Year Zero's Thermal Secret
The Bureau Of Morailty sticker is just one of Trent's surprises for those who purchase Nine Inch Nails' new CD. The disc ships in a deep shade of Reznor black, but the heat from the CD player reveals a new color and some binary code. Here's the before and after (via Flickr):
But the fun don''t stop there; as it cools, it goes back to its original hue. Just like Hypercolors! Take the jump for a scan of the record on its way back to industrial-rock homeostasis.
[via Flickr]
Posted at 6:23 PM
Tags: Nine Inch Nails
Well...isn't that neat.
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lame and unoriginal. arcade fire's artwork for funeral and neon bible were better.
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that's pretty cool.
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do we know what the binary translates to?
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Unoriginal? I've never seen anything like it. Big ups to Reznor and Bright Eyes for making people think about buying music.
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too bad the actual music isn't all that amazing.
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Um, I thought it was both cool and original. Well done Trent.
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this is totally unrelated, but i'm wondered if stereogum could get to the bottom of the very similiar "apples in stereo" sound used in that saturn outlook commercial..oh it's buggin me out
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i agree, ethan. if another band makes a cd that changes color after you play it, i'm just going to puke. SO MANY BANDS ARE DOING THIS LATELY. GOOD CHRIST!
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Hey, save the album. Buy instead of downloading. Who cares if the CD is a little prissy and doesn't get along with others out in the open?
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the binary translates to the website : http://exterminal.net/
you can check out the TONS of sites and the overall story line for year zero hero : http://ninwiki.com/
it's really quite genius
and ethan check this link out : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Neon_Bible_(novel) still think that arcade fire's cover was really that original?
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does everyone here jerk it too arcade fire? a post thats not even about them and they get brought up. broaden your horizons....
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It's a shame this album sucks so much. And people bring up Arcade Fire because this post is lacking any talented music.. so, y'know, bring up the old standard. Neon Bible is still my favorite record so far this year.
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I disagree. The concept in this concept album is so relevant to the current political and social climate that it's quite stunning to think it's supposed to happen 15 years in the future. The music itself can be excessive, but when it comes to the overall story behind the music, it makes the album so much more memorable and enjoyable. Neon Bible isn't comparable to this album, but then, Neon Bible ain't necesarilly a rival to Pink Floyd's The Wall, either.
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What a big surprise. Indie snobs and hipsters prefer the Arcade Fire over Nine Inch Nails.
But when it comes to originatlity I don't think the Arcade Fire are the proper example.
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This is all very desperate.
I do hope he has a good contract with his label. Most contracts require the album to repay all it's recording, pressing and promotional expenses before the artist ever sees one cent of profit. And with record sales at an all-time low, there is no way this overworked piece of shit is going to return it's initial investment.
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stoner's delight!
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My favourite CD was recorded on a Verbatim CD-RW and was packaged with a hand-scrawled, inaccurate and mostly illegible tracklisting.
You can put make-up on a pig, but it's still a pig. If the music were any good, NIN wouldn't need to worry so much about the packaging.
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First set of bands have been announced for Seattle's Capitol Hill Block party!
http://www.thestranger.com/blockparty
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How did this talk of cool cd tricks turn into a debate about Arcade Fire? I still think that cd is cool.
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i used to have an ink pen from florida....that if you held it upside down....the woman's bikini would magically disappear......it was amazing........i think this is the same technology used here, right?
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yeah trent reznor isn't talented..... i know that goes over well at your open mic nights at your coffee house but you won't get far in life saying such uninformed nonsense. get a clue evan.
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I bought Arcade Fire's "Neon Bible" from a used bin for $5 and after listening to it a dozen times, I still feel ripped off. I just don't get what all the hype is about.
Album of the year? You gotta be kidding me.
So far my fav of the year is the new album from Zs called "Arms".
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This website long ago ceased being a forum to discuss any interesting topic and turned into stereogum lob-serving softballs for elitist idiots to hit back with unneccessary snobbish remarks. Don't compare NIN to Arcade Fire. Really...it's pointless. I like them both, and both art concepts were pretty cool ideas. If you've got nothing better to do than trash a band on a website (and not even their music, in this case) and you don't work for said website, get a life, a girl/boy, or go put your headphones back on and listen to the one and only band you say is worth a damn. We both know you're not open to new ideas in the least.
