The Slip Album Artwork
 
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12/13/08 12:50 AM

I have seen in several places a small amount of talk about the cover artwork, it being a blindfold, maybe symbolic, maybe bloody... the ghostly hand, etc. etc. but I want to hear what EVERYONE thinks about the album artwork. Forgive me if there is a thread already made about this, I just wanted to get a full feed on what/why from everyone. And also... I've seen lots of talk about artwork for individual songs, but what about the cover art? That's important too!

Personally, the hand touching the shoulder is a symbolic way of expressing The Slip. Literally. Example... The hand is all of your loss, or maybe abstinence or forgetfulness or possibly pride. Whatever it is, I think that 'The Slip' is that hand, and the symbol is that you're (he is) losing it. Whether you think of the person on the front cover as Trent (it looks like him) or maybe you compare yourself there - in any case, thats what I think. And the lyrics of each song just express more and more feelings of 'losing yourself' as I'll term it.

It reminds me of The Way Out Is Through and Into The Void beginning the Right album of the Fragile. "I tried to save myself, but myself keeps slipping away." No matter what your story is. And no matter if you've found yourself and your story and you know who you are and what you want in this life or whether you're still lost and looking for answers - The Slip is the journey. Or maybe the aftermath, the discovery.

Hope to hear more opinions.

c9

 

12/13/08 3:22 PM

Howdy. This is my first post.

The album cover, when I see it, is a 'monkey', a habit, an addiction touching you, letting you know that it's still there and be aware....be very aware and it can come back whenever it feel s like it.

It seems simple, sorry. I am familiar with addictions and this is what it translates to me.

 

12/23/08 3:40 PM

I believe the slip is all about balance...and the quest for balance in a chaotice world and life.
If you look at the red lines that mysteriously move through some of the pictures...if you were to pull on the line the pictures would balance out. For example on discipline there are four evenly stacked blocks w/ a fifth block on top. If you were to pull the red line one of the blocks would fall it would leave the rest even.....
On Echoplex there is a box inside of another box cracking it open. If you pull the red line you would remove the inner box perfectly closing the one on the outside. Lights in The Sky has no red line and is completely closed in. Its just a theory I've come up with. On the Demon Seed artwork the redline is all over the page...with a new white line scribble starting....The lines can not be removed because of the demonseed...the imbalance...but could the white symbolize some good...some balance... it is in a completely closed in box.

 

01/02/09 3:48 PM

floodie4 posted:
Howdy. This is my first post.

The album cover, when I see it, is a 'monkey', a habit, an addiction touching you, letting you know that it's still there and be aware....be very aware and it can come back whenever it feel s like it.

It seems simple, sorry. I am familiar with addictions and this is what it translates to me.

Ya, I agree, the hand is not on the shoulder, which could symbolize reassurance, but rather gripping the arm.
As for the red line, it spasms out at the persons face ("and this is not my face" )- I think this means that the person is like deteriorating, becoming "irrelevant".

or the hand could be what is holding on to what is left of the individual-the sanity or something.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/02/2009 03:49PM by aqualimo5857.

 

01/02/09 4:57 PM

To me it translates as whatever plan you have for life, Life has other plans for you, and it'll come and get you no matter what.

*continues wondering*

 

01/02/09 5:05 PM

a pull and a slip, a fall down and a way to get back up, its really the slip in a nut shell. I mean we all slip sometimes only to catch our fall for there is always a helping hand or someone to guide us

 

01/02/09 6:14 PM

I always found this artwork kinda creepy

 

01/02/09 6:49 PM

The Perfect Chris posted:
I always found this artwork kinda creepy

I get that, I think there's a sense of a loss of control in it. I think that's where I get it from eye rolling smiley

 

01/02/09 10:42 PM

I kind of found similarities between the cover of The Slip and some things revolving around Year Zero.

For instance, the jacket Trent's wearing looks really similar to a jacket he had on in a photo during the Year Zero era that had an Art Is Resistance logo stitched onto the arm. Ironically, the hand covers the spot where the logo should be.

Also, the hand reminded me of the hand from Year Zero [the presence], it looks pretty similar.

 

01/03/09 1:03 AM

Alessandro's arm looks cool.

Yeah.

 

01/13/09 12:05 PM

Well, the first time it seemed to me, as a sort of continuation of "Year Zero", but after a while, after listening to the album a few times, and considering the songs - really, the album has a life of its own, a different vibe going on, very "Nine Inch Nails in the Today" feel that the artwork represented very well... especially the cover, which is one of NIN`s best apart from "The Downward Spiral" which is my all-time favorite.

Every song`s connected to its image and they go along. The bowed head, the numbers, the circle the thread, the echo-labyrinth... It`s all right there in front of you, really.

 

01/13/09 12:27 PM

Am I the only one who sees a scary face being grabbed by a hand when I look at The Slip´s cover upside down?

If I am, it´s Ok, I don´t sleep as much as I should...

 

01/24/09 12:42 AM

is it an alien hand?eye popping smiley

 

01/29/09 12:37 PM

i always felt that the hand was the hand that was trying to pull you out from your "slip"
which, to me, explains the shadows cast on both the main figure and the arm, as well as the bloody looking line which is broken right above the main figure

 

01/30/09 2:27 AM

http://www.thechestbump.com/wp-content/uploads/nin-the-slip-300x300.jpghttp://madkevin.files.wordpress.com/2008/07/low_album.jpg

 

01/30/09 5:25 AM

Honestly I think it's NIN best album cover.

