And All That Could Have Been (halo)

Halo 17 - And All That Could Have Been CD Release

Deluxe Edition CD artwork

DVD artwork

Teaser ad showing the original release date

From David Carson's book Trek. This image shows alternate titles that were considered for Halo 17.

And All That Could Have Been (also known as Halo 17) is a Nine Inch Nails live album and film from the Fragility 2.0 tour of 2000. It was released on CD, DVD and VHS on January 22, 2002.

Its release was originally planned for November of 2000.[1] It was then slated for December 11, 2001, as shown on various teaser ads running in the months leading up to its eventual release. A promotional website (now defunct) for the release was set up at andallthatcouldhavebeen.com.

Track Listing

CD

1. "Terrible Lie" – 4:59
2. "Sin" – 4:15
3. "March Of The Pigs" – 4:13
4. "Piggy" – 4:51
5. "The Frail" – 1:41
6. "The Wretched" – 5:24
7. "Gave Up" – 4:14
8. "The Great Below" – 5:07
9. "The Mark Has Been Made" – 3:45
10. "Wish" – 3:40
11. "Suck" – 4:13
12. "Closer" – 5:38
13. "Head Like A Hole" – 4:54
14. "The Day The World Went Away" – 6:29
15. "Starfuckers, Inc." – 5:30
16. "Hurt" – 4:59

The Deluxe CD version comes in a fabric-covered slipcase and includes Still, a CD of stripped down renditions of old and new songs, as well as several instrumentals.

DVD/VHS

Tapes used for DVD/VHS (hidden image from andallthatcouldhavebeen.com)

Disc One

1. "Pinion/The New Flesh" - 1:02
2. "Terrible Lie" – 5:07
3. "Sin" – 4:15
4. "March Of The Pigs" – 4:07
5. "Piggy" – 4:57
6. "The Frail" – 1:45
7. "The Wretched" – 5:33
8. "Gave Up" – 4:25
9. "La Mer" – 4:46
10. "The Great Below" – 5:07
11. "The Mark Has Been Made" – 3:45
12. "Wish" – 3:41
13. "Complication" – 1:59

Disc Two

1. "Suck" – 4:10
2. "Closer" – 6:08
3. "Head Like A Hole" – 5:51
4. "Just Like You Imagined" – 3:52
5. "Starfuckers, Inc." – 5:42
6. "Hurt" - 4:31

The VHS release contains the entire program on one cassette.

The DVD release also features an alternate camera angle (wide shot from soundboard) for "Gave Up", "La Mer", "The Great Below" and "The Mark Has Been Made" on the first disc; a photo gallery and a commentary on stage visuals by Bill Viola on the second disc; and morphing menus on both discs. The menus are also accompanied by several different dark ambient music pieces recorded specifically for them.

It was released in 2 separate audio versions: while stereo sound is the same on both editions, 5.1 surround sound differs - one encoded in DTS and another in Dolby Digital (the latter is more common); this difference is generally indicated by a sticker on front of the package or the back of the slipcase where either a Dolby or DTS logo is present in the lower left hand corner.

About

The album, named after "And All That Could Have Been" from Still, went through many possible names, all lyric excerpts from The Fragile[2].

The film was directed and edited by Rob Sheridan and the entire project was done in-house. The NIN camp purchased several Canon XL1 mini-DV cameras to film each night of the tour from multiple positions, and the material in the final cut was taken from multiple shows and edited together to seem like one performance. While the video footage comes from the entire tour, the audio was taken from only four or five shows. The video was edited with Final Cut Pro and the audio was mixed with Pro Tools.[3]. This approach was groundbreaking for its time, producing a completely DIY, yet professional-quality product by harnessing the newest available consumer-level technology.

The overall And All That Could Have Been release was dedicated to the memory of Rodney Robertson, a close friend and employee of Reznor's who was murdered in 2001. Reznor was too deep in his addictions to attend Robertson's funeral, and he saw this as the impetus to fully get clean and sober.[4]

Album Credits

• Concept and production: Trent Reznor
• Executive production: John A. Malm, Jr. for Nothing Records, Inc.
  

• Management: John A. Malm, Jr. for Conservative
• Art direction and design: David Carson
• Photography: David Carson, Rob Sheridan
  

• Project coordination: Chris Risner
• U.S. Publicity: Susan Celia Swan for Nothing Records
• International relations: Simon Baeyertz
• Label relations: Jeff Anderson
• Legal: Toorock and Rosen; Ross B. Rosen, Jeff Slippen
  

• Performance: Trent Reznor, Danny Lohner, Jerome Dillon, Charlie Clouser, Robin Finck
• Mix engineering: Dave “Rave” Ogilvie
• Engineering: Jon Lemon, Leo Herrera, Paul Forgues
• Mastering: Tom Baker at Precision Mastering
• Programming: Keith Hillebrandt, Charlie Clouser
• Mix consultation: Jerome Dillon, Charlie Clouser
• Studios: Nothing Studios (New Orleans), The Warehouse (Vancouver)
• Local music recording: Adam Blackburn at Effanel
  

Trent Reznor thanks: My family, John, Chris, Jerry and Denise for trying to help me keep it together

Danny Lohner thanks: Lynn Pompey, the Lohners, Telefon Tel Aviv, Eric Hunter

Jerome Dillon thanks: Sheila Scott, Jeannine Dillon, Thomas J. Dillon, Karen Dillon, Paula and Matthew Coulter, Linda Yang, Zoe Poledouris and the Poledouris family, Eugene Salomon Esq., Mona and Ruby

