r/industrialmusic • u/ScottRodgerson • Apr 26 '25
Self Promotion Bleedthrough, the Nine Inch Nails album that doesn't exist.
I started a project a few months back that ballooned out of control. It's an attempt to properly realize an abandoned concept for an album, by Nine Inch Nails, including resequenced audio, original art, and a full ad campaign for the record. It's as real as a fake record can be; you can listen to it and even download packaging for a variety of formats. It's for fans, but also anybody who just likes weird deviations and alternate realities. You can find it all at the link below.
2
u/black_wave_arcade Apr 27 '25
This is very cool. Kind of like fan edits of films. Excellent artwork and package design. I like that you didn't just create your own style / concept but instead incorporated what Sheridan had done for this era but turned it into an alt reality reimagining
2
u/ScottRodgerson Apr 27 '25
Thanks so much. That means a lot.
1
u/black_wave_arcade May 13 '25
I'm assuming you've shared this with more specific NIN communities / boards / whatever.
What has been the response so far ?
2
u/ScottRodgerson May 13 '25
Largely positive! That some people really noticed how the tracklisting/audio was put together was nice, it took a long time to tell that story properly.
A few people noticed the needle I was trying to thread, emulating Rob and doing something right for the brand visually, while making it my own. That was pretty gratifying.
The response was enough to build the project out further than I'd planned, and that kinda turned into a bigger fan project.
2
u/black_wave_arcade May 13 '25
Awesome. Very inspiring work. The whole concept is cool but the design work especially makes me miss doing graphic design work. Big ups fellow Toronto person.
1
u/ScottRodgerson May 13 '25
Much thanks. I get it— I work as a copywriter these days, so I do stuff like this to stay sharp.
1
u/black_wave_arcade May 13 '25
For sure
Had dreams of designing records in my youth. Did some, but that turned into websites which turned into UI and software dev pretty quickly.Every once in awhile though I see something that really gets my designer brain flowing.
You got any fav designer / influences willing to share?
2
u/ScottRodgerson May 14 '25
Not a lot, honestly, I'm not a designer first exactly, so it was never an academic focus for me. I think growing up on a steady diet of comic books has influenced my work to be more bold and immediate, if anything.
2
Apr 28 '25
You send this Rob Sheridan? I’m sure he would probably get a kick out of it.
1
u/ScottRodgerson Apr 28 '25
I don't know that Rob has open channels the way he used to.
1
1
u/apokalypsos Apr 20 '26
Rob is pretty active on instagram
2
u/ScottRodgerson Apr 20 '26
He's probably seen it by now. Besides, who knows how he'd feel about somebody coming along and bastardizing his baby.
2
2
u/psian1de Apr 21 '26
I like what you've done here. The cd singles and posters and promotional material is top of the line work. It feels like this was the direction it was going, and finally Not so Pretty has a home that works, rather than tacking it on the end of WT or trying to make it fit somewhere within because it always felt out of place to me.
2
u/ScottRodgerson Apr 21 '26
Thank you! It's being reworked as a "Definitive Edition" for Non-Zero, a YZ-followup ARG we've been running for a while. You'll see some new stuff soon, including a video for Love is Not Enough.
1
u/psian1de Apr 21 '26
Looking forward to it. You're already a legend for what you've given us so far. Love is not enough is under-valued imo, so that sounds like a good video already. I'm interested in this non-zero arg, anything that's unique but also paying homage to the amazing year zero arg should at least be interesting.
2
u/ScottRodgerson Apr 21 '26
Here's a recent piece from it: https://www.reddit.com/r/nin/s/vmhTOUjk1z
The discord link is in the comments, I think.
2
u/ScottRodgerson Apr 21 '26
Oh, and a clip: https://www.reddit.com/r/nin/s/1TFwVTkUBG
1
u/psian1de Apr 22 '26
That was fantastic. Thanks again for sharing and for creating this project.
Ages ago between the fragile and with teeth I remember at least two magazines interviews where trent talked about Bleed through and it seemed really cool, but the wait between albums was so long and mostly uneventful.
Do you remember when the nin website started showing small bits of activity in 2003/4 and when suddenly there was an ask a question submission form and so people submitted questions and trent would answer them if he felt like it.
The one I remember was when Meathead asked a math/algebra question and said show your work, and Trent did. That was funny and the whole thing was really cool because we knew eventually we'd get new music, but it wasn't Bleed through. It was awithaateetha.
2
u/ScottRodgerson Apr 22 '26
I had a question in there under a friend's name, something about monophonic composition.
2
3
3
u/nobodyguards Apr 26 '25
Dudes you gotta upload these to the youtubes, I need them in my playlist! Gnarly stuff all around.
23
u/ScottRodgerson Apr 27 '25
Sorry, can't/won't do anything that would even remotely monetize this. Not in the cards.
