The Final Rip: N

Here is where I talk a little about various artists whose music I own. (S/T means self-titled.)

Since MTV was a big part of my early music experience, I tried to find videos of one song for each band just for fun. Apologies in advance for some of the more lurid examples, I mostly picked them based on the song, not on the video content!

Other segments: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Complete(ish) Collections

Nine Inch Nails (1989 Pretty Hate Machine, 1990 Head Like a Hole, 1990 Sin, 1992 Broken, 1992 Fixed, 1994 Closer to God, 1994 March of the Pigs, 1994 The Downward Spiral, 1995 Further Down the Spiral, 1996 Quake, 1996 “The Perfect Drug” Versions, 1999 The Day the World Went Away, 1999 The Fragile, 2000 Things Falling Apart, 2005 With Teeth, 2006 Every Day Is Exactly the Same, 2007 Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D, 2007 Year Zero, 2008 Ghosts I-IV, 2008 The Slip, 2013 Hesitation Marks) — Right around the time I went to college and had just been inducted into the industrial scene, Nine Inch Nails appeared and for a long while was my go-to industrial band. I spent many hours listening to Pretty Hate Machine and the super-extended Head Like a Hole single on my headphones while I worked my library shelving job. My personal NiN experience probably peaked with Broken/Fixed and The Downward Spiral, but I still very much enjoy their music and appreciate the soundtrack work they’ve been involved with recently.

Nine Inch Nails - March Of The Pigs (Unclean Live)

Nitzer Ebb (1983 Basic Pain Procedure, 1987 That Total Age, 1989 Belief, 1990 Showtime, 1991 As Is, 1991 Ebbhead, 1991 I Give to You, 2009 Industrial Complex) — Out of all the industrial bands I got into during my late high school/early college time, I probably have the most affinity for Nitzer Ebb. This was twitch music stripped down to its barest essentials: drum track, synth bass line, screaming vocals. Yes, it was repetitive and simple, but out on the dance floor, you didn’t care. As with many industrial bands, they gradually tried to expand the complexity of their sound, but for these guys in particular I think it didn’t work (which is why I’m missing their last 1990s album Big Hit from my collection). I was pleased to see they released a 21st century revival album that was closer in spirit to their earlier stuff.

Nitzer Ebb - Murderous

Partial Collections

Negativland (1987 Escape From Noise) — Another band I was into more in my college days, gave up on, and then regretted it and began reacquiring albums. A fascinating mish-mash of pseudo-industrial music with extensive samples and ennui, this album is a pretty relevant microcosm of the late 80’s.

Negativland - "Time Zones"

New Order (1987 Substance 1987, 1989 Technique, 1993 Republic, 2001 Get Ready, 2005 Waiting for the Sirens’ Call, 2013 Lost Sirens, 2015 Music Complete) — Interestingly, my introduction to techno/pop in my late high school years did not include any New Order at all. Instead it was one of my college dorm-mates playing Technique which caught my attention. At the time I was in love with any kind of synth-based music with an edge, and some of the tracks on that album really hit home. I really enjoy Substance, their remixed collection of music prior to Technique, but have to put them in the “partial” collection because I don’t actually own the first 3 albums.

New Order - Fine Time [OFFICIAL MUSIC VIDEO]

Nirvana (1991 Nevermind, 1993 In Utero) — Picked up Nevermind while I was still in my techno/industrial phase and for some reason it served as my first step away from that focus. While I feel they are a bit overrated compared to their peers, I can’t deny the impact and appeal of what they produced during their short career.

Youssou N’Dour (2000 Joko: From Village to Town) — Pretty sure we picked this up after his collaborations with Peter Gabriel.

Greatest Hits

Gary Numan (2002 Exposure: The Best of Gary Numan 1977-2002) — Of course, I mostly knew of Gary Numan through his early 80s hit “Cars,” but I had never delved into his catalogue much until I found this greatest hits album. From the outset it is clear what a huge influence he was on industrial bands like Nine Inch Nails. But what is even more interesting is to realize how it all snakes back on itself and how his later stuff is quite influenced in return by later NiN and other bands. Overall, it all holds together remarkably well, and I kind of wish I’d discovered him much earlier in my music exploration.

Dominion Day - Gary Numan

The Final Rip: M

Here is where I talk a little about various artists whose music I own. (S/T means self-titled.)

Since MTV was a big part of my early music experience, I tried to find videos of one song for each band just for fun. Apologies in advance for some of the more lurid examples, I mostly picked them based on the song, not on the video content!

Other segments: A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Complete(ish) Collections

Machines of Loving Grace (1991 S/T, 1991 Rite of Shiva, 1993 Concentration, 1995 Gilt) — These guys were on the edge of industrial but had a really unique sound and fascinating lyrics, which made me sad when they gave it up after just 3 albums. But I’ll take three brilliant albums.

Machines of Loving Grace -- Limiter

Marilyn Manson (1994 Portrait of an American Family, 1995 Smells Like Children, 1996 Antichrist Superstar, 1998 Mechanical Animals, 2000 Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death), 2003 The Golden Age of Grotesque, 2007 Eat Me, Drink Me, 2009 The High End of Low, 2012 Born Villain, 2015 The Pale Emperor) — Marilyn Manson came to the fore in the wake of Nine Inch Nails and made their controversial mark early on with the seminal Antichrist Superstar album. But it was the amazing follow up Mechanical Animals that revealed their true potential, eschewing some of the (anti-)religious imagery in favor of a more trippy glam rock sound. It’s too bad that they didn’t stay the course in this regard, but unlike many other industrial bands, it seems they manage to tweak their formula every few albums just enough to keep me interested.

