself too seriously and in fact i think he has purposefully become a parody of himself. Anyone who can go out and call the their gimmick just" shock value" and openly says I don't really walk around like this all time (meaning the makeup and clothes) and still sells out arenas and have the rabid fans that he does (or did rather) has credit
in my book. He is a media attention whore, and everyone knows it, I don't think the majority of people take him seriously, Christ the man said he wanted to be exactly like Alice Cooper, and look at Alice Cooper! And you're right, he is very smart.
And his emailed reply to my emailed reply:
How come in your little rebuttal you didn't mention Courtney Love? Eh?
Come on now, NOBODY is more fulla shit than her.
Exhibit a: she cries about Kurt's death, when she probably killed him.
Exhibit b: she's been "clean" for the past 12 years.
Exhibit c: she pretends to be a fit parent.
Exhibit d: she pretends to be part of Nirvana by controlling all unreleased
stuff.
Exhibit e: of the 3 Hole albums, the only 2 that sold well was one written
by Kurt, and the other written by Billy Corgan. The one she wrote sucked.
And she takes all the credit for Live Thru This and Celebrity Skin anyway.
Exhibit f: she stage dives and feels justified to punch a guy for grabbing
her.
Exhibit g: the only reason why she's a celebrity is because her husband died
and she takes her tits out a lot.
And finally, I submit to you exhibit H. The end-all-be-all proof that
Courtney Love is the most full of shit person on the planet:
exhibit h: she pretends she's not a cunt.
There's more of course, but I feel this evidence is substantial enough to
convict. Don't dare put Trent in the same category. He's an ego-maniac who
hates himself, which doesn't make sense. BUT, he's the most talented
musician in the past 30 years, at least. Bar none. The man demands respect,
and he deserves it. Trent is fucking amazing.
If you want to call him fulla shit, I cant stop you. But at least respect
him. That's how I feel about Derek Jeter. Now THERE'S another guy who
belongs on top of the fulla shit list.
And my reply to his reply:
I'm going to have to go ahead and...disagree with you there...
If you will indulge me for a while, I have constructed a timeline chronicling Hole and Courtney Love as seen through the public eye. keep in mind I didn't do any research for this (except for the release date on the CD) so my dates might be a little screwy but music and its history is one of the few things I know a fucking shitload about. You have the world of wrestling covered my friend there is no debating that, but you have trust me when it comes to music.
1990 - Hole releases "Pretty On The inside" and has minimal mainstream success but they get noticed a little in the underground grunge scene. The CD was less then stellar but then again it was a first release and the production was raw. The sound was angry and she probably didn't have enough cash for good H at the time.
1992 - She gets married to Kurt and gets pregnant and gets investigated by child services when she states that she used drugs while pregnant and whatnot.
April 8, 1994, - Kurt's dead, Love probably did it. She cries with the rest of the flannel wearing world calling her recently deceased husband an asshole, Christ the body wasn't even cold yet and she insults him.
April 14, 1994 - Hole's "Live Through This" is released. The CD is not postponed and that's not her fault. Whether she wanted to hold off on it, I'm not sure, but at that time, she did not have the power to tell the Geffen Records what to do. In fact, from a business standpoint the release could not have come at a better time. Regardless, the CD gains a tremendous amount of airplay on radio and MTV.
1994-1995 - Love basks in the glory of her newly received fame, sells-out tours around the world, interviews and the whole rock star thing. All the while she's doped up and makes a fool of herself regularly at award shows and TV appearances as well as interviews. On stage she mocks her dead husband's suicide but when someone threw shotgun shells at her during a performance she flips and storms off stage, presumably to do more heroin anyway, she slowly becomes more of a joke and the welfare for her daughter is called into question. She defends herself against allegations of bad parenting, Kurt's murder, Kurt's writing "Live Through This," as well as jumping from bed to bed with various movie and rock stars.
1995 - Stars in People Vs. Larry Flint and received critical acclaim. She appears to have cleaned herself up, grown up and gets all glamed out. She starts to get some respect.
1998 - Hole releases "Celebrity Skin," a big departure from the previous two CD's and allegations of Billy Corgan writing everything for this one spring up. By and large it goes unnoticed as Hole is no longer relevant and the CD sucks. People have written her and her band off at this point. A tour with Marilyn Manson quickly puts her into place and the downward spiral starts to begin...again.
