PUREST FEELING
Before there was Down In It, before there was Pretty Hate Machine, there was Trent Reznor scrubbing toilets at the Right Track studio in Cleveland, Ohio. Well, he got to play around with the studio equipment while he was there, and he started making some stuff at night while no one else was there. Well, apparently, someone else got ahold of it, and it got around to bootleggers, who then took the original DAT tapes and made CDs out of them (much to Trent's dismay). These tracks were early layouts for songs to later be released under TVT records as the album, Pretty Hate Machine. Well, most of them, that is.
1. Intro*
2. Sanctified
3. Maybe Just Once*
4. The Only Time
5. Kinda I Want To
6. That's What I Get
7. Purest Feeling
8. Twist**
9. Down In It
* Never released
** Twist's lyrics were later altered, then released as "Ringfinger" on Pretty Hate Machine
This whole "album" has a very 80s feel to it. It contains very raw, early versions of songs found on Pretty Hate Machine. This CD is very crisp and clear, as it seems to be right off the DAT it was originally recorded on. Trent sounds like he had a cold around the time he recorded the vox, and he doesn't sound like he had been practicing either. There is a lot of hihat work noticable throughout the composition. Intro is an instrumental introduction leading right into the next track, Sanctified. Sanctified sounds only slightly similar to that found on Pretty Hate Machine, with a lot more playing on the guitar. It's got the same bassline, the drum beat is different (it's a bass-snare thang) and the Midnight Express sample is replaced by some other sample in the middle of the song. It ends, blending into the happy little tune, Maybe Just Once. Happy, with a hint of wishfulness in there, it's a very synth-poppy song, with upbeat singing and other charechteristics not usually associated with Nine Inch Nails. The Only Time is pretty much the same, except the vox fade in and out in a cool spacey effect. "I think Kinda I Want To is Trent's contribution to anime."-Christopher Graziul. Talk about unbearable, this has the same lyrics, but takes techno pop to the extreme in cheeziness. That's what I get has a much more significant drum beat, then goes into Purest Feeling. I can see why this wasn't released. This tops the whole album off. Very odd work for NIN. Twist, however, I like. I prefer the version on Demos & Remixes better, but this one's still cool. Very similar to Ringfinger, and good listenin' once you get past the harsh "twist twist twist" in the refrain. Down In It just sounds funny :) Trent sounds kinda pissed, and it is similar to the Demo mix found on the US Halo 3.
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