Sneak Peak At Nine Inch Nails: Self Destruct
When music scribe Martin Huxley -- which is a pseudonym -- told us
that his Nine Inch Nails book for St. Martin's Press is "a pretty
straight- forward account of Trent's history, the good and the bad,"
he wasn't kidding. And that's not necessarily bad. For those NIN fans
who want a chronological account of most every major move that
Reznor has made in his career, then this well- written book will serve
as a good reference guide and a quick read. However, for those
looking for a bit more than what has already been printed in Rolling
Stone, Spin, and Details, which the author relies heavily on, well,
then...
St. Martin's does the author a big disservice with their lame synopsis,
in which they dub NIN "the world's most disturbing rock band, or
rather, one man band." Clearly, the Genitorturers and even Marilyn
Manson are far more disturbing than Reznor's tortured- man antics.
And surely, St. Martin's could've come up with a better teaser line on
the back cover than "What other rocker has recorded at the Sharon
Tate murder scene? None but Nine Inch Nails."
Here's a glimpse of what to expect from the book. This passage is
about Reznor's "relationship" with Courtney Love:
"Another unwanted byproduct of Reznor's celebrity was a bizarre feud
with Courtney Love, leader of Hole, widow of Kurt Cobain and all-
around loose cannon. Reznor and Love met when he heard that she
was interested in playing with Nine Inch Nails, and he agreed to let
Hole open six NIN shows in the autumn of 1994. 'I thought, "What's
the worst that can happen?,"' he later told Details. 'Famous last
words...'
"They didn't speak for the first three shows. 'In Cleveland she was
completely intoxicated, a fucking mess,' he told Details, adding that
at one aftershow party, Love was passed out on a pool table with her
dress hiked up, while onlookers snapped pictures. 'I thought that was
shitty. I'd be upset if people I thought cared about me allowed me to
be in that position.'
"Before he knew it, Love was badmouthing him and his band onstage,
even though she was opening for NIN. 'What I didn't know then was
her fierce competitiveness when she's opening for somebody -- she's
carrying the weight of alternative credibility on her back, and we're a
new-wave faggot band that's easily dismissed. Even though my crowd
doesn't give a shit about that.'
"...Their acquaintance soon began spawning vague yet vicious
recriminations from Love. Despite Love's insistence to the contrary,
Reznor maintains that the pair did not have a sexual relationship.
According to Trent, 'I think if there was an attraction on her part
toward me, it was maybe because I showed compassion. The bottom
line was, I thought I was around someone who was a victim and
somebody who could use a friend, and what I was around was a very
good manipulator and a careerist, someone not to be
underestimated.'"
Nine Inch Nails: Self Destruct is still due July 10. - By Anne Robertson
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This article
is provided courtesy Keith Duemling and Tracy Thompson from the collection previously
located at SUS.
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