Trent Reznor: Officially Gone Nuts

Over a year ago, I commented on the fact that Trent Reznor had a new album (which turned out to be Year Zero) coming out a little less than two years after his previous album. For a guy who only releases an album every half decade or so, I figured that Trent must be on fire. I figured we wouldn't hear from Trent for a long time after.

That was a year ago. Since then, Trent has put out three albums, two of them in less than a month. For a guy who took 16 years to put out his first five albums, to crank out three in under a year is, well, a hell of a pace.

So, why is Trent nuts?

Going back to the With Teeth album, Trent has been slowly releasing the source material of his songs for his fans to remix. Giving music away for free is something that drives the record companies nuts. And Trent himself may be nuts, because he's giving away his new album for free.

The Slip, which came out today, is available for free download at nin.com. No gimmicks, no catches, no right-protection. Just go and download it. You can even send a copy to your friends.

And while I appreciate the fact that Trent has decided to become prolific, I don't think he can keep up this pace. He's going back on tour (again) and I think he'll just be burned out once he gets back.

But...he's proven me wrong before. Maybe he'll do it again.

Or end up in an asylum.