Trent Reznor: 'Marilyn Manson Is A Dopey Clown'

In a recent interview with Mojo magazine, Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor discusses everything from what he’s doing right now, what he’s planning for the future, and even reminisces about the past. It’s during this reminiscing that he lets out some biting comments against former cohort Marilyn Manson. Some excerpts from that interview are below.

Mojo: You’re on tour with Jane’s Addiction and then you’re taking a break from Nine Inch Nails. There’s a certain symmetry between this tour and the early 1990s when Jane’s took you under their wing…

Trent: That’s right, they gave me a big break on the first Lollapalooza, bringing us in to play in 1991. Then, they were breaking up and we were starting out. Now, we’re stopping and they’re coming back and trying to keep it going. For me, it’s added a lot of weight to the everyday things. These days, there’s always an incentive to tour because that’s where the money is in the music business now, but as I get older it’s tedious and repetitive. The pages on the calendar start flying off too. My buddy just got married, wait, now he’s got a four-year-old kid and what have I done? I sand Head Like A Hole 600 times.

I always want to make sure Nine Inch Nails feels precious and respected. Right now it feels like it needs to go away and be missed. There will be a record, I suspect, in the next couple of years but no touring. I’m interested in the technology stuff right now, that’s what’s grabbing me. I have the courage to do that right now.

You recorded The Downward Spiral in Los Angeles at the Cielo Drive mansion where the 1969 Manson Family murders took place. Did the macabre theatrics, along with the party life, start to undermine your sense of yourself?

I was thrust into a place where I felt I had to be larger than life. What happened internally is, being insecure in general and having social anxiety, I became pretty lost. I made the mistake in 1994 of packing up all my stuff, putting it in storage and having, literally, no home. It was an indefinite tour and I wanted to ride it out. Two and a half years on the road and when there’s a month off, I would dread it. Where am I going to go? There was the sensationalism in the press, too, because it was extreme music and it wasn’t hidden behind a manufactured character like Marilyn Manson. There was no mask, it was just me.

I would look at sinister photos of me and think, “OK, I have to be this guy.” That doesn’t end well. You feel like everyone is looking at you and the one reason is the paranoia but the other part is the fact that they are looking at you. Living outside the rules and embracing this sense of freedom, it felt like it had purpose. But really it was cowardice. And I had this fear that I didn’t deserve all of it, too, and it paralyzed me as far as being creative.

You mentioned Marilyn Manson. You were a vital part of his success as a producer and a platform. Then came the infamous feud. What does the new, happy Trent Reznor see when he looks back on that?

It doesn’t trouble me much now. I went back and recently listened to [the Reznor-produced Manson album] Antichrist Superstar and it brought back a flood of memories. It’s one of the proudest things musically that I’ve ever done. It felt like the right people and the right time doing the right thing. I had a lot of fucking fun doing a lot of stupid things, but that was then. I had a lot of fun at my birthday party when I was eight but I wouldn’t want that same party now.

As far as Manson goes, during the Spiral tour we propped them up to get our audience turned on to them and at that time a lot of the people in my circle were pretty far down the road as alcoholics. Not Manson. His drive for success and self-preservation was so high, he pretended to be fucked up a lot when he wasn’t. He resented when he was up in the morning and wanted to work. Things got shitty between us and I’m not blameless. The majority of it though was coming from a resentment guy who finally got out from under the master’s umbrella and was able to stab him in the back. He is a malicious guy and will step on anyone’s face to succeed and cross any line of decency.

Seeing him now, drugs and alcohol now rule his life and he’s become a dopey clown. He used to be the smartest guy in the room. Getting high deprives you of your creativity and, as a fan of his talents, I hope he gets his shit together.

You put out Ghost I-IV last year as well as The Slip, which you initially gave away for free. They felt like quick exercises in the nimble nature of this new digital scene you enjoy. When you do put out another album, what will be your compass point for it?

The last few albums were fast, they were fun challenges. I wouldn’t do that again. The next thing would be a more thought-out songwriting-based album. Now that I’m Mr. Internet Genius I want people to hear the next record and say, “Man, that’s a fucking well-written song.” That’s really all I ever wanted to do.

You can check out scans of the full interview here. Nine Inch Nails is currently on tour with Jane’s Addiction and Street Sweeper Social Club.

Report by David Lowe-Bianco.

