I just found version 3 of FDtS! It is available only in Japan, I believe, and it's well worth the high import price I paid for it ($35!). Thankfully they got rid of the crappy Hurt "remix", and there is an atmospheric "becoming" remix done by Coil, a Foetus remix of "i do not want this" that is even better than his Self Destructions (!), and an extended remix of "a warm place." Here's the track listing:
1. the art of self destruction
2. ruiner (version)
3. piggy (nothing can stop me now)
4. the becoming (no escape from this)
5. heresy (version)
6. eraser (polite)
7. at the heart of it all
8. a warm place (extended)
10. i do not want this (something that matters)
11. self destruction, final
If you take halo 10 v3 and put it in the CD player upside down, draw a smiley face on the blank underside, fast -forward through all the tracks, sample it to an IBM or IBM-compatible, change the frequency to 88200Hz, then convert to 22KHz and back again six times, then convert it to a Macintosh computer, repeat the frequency changing, record it onto a digital 16-track recorder, turn down all the tracks except for track 7, pan the whole thing into the right ear, set the treble knob at 6, the bass knob at 4, the mixing volume at 8, mix it onto a cassette tape, meditate for 24 hours, and then play the tape back, you'll hear something extra special. All I'll say is that it has the words "fornication," "excrement," "laceration," "sado-masochism," and "feces." The rest is a surprise....
This is, in my opinion, the best version of FDtS yet. I thought it would be of interest to you folks.
gianthead (gianthead@aol.com):
If you've heard version 3 of FDTS, please tell me:
logre2'3 (ogre@netaxs.com):
Well, if you're gonna fall for the bullshit (that's all it is until we get a definite answer on TRACK NINE), you might as well get it right. The "ruiner" mix is on version 2. Version 3 supposedly has a mix of "the becoming."
jeff (ninfan@compuserve.com):
Okay, there has been some commotion about my post on halo 10 v3, and what track 9 actually is and all.... I totally screwed up; I just skipped from 8 to 10. Here's the real track listing:
1. the art of self destruction
2. ruiner (version)
3. the becoming (no escape from this)
4. eraser (denial, realization)
5. piggy (nothing can stop me now)
6. the downward spiral (the bottom)
7. heresy (version)
8. a warm place (extended)
9. i do not want this (something that matters)
10. self destruction, final
The cover is much like the cover of version 1 except that the background is black, much like the FDtS shirt. Here is the lowdown on the songs that aren't available on either of the other versions.
"the becoming (no escape from this)": -- remixed by Coil. Dark, atmospheric, much like their other remixes for NIN. Focuses a lot on the acoustic guitar bridge and outro, with processed (slowed-down, sped-up, distorted, reversed, etc.) Reznor screams. An odd variation on the main synth line appears, but no real beat.
"a warm place (extended)" -- remixed by Reznor and Company. Basically it's just longer, and there's a subdued dance beat added to it.
"i do not want this (something that matters)" -- remixed by Foetus. Very techno-fied, the original drums are replaced by a standard techno rhythm, and the "I want to fuck everyone..." part is manipulated quite a lot. I expected something more from Jim, but this is still pretty competent.
I got mine at Tower Records, for a tremendously steep import price ($35), but since I'm a collector, I had to get it. There was a sticker on it that said it was imported from Japan. If you don't have a Tower Records near you, or the one near you doesn't carry it, here's the address of a mail order company who CLAIMS that it will be in their next issue:
Digital UndergroundOkay, I hope I've cleared some stuff up. Now I'm just waiting for Trent to unleash version 4 on us all....
526 South 5th Street
Philadelphia, PA 19147
david rusin (drusin@stevens-tech.edu):
Version 4 is the import from Lithuania. Same tracks as version 2, except that all the F-sharps in "ruiner" have been changed to B-flats. $45. It's a prelude to the next album, where each song will be on a separate CD.
alex reed (virginia.a.reed@dartmouth.edu):
IDIOT!
There ARE no F#'s in "ruiner"!
It's in a minor key, thus there are no F#'s. None of the accidentals in the guitar solo are F#'s either!
ARE YOU STUPID?
jason haas (jashaas@omnifest.uwm.edu):
Aw fuck. The version 4 I have was all done on some guy's Mac, all in shitty 8-bit, 22Khz sound.... CHRIST what a loser!
