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A NIN fan has released a real version of the Strobe Light April Fool’s album. Listen here.

On April 1, 2009, the Nine Inch Nails Twitter account carried a message of a new album entitled Strobe Light. That Trent Reznor would drop a new album unexpectedly was, well, not unexpected since he’d already done that a couple of times earlier in the decade. What was surprising that this new album was produced by R&B/rap superstar Timbaland.

This, of course, was a joke–and a shot at Chris Cornell who actually had made a (poorly-received and not-well-thought-out) record with Timbaland called Scream.

Trent’s message went like this:

“To download NIN’s new full-length album Strobe Light, PRODUCED BY TIMBALAND, enter a valid email address in the fields below. A download link will be sent to you immediately. Your credit card will be charged $18.98 plus a $10 digital delivery convenience fee. Your files will arrive as windows media files playable on quite a few players with your name embedded all over them just in case you lose them. You will also receive an exclusive photo and a free email account with our partner Google’s Gmail service.

“Your email will be kept confidential and will not be used for spam, unless we can make some money selling it.”

It came with a tracklisting, of course.

  1. Intro Skit
  2. Everybody’s Doing It (featuring Chris Martin, Jay-Z AND Bono)
  3. Black T-shirt
  4. Pussygrinder (featuring Sheryl Crow
  5. Coffin On The Dancefloor
  6. This Rhythm Is Infected
  7. Slide To The Dark Side
  8. Even Closer (featuring Justin Timberlake and Maynard James Keenan)
  9. On The List (She’s Not)
  10. Clap Trap Crack Slap
  11. Laid, Paid and Played (featuring Fergie of the Black Eyed Peas and Al Jourgensen)
  12. Feel Like Being Dead Again
  13. Still Hurts’ (featuring Alicia Keys)
  14. Outro Skit

No such music existed–until now. We’re not entirely sure where this comes from. Could be a fan. Could be Trent himself. We might never know.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 40319 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

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