Search - Tribute to Nine Inch Nails :: String Quart Tribute to Nine Inch Nails

My first impression is that it's not bad.

01/30/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"They didn't always mirror what Trent did, but then again, it's hard when you have only four voices and Trent has like 437829742. They weren't able to achieve the wall of sound effect, but with a string quartet, that's ok.Let's take it track by track:"Piggy" took a couple of listens before I started to like it."Heresy" had awesome energy, especially in the beginning. I loved the v2, viola and cello together."Just Like You Imagined" seemed made for string instruments. It was impressive."The Fragile" was stunningly beautiful. Excellent pizzicato on the chorus."Into the Void" was, well, amusing. "Closer" was all right, but I think I like Spiralmouth's a cappella rendition better. "Something I Can Never Have" wasn't bad, but the original was so hauntingly beautiful that most anything else will pale in comparison. This paled in comparison."Suck" didn't suck. The verses were sweet, but you don't really get that "HOW DOES IT FEEL" feel."Eraser" oh my, they almost pulled off the wall of sound in the beginning. I felt like 3 more seconds of build-up would have done the trick."

Way too cheery and staccato

J. Qidwai | Coralville, IA United States | 12/08/2003

(2 out of 5 stars)

"This album captures none of the mystery and darkness of Nine Inch Nails' music. I love classical music. I love string quartet music. I love Nine Inch Nails. String quartet music can be dark and mysterious--listen to some of the stuff the Kronos Quartet has recorded. The interpretations on this album are extremely literal, and that's not a compliment. The players shouldn't be attmepting to make their instruments into electric guitars, they should be interpreting the music using the excellent qualities of their own instruments. Most unimpressive. The string quartet people have put together tribute albums for a number of other artists I like, but I won't be checking them out due to the low quality of this album."

A fantastic effort by an obviously talented group

Brian Allen | Kansas, USA | 03/16/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I can't believe some of the bad reviews this album has. I happen to think this is a great CD to listen to when you want to listen to some NIN done in a lighter style. I'd compare it to the 2nd disc of Halo 17, Still. These are basically the same songs, but without the harsh synthesizers and metal.



1. Piggy 4/5

While it's missing the drum and bass feel of the original, it provides some excellent playing. It's very different, but still recognizable. It really needs some kind of percussion, though.



2. Heresy 5/5

It's kind of an odd choice for this album, but it sounds just how it should, and I applaud them for that. A good translation, and it's played well.



3. Just Like You Imagined 5/5

The original was already well suited to this style, and it shows here. This isn't just a cover, though. The lead player does a lot of interesting soloing not in the original version.



4. The Fragile 5/5

Being a fairly soft song to begin with, it works well unplugged, as shown on Still. Doesn't really deviate much from the original, but it's one of my favorite NIN songs, so that doesn't bother me.



5. Into the Void 4/5

I found this to be an odd choice. Into the Void was pretty much a louder version of La Mer, which would've worked better, I think. It's a good track anyway, though. Stays fairly close to the original.



6. Closer 5/5

You would think a song with so many layers might sound not so great played by four instruments, but it's clearly not the case. It's a really an odd choice, but it works suprisingly well. Also suprising is how close it stays to the original. Other than the intro, which would've sounded bad anyway, all of the important parts are here.



7. Something I Can Never Have 5/5

This was a good choice to translate to strings. It's been a bit more arranged than other tracks, but it's for the better. I wish it had some kind of representation of the vocals, though. I also think they should have done the Natural Born Killers version. Great track anyway, though.



8. Suck 4/5

I was quite skeptical of a string version of Suck. The song was a cover to begin with, and in general it seemed like a bad choice. When the opening player started up, it sounded strange, even though I knew what he was mimicing. By the time the bass came in though, I liked it. The "vocal" line sounds a bit odd on this one, though. Another faithful reproduction, overall.



9. Eraser 5/5

That opening build up is great. While it's not exactly what Trent did in his version, it pulls off a similar effect. The rest of the song is a cover that's true to the original and sounds delightfully dissonant towards the end, which is how it should be.



10. Bonus 5/5

There is an extra track which no one has mentioned. This is an original track, but it's definitely true to the feel of Nine Inch Nails. Being written for strings, it ends up sounding better than a lot of the covers on here, and it sounds a bit like a darker Head Like a Hole.



I only have a few complaints. One is that they didn't do more songs. So many Nails songs could sound great played on string quartets. Where are songs like A Warm Place and The Great Below? They would be really easy to transpose and they would sound great. Percussion is also sorely missed.



Other than that, I think it's great. I think people who complain about these tributes, need to learn that they aren't supposed to sound exactly like the originals. Also, if you don't like strings, then don't expect to like the string quartet versions just because you like the band.



Also, apparently this has been sucessful enough to warrant a sequel. Vitamin has released a second volume, which came out April 19. This one is specifically devoted to Pretty Hate Machine. They've also released a piano tribute, but it isn't especially great."