In a discussion recently I remarked to a friend how Nine Inch Nails are the only band who [in my opinion] have never made a bad album. However, I now take my comment back. While the production of the album is first rate, the songs fall far from the industrial noise come conceptual evolutions that have propelled Trent Reznor through the last decades. The opening track (999,999) gives intriguing promise, only to give way to the disappointing melodic electronica that doesn't subside. There is one diamond in the rough though; The Four of us in Here Are Dying. However this instrumental is not enough to rescue the sinking ship that is 'the slip'. Ultimately this album feels little more than Trent Reznor and friends jamming in their studio. Full marks for being bold enough to try a new direction, but this time the goods are simply not delivered. Buy this album to fill up your collection, but if you want to experience NIN [Trent] at his best, go buy The Fragile