Comments

[Jet_Black88]

Trent seems like a pretty good guy. The headlines make him seem like someone who just takes stabs at others all the time, and that's not true.

In better news, they were able to raise the money they needed for that guy to get the heart transplant. Why don't they report something awesome like that?

[Quicksand15]

Jet_Black88 wrote:

Trent seems like a pretty good guy. The headlines make him seem like someone who just takes stabs at others all the time, and that's not true.

In better news, they were able to raise the money they needed for that guy to get the heart transplant. Why don't they report something awesome like that?

+1000.
And I'm SO glad to be able to catch them live at the Southside festival this year!

[mastaofrocknrol]

Jet_Black88 wrote:

Trent seems like a pretty good guy. The headlines make him seem like someone who just takes stabs at others all the time, and that's not true.

In better news, they were able to raise the money they needed for that guy to get the heart transplant. Why don't they report something awesome like that?

Agree, I already had my angry comment done, But after the read he might even have a point.

[CrowLord]

the headline is taken completely out of context from this article, and it is lazy tabloid journalism

[TheStruction]

Puh, I also thought that this just would be another slanderthing (as the headline suggest) but it was far from it.

I share Trents view on Mr. Manson; I hope he gets his shit together.

[Shayne777]

yes trent alawys saying what we're thinking

[guitaringnathan]

he is sadly completely right about manson,

[sajn]

once again UG's headline is misleading : seriously cant they get someone better for the headline stuffs alone..

[GiantRaven]

So The Slip was rushed songwriting and hastily put out? Explains a lot... =P

Hope the next album is more interesting...

[devilex121]

even though i may not like NIN's music
i have to say that trent reznor is a likeable person

hes really straightforward and i respect him for calling manson a dopey clown
manson is the modern version of glam metal (except without the catchy music)

[zAg1619]

Way to go UG by drawing all of our attention to this article by taking things out of context, yet again. Works every time. Trent is a decent fellow, you can clearly see that through this interview, NOT by the headline. Stop with the slandering headlines please.

[G-loony]

How is the headline wrong ?
He said Manson was a dopey clown and so did the title.

Anyway's, Mansons a hypocrit.
He's trying to set teens up against modern day and all of Hollywood society.
Meanwhile he lives in a big freakn villa, somewhere around LA.

[Chaingarden]

I like Marilyn Manson and his music a lot, but I wasn't surprised to hear those things about him. Hearing some of the things he's been saying lately, talking about his new album and whatnot, he just seems like a sad, fading cultural relic from the last generation. Reznor seems to have more staying power, as a musician.

[Adam_Harrison9]

I read one of Henry Rollins "on-the-road" diaries and ever since I haven't been able to look/read about Trent Reznor in a positive light. He comes across as bit of a goof half the time as well.

[Macabre_Turtle]

G-loony wrote:

How is the headline wrong ?
He said Manson was a dopey clown and so did the title.

Anyway's, Mansons a hypocrit.
He's trying to set teens up against modern day and all of Hollywood society.
Meanwhile he lives in a big freakn villa, somewhere around LA.

Because it made it sound like Trent was simply talking shit and being an ass, though he was actually only saying that he can see Manson going downhill and thinks he can fix it. I actually got pissed off when I read the headline, but understood after reading the article.

I fail to see his hypocrisy,p.s.
The first sentence of that just flat out makes no sense, and the second sentence implies that you think he's not aloud to make music about what he wants because of his living conditions.

[AlbertCamus]

What's up with all this stuff about Manson? Didn't he like JUST make a new album? Then he'll probably tour? Seems like he has at least some of his shit together to be able to do that.

[Kai07]

Trent seems like a cool guy to hang out with. very real. I mean, he is right. Manson is a very smart guy, but drugs will **** you up.

[MetalGear1786]

Trent kicks ass.

[guitarsftw]

i thought the whole interview was going to be a Manson-bash-fest, but it was not that brutal. i get the sense that Trent actually cares about Manson, or at least the music he makes. Reznor has a good perspective of drugs and their effects.

[KurdtStaley]

yeah i like Reznor.. i'm about to read a full interview, he's a lot more well spoken than most artists..

[KurdtStaley]

AlbertCamus wrote:

What's up with all this stuff about Manson? Didn't he like JUST make a new album? Then he'll probably tour? Seems like he has at least some of his shit together to be able to do that.

