10 Albums That Were Released Completely By Surprise

At the turn of the century, it felt like Trent Reznor didn't really need Nine Inch Nails anymore. He had already gotten his pedigree as one of the best in ambient music with his Ghost series of albums, and he was about to branch out into both production and film scoring not too far ahead of him. Even with the Social Network getting underway, Trent still had the rock itch up his sleeve and didn't let anyone know about it.

Released on the Internet without any prior warning, the Slip was the first time where Nine Inch Nails flew without a record label to support them, as Trent put it out completely by himself and didn't mind what the public wanted to pay for it. Coming into the new millennium, this was Trent trying his hand at a new way of releasing music, just like he encouraged fans to do what they wanted with the tracks to Ghosts by putting them in the Creative Commons.

And it's not like Trent skimped out on a project like this either, with the first few tracks being a great way to lead you into the surreal darkness on the rest of the album. Trent had grown too old to be willing to play the game of the music business anymore, but releasing an album like this on your own is almost a power move. The big industry guys might not be there anymore, but the numbers don't matter when you have a fanbase that is this devoted.