1999-2003 - A few run ins with the law and lawsuits regarding the Nirvana catalog. She is up to her old tricks again and is sloppy in public, and it is apparent she's on the H again except this time she denies it.
2004 - Love releases a solo CD written by the chick/dude from 4 Non Blondes. It sucks and no one notices it come out despite her public antics.
The rest of the years are sent releasing Nirvana back catalog and trying to pass it off as something worth a damn, as well publishing Kurt's journals for all to see. Although I have flipped through it a number of times, it sucks and looks like it's written in code. Obviously a cash in.
Anyway, her saving graces are few but they are there.
You said: exhibit a: she cries about Kurt's death, when she probably killed him.
I say: She probably did. But she has not publicly mentioned Kurt's death in close to 10 years publicly. I think she has in her interview contracts that they cannot ask about it. Which if you ask me, defeats the whole purpose of talking to her. But as far as using that as a point of "full of shit", I give you half the points for that. Only because, she dealt with it years ago, regardless of how, and today she never mentions it, therefore to be truly full of shit on this case, would be to consistently remind people of Kurt and use that as a catalyst for her music. I mean it could still work, but she doesn't do that.
You said: exhibit b: she's been "clean" for the past 12 years.
I say: She claimed to be clean for a small portion of the 12 years. The rest she made no secret of her drug use. Look no further then interviews in the past 7-8 years.
You say: exhibit c: She pretends to be a fit parent.
I say: Your right, she has always maintained that she was a good mother despite Kurt's Mom suing her for custody of the kid because she was a bad mother.
You say: exhibit d: She pretends to be part of Nirvana by controlling all unreleased
stuff.
I say: Your right in the fact that she pretends to be part of Nirvana. But she has never claimed any responsibility for their success. She's merely the executor of Kurt's estate and legally she had control of the music, which wasn't really a big loss, I mean come on, who gives a fuck about half finished songs and alternate takes of b sides y' know. It's wrong that she has control and she's a cunt for doing what she has, but, that's doesn't make her full of shit.
You say: exhibit e: Of the 3 Hole albums, the only 2 that sold well one was written by Kurt, and the other written by Billy Corgan. The one she wrote sucked. And she takes all the credit for Live Thru This and Celebrity Skin anyway.
I say: See the time line. By claiming solo responsibility for the writing she is full of shit, I agree.
You say: exhibit f: she stage dives and feels justified to punch a guy for grabbing
her.
I say: You're half right. When she stage dove in those little baby doll dress things with no underwear she was surprised people touched her no-no spot. But, just because she put herself out there does not give guys the right to feel her up. If you were stage diving and some dudes started to yank your crank or try to fit a fist in your ass, would you feel justified in punching the shit out of someone? I think so, I know I would. But then again when you do shit like that, unfortunately you have to expect stuff like that is going to happen. So you're half right.
You say: exhibit g: the only reason why she's a celebrity is because her husband died and she takes her tits out a lot.
I say: I agree, but that doesn't make her full of shit
You say: exhibit h: she pretends she's not a cunt.
I say: I have no rebuttal for this one. You're right.
So based on that I don't think she is as full of shit as you think. She has her flaws but by and large, you really don't have to put up with her too much. She's barely a blurb nowadays and it's real easy to ignore a blurb. She is a joke to the music world as well as the fans. In order to be full of shit, people have to care about what you say and the things that you do. And my friend, nobody gives a flying fuck about her anymore. She is trivia question in the making. Now don't take my rebuttal as a defense for her, far from it. She is a cunt, as you so eloquently put it, and I find her to be extremely annoying, Although I still think "Live Through This" rocks.
As far your thoughts on Trent go....
You are entitled to your opinion and I'm not going to say its wrong, but I don't agree with it.
Just a few things about Trent to respond to your statements....
He most certainly is not the most talented musician in the last 30 years. That statement is crazy. In my eyes, he has not done anything to "demand" respect from me, and as far as deserving it...meh. I respect him for a different reason and I'll get into that next week.
