Nine Inch Nails - With Teeth (Dig)
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Music Reviews of With Teeth (Dig)
Music Review: And so the "downward spiral" continues....
Rating: 1 Stars
After the overly pretentious and self-indulgent mess known by mankind as The Fragile, Trent Reznor went into reclusion for a whopping six years. Upon listening to Trent's first record in six years one cannot help but to wonder where the time was spent. Is it possible that Trent spent the entire duration of those six long years in his studio writing this fine material? After all, a lot of things can happen in the span of a half a decade. NIN itself is an entity that has survived the life and death of many phases and trends in popular music. The band stands alone as being something unique and distinguished, which is why it has survived for so long. And even though Trent brought industrial music to the mainstream for mass consumption, he moved NIN far away from those roots long ago. NIN used to be a clever pop-band with great hooks and catchy angst filled lyrics. In recent years, Trent has pursued a larger than life sound. The simple fact is that NIN is a pop-band. I expect them to make pop music, not failed art rock opuses. In reality, With Teeth falls in-between these two categories. It falls short of being a truly great pop record and it does not take NIN's sound a step further, like each album did before it.
When The Downward Spiral came out Alternative Rock was at its peak and when The Fragile came out NU-metal was just starting to get big. Of course, NIN was at their height both artistically and commercially in the 1990's. Now, NIN is a former ghost of itself. NIN seems to be drained of all artistic passion. The feelings that Trent's music used to conjure up has turned into pitiful self-parody and mundane banality. Perhaps, this is nothing more than a quick and shameless cash in on a devote fanbase.
You know, it is not that I expect another Downward Spiral, or a Broken from Trent. But, this album plays out and feels like a rehash. There is simply nothing interesting going on in this album lyrically or musically. I was hoping that With Teeth was going to sound different from anything Trent did in the past, but it sounds like a combination of the influences from all of his albums. Trent needs a radical departure.
To put it into words that you may or may not understand, With Teeth plays out like a scaled down version of The Fragile. Everything that plagued that particular album is absent in With Teeth, but the album is a tedious mess in its own way. And even though this album is more song-orientated, the songs themselves are very poor. The songs have a very commercial feel to them, and unlike some of Trent's past music there is no real sense of progression within the songs. They are simply stagnant and boring. The best thing for Trent Reznor to do right now is to either give it up, or to find his artistic passion again. It has been well over ten years since he put out anything that was good. How anyone could even wait six years for such a lackluster effort is beyond my comprehension. Why do people still support this self-pitying hasbeen?
Maybe Trent will get it right in 2012, but I personally wouldn't count on it. In the mean time there is much better music out there to listen to, so I won't waste my time with this With the Teeth.
Music Review: A lively, well thought of, mix of songs from past times and present mishaps all wrapped in a nice package.
Rating: 4 Stars
Nine Inch Nails has always been a top quality project, since it is hard to call NIN a band. Trent Reznor has always experimented with different styles of music, from rap ("Down With It" off Pretty Hate Machine, released in 1989) to tear-eyed ballads ("Hurt" off The Downward Spiral, released in 1994) to strong metal (most of the Broken EP, released in 1992). Let everyone just say that Nine Inch Nails has done it all. Now in 2005, sixteen years after they released Pretty Hate Machine, Mr. Reznor and Company gives us "With Teeth", a combination of all of the previous Nine Inch Nails works.
The album fires off in a different way than the older works. "All The Love In The World" starts from the get-go with Trent singing along to a nice line, which transforms to a piano in which people can dance to. The album then goes heavy, with "You Know Who You Are", in which Trent yells out the chrous, with profanity, along Dave Grohl's upmost superb drummming.
"The Collector", which is the third track, explodes out with Mr. Grohl still drumming. "The Collector" is not as good as some of the other songs on the album, but it is better than a large percent of modern rock. "The Collector" then fades into the first single, and one of the catchiest songs on the album, "The Hand That Feeds". "The Hand That Feeds" has a very catchy rhythm that fits in with Trent's singing. The song can also be remixed by owners of Apple's "Garageband" program.
The fifth song, "Love Is Not Enough", is a drop in quality compaired to the songs that came before it. This is the worst song on the album, but people will still like it. "Love Is Not Enough" fades into one of the best songs released by Nine Inch Nails. "Every Day Is Exactly The Same" is a complete 180 degree turn from the five songs that came before it. Sing along with the chorus, it is the best part of the song. The piano at the beginning catches the attention, then the drumming and Trent's singing keeps a hold on the listener for the entire song until the fade into the next track.