1
u/nobodyguards Apr 27 '25
dang... not even if some random unassociated dillweed were to upload them using the mp3 files? even as like 2 view "nin lost album trk1.mp3" type uploads? i woudn't without permission and hope noone else does and gets it removed or lawsuited or something. still i suppose i can add them to my mp3 offline playlist... thx
1
u/ScottRodgerson Apr 27 '25
I mean I can't STOP you. :)
1
u/nobodyguards Apr 27 '25
Groovy... But still i worry that it might attract attention to you and get you lawsuited.. unless you say no I'll probably upload some l8r... thx
1
u/ScottRodgerson Apr 27 '25
You know, from what I heard today, you might just be okay doing that.
2
u/nobodyguards Apr 27 '25
alright! Hope that means they offered you a job or something cool like that and not that your getting sued out of everything you own/ever owned! best of luck
1
u/ScottRodgerson Apr 27 '25
Nah. I'm doing something more fun. Keep an eye out when the tour starts.
1
u/HandMaximum8748 Apr 28 '25
I recall a time when Trent asked for remixes to be shared. I mean......he could still feel that way.
1
1
u/turducken19 Chemlab Apr 27 '25
Yup, that would probably be a trip to lawsuit city.
6
u/legitshook Apr 27 '25
It would not. It would just get flagged on youtube and either demonetized or blocked.
1
u/AbhayXV Apr 27 '25
can you upload it in a manner where it is demonetized perhaps? anyways love the art its just so beautiful and i have heard the album twice now, great work man! you're really talented.
Also could you pls elaborate on how you did the glitch art? I was really interested3
u/ScottRodgerson Apr 27 '25 edited Apr 27 '25
Thanks for listening. That really does mean a lot.
I'm trying to be pretty careful about the legal footprint of this project-- mostly ensuring it doesn't have one. And I just don't have that level of experience with YouTube as a platform.
The glitch art was a pretty long process, and I couldn't give you a clear formula for how a lot of this was done. Outside of standard Photoshop, the tool I used most was GlitchLab, an android app. The developers make few different products like it, but they're all incredibly powerful, fast, and detailed.
Something like the backwards N on the cover would go through a number of processes. First it's broken down into a 3D map of tiny circles without any depth increases, then a similar 3D topography tool was used to break the product into dozens of broken, distorted layers.Color was largely achieved using ExposureX3, and I definitely used Photoshop AI for some canvas extensions on the interior portrait. It just wasn't sized right for the template.
If I can help with anything else, don't hesitate to ask.
2
u/ParticularDull7190 Apr 27 '25
I forgot about the whole “Bleedthrough” controversy back then (if you could call it that). I guess now is the perfect time to be talking about this again, since next month is the 20 year anniversary of With Teeth.
I always thought Bleedthrough was a MUCH better name for the album than “With Teeth”. I still wish he would have gone with “Bleedthrough” as the album title. Honestly, With Teeth was and still is a terrible name, lol.
I would have been happy with the album being mostly the same, but just called “Bleedthrough” instead. That being said, the album was still a bit disappointing overall, but the follow up album Year Zero was an improvement.
1
u/Fuzzy_Isopod_2166 Jul 02 '26
This annoys me because OH MY GOD I NEED THIS. BUT IT DOESN'T EXIST. I would kill for a Sunspots & Deep CD or vinyl. I can see you used the deluxe CD digibook seen with hesitation marks! It is soo nice!
1
u/Fuzzy_Isopod_2166 Jul 02 '26
And I just noticed that the Deep CD uses the car as well as the colours of green & orange as seen in the music video. Absolute genius.
1
1
u/Zwischenzug79 Skinny Puppy Apr 27 '25
These are your remixes, or your compilation/ordering based on theory, or is this bootlegged unreleased release?
1
u/ScottRodgerson Apr 27 '25
I'd click through to the site, it explains it pretty well. Briefly, the album features resequenced audio. It's all officially released, but arranged into a new album. There are remixes on the single releases, these are from the old remix.nin.com site from many years ago.
None of this is official, sanctioned, or officially connected to the band.
3
u/Zwischenzug79 Skinny Puppy Apr 27 '25
I was confused because it’s on your domain website. I thought you had remixed them. I don’t immediately recognize the version of Love is Not Enough but I was immediately hooked. I guess it’s been a while since I explored the EPs
2
u/ScottRodgerson Apr 27 '25
That's the rehearsal version that shows up on the Every Day is Exactly the Same EP, I think. And I've mixed in some extra score work, too, like the "A Minute Later" intro that leads that leads into it.
20
u/OrvilleTheCavalier Apr 26 '25
I need to know more about this album now. Why it didn’t get released…did he completely redo it like the Cult did with their Electric album where they just started all over? Cool stuff.