 

01/30/09 7:29 PM

CharmlessMan posted:
Honestly I think it's NIN best album cover.


I agree with you, (I still don´t get much sleep, and I still see that scary face upsidedown).

My favorite before it was Year Zero, which also has this grabbing hand motive, I don´t think it´s a coincidence.

 

01/30/09 10:49 PM

ive asked b4 but nobosy seemed to answer this. ill try here. on the cover of the booklet of the cd for the slip with the gray lines. i c NIN on it but idk if thats just me? anyone?

 

01/31/09 1:55 AM

I've been wanting to talk to some one about the cover for a long timenow. This is great.

Anyway I think that the person on the cover's a individual unknown, i don't think Trent even knows who he is. But this unknown person has somthing to do with the begining of the end. The final days leading up to the end of the world?

Its just a shot in the dark.

The red line through the head is the vibe or energy he is giving off. Alot of the songs on this album conects to this art work and ties in to the first album Year zero.

These are my thoughts . what do you think?

 

01/31/09 11:22 AM

i like the design. the blurred out photo is neat, it's the first time we see a person (even two) on a NIN cover. it gives it a more human feeling and it's really open to interpretation... also, i dig that red, i used it some times in my projects, the font is killer too. but the composition could have been better though, somehow the position of the red line bugs me... but the artwork inside is pretty neat, the symbols could have been more consistent, but that's just me being a graphic design snob...

i see this cover like a bridge, like the album is leading to something else that's also how i see the music. The red line represents that brige and the person (TR i guess?) is slipping into the next phase, and someone is trying to hold him, maybe himself (a common theme eg. tried to save myself, but myself keeps slipping). The cover shares similarities with those of year zero and with teeth (the shady hand, the blurring line). So it really feels like some kind of interlude, to something darker maybe (the pitch black background). Also, The slip could have been the split, the dividing line tells me that, and you get to hear it in the album, after head down, it becomes something else, and the trio of corona radiata, the four of us are dying and demon seed show NIN in it's darkest form since downward spiral, compared to the standard upbeat rock NIN of the first songs. The cover shows this spirit of rebellion trying to escape, only to abandon itself to something worse...

rob does a great job on everything! everything he did since he's Trent reznor's art director feels very nine inch nails and each cover fits the sound of the album. my favorite is ghosts, so simple yet so beautiful, and the vagueness of it goes well with the variety of the songs... the one i like less is Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D...

(damn... i should have read the first post... it says almost the same thing hahaha, i agree with you 'bro)



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 01/31/2009 11:46AM by tomajio.

 

02/06/09 9:13 PM

invadered7 posted:
ive asked b4 but nobosy seemed to answer this. ill try here. on the cover of the booklet of the cd for the slip with the gray lines. i c NIN on it but idk if thats just me? anyone?

I see the same thing.

 

02/09/09 12:51 PM

how about this. everyone can see the hand grabbing for the shoulder. BUT theres one picture the noone noticed! turn the album UPSIDE DOWN! now DO YOU SEE THE FIGURE COVERING THERE FACE FROM THE LIGHT? MAYBE THE LIGHTS IN THE SKY??!!? I SEE SOMETHING OR MAYBE IM JUST OFF THE ROCKER!!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/09/2009 12:55PM by rev6.

 

02/10/09 12:58 PM

interesting... i do see the face in the upside-down cover, but it still looks like part of the jacket more than a face...

when i look at the cover normally, i see a rebel-type person who thinks he got away and evaded authority, but right as this picture is taken, the authority catches up with the rebel and he's caught...

basically, it means "resistance is irrelevent/futile" to me, and no one can run away forever... possibly age is catching up with trent, after all, he can't hit all those high notes he used to...

as much as people would want him to, he can't do this forever...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/10/2009 01:04PM by 010010100100010001000011.

 

02/12/09 11:28 AM

I do not see the face...
I have had my LP sitting upside down in front of me on my desk for 2 days... Is this one of those "magic eye" pictures? I could never do those.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/12/2009 11:30AM by TheKMNINMethod.

 

02/16/09 11:24 AM

Also is this hand like a presence ?

 

02/16/09 11:46 AM

It's different and new. Obviously it's Trent and he is being pulled back or slipping away

 

02/18/09 9:36 AM

u dont see the hand blocking the light from the face?
TheKMNINMethod posted:
I do not see the face...
I have had my LP sitting upside down in front of me on my desk for 2 days... Is this one of those "magic eye" pictures? I could never do those.

 

02/20/09 12:08 AM

For me, it is like the hand on "Year Zero" cover. But now, it touches human, not only ground.

My 2 cents, of course winking smiley

 

02/21/09 7:55 AM

I would like to thank internet for disconnecting when i was going to post my huge critic of the artwork.
Sooooo... basically i believe..
The hand is control, the slip is about slipping away, not having control anymore. without this control, violence, anger, rage consumes you, which explains Head Down, you don't recognize yourself without the control, you're doing things you never thought you would do. Corona Radiata and Demon Seed (the lyrics) are about something building up, a progression, this insanity that is creating itself inside of you, because you lost control.

 

02/26/09 6:35 PM

floodie4 posted:
Howdy. This is my first post.

The album cover, when I see it, is a 'monkey', a habit, an addiction touching you, letting you know that it's still there and be aware....be very aware and it can come back whenever it feel s like it.

It seems simple, sorry. I am familiar with addictions and this is what it translates to me.

That's how I see it too. Drug addicted Trent in Clean Trent's body telling him he's there. One slip and he's back.

 
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