Marilyn Manson - Coma White

MC Solaar (1991 Qui sème le vent récolte le tempo, 1994 Prose Combat, 1997 Paradisiaque, 1998 S/T, 2001 Cinquième As, 2003 Mach 6) — This entry is all due to my wife, since I can’t understand a word of quickly rapped French!

Mc solaar Caroline

Metallica (1984 Ride the Lightning, 1986 Master of Puppets, 1988 …And Justice for All, 1991 S/T, 1996 Load, 1997 Reload, 1999 S&M, 2003 St. Anger, 2008 Death Magnetic, 2016 Hardwired… to Self-Destruct) — As a dude who got into these guys with the “black album” I am not ashamed to admit that I embrace all of it, the early epic stuff, the more focused “sell-out” stuff, even the noisy St. Anger, and the newer stuff.

Metallica - Until It Sleeps [Official Music Video]

Mono Puff (1996 Unsupervised, 1998 It’s Fun to Steal) — The Flansburgh half of They Might Be Giants off on his own doing some fun crazy stuff.

Mono Puff - Extra Krispy

Muse (1999 Showbiz, 2001 Origin of Symmetry, 2003 Absolution, 2006 Black Holes and Revelations, 2009 The Resistance, 2012 The 2nd Law, 2015 Drones) — Totally fell in love with these guys around the Absolution timeframe. Hearkening back to a time of concept albums and big stadium rock, I appreciate their “go big or go home” attitude, even when it doesn’t always hang together. Plus that Matt Bellamy can really sing!

Muse - Uprising [Official Video]

Partial Collections

Madonna (1990 The Immaculate Collection, 1998 Ray of Light, 2000 Music) — Gotta have some Madonna, especially the 80s stuff. Though her foray into a more electronica-influenced sound won me over to picking up a couple of her late 90s releases.

Madonna - Into The Groove (Official Music Video)

Massive Attack (1994 Protection, 1998 Mezzanine, 2003 100th Window) — Moody, electronic, and just generally pretty awesome.

Massive Attack - Teardrop

John Mayer (2001 Room for Squares) — Can’t really remember why this ended up in the collection. It’s all right, I suppose.

John Mayer - No Such Thing

Sarah McLachlan (1997 Surfacing) — All over Bay Area alternative radio in the mid-90s, we ended up acquiring this album but that was enough I guess!

Sarah McLachlan - Building A Mystery

Don McLean (1971 American Pie) — Another entry I’ll attribute to my wife, who has a much greater appreciation of Don McLean than I do.

American Pie - Don McLean - Full Length 1989 Video from Original 1971/72 Song

Meat Beat Manifesto (1990 Psyche-Out) — Never really got into these guys, who were often lumped into the “industrial” category in my industrial listening era. But I did pick up this CD single from the 99% album and found it worth a spin now and again.

Meat Beat Manifesto - Psyche Out

Men at Work (1981 Business As Usual, 1983 Cargo) — Two perfect albums from these guys. Never even tried the third one; maybe I was afraid they’d break the streak (from what I hear, they did). For all their pop hits they were really quite moody and deep, which is of course why I loved them.

Men At Work - It's a Mistake

MGMT (2007 Oracular Spectacular) — These guys had a sudden onrush of popularity and I picked this up. Didn’t get into it as much as I had hoped.

Ministry (1986 Twitch, 1987 Twelve Inch Singles: 1981-1984, 1988 The Land of Rape and Honey, 1989 The Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Taste, 1991 Jesus Built My Hotrod, 1992 Psalm 69: The Way to Succeed and the Way to Suck Eggs) — When I was first introduced to industrial music, I received a mix tape with songs from Twitch and The Land of Rape and Honey on it, and to me at that time Ministry really defined the sound that I wanted out of an industrial band. Of course, nobody else is really like Ministry. I was originally of the opinion that Twitch was the greater of the two, but over time I’ve come to appreciate the raw fury and vision of its followup. Sadly, once Paul Barker left/was kicked out, solo Al Jourgensen just kept churning out carbon copies of the same music and I gave up. But Ministry will always be hugely influential in my industrial upbringing.

Ministry - Stigmata (Video Version)

Moby (1996 Animal Rights, 1999 Play, 2000 Mobysongs (1993-1998), 2002 18, 2005 Hotel, 2008 Last Night, 2009 Wait for Me, 2011 Destroyed, 2013 Innocents) — Moby popped onto my radar with the release of Play and the incessant use of his moody, electronic music in “The X-Files” and many other TV shows/movies of the time. Unlike many others I didn’t grow totally sick of it and have really enjoyed most everything he’s released since then.

Moby 'Honey' - Official video

Modest Mouse (2004 Good News for People Who Love Bad News) — This album really put these guys on the map, and of course being from my current hometown, they were all over local radio. Still a pretty good album and a unique sound, just never pursued them.

Modest Mouse - Ocean Breathes Salty

My Life With the Thrill Kill Kult (1988 I See Good Spirits and I See Bad Spirits, 1989 Kooler Than Jesus, 1990 Confessions of a Knife…) — TKK’s first few albums had an amazing dark sound to them, but afterwards they traded their pseudo cult shtick for more sex-oriented topics and I lost interest. The first album in particular made for a pretty ominous listen and kind of made you wonder if they were really serious. Unfortunately my copy of Confessions of Knife was damaged, so I bought a fresh copy and found they had swapped out the original “Do You Fear (The Inferno Express?)” for some lesser remixes. Boo!

Thrill Kill Kult - 'Do You Fear For Your Child?'

Greatest Hits

John Mellencamp (1997 The Best That I Could Do 1978-1988) — Always kind of been a fan of John Cougar, or John Cougar Mellencamp. His videos were quite popular on MTV in the early days, and he had kind of a midwestern vibe that I guess worked for me.

John Mellencamp - Rain On The Scarecrow