Yeah kind of wondering the same myself. I'm not like real up on Manson news or anything but i did get his new album off the internet recently. Listening to Four Rusted Horses, i like Manson branching out a little.

[MusicalMinority]

Trent Reznor, one of the smartest men in music.
Hands down.

[RockInPeaceDime]

G-loony wrote:

How is the headline wrong ?
He said Manson was a dopey clown and so did the title.

Anyway's, Mansons a hypocrit.
He's trying to set teens up against modern day and all of Hollywood society.
Meanwhile he lives in a big freakn villa, somewhere around LA.

err there's such a thing as context...and the article title did not bring any context what so ever. You can't yank one sentence from a whole article, toss it in as the headline, and pretend you're not removing any of the context with which it was said. It's called shitty journalism and sensationalism.

headlines are meant to draw you in. if it explained the whole story in the one sentence then there'd be no point in having the story.

if all you're drawn to is musicians bitching about each other and you're disappointed that this isn't the case, well I think that says a lot more about you than the writers

RockInPeaceDime wrote:

G-loony wrote:

How is the headline wrong ?
He said Manson was a dopey clown and so did the title.

Anyway's, Mansons a hypocrit.
He's trying to set teens up against modern day and all of Hollywood society.
Meanwhile he lives in a big freakn villa, somewhere around LA.

err there's such a thing as context...and the article title did not bring any context what so ever. You can't yank one sentence from a whole article, toss it in as the headline, and pretend you're not removing any of the context with which it was said. It's called shitty journalism and sensationalism.

what would you have as the headline.

'trent reznor says stuff...'?

[kryzay311]

I never ever thought I would find myself siding with Trent Reznor.

[sukeyscorer]

they should have written about the fact that he's raised a shit ton of money to save a guy's life.

[lopezmetalmunky]

I like that Reznor's showing compassion for Manson. I mean, if it weren't for musicians like Trent, we would have a far darker music world.

People like Reznor need to speak up more often because the masses have the wrong outlook of rock and roll. It should be about the music, but what it turns out to be about is about the drugs, sex and violence.

[poor_blue_crabs]

Lemoninfluence wrote:
what would you have as the headline.

'trent reznor says stuff...'?

What about "Trent Reznor....." yeah, the guys got a point. It's like how loud tv commercials try to grab your attention.

[SirShredfast]

CrowLord wrote:

the headline is taken completely out of context from this article, and it is lazy tabloid journalism

you did read the whole article after seeing the title right?

I don't see a problem. The news writer succeeded.

[SirShredfast]

Also, Trent is god.

[aebers79]

more of trent being a pompous *******

[The Eyebrow]

what would you have as the headline.
'trent reznor says stuff...'?

'Reznor Discusses Tour, Marilyn Manson and NIN's future'
Headline tells you briefly what's there, doesn't spoil the article and doesn't mislead readers.

I should point out that I read this article because I'm a fan of NIN, didn't even know Trent produced stuff for Manson

[aebers79]

nevermind, i actually read the article. trent is right...

aebers79 wrote:

more of trent being a pompous *****

aebers79 wrote:

nevermind, i actually read the article. trent is right...

see, the title serves to weed out the people who form opinions without actually knowing anything.

[areese82]

I hope he's not serious about the internet genius thing...I meam come on Trent, the internet's been around since the mid 90's and u r just putting it to use with more music now...not so genius

[Child Of Maiden]

RockInPeaceDime wrote:

G-loony wrote:

How is the headline wrong ?
He said Manson was a dopey clown and so did the title.

Anyway's, Mansons a hypocrit.
He's trying to set teens up against modern day and all of Hollywood society.
Meanwhile he lives in a big freakn villa, somewhere around LA.

err there's such a thing as context...and the article title did not bring any context what so ever. You can't yank one sentence from a whole article, toss it in as the headline, and pretend you're not removing any of the context with which it was said. It's called shitty journalism and sensationalism.

As dodgy as the journalism is on UG sometimes, this isn't really one to pull out the pitchforks and light torches over. The title says that Reznor called Manson a "dopey clown" and *gasp* Trent Reznor actually called Manson a "dopey clown". It's one of the more compelling parts of the article so they decided to use it as the headline. And this isn't a case where they blatantly took something out of context either so I can't imagine why you would be complaining about this. It's not like Trent didn't mean to say that.

