[[Image:Bad_Witch_Cover.jpg|thumb|200px|Halo 32: ''Bad Witch'']]
The albums ''[[Not The Actual Events]]'', ''[[Add Violence]]'' and ''[[Bad Witch]]'' form a trilogy of related albumspieces, respectively released in 2016, 2017 and 2018. The tours [[I Can't Seem To Wake Up NIN 2017-2018]] and [[Cold And Black And Infinite Tour]] touring cycle took place to support it. This period marks the inclusion of [[Atticus Ross]] as a an official member of NIN[[Nine Inch Nails]], as well as a member of the live band during the tours.
==Tracklist==
===''Not The Actual Events''===
#"[[Branches/Bones]]" – 1:46
#"[[Dear World,]]" – 4:06
#"[[The Idea Of You]]" – 3:27
#"[[Burning Bright (Field On Fire)]]" – 5:50
===''Add Violence''===
#"[[Less Than]]" – 3:30
#"[[The Lovers]]" – 4:09
#"[[Not Anymore]]" – 3:06
#"[[The Background World]]" – 11:44
===''Bad Witch''===
#"[[Shit Mirror]]" – 3:06
#"[[Ahead Of Ourselves]]" – 3:30
==Concept==
In an interview with Lizzy Goodman posted on [[nin.com]], [[Trent Reznor]] explains the trilogy’s concept in detail:
===About===<blockquote>But to be clear, the record isn’t about Trump, it’s about making sense of the world. The first record, ''Not the Actual Events'', was more of an internal fantasy of what if I lit a match to my life and just embraced burning the whole fucking thing down. You know? All of this is an illusion and I really should be dead or lying in a ditch somewhere. Who I ''really'' am is an addict that self-destructs. That’s my true nature and this is an illusion and some borrowed time. It wasn’t a pleasant thing, but it felt like, that’s a story to tell. And if felt like something I needed to internally process.
===Themes===And that supported other things that were interesting to us like aggressive music and a sense of the self-referential, looking back at other albums and pilfering bits of the art design to confuse people and also because I was thinking about those records. To try picking up a guitar, which I told myself I would never do again for whatever reason and finding, you know what? It sounds fucking good. Listening back and going, you know what? That was a good song from 25 years ago, it’s not bad to play something like that. There are no rules. That was the first record.
===Links It wasn’t fully mapped out but it was meant to other NIN material===feel like if we broke up one big record – if it was ''Downward Spiral'', which has acts, if we do an album like that, but release one act at a time, it will be more immediate and the level of adrenaline and momentum will be higher. And maybe it will be consumed in a way that feels more digestible to an outside world that doesn’t have long attention spans anymore.
====The Downward Spiral====With the second one, ''Add Violence'', the idea was, loosely, to zoom out, to be more global and to imply that maybe we’re all in a simulated reality. And that might introduce the concept of meaninglessness but also provide a safe container to explain why everything feels off.
Side B of By the time we got to the third one, we had an idea in mind but it felt … rehearsed. Predictable. In the end, what felt true was to say that we as a society and as a species are probably an accident, a mutation. Really what we are is fucking animals. And the ''Not illusion was enlightenment. The Actual Events'' vinyl features 3 additionalmore we’ve connected with each other the dumber we’ve gotten and the more we decide we want to kill each other. We’re not some elevated transcendent beings, unlisted tracks from we’re bacteria in a jar. I wanted the art direction of ''[[The Downward Spiral (halo)|The Downward Spiral]]Bad Witch'' in reverse: "[[Hurt (song)|Hurt]]"to feel like shadows on a cave wall and we’re trying to figure out what it is and really there’s no nice, clean, safe scientific explanation. We’re just an accident. String theory and quantum physics is a fucking trick. And we’re not going to suddenly elevate ourselves into transcendent beings. We’re kidding ourselves. I know this will be an unsatisfying conclusion for some people. It isn’t what they want. They want it to be full matrix virtual reality, and this is the opposite of that, "[[The Downward Spiral (song)|The Downward Spiral]]" this is dirt and a broken computer chip and "[[Reptile]]"everything you believe in is really just bullshit. </blockquote>
In the physical component for ''Not The Actual Events'', the song lyrics of "She's Gone Away'" are superimposed over a copy of page 14 from the Deluxe Edition booklet of ''The Downward Spiral'', and lyrics embedded in the Apple Music release include extra, unsung words directly referencing "Reptile"===Summary===Coming soon.