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nin < arcade fire < sanjaya
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nin < arcade fire < sanjaya
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I love the artwork, although I am not as excited about the album as a whole.
I don't understand why people have to compare bands with another, they are all part of the same industry but if there wasn't variety we would all be like the indie snobs that can't stop talking about Arcade Fire.
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What the hell is a CD? Anyway, Nirvana (or the powers that be within the Nirvana camp) did something similar with the packaging for the "With The Lights Out" boxed set. It was all black, but when you put yer grubby little hands on it the black faded away to reveal an assortment of Nirvana miscellania. I thought it was pretty cool, but I felt quite weird furiously stroking the cover of a CD just to see what was printed on it. It felt quite masturbatory, you know?
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kyle gets the star for today
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"i know that goes over well at your open mic nights at your coffee house but you won't get far in life saying such uninformed nonsense." LOL
I agree. Put down the half-caf decaf and crawl out of your A&F turtlenecks.
The album is great and so is the artwork and CD. Props to Trent and other artists who "get it" by having inventive packaging to make the product worth downloading AND buying. Some of you fail to grasp that. Is it The Downward Spiral (or The Fragile for that matter)? No. But it's better than most of the shit coming out these days.
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I like this idea, and it ties into the rest of their concept album rather well, its also nice to see a different style of design rather than the "Squiggly illustration on lined paper" style up on the shelf.
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I'm liking this album quite a bit so far, but then, I liked "With Teeth", too. They both sound good really loud.
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Just don't leave it in your locked up, infernally hot, car this coming summer. I remember what happened to my bitchin' colour changing T, back in the day, after putting it in the dryer on high.
You have been warned.
-G.
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i noticed that too in the toyota commercial! omg if it's not apples in stereo then it's a total blatant copy, not even 'sounds like'. sucks
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The album is streaming online for free at NINs website, The Spiral. I like what I hear
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dear indiefucks-
you certainly do complain about the most trivial things. the new album is produced wonderfully. yes, the CD technology isn't shock-and-awe... but it's a fucking CD. NIN tried and did a good job. it's a good idea. we all love arcade fire. but they're just a band. this cd > neon bible.
/second grade rant
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thank you j.
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I think that what Trent is doing here is great. He's taking this dying medium to a whole new level to try to revive interest in CDs again. It is more than just the music - it's the whole experience of the art, the concept, the internet and the music all in one.
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also, if you put it in the microwave and bake on high, it makes cool fractal designs.
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Good god, what's with all the Trent-hate? You people a bunch of hipster-zealots. A long-established artist makes an honest attempt to prolong the importance of tangible media and you all just see it as is another opportunity to tell everyone how much hipper you are. James Murphy would fucking hate you.
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Looks like the Arcade First fans are worried...the new album sux and the band has been around longer than 15 minutes, which means their core audience is gonna start bailing for the new hipter band of the hour. YZ is brilliant.
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whats worse: pretentious indie kids or prententious indie kid hating kids?
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Ha, I love how easily posts turn into indie kid (I am one of them) hate-a-thons. Anyway, I actually like both AF and NIN. Is that really so hard to believe? Y0 is a little long and kinda boring at parts, but it definitely has a bunch of good songs and is a big improvement over With Teeth. Anyway, what I don't understand is how anyone could dislike the whole story surrounding this album. Anyway, the cd changing thing is pretty cool too.
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BTW...Pitchfork just gave YZ a rave...and they f*cking hate Trent Reznor.
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Hey, the thermal thing is cool stuff.. Massive Attack did the same for their singles box & it took me ages to realize why it kept changing colour.. haha... one sunny day I finally got it.
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Yeah, messed me up the first time I saw it. When I pulled the cd out I thought I had pulled out the wrong cd at first and got all confused because I didn't recognize it. So as I started ejecting my entire cd collection the cd started turning back black and that's when I realized what was going on. I think it's genius and I can't belive it hasn't been thought of before.