[Rooster666]

areese82 wrote:

I hope he's not serious about the internet genius thing...I meam come on Trent, the internet's been around since the mid 90's and u r just putting it to use with more music now...not so genius

i think the genius comment was just sarcasm

[[x]Huffy[x]]

Out-of-context article titles ftw?

[PcaKes]

Well if the shoe fits...
misquoted though.

[GREENWARRI0R]

Wow, I thought Trent was gonna totally rag on Manson, but from what he said, he seems like a pretty cool guy.

[porhobo420]

why did he sand head like a hole 600 times?

[jetfuel495]

porhobo420 wrote:

why did he sand head like a hole 600 times?

That's what I first thought as well. I think he just needed to get a finer grain.

I think it meant sang. Just maybe.

[The Contagen]

porhobo420 wrote:

why did he sand head like a hole 600 times?

The article straight out of the magazine says "sang head like a hole 600 times". Just a typo.

[arsonite]

Tabloid Title!!!!

[BassFishin]

Jet_Black88 wrote:

Trent seems like a pretty good guy. The headlines make him seem like someone who just takes stabs at others all the time, and that's not true.

another + 1000 for you! Trent is a great guy. I'm glad he sobered up too...

but i mean, how can you NOT love the marketing used to promote Year Zero? It's one of the coolest forms of advertising i've ever seen!

(next to the Aqua Teen Hunger Force bomb scare!)

In better news, they were able to raise the money they needed for that guy to get the heart transplant. Why don't they report something awesome like that?

[metallica_121]

KurdtStaley wrote:

AlbertCamus wrote:

What's up with all this stuff about Manson? Didn't he like JUST make a new album? Then he'll probably tour? Seems like he has at least some of his shit together to be able to do that.

Yeah kind of wondering the same myself. I'm not like real up on Manson news or anything but i did get his new album off the internet recently. Listening to Four Rusted Horses, i like Manson branching out a little.

I think Trent means he needs to quit the drugs and bring back the creativity and intelligence he had before the drugs, i must admit MM's music has been lowering in quality the past couple of albums i can't say ive enjoyed much of his work post-holywood

[EnyoAdonai]

Good news story. Trent is someone I would like to hear more from in the future.

[jables23092]

I like Trent and Marilyn. Trent has some great points too, but his ideas on touring seem to be a bit ego-centric, as if singing head like a hole 600 times means nothing. In reality, it probably meant the world to fans there. But then again, lots of artists get this way when they talk about a break. When he's ready to do the NIN thing again, he'll probably share a different view on touring etc.

[masterchief44]

"It felt like the right people and the right time doing the right thing. I had a lot of ****ing fun doing a lot of stupid things, but that was then. I had a lot of fun at my birthday party when I was eight but I wouldn’t want that same party now."

Trent is awesome.

[ihavenoname93]

yet another misleading title. seriously UG, stop it.

[bsinot1190]

so ultimate guitar, you'll delete my posts when i'm "band bashing" on the comments section of a dmb article, but you publish stories about band bashing? makes sense in a retarded sort of way.

[manmanster]

Chaingarden wrote:

I like Marilyn Manson and his music a lot, but I wasn't surprised to hear those things about him. Hearing some of the things he's been saying lately, talking about his new album and whatnot, he just seems like a sad, fading cultural relic from the last generation. Reznor seems to have more staying power, as a musician.

I dont know, Trent Reznor may have more staying power, but only because he releases half the amount of material Manson does, and Trent hasn't had his shit together, or his LIFE together in a long time.

[dmiwshicldply]

its a misleading title yes, but it made you read the article didnt it? they did their job then, quit bitching

[gocaps99]

Not that I disagree, but the comment comes from one of the worst musicians out there.

[AlexMacky]

Anyone else sick of UG always trying to make situations seem more severe in their headlines? Very annoying.

[mka12992]

manmanster wrote:

Chaingarden wrote:

I like Marilyn Manson and his music a lot, but I wasn't surprised to hear those things about him. Hearing some of the things he's been saying lately, talking about his new album and whatnot, he just seems like a sad, fading cultural relic from the last generation. Reznor seems to have more staying power, as a musician.

I dont know, Trent Reznor may have more staying power, but only because he releases half the amount of material Manson does, and Trent hasn't had his shit together, or his LIFE together in a long time.

I hope that's a joke, because right now his shit IS together. If you think doing Heroin is good, then you are crazy.

gocaps99 wrote:

Not that I disagree, but the comment comes from one of the worst musicians out there.

