Nine Inch Nails Let It Bleed

Nine Inch Nails are at work on their fourth album, Bleed Through, in Los Angeles. Trent Reznor and Co. hope to finish it by summer and release it later this year.

"It's more song-oriented [than 1999's The Fragile]," says NIN mastermind Reznor. "It's much more lean. It's going to be twelve good punches in the face -- no fillers, no instrumentals, just straight to the point."

Rick Rubin (Red Hot Chili Peppers, the Beastie Boys, Johnny Cash) is producing the record. "It's kind of a new vibe this time around," says Reznor. "Different people, different approach.

While Bleed may be more streamlined than its predecessors, namely the expansive concept records 1994's The Downward Spiral and The Fragile, it won't exactly be light fare. "It's a complicated concept record," Reznor says, "but reduced to just simple songs. It's not epic in its scope. It's minimal and a bit brutal."

NIN plan to hit the road in the next few months to preview the new material. "It's been forever since we played," Reznor says. "I'm reenergized right now, my life's in order, and I'm ready to combat the shitty music that's out right now."

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Song Stories

“1999”

Prince | 1982

“I don’t consider myself a great poet,” Prince told Rolling Stone. “I just know I’m here to say what’s on my mind.” In the case of the apocalyptic party anthem “1999,” he was worried about then-president Ronald Reagan’s foreign policies. The song’s melody is based on a riff borrowed from the Mamas and Papas’ “Monday, Monday,” and Prince originally envisioned the first verse with three-part harmony but later split the vocals between himself and members of the Revolution. Because Warner Bros., with whom Prince was locked in a contractual battle, owned the original’s masters, Prince rerecorded the song and appropriately released that version in 1999.

More Song Stories entries »

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