Release Date: 03 May, 2005
Audio CD
Tracks
- All The Love In The World
- You Know What You Are?
- The Collector
- The Hand That Feeds
- Love Is Not Enough
- Every Day Is Exactly The Same
- With Teeth
- Only
- Getting Smaller
- Sunspots
- The Line Begins To Blur
- Beside You In Time
- Right Where It Belongs
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Rating 4.0
A dissapointmentI waited eagerly for this to come out, and I have to say that it's probably the worst album NIN has put out. The Downward Spiral was brilliant... a masterpiece. Broken and Pretty Hate Machine were both great as well. The music started to deterioriate with The Fragile, which was a confused and bloated work. It had really no idea where it was going, and was crammed full of so many b-side worthy songs that it became almost impossible to absorb. The lyrics became more shallow and rhymey and less about actually expressing anything. Of course the hardcore fans herald it as a triumph of some kind, but I felt that it was pretty unspectacular. Still, it was better than this.
I wanted to give this 2 and a half stars, but since you can't do that, I guess I'll settle for 3... I would have given The Fragile 3 stars, and it should be noted that it's better, if not much.
With Teeth drops the layered electronic soundscapes that defined the sound of Nine Inch Nails and replaces it with something more akin to riff rock. You have to listen really close to even hear any synths on most of the songs...
The song Getting Smaller is a blatant rip off of The Pixies' hit single Planet of Sound. Seriously, do a side by side test - it's embarrasing. Rather sad actually...
The first single, The Hand That Feeds, is terribly generic radio rock with hardly anything interesting going for it. The chorus is flaccid and underwhelming, and the verse has an unfortunate resemblence to a certain Kink's song. And the way he sings the ending, oh man... It sounds like Trent Reznor is trying to do the vocals for a jazzy lounge musical. And that crap synth solo at the end doesn't exactly make me juiced. The song gets tired before it finishes. Without a doubt the worst single NIN's put out.
You Know What You Are features a chorus that absolutely fails. It tries so hard to 'rock' that it just sounds kind of sad and pathetic. There's no authenticity in it, no real emotion, just the title of the song sung over and over again with an explitive thrown in. Guess which one...
Speaking of which, singing the title of the song over and over again is the norm for this album. It's the method employed for All the Love in the World, You Know What You Are, Everyday Is Exactly the Same. It gets tired pretty quick.
Love is Not Enough has some of the worst lyrics NIN has ever put out. "HEY! The sooner we realize! We cover ourselves in lies! But underneath we're not so tough! Oh love is not enough!" Come on, you can do better than that. The song is also awkward and struggling to reach some kind of cohesive structure, much like The Collector.
Many of the choruses to the songs jump in awkwardly, almost as though they were forced into the song. It doesn't help that most of the lyrics are truly juvenile, and seem to be entirely focused around Trent Reznor's assesment of his own relevence in the current music scene. I find it somewhat hard to relate with Reznor's personal evalutions of his influence. It comes accross as a concept album about his inflated ego. The lyrical reference to "fading away" grows tiresome after the first thousand instances, and by the time you get to the end of Getting Smaller (where he just chants over and over again "fade away!") you really could do without hearing the word ever again. It's just narscisistic and trite.
That isn't to say that there aren't some good moments on the album. Beside You In Time is a really good song that builds in a gradual and effective way, even if it did promise to be much better from the teaser trailer that was offered on the NIN website. It grows on you though. Sunspots has a really good dynamic to it, and it's a welcome break from the tired verse-chorus-verse-chorus structure of the songs.
Only is a very bizarre song, and it has a fun sense of humor to it. Some of the synth tones on it may sound pretty dated, and the drums may not do too much, but it's still a good straightfoward NIN song that recalls the better moments on Pretty Hate Machine. It also has some of the best lyrics on the album. I'm particularly into the lyric "I just made you up to hurt myself."
That's some good stuff. Overall though, it's just not that remarkable. The one really standout track is Right Where It Belongs, which is a great track that belongs up there with the best stuff NIN's put out. All the fans will get it anyway, but if I'm reccomending something here, I guess I'm talking to people who aren't hardcore fans,.... and I'm begging you to please buy The Downward Spiral or Broken or Pretty Hate Machine or Still or The Fragile or Further Down the Spiral or Fixed before you pick this up. I remember now....I skipped "The Fragile" so it's been eleven years since "Downward Spiral," which I remember as an amazing CD that had a very cathartic effect in my life at the time; and which was pretty cutting edge at the time. I have to admit, I forgot how talented Trent Reznor is. This CD....WOW....I'm usually more articulate but that has been knocked out of me.
I remember now....I cannot believe how many people like thisIt is slow, droll, and just about the most painfully boring music CD I have heard in a long time. I threw mine in the trash (no joke)
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