Well, that was a full mailbag huh? I want to point out two things before we start (can you believe it, we haven't even started yet).
1. I received 11 emails this week, all of them telling me I was wrong about Reznor and most of them telling me to go fuck myself in the process. I'm not going to print them all because they're all mindless drivel. But not one gave me reasons to back them up. I wonder why?
2. Not one person responded in regards to the actual column topic of "gimmick bands". So that leaves me with no other choice but to go ahead and unleash the fury. Keep in mind, I didn't want to do this (yet), but you people called me out. May God have mercy on your souls.
Watch as the mighty Trent Reznor falls on his ass
Every now and again someone comes along that captures the ears, the minds and hearts of the world. In terms of people who actually make a difference in the world, we can look no further then Martin Luther King jr. or Mahatma Gandhi. In respect to the world of music, easily, bands such as The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, and Nirvana have achieved God-like status among their fans across the world. In the realm of hip-hop and rap (will someone please tell me the difference), you have your Tupac and Biggie. But every now and again, between the potential "gods", the mediocre, and the unmistakably terrible, someone will rise above and take a seat among music royalty, some rightfully so, others…well, others not so much. I'm usually pretty good at ignoring the musical mistakes people make when deciding on this elite group of people. However, there is one person who had his star continue to rise no matter what he does. Everything he touches turns to gold, and he can do no wrong. People practically worship the ground he walks on and much like Eminem, he has you all fooled. Why am I beating around the bush? By now you know that the man in the hot seat here at Saturated In Sound is none other than your idol, Trent Fucking Reznor. Take a bow Trent, you egotistical prick.
Over the past few weeks, I've been taking little jabs a Trent here and there. Last week, I stated the fact that Trent Reznor is full of shit, and a lot you got a pissed about that. Well, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that you have chosen this sorry lump of crap to be your musical messiah. You have all either been duped or you're just too blind/stupid to see the man for what he is…a fake and a no talent hack. Now I know going into this fight I'm the underdog, I know you NIN fans out there already have your black industrial panties in a bunch and I haven't even said anything yet. So without further ado, I'm going to back up my statements, unlike the whole lot of you who wrote me.
Where to start, where to start…ah, I know.
First off, calling NIN industrial is like calling Sum 41 punk. Sure, NIN's music has some industrial elements to it but its more electronic pop then anything else. If you want to listen to real industrial music take a listen to bands like Velvet Acid Christ, Leather Strip, or Wumpscut. That's real industrial. The stuff Trent writes, oh I'm sorry, composes (gimmie a break, will ya please) sounds like a damn Disney movie soundtrack compared to that stuff.
I admit, I'm not a big NIN fan, and not because of the sub-mediocre music that Trent farts out every few years. Admitingly, there a few songs here and there that I do enjoy, I will not lie to you guys. But on the whole, I think it kinda sucks. I can deal with bad music and I can deal with millions of people loving bad music. But what really irks me, is when an undeserving, full of shit, wannabe Goth gets the royal fucking treatment for nothing. So, what exactly makes him full of shit?
Reznor is often credited with writing great lyrics, when his songs HAVE lyrics that is, but what's so great about them? All of his songs are about either drugs, girls/people who have fucked him over, or his distain for himself/society/religion as a whole. Within these 3 categories, Reznor uses the same words and the same type of language in all of them. He uses the same graphic imagery in all of his songs. Am I the only one who sees he uses the same damn formula and words in every song? And this asshole has the audacity to take a few years off between records. Why? Because he's not feeling creative? Too much H? Give me a god damn break. His constant whining and screaming about despair and loneness and all the other cliché bullshit is no different then anyone else. Listen to his lyrics, it takes a few years to write that? I am not impressed. I cannot and will not sit there and continue to listen to this guy complain about the same nonsense every time (kinda like how most of you must feel when reading my column every week…). His acceptance of people calling him a lyrical genius is strike one against him.
