I think it's fair to say that every artist seems to have a creative peak and often fail to quite recapture the magic with subsequent albums. For me Nine Inch Nails reached that peak with 1994's The Downward Spiral - although I loved The Fragile, With Teeth was undoubtedly a big disappointment and seemed to indicate a change in direction towards a more poppy sound. With Year Zero, coming just two years after With Teeth, Nine Inch Nails have achieved a spectacular return to form, going back to the Industrial roots of The Downward Spiral but combining it with more modern break beats and undeniably hooky melodies.
Full marks to the marketing team behind this, as the unique campaign that ran ahead of the launch of this album made it one of the most hotly anticipated albums of 2007. Like all of the best albums, Year Zero is a concept album, set in the year 2020 in a dystopian, apocalyptic, Orwellian world - Los Angeles has been destroyed by a nuclear terrorist attack, the government are adding drugs to the water supply supposedly to protect against bio-terrorism but there are indications that this may be a more sinister method of population control religious fundamentalists are at war
and a resistance movement is gathering. Let's just say the future is not bright. What was really clever about the marketing was that they slowly leaked out info about this 'future world' on USB drives left in toilet stalls as NIN toured Europe, so fans were slowly drip fed this information, creating a scavenger hunt type of alternative reality game. From full tracks leaked, to spoof websites with news stories, even to the extent of images that could only be revealed through studying the spectrograph of a track, it was a fantastically complex puzzle that went beyond a marketing gimmick - the game and putting all of these clues together is the art form, the album simply comes out of it.
Despite being set in the future it's clear that this album has been strongly influenced by the actions of the Bush Administration and America's role in the Iraq war. 'Capital G' is a thinly veiled attack on the man himself - "Well I used to stand for something, Now I'm on my hands and knees, Trading in my God for this one, And he signs his name with a Capital G". From the moment the album launches into the opening track, 'HYPERPOWER!', it's clear that the NIN industrial soundscape is back on form, with frenetic drum beats which lie beneath carefully choreographed beeps, buzzing, screams, and synths. "Vessel", "My Violent Heart" and "The Great Destroyer" all capture the aggressive industrial beats that are NIN's signature, "The Great Destroyer" breaking down into a fantastic solo of bleeps and static that wouldn't be out of place on an Aphex Twin album. "Me, I'm Not" employs poet and hip hop artist Saul Williams and has a creepy laid back, almost mechanical feel of something building slowly - very reminiscent of my favourite track from The Downward Spiral, "The Becoming". Those after more of the guitar based tracks which dominated With Teeth will perhaps be disappointed with Year Zero - it's a more synth based sound, more akin to a blend between The Downward Spiral's aggressive beats and The Fragile's painstakingly intricate soundscapes. But creeping in there is a more trip hop / electronica feel to things which brings the sound bang up to date. This sound comes to the forefront in "My Violent Heart", one of the first leaked tracks from the album, with Reznor quasi rapping over a decidedly funky bass and "God Given", whose intro has a distinctly Timbaland feel.
But what really drives the album is the catchiness of the melodies - "Survivalism" and "Capital G" are natural singles with singalong choruses, but there are moments of real melodic beauty in this album - the haunting piano in "Another Version of the Truth" and the closing track "Zero Sum" which builds to a poignant climax and is Year Zero's equivalent of "Hurt" or "Something I can Never Have". Trent's voice is good as ever, slightly raspy, sarcastic and biting.
Lyrically much of the album is a little clichéd (the line "Can't seem to shut her legs Our mother nature is a w**e" I thought was particularly cringey), but that for me is what makes NIN and actually the straightforward nature of the lyrics serves to make the message all the more clear and the overall effect is very thought provoking. The album's closing thought is particularly well put and very poignant:
Shame on us Doomed from the start May god have mercy On our dirty little hearts Shame on us For all we have done And all we ever were Just zeros and ones
This album is a must for all NIN fans - the best album since The Downward Spiral, for me it combines the best aspects of every NIN album - the aggressive industrial sound of The Downward Spiral, the beautiful soundscapes of The Fragile, and the poppy melodies of With Teeth. There isn't a weak track on the album. It's not an album that you'll want to dip into - it requires a full listen every time. Absorbing, vivid and a fantastic return to form. Highly recommended.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Advantages: Some great soundscapes, very personal, the photographs and music combined Disadvantages: A challenging listen, an album that you probably wont listen to everyday
Jun 26th, 2009
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