Trent Reznor

My CD player has an alarm clock in it where you can program a CD to wake you up in the morning. A few years ago, I picked a random album and started going one forward and one backward from there (all of my CDs are in alphabetical order), each day being a different CD. Right now I've just hit midway through the N section - Nine Inch Nails. Remember when it was cool to like Nine Inch Nails? Remember when it was not cool to like Nine Inch Nails? Trent Reznor is the rare artist that has managed to still be able to appeal to an indie audience, despite the fact that his band has been a stadium act for over a decade. The stadium status though merely pertains to his popularity. What is odd about him is that he is an artist whose music has remained so self serious, yet he has still managed to thrive in a music environment that has a tremendous undercurrent of humor and irony. For the first half of the 2000's, it became decreasingly cool to like Nine Inch Nails. The Fragile received very mixed reviews and was not the comeback that Reznor had hoped for. While he faded from the public eye, his legacy became tarnished by the music press which had written him off as a 90's has been. Even when he returned finally in 2005 with With Teeth, many were still resistant to accept the man. Interestingly enough, what saved his image was his infamous Twitter account. Somehow through his postings on the internet, both new and old audiences came to hear his voice again and came to know, much to everyone's surprise, a sense of humor. Because of his ability to poke fun and show his human side, his albums become progressively more accepted. Year Zero and The Slip were widely well received, and the tours that ensued followed suit. I'm personally happy for the man as I've always believed in him, and thoroughly enjoyed The Fragile. Even though he cancelled his Twitter account this previous summer, I really hope he does not fade from view as it is most enthralling to live in a world where it is finally cool to like Trent Reznor again.