Yesterday’s Manic Monday spotlighted one of the many highlights from perhaps the best Nine Inch Nails album post-The Downward Spiral, the brilliantly conceptual (and somewhat prophetic) Year Zero, which was released in 2007. But not to be overlooked was the subsequent companion piece to that album, which was released (for free via download at the time) the following year in 2008: The Slip.
Originally only intended to be an EP, it ultimately became a full-length album, and a damn good one at that, featuring a decidedly more aggressive/up-tempo flavor than it’s “big brother” album that immediately proceeded it. That said, side 2 features some brooding instrumental material that helps balance out all the tasty industrial bangers that characterize the first half of the album. All that is to say, it’s a very well-rounded, more immediate-sounding album, and although it received generally positive reviews at the time, it nonetheless seems to be oddly underrated amongst many critics and fans alike. In case you need any further excuses to dust off The Slip, check this awesome rehearsal footage of the band performing some choice cuts from the album, which will surely help whet your appetite:
