What is so appealing about industrial music?

Define what band come under this catorgory. I'm still at a loss in this catorgory. I know Ministry is industrial, but thats it

Well, this is what www.allmusic.com has to say:

http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=C141

Well, I don't like any of those bands, so i can't help you answer your question, sorry

Industrial is tough to define. Journalists toss the name around frivolously, referring to anything harsh as "Industrial", and even "rivetheads" can't seem to agree on what industrial music really is either. Personally, I would not include NIN. Trent thinks being a poofy goth, depressed and weird counts for being an Industrial band. They should get back to more bass guitars, samples and raw, off-field instruments.

The style probably started back in the seventies with Throbbing Gristle: 50% performance art and 50% noise. The music integrated the factory noise of daily life into screeching tributes to urban sprawl, decay, and the pestilence of city life. Industrial music has a grinding sound, but more importantly, it is a commentary on disillusionment with our society and a desire to change things.

These guys perform my idea of classic Industrial: Front 242 (http://www.waste.org/~terje/front242/).

Unfortunately, with the exception of a very few underground bands, Industrial music seems to be dead as far as mainstream media is concerned. If anyone is interested, this page (http://tickle.unco.edu/cg105-spr02/jcox/nav3.html) has a few links to some of the survivors.

Peace.

_____________
Youth is the first victim of war - the first fruit of peace.
It takes 20 years or more of peace to make a man;
it takes only 20 seconds of war to destroy him.-- King Boudewijn I, King of Belgium (1934-1993)

Aha, someone who knows what he is talking about :)

Personally, I would not include NIN.

It is said that the said Trent is accused of exploiting the dark and gloomy image, but it is not the whole story.

I would include everything from Pretty Hate Machine to The Downward Spiral under industrial, true industrial, with no posing. I believe he really lived through some depression.

The music, although filled with melodies and structure, is still industrial music. You also have to look past the well known releases: Further down the spiral, Fixed and various remixes are quite dissonant and disturbing.

The fragile has some industrial songs like that opening track (oh my goth, that opening track!! :) ) but it takes the idea of industrial music further. Unusual sounds and soundsources are used, there are some hints of ambient on the discs.

You could say that at this stage, it is a bit weird that they still apear on stage in full goth, but at least they have the songs to back it up.

What NIN did on the bonus disc Still that came with the live disc Andallthatcouldhavebeen, is showing that they have evolved a great deal. Some of the songs could be labeled industrial unplugged.

All the songs show that Trent is a craftsman when it comes to constructing songs. (this being beside the point :) )

They should get back to more bass guitars, samples and raw, off-field instruments.

Fixed? Andallthatcouldhavebeen? TDS?...

it is a commentary on disillusionment with our society and a desire to change things.

Hmmm... interesting. It gives the ultimate nihilistic music a purpose?

These guys perform my idea of classic Industrial: Front 242.

... and they're BELGIAN! :cool: :D

Industrial music seems to be dead as far as mainstream media is concerned.

Don't you think that Linkin Park is a mainstream version of industrial music?

A real harsh uncompromising industrial band could never be very mainstream. Or did Trent pull that of to some extent? (if you count him in of course)

ps: you seem to be quite the eclectic music lover. Only way to go :)

Peace back at ya.

"Industrial" doesn't mean what it used to. Throbbing Gristle was the first "industrial" group, and their music was artsy-fartsy experimentation (at it's high points). Einsturzende Neubauten was referred to briefly as "industrial" during the 80's, when critics decided that they liked them, and refrained from calling them "junk rock". To me, calling Skinny Puppy and Nine Inch Nails "industrial music" is like calling Blink 182 "punk".

NIN just does not hit me with that indefinable kind of angst that I get from groups that I consider Industrial.

Linkin Park? Rap Metal. How’s that for a dodge? :D

Peace.

_____________
Youth is the first victim of war - the first fruit of peace.
It takes 20 years or more of peace to make a man;
it takes only 20 seconds of war to destroy him.-- King Boudewijn I, King of Belgium (1934-1993)

A4Ever:
Don't you think that Linkin Park is a mainstream version of industrial music?

I felt that Linkin Park was Industrial once. Then I stopped inhaling glue. ;)

Goofyfish:
Industrial is tough to define. Journalists toss the name around frivolously, referring to anything harsh as "Industrial", and even "rivetheads" can't seem to agree on what industrial music really is either. Personally, I would not include NIN.

Nor would I. Category by itself....but I would not include Neubaten either.

But then, Front Line Assembly is categorized as Industrial, and they really do swing from Industrial (Machine Slave, Corruption) to Electronica (Sado-masochist, Don't Trust).

And what is Wumpscut? Industrial mostly, but can veer close to Electronic. Or Chemlab - Industrial (I Still Bleed, Chemical Halo) or Punk (Vera Blue).

I don't really consider Skinny Puppy to be Industrial. (I consider it to be crap, but that's another story).

Trent thinks being a poofy goth, depressed and weird

Goth? Goth? GOTH? WHAT HAVE YOU BEEN CONCENTRATING AND INHALING?

NIN just does not hit me with that indefinable kind of angst that I get from groups that I consider Industrial.

Disagree.

I think NIN is more agonized than enraged, and I think Industrial is most definitely enraged.

While Trent's disillusionment is more with society as a collection of humans, and Industrial is more of a reaction of "angst" (this is a stupid word, no offense, but I find it demeaning) towards society as society.

That is, Reznor is dissatisfied with the fact that people are assholes, and Industrial as a whole is dissatisfied with the structures people create, namely society. There is something deeply personal about NIN, not exclusive to Trent's experience, but definitely personal. Most Industrial deals with a more generalized feeling.

Not that they don't mesh.

"This world rejects me.
This world never gave me a chance"

"I'm a slutty, dirty little girl
Beaten and scarred and ripped and mangled
Came for love and stayed for strangle"

However, NIN is deeply personal and thus cannot really ever be categorized. It is also more transcendent than most industrial for this reason.

To the origional question:

What is so appealing about industrial music?

It's grating, dissonent, harsh and often violent. It has a lot to do with decay, disillusionment and pain. There is a redemptive side to much Industrial, but...

I suppose it has to do with one's psychological makeup.

but I would not include Neubaten either.

I don't understand Neubauten. Sabrina is so quiet and beautiful. I thought I'd listen to Strategies against architecture III to see what they did since '91 (cause Sabrina is in there and I was pretty sure of buying Silence is Sexy)

All I heard was things like 'hot oil dripping in front of the microphone'.

EN is avant garde experimental, not industrial. (at least they are now)

And what is Wumpscut?

According to allmusic (which had to categorize all music, so maybe their system isn't that bad) it is electro-industrial. Somehow I understand that. I would not call Ministry electro-industrial. It often feels like a fusion of dance and industrial.

I suppose it has to do with one's psychological makeup.

:eek:

:D

I like industrial sound, but often the songs are so clumsy and amateuristic. We are a small niche, everything we put out has a right to exist. Often I miss artists being with their hearts in the music.

A4Ever:
I don't understand Neubauten. Sabrina is so quiet and beautiful. I thought I'd listen to Strategies against architecture III to see what they did since '91 (cause Sabrina is in there and I was pretty sure of buying Silence is Sexy)

All I heard was things like 'hot oil dripping in front of the microphone'.

Yup. Neubauten is weird like that. I'd say they're very Industrial, but also have a tinge of soft Goth in there.

According to allmusic (which had to categorize all music, so maybe their system isn't that bad) it is electro- industrial. Somehow I understand that. I would not call Ministry electro-industrial. It often feels like a fusion of dance and industrial.

I'll buy this.

I like industrial sound, but often the songs are so clumsy and amateuristic. We are a small niche, everything we put out has a right to exist. Often I miss artists being with their hearts in the music.

Often, yes, but then, Electronica seems easy enough for hacks to get into. Hearts in the music? Agreed. See the above ranting on NIN.

I think the attitude of Industrial and NIN can be summed up:

"WHOLE LIFE IS WAR AND WHOLE LIFE IS PAIN
AND YOU WILL FIGHT ALONE IN YOUR PERSONAL WAR"

--Wumpscut, Krieg

"I'm a slutty, dirty little girl
Beaten and scarred and ripped and mangled
Came for love and stayed for strangle"

What song is that from?

Chemlab, "Jesus Christ Porno Star"

Industrial was never fully my bag, and the only industrial I ever listened to regularly was Nitzer Ebb, whose song "Let Your Body Learn" marked my first summer foray into alternative music.

However, I did get to give a friend of mine a little crap last week because the new Primal Scream record has a Nitzer Ebb moment on it.

thanx,
Tiassa :cool:

Originally posted by Xev
I suppose it has to do with one's psychological makeup.I once wore psychological makeup... but Faghat Hempdaddy thought it was ghey! :D

Peace.

Dewd. Do they make psychological hair color?

Fine! Make fun of my insightful comments! See if I care!:D

Front Line Assembly is the pioneer of industrial music. They started around 1982. Back then it was considered original. Today it is nothing special and in fact I think it is rather ghey.

Front Line Assembly: Roots and Influences: Cabaret Voltaire Throbbing Gristle Skinny Puppy Ministry

Unless these bands are not industrial, FLA did not pioneer the style.

What do you think is ghey? FLA or industrial music as a whole?

*does a double take of the list of so-called Industrial artists*
Wha-? Filter? Stabbing Westward? No way...those guys aren't Industrial! :bugeye:

Don't you think that Linkin Park is a mainstream version of industrial music?
Yep, but that won't stop me from liking them. :) And besides, listeners hardly hear their other stuff, like "Points of Authority", which is scary at first, and "Forgotten", my personal favourite. Their "new" stuff, Reanimation, is more Industrial than Hybrid Theory, though. It's all been remixed. It doesn't look good, IMO, but it's a worthy marketing scam. :)

What do you think is ghey?
Those new rap-combos that are stuffing up stations these days. It's not enough to have just one "artist" singing, now you need two or more to produce a song.