Upon his return into the musical fray, with his latest release With Teeth, Reznor did a few pretentious interviews talking about his addictions, and his loneliness and despair during his time off. Sounds familiar, like his songs perhaps? Anyway, in these interviews with MTV, Rolling Stone, and other music culture atrocities, you know, the corporate representation of the rape of music and culture, the very corporate machine Reznor speaks against, yeah those media outlets; and Reznor had said he "took the time to get comfortable in his own skin." Rest assured everybody, Trent's ok with himself now, he's sober and feeling very creative. We can all sleep soundly. Now, think about that quote and listen to "With Teeth" and tell me what's so different from the other records he put out. Nothing. He's still bitching and "singing" about the same old thing. Either his songs are full of shit, or that interview is full of shit, but something doesn't smell right. Strike two, Trent.
The third strike against him has everything to do with the image he presents to the world. I fully believe that Trent Reznor and his image are a front. But fortunately for us, he has recently changed his image ever so slightly. When it NIN really hit it big in the mainstream with Downward Spiral he had his 90's despair look. All black clothes, sometimes ripped and torn fishnets on his arms, dyed jet black hair, tortured look in his eyes and no smile…ever. He was usually looking something like this:
Look at him…isn't that cute, he's shy.
He looks like a 15 year old kid who hates his parents and gets bullied in school. Coincidentally, his target audience. C'mon does anyone really believe he woke up in the morning put all that bullshit on and made some breakfast and went about his day? I hope not, but that the image he tries to put there. And the funny thing is that there were and still are a bunch of misguided little kids running around trying to look up to this character. Look at the picture, look at the pain, and look at the suffering. Woe is him.
Now, at the release of The Fragile, he grew up a little bit and took off those comical looking arm stockings.
However, he's sporting the out of work French poet look. He's still keeping with the all black thing and still looking depressed. But by this time, the damage is done and the little Goth boys and girls continue to dress like this zero and buy into his bullshit.
And six years later…we have this suave motherfucker right here:
Look at the smile…look at that sports jacket. Ok fine I'm let off the hook with this one, I think this was taken while he was leaving a courtroom. But look at this one right here:
Just look at that emo pose. Does anyone else think this might be his myspace picture?
The point I'm trying to make here is that he knows where his bread is buttered. And his image is his money maker. That sad looking mug gets more girls then you could ever dream of. That continued teen angst, even though he's 40 fucking years old now, pays the bills like no ones business. He can look sad all he wants, he can sing about the same old crap but the fact remains, he is an idol to a whole helluva lot people out there. And by stringing these people, maybe even you, along with his self loathing bullshit layered electronic music, makes him 100% full of shit. Any artistic integrity he had left with the release of Broken, is long gone. Now we have a man in his 40's who plays to the angry teen crowd because that's what makes him money. These kids seek solace in the generic and uninspired lyrics he screams and whispers on his CD's, and he takes advantage of that by writing lyrics that are no doubt, written strictly for the purpose of cashing in on these moron kids. And that Trent Reznor, is strike three.
No…no…there's still so much to say. I'm not ready to stop, I still have his ego to rip into, his relationships with other musicians, there's still so much. But alas, my time is up and I have other things to do besides point out the obviousness of the amount of shit that fills up Trent Reznor. I could go on for days, want more proof about Trent, throw me an email, but I'm not going to waste anymore time on this no-talent in my column.
Take Me Off The Shelf
Johnny Cash - American IV: The Man Comes Around
You wanna talk about someone who is 110% real, this is your man right here. This CD is one of my favorites, maybe even in the top ten for me. When you hear the way he sings the way he does on the record, like every word might be his last, there is no doubt this man feels what he says. Cash's cover of Hurt not only surpasses the original in quality but in raw emotion. Reznor may have written that song, but Cash give it meaning, he gave it soul. I don't think there is a record I would give a higher recommendation to.
If I'm pimping these guys, does that mean they're my ho's?
Check out the 411 Music Roundtablefor February. I'm not in there, but I will be next month.
Rhett got some response to his rant on Nirvana. Fear not Rhett, I think I'm going to get mine this week.
My hard working editor Brandon has a new column called "Bands That Need Fans". He's got a great idea there, so check it out.
Stephen got Part 2 of his column up, check that out too.
Any Last Words?
Holy hell, that was a bit long huh? Well, I have a feeling I'm going to be defending myself quite a bit this week, but you know what? Bring it on, you Trent Reznor loving bastards! I would love to hear from all of you. Got an opinion? Drop me a line.
