Add Violence is the fourth EP and eleventh major release by the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. Issued through the Null Corporation and Capitol Records on July 19, 2017, it is the second in a trilogy of releases, following the EP Not the Actual Events (2016) and preceding the band's ninth studio album Bad Witch (2018). It was produced by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.[2]

Add Violence
EP by
ReleasedJuly 19, 2017 (2017-07-19)
GenreIndustrial rock
Length27:14
Label
Producer
Nine Inch Nails chronology
The Fragile: Deviations 1
(2016)
Add Violence
(2017)
Bad Witch
(2018)
Halo numbers chronology
Halo 30
(2016)
Halo 31
(2017)
Halo 32
(2018)
Singles from Add Violence
  1. "Less Than"
    Released: July 13, 2017

Moving away from the more aggressive nature of Not the Actual Events, the EP focused more on soundscapes and textures alongside their traditional elements, similar to that of The Fragile (1999), which resulted in more longform compositions. The release was promoted with two singles: "Less Than" and "This Isn't the Place", along with their accompanying music videos. Add Violence received a positive response from critics, and reached No. 17 on the U.S. charts.

Themes and composition

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In an interview with Zane Lowe, Reznor said:

When we did Not the Actual Events, we were really seduced by the violence of it. The kind of throwing Hesitation Marks out the window and being unafraid to explore approaches we have in the past with the kind of, you know, punch in the face feel to it. And I think that the length of a five-song EP felt like the right length for that, you know? And to repeat that isn't as exciting anymore. It's like we did that. So now as we expand the lyrical viewpoint of this three song trilogy, the music that was interesting to us this time around kind of surprised us. And "Less Than" is not entirely representative of where the rest of the EP goes. So this collection of five songs feels like brothers.[3]

Critical reception

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Professional ratings
Aggregate scores
SourceRating
AnyDecentMusic?7.1/10[4]
Metacritic77/100[5]
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic     [6]
The A.V. ClubB−[7]
Consequence of SoundB[8]
Drowned in Sound8/10[1]
The Independent     [9]
Pitchfork7.3/10[10]
Rolling Stone     [11]
Spin7/10[12]
Sputnikmusic3.2/5[13]

Critical reception for the EP was generally positive. At Metacritic, which assigns a rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the EP received an average score of 77, based on 11 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[5] Gavin Miller from Drowned in Sound gave the EP a score of 8 out of 10, writing that "it's a little light on substance, but what we do get is a really fascinating insight into where Reznor is at with NIN at the moment".[1] Kory Grow of Rolling Stone also gave the EP a positive review, saying that it "contains all the aggression, abjection and self-loathing that solidified Reznor's position as alt-rock's Original Angster but with the measured restraint of a man his age".[11]

Track listing

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All tracks written by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.[14]

No.TitleLength
1."Less Than"3:30
2."The Lovers"4:10
3."This Isn't the Place"4:44
4."Not Anymore"3:08
5."The Background World"11:44
Total length:27:14

Personnel

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Credits adapted from liner notes.[14]

Nine Inch Nails
  • Trent Reznor – songwriting, arranging, production, programming, performance
  • Atticus Ross – songwriting, arranging, production, programming, performance
Additional musicians
  • Sharlotte Gibson – additional vocals ("Less Than")
  • Allison Iraheta – additional vocals ("Less Than")
Technical
  • 42 Entertainment – world integration and execution
  • Tom Baker – mastering
  • John Crawford – art direction
  • Corey Holms – additional design
  • Chris Holmes – engineering
  • Church Lieu – additional concept development
  • Dustin Mosley – engineering
  • Alan Moulder – mixing
  • Jun Murakawa – engineering
  • Geoff Neal – engineering
  • Chris Richardson – engineering

Charts

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Chart (2017) Peak
position
Australian Albums (ARIA)[15] 44
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria)[16] 67
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[17] 15
New Zealand Heatseeker Albums (RMNZ)[18] 4
Spanish Albums (PROMUSICAE)[19] 74
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade)[20] 36
US Billboard 200[21] 17
US Independent Albums (Billboard)[22] 1
US Top Alternative Albums (Billboard)[23] 6
US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)[24] 5

