Option 30

Album Cover

Option 30 was founded in 1982 by Tim "TK" Smith on guitars and vocals, Jim Nordstrom on bass and saxophone, Todd Nero on drums, and teenager Trent Reznor on keyboards and vocals. Following Reznor's departure from the band in 1984, Option 30 continued as a trio and later a duo when Nero left the group in the late 1980s.

Discography

The first release by Option 30 was a self-titled CD released in 1997 on Shriek Records. It consists of demos and an interview at a college radio station in Edinboro, Pennsylvania, recorded in the summer of 1983. Only 1000 copies of the album were made. After a Nine Inch Nails Web site linked to Shriek's site, the label seemed to have disappeared. Since the release of the CD, two albums were released digitally on the Timothy K. Smith Bandcamp page: Option 30: Live and Option 30: Almost. Reznor is featured on the latter, playing keyboards on "No Way Out".

Reznor had little to no input in the songwriting process, as most of the songs were written by Nordstrom and Smith. In addition to the original songs on the album, there are also three covers: "Icehouse" (originally recorded by Icehouse), "Der Kommissar" (originally recorded in German by Falco, covered with English lyrics by After The Fire), and "Lies" (originally by the Thompson Twins).

This was Reznor's first band and his time in it was followed by a stint in The Urge.

Self-titled CD track listing

1. "Icehouse" – 4:24
2. "Edinboro radio interview" – 1:17
3. "Time & Chance" – 3:23
4. "Interview" – 3:13
5. "Abomination" – 3:02
6. "Interview" – 1:50
7. "Der Kommissar" – 4:11
8. "Interview" – 4:30
9. "Lies" – 3:19
10. "Interview" – 2:54
11. "Just Out Enough to be In" – 2:43
12. "Equal Rights" – 3:57
13. "Old Habits Die Hard" – 3:09
14. "Interview" – 1:10
15. "Pandora's Box" – 4:02

External links

• Option 30 at Wikipedia
• Timothy K. Smith Group Bandcamp page
• Official Waterhouse Recording (Jim Nordstrom) MySpace page