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Sorry to disappointed those of you in the originality debate but... nothing on this earth is original. It has ALL been done before whether through inspiration or coincidence.
Moving right along... I think the new NIN is good.
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Arcade Fires popularity amounts to nothing more than media hype and manipulation.These poor folk cannot think for themselves,or they would not listen to such MOR crap.
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If you don't like the album that's your opinion but don't say that it sucks.. This CD maybe the best of the year.. as for the Arcade Fire.. I've never hear so many people like a band that blows in my life... they are unorignal and just boring in general.. another band who thinks they can change music by doing the same shit in different ways
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This album rocks......highly conceptual....fucking cool.
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1. You're opinion does not dictate the world. If you don't like it, don't just say 'it sucks' simply reply that you don't like it and we can agree to disagree. (this goes with the number one rule of life - don't be a jerk)
2. I think this album is amazing, with it's lyrics, it's story behind it, it's music, and the little hidden things.
"In this Twilight" says, black is really white, if you believe, and the CD is really white.
in Zero Sum it says all we are worth are zeros and ones, the binary on the CD.
and many other things i'm sure are there that i haven't noticed yet.
Me personally, Trent just sings about things that relate to me, and I love the little things he does.
<3s for Trent.
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why the fuck would people bring up arcade fire in this?... i mean honestly, i love them to bits, but wheres the fucking point in making that comparison? its retarded
back on topic, i love the new NIN record, it feels more like the real follow up to the fragile. and it kinda reminds me of pretty hate machine to be honest, with the similar and consistent sound throughout
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I came here to read reviews of the new NIN album, and all I got was some bantering about an Arcade that stole it's title from a book they've probably never even read. This web-page sucks. And I am sorry for stumbling upon it. And by the way "indie-kids," indie bands are just bands that aren't successful. They're just into themselves and anyone like themselves, and think that makes them. That is not a useful artist. So shove that Arcade album up your ass and read the book they stole their Fire from. As for the new NIN album, if anyone here is still interested in that, it's good. Not great. Not his best, not his worst. Go Fragile, Pretty Hate, Downward, Broken, Zero, With Teeth. That's my order of NIN dominance.
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note: it helps to remember where things come from. it helps to respect ones elders. TR was fighting the good fight before many of us were born. personally, ill take (any) Halo over (any) current flash in the pan.
i remember being called a fag because i listened to pretty hate machine rather than the (then) currently popular Extreme or Nelson or some fluff of the type.
and now ill be called a fag for reflecting my own personal history.
enjoy your end!
Acts 2:17 <--- thank you for Year Zero
p.s. love kills the demon.
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I think it's kind of sad really, seems most of the hate here stems from a Quailty CD, not content of the CD!
With the majority of artists out there dumping crap quality CD's with thin backings, minimal if any graphics on the CD itsself, Case liners that feature only the front and back graphics, and the decline of the liner notes and lyrics, I'm suprised that anyone would rant because they got something that wasn't crap! Cripes, with so many people out there stealing music, or downloading it from Itunes & whatnot, I appreciate it that an artist went beyond the norm with the package for his music. ::Shrug:: Makes me glad I bought it, the whole secret message bit only makes it that much cooler!
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Ron Said
"I used to have an ink pen from florida....that if you held it upside down....the woman's bikini would magically disappear......it was amazing........i think this is the same technology used here, right?"
Ron, if you are making a joke, that's pretty funny.
If you are being serious then you are a fuckin idiot. And thats also funny!
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Ron Said
"I used to have an ink pen from florida....that if you held it upside down....the woman's bikini would magically disappear......it was amazing........i think this is the same technology used here, right?"
Ron, if you are making a joke, that's pretty funny.
If you are being serious then you are a fuckin idiot. And thats also funny!
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Wow, apparently no-one on here bashing the color shift thought to stick that binary on th disc into a binary to asci converter (do a google search).
It converts to exterminal.net A website built entirely for the story of year zero. How's so before you bash the looks of something, try thinking a little harder.
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