Release history

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Region Date Format(s) Label Ref.
Worldwide July 19, 2017
[25]
July 21, 2017 [25]
September 1, 2017 CD [25]
November 17, 2017 Vinyl [25]

References

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  1. ^ a b c Miller, Gavin (July 19, 2017). "Ep Review: Nine Inch Nails - Add Violence / Releases / Releases // Drowned In Sound". Drowned in Sound. Archived from the original on July 20, 2017. Retrieved July 20, 2017.
  2. ^ Sodomsky, Sam (July 13, 2017). "Nine Inch Nails Detail New ADD VIOLENCE EP, Share New Song "LESS THAN": Listen". pitchfork.com. Retrieved July 14, 2017.
  3. ^ "Trent Reznor says he doesn't know what the final part of Nine Inch Nails' EP trilogy will sound like". NME=. July 13, 2017.
  4. ^ "Add Violence by Nine Inch Nails reviews". www.anydecentmusic.com. Retrieved July 29, 2017.
  5. ^ a b "Reviews and Tracks for Add Violence [EP] by Nine Inch Nails - Metacritic". Metacritic. Retrieved August 18, 2017.
  6. ^ Yeung, Neil. "Add Violence, Nine Inch Nails". AllMusic. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
  7. ^ Ryan, Kyle (July 21, 2017). "Nine Inch Nails, Foster The People, and more in this week's music reviews • Music Review • The A.V. Club". The A.V. Club. Retrieved July 22, 2017.
  8. ^ Ham, Robert (July 24, 2017). "Nine Inch Nails – Add Violence / Album Reviews / Consequence of Sound". Consequence of Sound. Retrieved July 24, 2017.
  9. ^ Gill, Andy (July 26, 2017). "Album reviews: Tyler, The Creator - Flower Boy, Nine Inch Nails - Add Violence, Arcade Fire - Everything Now". The Independent. Archived from the original on July 26, 2017. Retrieved July 30, 2017.
  10. ^ T. Collins, Sean (July 25, 2017). "Nine Inch Nails - Add Violence EP". Pitchfork. Retrieved July 26, 2017.
  11. ^ a b Grow, Kory (July 21, 2017). "Review: Nine Inch Nails' 'Add Violence' EP - Rolling Stone". Rolling Stone. Retrieved July 21, 2017.
  12. ^ Cook-Wilson, Winston (July 24, 2017). "Review: Nine Inch Nails 'Add Violence' / SPIN". Spin. Retrieved July 24, 2017.
  13. ^ "Review: Nine Inch Nails - Add Violence / Sputnikmusic". Sputnikmusic. July 25, 2017. Retrieved July 25, 2017.
  14. ^ a b Add Violence (liner notes). Nine Inch Nails. The Null Corporation. 2017.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  15. ^ "Australiancharts.com – Nine Inch Nails – Add Violence %5BEP%5D". Hung Medien. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
  16. ^ "Austriancharts.at – Nine Inch Nails – Add Violence %5BEP%5D" (in German). Hung Medien. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  17. ^ "Nine Inch Nails Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
  18. ^ "NZ Heatseekers Albums Chart". Recorded Music NZ. July 31, 2017. Retrieved July 28, 2017.
  19. ^ "Top Albums (13 Oct – 19 Oct 2017)". Productores de Música de España. Archived from the original on October 25, 2017. Retrieved October 26, 2017.
  20. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Nine Inch Nails – Add Violence %5BEP%5D". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 2, 2017.
  21. ^ "Nine Inch Nails Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
  22. ^ "Nine Inch Nails Chart History (Independent Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
  23. ^ "Nine Inch Nails Chart History (Top Alternative Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
  24. ^ "Nine Inch Nails Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved August 3, 2017.
  25. ^ a b c d "Nine Inch Nails: Add Violence – New Ep Coming 21 July – nine inch nails". nin.com. July 13, 2017. Retrieved July 14, 2017.