I'd like to see your reasoning for this, as he seems to put a lot into his music. Also he has a greater musical history and musical training than half of the other "mainstream" artists nowadays.

[riley714]

haha manson is a freak.
he is a dopey clown.

[Riffrocker83]

CrowLord :
the headline is taken completely out of context from this article, and it is lazy tabloid journalism

I'm sure it was just meant as an attention-grabber. That's actually what made me want to read the article.

[y-e-a-r-z-e-r-o]

i wish i'd be able to see NIN this summer, but i missed my chance.. boohoo

[Echoplex]

gocaps99 wrote:

Not that I disagree, but the comment comes from one of the worst musicians out there.

Trent Reznor > You. Trent may not be the most technically skilled musicians, but he is an incredible songwriter.

[shadow__666]

The people who write UG's headlines should all be shot. Trent was basically calling out MM to get his shit together, which is fair enough. I'm a fan of both of them but Trent's managed to stay relatively consistent throughout his career, where as Manson's newer stuff = shite.

[Guitar_Jester]

Great interview!

[waysay]

I love dope and I like Clowns!

[crazy8rgood]

gocaps99 wrote:

Not that I disagree, but the comment comes from one of the worst musicians out there.

How can you even say that? I mean, really, the dude plays the entire ****ing recording studio.

[waveningkan]

NIN's music has been repetitive for the past 5 years or so.as a fan of his past works,im gettin less interested these days.

[SG Man Forever]

Manson is a pointless shock rocker, but the title for this article and the theme of the actual substance differ totally.

[Angel Of Sin]

Manson is a ****ing trend *****

[korn_dawg]

Adam_Harrison9 wrote:

I read one of Henry Rollins "on-the-road" diaries and ever since I haven't been able to look/read about Trent Reznor in a positive light. He comes across as bit of a goof half the time as well.

Henry Rollins has hated Reznor ever since he first met him on NIN's first bout on Lollapalooza. I assumed it was because NIN was very popular out of nowhere and Rollins might disrespect them because Reznor might not have had to "earn" his fame in Rollin's eyes. But I didn't know that Rollins published his diaries, so I'll have to check that out.

[punXander]

korn_dawg wrote:

Adam_Harrison9 wrote:

I read one of Henry Rollins "on-the-road" diaries and ever since I haven't been able to look/read about Trent Reznor in a positive light. He comes across as bit of a goof half the time as well.
Henry Rollins has hated Reznor ever since he first met him on NIN's first bout on Lollapalooza. I assumed it was because NIN was very popular out of nowhere and Rollins might disrespect them because Reznor might not have had to "earn" his fame in Rollin's eyes. But I didn't know that Rollins published his diaries, so I'll have to check that out.

now come on, henry rollins is the joke out of the two, he is the one who got to be in Black Flag out of no where, literally he did nothing to get where he did... he is just terrible...

on topic, i would like to say that trent explains himself very well and thought out, and it's amazing to see such a smart man still have respect for people who are dopey clowns and stabs people in the back... he only bashes people when he really believes in something... keep up the good work mr. R!

[pyritmann]

Trent Reznor is the smartest man in the music business, he knows what hes talking about.

[indiebass21]

"Trent Reznor talks about Drugs, touring, and the future."
maybe not the best but it took me all of 15 seconds to come up with.

[4ng3l]

I agree on the title, Trent barely spoke about him
Wow, I just re-iterated what a bunch of people alread said. Go me...

[clincher09]

gocaps99 wrote:

Not that I disagree, but the comment comes from one of the worst musicians out there.

Big ****ing fail right there.

[xberserkx]

Good to hear that he's going to put more time into a new album because the Slip sounded like it was obviously rushed

[7stringuzr]

cun t mother f ucking b itch assh ole sh it puss y f uck. fu ck trent renzor

[JRowe3388]

@7stringuzr: Your comment alone says a lot about your intelligence.

What are you? Twelve?

And in regards to the other comments, I loved The Slip. Manson's latest music however is boring and uninspired. Trent is right. He's just a big dopey clown.

[RUSTDOGG666]

Trent Reznor is right though. Manson is a clown and not a very good one.,

[Filip413]

*yawn* not another Trent Reznor article. Anyway, NIN are starting to get boring, never liked them.