"With Teeth" is, obviously, the title track and a good one. The only thing that gets annoying is the "With-a Teeth-a" part.
The next song, "Only", is a current single that has one of the most creative videos in the last few years. The Eighties and Pretty Hate Machine returns in "Only" with spoken words until the chorus. Listen good with this song and you will find a few surprises, such as the piano at the beginning. "Getting Smaller" is a reminisce of today's rock, in short words, it is pretty bland. "Sunspots" is a crown jewel in the album. It reminds me of NIN's previous works.
The last three tracks all fades into each other and are some of the best of the album. "The Line Begins To Blur" starts with a big drum line then completely goes the other direction. This keeps on going with "Besides You In Time", which has some of the best singing by NIN. That fades into the best song on the album, "Right Where It Belongs". This saddening piece of art is "Hurt", only shorter and not as famous.
With Teeh, or without, this album is going to entertain fans until the next Nine Inch Nails album.
Music Review: A little watered...and hey....this sounds very familiar.....
Rating: 3 Stars
Trent Reznor has created some amazing masterpieces in the past with "The Downward Spiral" ,"The Fragile", and "Pretty Hate Machine". I am not a big fan of works earlier than "Pretty Hate Machine". "Downward Spiral" is a deeply personal and twisted journey into the mind of an addict, and the dark and morphed world that he lives in. The journey takes you to worlds and realms that are very hard to describe, worlds and realms beyond "normal" human experience.
"The Fragile" has to be my all-time favorite NIN album. This album chronicles the world of a recovering addict, still roaming through strange worlds and realms. "The Fragile" in my opinion has the most coherent and beautiful music with each song being a landcape of mystery and great songwriting. Not even counting the remix albums of these two releases, which are amazing as well and must haves for any NIN fan or experimental music lover.
"With Teeth" is NIN's latest release, and I have to say that I am very disappointed. Before I even start with this album, NIN changed their style from Industrial to "mainstream". Sure, "The Fragile" was a lot less Industrial than "The Downward Spiral", but "With Teeth" is a pop-music album, there's no doubt about that.
First of all, the singles off of this album are okay. They sound like New-Wave and seem like Trent is trying to win over the newer, younger kids that are getting into his music by conforming to what is popular on the radio. The rest of the album lacks the same vision we see on the radio. "With Teeth" also has a very similar song structure to "The Fragile", yet at the same time brings a new sound to the NIN discography.
There is a new set of band members as well, which is the usual procedure for NIN. I think that there is a different line up on every album that Trent concieves.
I cannot say that this new sound is great at all, rather it sounds stale and boring. Each song seems mis-guided and there is a lack of direction on this album.
There are some heavy tracks, one being the opening track which features Dave Grohl of Foo Fighters fame on drums, a decent song but somewhat lacking. The softer songs on the album are not really all that great, and they don't envoke much emotion.
Basically, this album lacks soul. If Trent did that on purpose or not is unknown, but to me, I feel that Trent is growing old and now that he has nothing to complain or whine about, his song writing has suffered, as well as him musical direction.
All of the artists that were huge in the 90's seem to lose their vision and musical direction these days. So it's not all that suprising, but I have alway felt that NIN was a remarkable group and never thought they would lose their creativity. But a loss of creativity is apparant on this album for sure.
All bands evolve, that's part of life, and the ones that don't usually kill off their fans with repetition. But this change is not worth it, and seems to be designed to be more "friendly" to media sources.
I am sure hardcore NIN fans will pick this up or already own it. IF you are the casual NIN fan then.....
Buy at your own risk.
Music Review: No Masterpiece....but, not bad either
Rating: 4 Stars
First, let me just express how amazed I am about the overly-negative reviews I've seen regarding this album. Now, I can see how some would portray this new record as being a "let-down", but it really isn't that bad of an album. Considering the current state of music for the past 5 years, and the cost of it being only $9.99 (Best Buy)...it's really a nice breath of fresh air. I think many of the NIN fans are being too critical and had hopes of it being something that Reznor would never be able to fulfill. The man is 40 y.o. and quite honestly I'm surprised he was able to make something as good and as fresh as it is.