Additional lyrics for "Less Than" are printed on the physical component of ''Add Violence'', and they seem to reference "[[March Of The Pigs (song)|March Of The Pigs]]" by using the line "doesn't it make you feel better"===About===Coming soon.
====The Fragile / Still=Themes===Coming soon.
Additional lyrics for "This Isn===Links to other NIN material=======''t [[The Place", printed on Downward Spiral (halo)|The Downward Spiral]]''====Side B of the physical component of ''Add ViolenceNot The Actual Events''vinyl features 3 additional, are a direct quote unlisted tracks from ''The Downward Spiral'' in reverse: "[[The Great BelowHurt (song)|Hurt]]", with the line "I can still feel you, even so far away[[The Downward Spiral (song)|The Downward Spiral]]". Trent stated that and "This Isn't The Place" is about [[David BowieReptile]] during a concert. It can be speculated that this line relates to mourning in both case".
An alternate front cover In the physical component for ''Not The Actual Events'' is , the lyrics of "She's Gone Away" are superimposed over a re-used copy of page 14 from the Deluxe Edition booklet of ''[[Still]]The Downward Spiral'' cover art, and lyrics embedded in the Apple Music release include extra, unsung words directly referencing "Reptile".
====With Teeth Additional lyrics for "Less Than" are printed on the physical component of ''Add Violence'', and they seem to reference "[[March Of The Pigs (Bleedthroughsong)====|March Of The Pigs]]" by using the line "doesn't it make you feel better".
Lyrics from the track ====''[[The Fragile (halo)|The Fragile]]'' / ''[[Still]]''====Additional lyrics for "This Isn't The Background WorldPlace" feature , printed on the physical component of ''Add Violence'', are a reference to the direct quote from "[[BleedthroughThe Great Below]] concept", in with the line "Is always bleeding throughI can still feel you, even so far away". Reznor stated that "This Isn't The Place"is about [[David Bowie]] during a concert. It can be speculated that this line relates to mourning in both case.
Additional lyrics An alternate front cover for "The Lovers" printed on the physical component of ''Add Violence'' feature the word "godlike", possibly referencing "[[Not The Life You Didn't Lead]]". In an episode of the ''Song ExploderActual Events'' podcast[http://songexploder.net/nine-inch-nails], [[Trent Reznor]] and [[Atticus Ross]] explained that the song is about an alternate reality that explores what might have happened if Reznor had never left his old home of New Orleans and had never gotten clean and sober. It began as a sort of poem he had written in order to explore what he calls the "seduction of addiction" and stated that "it was me allowing myself permission to examine a period of my life that I had consciously chose not to think about very much, then immerse myself in it in a kinda re-used ''What if the path IStill'm currently on wasn't really the right one, and I just went hard-left the other way?"cover art.
====Year Zero''[[With Teeth (halo)|With Teeth]]'' / ''[[Bleedthrough]]''====Lyrics from the track "The Background World" feature a reference to the ''Bleedthrough'' concept, in the line "Is always bleeding through".
Additional lyrics for "The Lovers" printed on the physical component of ''Add Violence'' is in part a continuation feature the word "godlike", possibly referencing "[[The Life You Didn't Lead]]". In an episode of the ''Year ZeroSong Exploder'' story podcast[http://songexploder.net/nine-inch-nails], Trent Reznor and its ARG, with elements appearing on Atticus Ross explained that the front cover song is about an alternate reality that explores what might have happened if Reznor had never left his old home of New Orleans and the back cover had never gotten clean and sober. It began as a sort of poem he had written in order to explore what he calls the album ("SIMULATION ONseduction of addiction", "PRESENCEand stated that "it was me allowing myself permission to examine a period of my life that I had consciously chose not to think about very much, "2022", etc), then immerse myself in it in a kinda 'What if the music video for "This Isnpath I'm currently on wasn't The Place" (Appearance of a "Cedocore" box)really the right one, and on I just went hard-left the physical component. They are all linked together with multiple variations of the panel, mentions referencing the concept of The Trilogy, the physical component appearing itself in the music video, etcother way?".