[robk_21]

manson is a clown, i read the interview with him in kerrang last week and he just comes off as an arse. when talking about his house he said "yeah i know it looks like a serial killer lives here" just seems like he's tryin to make himself seem real wierd and cool. epic fail.

[psychoskin473]

Trent is completely right about manson and the last couple a manson albums have been dissapointing at best. I really dont care whats going on in his personal life he doesnt need a megaphone to vent his frustrations with relationships. Golden Age was ok it was just a more vulgar version of Mechanical animals. Manson's material has always been american society he's got the best possible material right now. damn shame

[farfaraway]

Adam_Harrison9 wrote:

I read one of Henry Rollins "on-the-road" diaries and ever since I haven't been able to look/read about Trent Reznor in a positive light. He comes across as bit of a goof half the time as well.

You think Reznor is a goof from reading that shit?
Henry Rollins is the biggest goof loser there is.

[decayingdave]

CrowLord wrote:

the headline is taken completely out of context from this article, and it is lazy tabloid journalism

True, but if you're trying to defend Manson, it does seem pretty obvious that reznor made him what he is (or, what he was, in light of recent terrible albums) - seeing as antichrist superstar was than only thing that he ever produced that was worthy of recognition.

Still, they can't exactly say that trent hasn't gone downhill himself - the journalist omitted the details that trent and marilyn have both been going downhill since their peaks in the mid 90's. They're both as bad as eachother, and that's 'cus they're both tired and slow.

[Gibson_SG_uzr55]

I thought he was gonna bash Manson for the sake of doing it, but his reasons behind it were good ones. I totally aree with him

[ggggtarded]

trent is very well spoken. i am not a big fan of his music but from that interview i have a newfound respect. drugs don't lead to creativity or ability and it is very cool that he sounds sober.

[601210]

UG spinning news negatively ftl

[queenslander47]

He used to be the smartest guy in the room. Getting high deprives you of your creativity

totally agree, way too many ppl i know are heading down that road, ****in drugs

[-[NiL]-]

At least Manson's albums are still selling. =P

[GenerationKILL]

"fan of his talents???"

Are you kidding me? what is the measure of trent reznors supposed genuis when he considers a guy whos doing what ozzy and alice cooper already did, talented?

Gimme a ****ing break Trent, the fact that marylin manson has progressed NOWHERE in the past 10 years is what the real travesty is, who cares what drugs or alcohol he does. The guy is FINISHED, anyone with half a brain and a good opinion knows this, esspecially when they still have to keep reminding themselves that Manson is IN HIS FORTIES and still desperately trying to be an attention *****.

The landscape of modern "extreme music" or "shock rock" has changed so much within the past 10 years that a guy like manson is no longer relevant. You'd think if he was the "genius" some people say he is, he'd have realized that by now...

[anti999]

CrowLord wrote:

the headline is taken completely out of context from this article, and it is lazy tabloid journalism

yeah its very misleading....

[RockInPeaceDime]

Child Of Maiden wrote:

RockInPeaceDime wrote:

G-loony wrote:

How is the headline wrong ?
He said Manson was a dopey clown and so did the title.

Anyway's, Mansons a hypocrit.
He's trying to set teens up against modern day and all of Hollywood society.
Meanwhile he lives in a big freakn villa, somewhere around LA.

err there's such a thing as context...and the article title did not bring any context what so ever. You can't yank one sentence from a whole article, toss it in as the headline, and pretend you're not removing any of the context with which it was said. It's called shitty journalism and sensationalism.

As dodgy as the journalism is on UG sometimes, this isn't really one to pull out the pitchforks and light torches over. The title says that Reznor called Manson a "dopey clown" and *gasp* Trent Reznor actually called Manson a "dopey clown". It's one of the more compelling parts of the article so they decided to use it as the headline. And this isn't a case where they blatantly took something out of context either so I can't imagine why you would be complaining about this. It's not like Trent didn't mean to say that.

I'm not up in arms about anything lol...it's not a big deal, but that doesn't mean it's not the truth.

It was out of context. Reznor said/implied, in context, "I had respect for Manson, but now the drugs have taken away his creativity/ability to make music and he's dopey clown. I hope he gets off the drugs." Reznor precisely meant to say that Manson was a dopey clown, sure, but he didn't mean it as an insult and there was plenty more to what he said...it is the job of a journalist to use headlines that provide contextual truth, not sensationalized headlines just to get attention.

