One of my favorite elements of Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five was the concept of Tralfamadorians and their temporal vision. Unlike human beings, the Tralfamadorians don't have linear perception and can simultaneously see every stage of a being's life. Consequently, no era of an individual's life is more important than another as they all form the greater whole of their existence. I like to use this view when looking at the filmography or discography of artists. Even controversial works from celebrated creators that aren't initially successful tend to act as catalysts for future greatness. The process becomes even more intriguing when looking at the prolific career of a genius in retrospect. Case in point: Trent Reznor.
Reznor has been a mainstay in the music industry longer than anyone might have expected. It would've been easy to peg Nine Inch Nails as just a byproduct of the navel-gazing gift shop nihilism that defined the mid to late 90s, but Reznor's constant reinvention allowed him to outlast his arguably more successful peers. That's why I find the video linked above so entertaining, where Reznor provides his talented fingers for the band Slam Bamboo's synth section. The band's sound is as bland and indistinct as most of the pop music from the 80s, but listening to the song as a broader part of the Trent Reznor tapestry provides an auxiliary enjoyment.
