Nine Inch Nails: Year Zero

(photo by Rob Sheridan)

Had Trent Reznor been this productive back in the day, no way in hell would I have graduated from college and finished graduate studied. I don't know how the heck a student aged NINner could possibly go to classes with this much entertainment surrounding them. Two albums within a 3 year period. That's crazy. Let's not forget the barrage of concerts, the DVD and the freaking alternate reality game. If you've had your head in the sand for whatever reason, this good USA Today article can get you up to speed.

First and foremost, if you're a NIN fan, buy the fucking album, okay? This definitely sounds better than the audio stream and the album art is slick. My cellophane wrapper even has a sticker that says 16 noisy new songs. How cool is that?

Now, this is a hard post for me to write. As as I was walking back from work I kept fishing for words, reexamining how this album actually makes me feel and cross checking what my expectations were to begin with. I must say, as a big nail head myself, it's really hard to be objective at times when it comes to Trent Reznor and his music. You want everything to blow you away because for the most part it does and when I say everything, I mean EVERYTHING. It's accepted knowledge that Reznor is one of the innovative musicians in the world, but the alternate reality game that supports marketing for Year Zero is pure genius. Entertaining. Yes. Creative. Yes. Intellectual. Yes. Incredibly well executed. Hell yeah.

He's one to give back to all over his fans as well. Take for instance the footage of the Art is Resistance meeting (turned surprise NIN concert) in LA up at one of the related Year Zero sites: www.opensourceresistance.net/

Year Zero isn't just about the new album, it's about the entire experience. Observing the interactivity and community forming around all of this is overwhelming and quite beautiful, actually. So, when I say the music on the album itself really takes a back seat to everything else NIN related this time around, I mean that in the nicest possible way. This isn't exactly a criticism, but it is to say that the album as a free standing entity is not only unimportant to me but that it is more vital for the music to play in the role of a supporting piece for Year Zero's alternate reality.

I missed out on a lot of the game as it was unfolding due to being off line for most of February and March, so I wasn't as caught up in the hype as I would have liked to. However, it did give me the unique opportunity to listen to the album somewhat objectively as an old fan. Each song in of itself stands quite well on its own featuring interesting sounds, textures and significant lyrics. Unfortunately, although the tracks fit together as a cohesive themed unit, I feel, dare I say it, some portions sound repetitive. There are chord progressions and melodic themes that tread too close to "sameness" compared to songs from earlier albums With_Teeth and The Fragile. With that said, I think a new listener would be impressed by general sound of the album: Trent's vox is powerful as ever and the effects and distortion are cool sounding. The song "In This Twilight" has exceptionally lovely words...

As a companion to the ARG surrounding Year Zero, this album is the perfect soundtrack. Unfortunately, I have to say, if we're talking about just the songs, the whole sum isn't necessarily better than its parts. Granted I'm comparing this again my usual standards for NIN...and they're astronomically high.

But does it really fucking matter? Hell No because the musical genius behind Nine Inch Nails completely blows all other artists out of the water.

Listen to (courtesy of NINRemixes.com):

"Me I'm Not, Wretched I'm Not" (songmash by Shagg127)
"Survivalism Remix" (Megaton edit by Chris Rose)

Visit:

Nine Inch Nails Official Website
Year Zero Mini Site
NIN Remixes.com
The NIN Hotline
Echoing the Sound
be a part of the resistance...
remix your own version of "Survivalism" (requires Garage Band)


(www.opensourceresistance.net)