...The packaging, by the way, was a bunch of bus schedules all chewed up, spit out, and reassembled with "hi dad" scrawled over it. There wasn't a CD inside, either...just a floppy disk with a little "read me" file. And I paid $75 for it! Kee-riyst.
Jeff (ninfan@compuserve.com):
Just kidding.... There is no version 3 (that I know of). This is my public confession; I hope y'all enjoy it.... Next time I make a bogus post here, it'll be when all of you least expect it, and boy will you be sorry for letting your guard down!
Anyway, I had a nice few days of watching all of you fuss around about it, the highlight being when the track listing for halo 10 v3 actually appeared in the NIN FAQ! Until I fuck with your heads again....
the mobius (themobius@aol.com):
I posted earlier that a friend and I ordered Japanese halo 10 v3. I then was sort of not quite surprised to get tons of mail saying how big a filthy rotten dirty-mouthed retarded liar I was.
Ouch. I'm hurt unrepairably.
Actually, there is a definite affirmative on the existence of version 3. Call Music Warehouse in Darien/Woodridge, IL 60517 and ask yourself. It's ordered, it's coming, it has a UPC code, soon it will be mine (for too much money).
chuan-cheng shih (cxs7@po.cwru.edu):
I'll verify this. I ordered mine from a local store and the guy there said he had already sold one the previous week (NOT version 2). He told me it'd be about $2O. I quizzed him about it to be sure, and he was positive it was the Japanese import. He even had a faxed list of stuff from one of their distributors listing its existence.
t (74672.43@compuserve.com):
That's pretty nutty, because yesterday, in my local bootleg store, I saw a "halo ten v3," too. It looked like a boot, though. It had 15 tracks, and from what I could tell, it was just version 1 and version 2 put together, plus "march of the fuckheads" from halo 9. It was $29.99 (average bootleg price in that store), but I had bought both versions of FDtS there the day before, so I couldn't snag that copy.
david irish (di17@umail.umd.edu):
I got word from a radio station in Japan that there will indeed be a Japanese pressing of this disc. This is the e-mail I received....
"further down the spiral will be released on July 25 in Japan. We believe that the album has already been released in the States. Why don't you buy in your country? We checked several places but could not find any mail order service which sells new albums to abroad."
There has been no indication, however, that the track listing will be any different than either of the two existing versions.
the sandman (bayfield@io.com):
Okay, someone has to clear up all these versions. There are 4? I got halo 10...that's it. So, I'm getting version 2, but I know nothing about version 3, version 4, version 666...? Someone explain. Thanks.
lenila:
I work for Interscope (NIN's label), and I think I can clear up all the halo 10 confusion. The shit went down like this:
First, we pressed up a bunch of CD-PROs (promotion-only, and only for radio airplay -- no artwork, no nothin') of "piggy" with three songs on it: 1) album version of "piggy," 2) Rick Rubin's remix of "piggy," and 3) album version of "hurt." Our intention was to get "piggy" played on the radio, but a funny thing happened...DJs loved "hurt" more, and that got lots of requests, so we decided to make "hurt" the single.
So, we made a new CD-PRO (halo 10 v2) with six different mixes of "hurt" that are all fairly similar. (Three are live, three aren't, some have "shit" bleeped out, some don't). We send this CD to all the radio stations, and they play "hurt," then we send a video to MTV, and that gets played, and everyone is happy, but there's still the question of what to do with the commercial version of halo 10. So Trent gets this brainstorm: make a full-length CD of remixes. Include the Rick Rubin remix from halo 10 v1 and some other special mixes by Aphex Twin, Coil, and Jim Thirlwell. Eleven songs in all for a special low price.
And so, on May 30, in the year of our Lord 1995, "further down the spiral" (halo 10 v3) and the import version (halo 10 v4) were released to you adoring fans.
PLEASE NOTE: I have spoken to various people across the country about this, and though this release is SUPPOSED to be low-priced, some stores are greedy and are charging full price for it. I am very sorry. This was NOT supposed to happen. All I can say is that this is America, and unfortunately you can't get away from stuff like that. But I hear Best Buy is pretty cheap.
Thanks, and hope this clears up any confusion. Any questions?
tourett (tourett@aol.com):
To set the record straight....
No, the Japanese version of Halo 10 is NOT marked "version 3." I got it a while back. It is the same as the UK release (v2), except the Japanese release has "reptilian" as an 11th track. "Reptilian", for those who don't already know, can also be found on the "march of the pigs" EP. Hope this helps.