It wasn't that compelling; him encouraging Manson to get off drugs was more compelling than what the headline would have you believe is a baseless insult.

I do not believe the point of a headline is to falsely draw readers in. The point of a headline is to give the main gist of the article without spreading false information or impressions. There's a reason news headlines are less likely to be direct quotes..because quotes are taken out of context. If you can't quote someone in a headline without completely destroying the context of what the person said, then you shouldn't use that as a headline. It is lazy journalism, as someone said, to use sensationalized headlines just to draw readers in.

I don't care much for this example, but I'll use it as it's one I can think of: The Pope recently was quoted as saying that condoms increase the chance of STDs spreading...numerous sources quoted him as saying this. It was clearly out of context; what the Pope said was that condoms may increase the spread of STDs and then he went on to discuss how they could provide a false sense of security. There's a HUGE difference there, and it's all in the context. One quote makes the Pope look like a complete dipshit (he is in my opinion) blabbering on about random shit, the other quote makes it seem like he has actually put a slight bit of thought into the subject.

[jsurf06]

guitaringnathan wrote:

he is sadly completely right about manson,

agreed

[PanteraBread]

RockInPeaceDime wrote:

Child Of Maiden wrote:

RockInPeaceDime wrote:

G-loony wrote:

How is the headline wrong ?
He said Manson was a dopey clown and so did the title.

Anyway's, Mansons a hypocrit.
He's trying to set teens up against modern day and all of Hollywood society.
Meanwhile he lives in a big freakn villa, somewhere around LA.

err there's such a thing as context...and the article title did not bring any context what so ever. You can't yank one sentence from a whole article, toss it in as the headline, and pretend you're not removing any of the context with which it was said. It's called shitty journalism and sensationalism.

As dodgy as the journalism is on UG sometimes, this isn't really one to pull out the pitchforks and light torches over. The title says that Reznor called Manson a "dopey clown" and *gasp* Trent Reznor actually called Manson a "dopey clown". It's one of the more compelling parts of the article so they decided to use it as the headline. And this isn't a case where they blatantly took something out of context either so I can't imagine why you would be complaining about this. It's not like Trent didn't mean to say that.

I'm not up in arms about anything lol...it's not a big deal, but that doesn't mean it's not the truth.

It was out of context. Reznor said/implied, in context, "I had respect for Manson, but now the drugs have taken away his creativity/ability to make music and he's dopey clown. I hope he gets off the drugs." Reznor precisely meant to say that Manson was a dopey clown, sure, but he didn't mean it as an insult and there was plenty more to what he said...it is the job of a journalist to use headlines that provide contextual truth, not sensationalized headlines just to get attention.

It wasn't that compelling; him encouraging Manson to get off drugs was more compelling than what the headline would have you believe is a baseless insult.

I do not believe the point of a headline is to falsely draw readers in. The point of a headline is to give the main gist of the article without spreading false information or impressions. There's a reason news headlines are less likely to be direct quotes..because quotes are taken out of context. If you can't quote someone in a headline without completely destroying the context of what the person said, then you shouldn't use that as a headline. It is lazy journalism, as someone said, to use sensationalized headlines just to draw readers in.

I don't care much for this example, but I'll use it as it's one I can think of: The Pope recently was quoted as saying that condoms increase the chance of STDs spreading...numerous sources quoted him as saying this. It was clearly out of context; what the Pope said was that condoms may increase the spread of STDs and then he went on to discuss how they could provide a false sense of security. There's a HUGE difference there, and it's all in the context. One quote makes the Pope look like a complete dipshit (he is in my opinion) blabbering on about random shit, the other quote makes it seem like he has actually put a slight bit of thought into the subject.

+100000 i couldn't have said it better myself

[southern_stylin]

Lemoninfluence m :

what would you have as the headline.

'trent reznor says stuff...'?

How about, "Reznor discusses future of NIN."

Or, "Article from another site containing NIN news."

[aocrkid]

so manson sucks now because of drugs...

[Jc447]

Lots of musicians take stabs at other people :/

But when someone does it more than once...

[prsrulz91]

zAg1619 wrote:

Way to go UG by drawing all of our attention to this article by taking things out of context, yet again. Works every time. Trent is a decent fellow, you can clearly see that through this interview, NOT by the headline. Stop with the slandering headlines please.

Unfortunately, they don't give a rat's ass about the correlation between the title and the content of an article. As long as the headline gets people reading, they don't care what it says