Now, to get to "With Teeth" itself...it is a lot more accessible than other NIN albums as most people have stated. More so than his previous effort "The Fragile", which was less inviting and not really for the casual listener.(although, my absolute fave NIN album ;-) With this album, many of the songs have more hooks and the music is more straight ahead with shorter song lengths. And as Reznor promised,...it has a more organic feel than any other NIN ever released. I think of it being really "percussion-driven" for the most part. And, by that I mean the drums really stand out more than anything else. The songs seem more stripped and simplistic than "The Fragile" which had many more layers to it. But, this really isn't a bad thing for the average listener. I do believe the first half of the album is better than the second.
"All the love in the World" is a nice song to start the album. Begins with bass and electronic drums covered by soft vocals with synth and subtle piano appearing later to create a very sublime landscape. "You Know What You Are?" is a fast up-tempo song with a chorus that hits you like a train...nice groove. "The Hand That Feeds" is your typical 'single' that rallys against the current establishment (the Bush administration, the ever controlling Religious Reich)...and is a good upbeat song. "Everyday Is Exactly The Same" is truely meant to be the most listener-friendly single on the album...and I must admit it is my favorite track. It to me, is the most solid and complete song on here. "Sunspots" is to me is rather bland with a "Prince-inspired" chorus. "The Line Begins To Blur" is a decent song, with a typical sounding NIN chorus that slowly grinds with hopelessness. "Right Where It Belongs" is a perfect track to close the album. It's very bleak and just quitely rides along in isolation with self-doubting lyrics that emotionally grab the listener.
Overall, I think it's a good record. Although, I would have to question the title. It's not near as edgey as the title would suggest. And, the pure agression that is found on NIN's early albums is more subdued with this outing with only hints of rage throughout it. It is not near as "dark" as other NIN works. And, yes the lyrics can be simple and to the point and maybe even immature at times...but, they do convey the general emotion that the music envokes. I suggest to the people who feel the need to critizise certain elements of "With Teeth" to take it for what it is: a decent record.
Music Review: NIN's return is good but slightly underwhelming (3.5 stars)
Rating: 3 Stars
It's been five and a half years since the unfairly maligned 'The Fragile', which I can honestly say basically changed my direction of musical taste permanently. Reznor has been known to make ground-breaking music with honest emotion, and so now comes to his latest, 'With Teeth'. Unlike any other release it doesn't break nearly as much ground and is the simplest thing made since 'pretty hate machine' and 'broken', but even that broke new ground.
The new NIN record has both its highlights and lowlights. It does have a great one-two punch on the low-key, trip-hop influenced "All the Love in the World", which shows Trent doing everything he does the best. It's got a great falsetto and piano solo to boot with that. Then comes in Dave Grohl's machine-like drum delivery in "You Know What You Are", along with a cool sound that reminds me of drum-n-bass that comes before the verses. Although this shows that Trent has kind of reverted from 'The Fragile' and is less mature that is fine enough in this case.
Other highlights here include the almost Dandy Warhols-sounding "Sunspots", although that's only in the riffs becuase Reznor's voice kind of splits a difference and he hasn't gotten done saying "nothing can stop me now". "The Line Begins to Blur" is straight-out synth stuff from NIN, and gets stuck in your head for awhile. "With Teeth" is a great song that had to do with overcoming his battle with alcohol and heroin, with nice instrumentation. It's one of the more memorable NIN moments. It also gets real nice in its conclusion of "Right Where It Belongs", with great lines like "What if everything you know is just an elaborate dream?". It's a nice piano track and shows that Reznor is still skilled at that thing and it doesn't shy away the Bowie-type stuff he's been doing since 'The Downward Spiral'.
I suppose if you want an album with the 'hits', this is a good place to start. There are catchy numbers like "The Hand That Feeds", the nice riffage of "Getting Smaller" and "The Collector" is one of the most accessible NIN tracks.
This album does have its flaws. There are some real lyrical missteps. Look at "Only": "I just pick you up/to hurt myself/there's no f**king you/there is only me". This shows that Reznor's maturity seems to have reverted from the last time and the lyrics on 'The Fragile' were great. The remainder songs don't really stand out much.
I actually think this is a really good record, but the more I like an artist, the more constructively critical I get with the artist. I believe NIN are best when creating ground-breaking opuses, and this doesn't sound anything like that. As much as I hate saying it, it's easily the most commerical thing NIN has ever done. I guess that's what is dissapointing is that that's not what some would wait five-and-a-half years for. At any rate though I am really interested in what he does and I hope it sounds more on-target for someone who has already approched 40. Either way I hope he has more ambition and ideas for the next release, but at least this is decent.