Nine Inch Nails to rock the Big Dome on Aug. 5

The Big Dome is all set to rock the loudest ever in its 50-year history when Nine Inch Nails (NIN) roars into town on Aug. 5 for Wave Goodbye, a one-night only show. The American band is credited with putting industrial rock in the hit charts during the past two decades. You ask what is industrial rock? I’m not sure if I can give an accurate description. All I can say is that it uses more electronic sounds than the rock tunes we get to listen to.

To get a better idea, you might want to check out the recordings of NIN. Among its hit songs are The Hand That Feeds, March of the Pigs, Wish, Happiness in Slavery, La Mer, Every Day Is Exactly the Same and Survivalism. Its most successful albums are The Downward Spiral, The Fragile, With Teeth and the latest, The Slip, which aside from being in the stores has a digital version that can be downloaded free.

Unfair competition for the music stores, you say? Maybe but Nine Inch Nails front guy Trent Reznor has always advocated artistic freedom and probably sees free downloads as a way of making his music accessible to everybody. That must also be why he prefers to do all the music himself. Reznor is not only NIN vocalist. He plays all the instruments and is also songwriter, arranger and producer and whatever else of the band, which therefore is not really a band, but only Reznor playing all the required roles.

For gigs like Wave Goodbye, though, Reznor puts together a band of competent musicians who perform his works the way he wants. Raw and loud. But never plain noise. Reznor has this gift for finding melodies in the sound of chaos and that’s why he can rock hard without ever sacrificing the music.

Tapped to front act for NIN is our very own Pupil. This was the band formed by former Eraserheads leader Ely Buendia. NIN has listened to Pupil’s music and given its go-ahead to the group. This should truly gladden Ely whose recent illness and involvement with two huge E-heads reunions have sort of sidelined Pupil. But times are about to change. Make sure to come early to the Big Dome on Aug. 5 to also catch Pupil’s performance.

For ticket inquiries, log on to www.ticketnet.com.ph or call 911-5555 or visit www.splintr.com. Splintr is the first independent on-line music channel in the country, which boasts of exclusive videos of today’s top artists.

Michael Jackson’s hits

Now back to Michael Jackson, whose death and all the events that have since ensued remain a hot topic all over the world. This one is about the Billboard charts, particularly the Top 200 Albums and the Hot 100. Jackson’s recordings have been outselling all competition these past two weeks but none of them are listed in the main charts. The reason is that the hit lists only cover albums up to two years old and current single releases. 

Jackson’s Thriller, again a No. 1 seller these days is 25 years old while Number Ones and The Essential Michael Jackson are hits compilations that fall under the catalogue charts. It would have been nice to see Thriller add more weeks to its 37 weeks at No. 1 in the Top 200 Albums charts. But Billboard says, rules are rules and they are sticking to theirs.

The Top 10 titles in the Top Digital Albums lists are The Essential Michael Jackson; Thriller; Number Ones; Off the Wall all by Jackson; Far by Regina Spektor; The E.N.D. by The Black Eyed Peas; Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: The Soundtrack Album by Various Artists; Bad again by Jackson; Big Whiskey And The GrooGrux King by Dave Matthews Band; and Dangerous again by Jackson.

The Top Pop Catalog Albums are Number Ones by Jackson; The Essential Michael Jackson; Thriller, all by Jackson; The E.N.D. by The Black Eyed Peas; Lines, Vines And Trying Times by Jonas Brothers; Far by Regina Spektor; Big Whiskey And The GrooGrux King by Dave Matthews Band; Relapse by Eminem; Black Clouds & Silver Linings by Dream Theater; and the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Soundtrack Album.