==Physical Components==''[[Year Zero]]''====''Add Violence'' is in part a continuation of the ''Year Zero'' story and its [[Timeline of Year Zero Discovery|ARG]], with elements appearing on the front cover and the back cover of the album ("SIMULATION ON", "PRESENCE", "2022", etc), in the music video for "This Isn't The Place" (appearance of a "Cedocore" box), and on the physical component. They are all linked together with multiple variations of the panel, mentions referencing the concept of The Trilogy, the physical component appearing itself in the music video, etc.
==Artworks==It should also be noted that the physical component for ''Add Violence'' has the number "24.0.00" on the front which harkens back to the "24.xx.yy" number patterns used throughout the ARG for ''Year Zero''.
==Physical Components==The first two EPs came with "Physical components", optionally purchased items that were something to physically interact with. For ''Not The Actual Events==='', a sealed black envelope of artwork and lyric sheets was available, filled with black makeup powder. For ''Add Violence'', a booklet printed in the style of a manual was made, containing artwork, lyrics and stickers. ''Bad Witch'' did not have a component, but it's speculated by fans that the act of having to physically queue in the US for tickets, for the accompanying tour, was the physical component for this release.
<gallery>==Lyrics==Image:Ntae_alt_1Coming soon.jpg|Alternate digital artwork #1 - Origin: InstagramImage:Ntae_alt_2.jpg|Alternate digital artwork #2 - Origin: FacebookImage:Ntae_alt_4.jpg|Alternate digital artwork #3 - Origin: Embedded in first 2016 digital filesImage:IMG_1017.JPG|Alternate digital artwork #4 - Origin: Apple MusicImage:Ntae_alt_6.jpg|Alternate digital artwork #5 - Origin: Embedded in corrected early 2017 digital filesImage:IMG_1252.JPG|Alternate digital artwork #6 - Origin: hidden in nin.com websiteImage:Ntae_backart.jpg|Digital and physical component credits sheetImage:NTAEvinyl.jpg|Vinyl cover artImage:Ntae_physical_component.jpg|Physical componentImage:Ntae_pc.jpg|Physical component packageImage:bboneshidden1.jpg|Hidden lyrics example 1]]Image:bboneshidden2.jpg|Hidden lyrics example 2]]</gallery>
===Add ViolenceHidden Lyrics===Coming soon.
===Bad Witch=Touring==''For more information, see [[NIN 2017-2018]]''
==Lyrics== ===Hidden Lyrics===The trilogy was supported by a back-to-basics touring cycle that mainly visited North America. The main leg of the tour, called [[Cold And Black And Infinite Tour|Cold And Black And Infinite]] and supported by [[The Jesus and Mary Chain]], took place in 2018. The shows saw an incredible variety in the setlists and also some unexpected live song premieres, such as "[[And All That Could Have Been (song)|And All That Could Have Been]]" and "[[The Perfect Drug (song)|The Perfect Drug]]".
==Live==
All songs from the trilogy have been played live except "The Idea Of You", "Not Anymore", "Play The Goddamned Part", and "I'm Not From This World".
==Interviews==
Coming soon.
==Artworks==
<gallery>
Image:Ntae_alt_4.jpg|''Not The Actual Events'' Alternate digital artwork
Image:Ntae_physical_component.jpg|''Not The Actual Events'' Physical component
Image:bboneshidden1.jpg|Hidden lyrics example 1
Image:bboneshidden2.jpg|Hidden lyrics example 2
Image:Sga_rep.jpg|Lyric card depicting "Reptile" superimposition
Image:Add_Violence_PC.jpg|''Add Violence'' Physical component
Image:Add_Violence_BC.jpg|''Add Violence'' back cover
Image:TITPstill.jpg|Screenshot from the "This Isn't The Place" video
Image:Bad_Witch_Back_Cover.jpg|''Bad Witch'' back cover
</gallery>
[[Category:NIN Discography]]