Charlie Clouser thanks: Dad, Mom, Judy, Jeff Light, Kenny MacPherson, Andrew Meyer, and Danie'l Parker

Robin Finck thanks: Bianca Sapetto, Terri Gross

Special thanks to: A Perfect Circle, Atari Teenage Riot, Gretchen Anderson, Marty Bechtold, Nancy Berry, Steve Bottomley, Mike Calagna, Ed Cherney, Peter Christopherson, Tony Ciulla, Bill Coquillette, Mark Crossingham, John Desmond, Ruth Flower, Erin Gilligan, Jurgen Grebner, Mike Harris, Doug Idleman, Interscope Records, Dr. Stuart Isslieb, Thorsten Koenig, Rob Light, Tim Lightfoot, Daisy May, John Majoras, Marilyn Manson, Marc Marot, Anna Maslowicz, Jackie McPherson, Frank Micelotta, Amy Morrison, Alan Moulder, Jamie Myers, Steve Needleman, Bill Noll, Turid Pilcher, Tony Polanco, Nick Scott, Markus Sheffield, Rick Szekelyi, Michael S. Toorock, Ed Venetti, Chris Walsh, Kevin Westenberg, Del Williams

This is dedicated to the memory of our friend Rodney Robertson. May you rest in peace.

DVD/VHS Credits

• Direction and Editing: Rob Sheridan
• Director of Photography: Rob Sheridan

• Still Photography, DVD menus: David Carson, Rob Sheridan
• Artwork source, DVD menus: Russell Mills

• Lighting: Leroy Bennett (Lighting programming design), Marc Brickman (Lighting design)

• Tour Video Sequence ("La Mer", "The Great Below", "The Mark Has Been Made"): Bill Viola
• Tour Video Sequence ("The Wretched", "Gave Up", "Complication", "Head Like A Hole"): Nottinghill
• Tour Video Sequence ("Closer"): Rob Sheridan, Chris Bird

• Additional Mini DV Filming: Keith Hillebrandt, Mike Gomez, Chris Kansy, Charlie Clouser

• Surround Mixing: Jon Lemon and Trent Reznor at Nothing Studios
• Surround Audio Consultant: Ed Churney
• Surround Installation, Nothing Studios: Paul Cox, Steve "Coco" Brandon, Brian Pollack

• Mastering and Authoring: Gateway Mastering

• Video Editing Facility: Nothing Studios
• Post Production Digital Effects: Riot Design
• Digitizing Assistance: Nigel Wiesehan
• Additional Video Synchronization Consulting: Danny Lohner, Jerome Dillon

Artwork

Early cover art from Carson's Facebook page

The photo used for the top half of the DVD cover is taken from inside a bomb shelter that David Carson found at a home he purchased. In a 2003 TED talk[5], Carson explained further:

There was some bomb shelter built, apparently in the '60s Cuban missile crisis. And I asked the real estate guy what it was as we were walking by, and he goes, "It's something to do with the sewage system." I was, O.K.; that's fine. I finally went down there, and it was this old rusted circular thing, and two beds, and very kind of creepy and weird. And also, surprisingly, it was done in kind of a cheap metal, and it had completely rusted through, and water everywhere, and spiders. And I thought, you know, what were they thinking? You'd think maybe cement, possibly, or something. But anyway, I used this for a cover for the Nine Inch Nails DVD, and I've also now fixed the bomb shelter with duct tape, and it's ready.

It is probably safe to assume that the photo used for the cover of the CD and the inner cover of the DVD is also from the bomb shelter, as it appears to be a blurred image of rusted metal.

In 2021, Carson posted an early piece of cover art to his Facebook page that had a NIN logo similar to that used during the Hesitation Marks and trilogy eras.

Message From Trent

Earlier pressings of the DVD include a clear, plastic slip with a message from Reznor printed on it. It reads:

just a glimpse

just a little reminder

of a time and place we

used to live in

this dvd attempts to

document the

experience of

nine inch nails live,

as we were in the

summer of 2000

we filmed and recorded

most of the dates of

the north american

fragility 2.0 tour

with home video cameras

then assembled

mixed and edited this

ourselves with our

home computers

in my eyes

fragility 2.0

was a summation of

what we had

accomplished up to

that time so this dvd

serves as a reminder

of achievement

as well as

a departure point

this is almost what

it felt like being there

trent reznor

Easter Eggs

Halo 17 - Hidden bonus menu

The easiest way to get to most of the hidden content, or Easter Eggs, on the DVD is via the "Beneath The Surface" menu hidden on disc two. During "Head Like A Hole" at the 11:20 mark, press 7 on your remote (for NTSC dvds, but on the PAL release it's 6) then enter. The menu will come up and you will have access to the following hidden content:

• "Reptile" live performance
• "The Day The World Went Away" video
• "ninetynine", The Fragile and Things Falling Apart television commercials
• Nine Inch Nails with Marilyn Manson at Madison Square Garden

An additional Easter Egg not on the "Beneath The Surface" menu is an additional fourth wide shot angle of "Gave Up." To get to it, play "Gave Up" on disc one and near the 26:58 mark press enter on your remote. This angle is not hidden and appears on the the DTS release's supplemental content page, this release does not use the multiangle view.

External Links

• "The Frail"/"The Wretched" video from DVD
• And All That Could Have Been MTV2 Special
• And All That Could Have Been trailer
• andallthatcouldhavebeen.com at Wayback Machine
• And All That Could Have Been at nincatalog.com
• And All That Could Have Been at Amazon
• And All That Could Have Been at eBay

Discography

Previous release - "Things Falling Apart" Halo number: 17 (with Still) Next release - "The Hand That Feeds"