so, how bad is the slip?

i don't think i listened to it all the way through, on release. it was that bad: i couldn't make it through it...

in hindsight, i understand that it wasn't meant for me. this is a record that was meant for people ten years younger than me, that had interacted with reznor in a completely different way and wanted something from him that was almost the diametric opposite of what i wanted from him.

it's a sort of a greatest hits record, in the sense that every track on the record recalls one of his hit tracks from previous years. you can call it a summary if you want; a retrospective. i actually think it's more of a rebranding - for that younger audience. these seem like replacements.

and, replacements for what? well, it's also very clearly a record that is designed primarily for a live audience.

i don't know how calculated it was, but it was probably thought through at some point: the purpose of the slip appears to have been to replace old songs in the setlist with new songs that are vaguely equivalent. the purpose of this was probably primarily lyrical. and, i'm not getting anything more or less out of it.

i kind of liked the old songs, though, and have never warmed to the record.

it's maybe not technically as bad as with teeth, but i tend to rank it at the very bottom of the list, anyways.