Review Summary: An extremely under-rated album , overshadowed perhaps by their earlier works , deserving of a second chance
Nine Inch Nails is an Industrial Rock band formed in the late 80's by Trent Reznor. They have quite the discography, Head Like A Hole from Pretty Hate Machine being quite the hit, followed by Closer on The Downward Spiral which is considered for many one of the greatest Industrial Rock records of all time. Following the success of The Downward Spiral, in 1999, comes The Fragile, a huge 23 song long behemoth which garnered the same positive feedback,many considering it superior to it's predecessor, while others consider it full of filler. After that however things start to slow down a bit, in 2002 Still gets released , a remix album of sorts , taking songs from the previous albums and removing the aggression, giving them a sense of melancholy. 3 years later comes With Teeth, a different album from the usual stuff Trent has put out, leaning more towards Alternative Rock than Industrial Rock, though good in it's own way it wasn't received as well as his previous works. And that leads us here, 2007's Year Zero.
Year Zero wasn't produced the same way as Trent's other records , it was made on a laptop while Trent was touring after releasing With Teeth. It also contained an ARG (Alternate Reality Game) where fans had to piece together clues (from what i've heard anyway, i wasn't around when that happened).
Year Zero is perhaps the most underrated albums Trent has ever put out. It's a return of sorts, the band returns to their Industrial roots, although instead of being Industrial Rock it leans more towards Electro-Industrial. It is also a concept album , something Trent and co. have done before, The Downward Spiral being the journey of a man from the beginning of his "downward spiral" to his death, Year Zero is almost that but on a larger scale , the journey of humanity until it's destruction. That is why this album is a lot more personal for me, I couldn't put myself in the shoes of the man in The Downward Spiral, however i can relate more to the destruction of humanity as a whole.
"HYPERPOWER" starts the album up with a bang, a simple drum pattern and a fuzzy guitar makes it demand your attention , the addition of the chanting a few seconds in paints sort of a picture of what the album is all about, loudness and energy. This song also features one big motifs, loud, chaotic outros.
"The Beginning Of The End" is the first track sung by Trent and the lyricism here is good, way less angsty than the other albums while still feeling raw. You can start seeing the concept of the album here, basically each songs tells a short story of an alternate reality, you can gather most of them by title alone. Structure wise it's similar to the first track , simple drum pattern with a fuzzy guitar that gets louder and louder.
"Survivalism" shows the last trademark of the album, great hooks.Almost every song has some sort of hook in it, this one being certainly one of the catchiest.
"The Good Soldier" slows things down a bit, a very nice bassline followed by , yet again, a great drum patter. The synths and the surprise appearance of a xylophone make this song very intimate. Lyrically this is a very touching song, about a solider questioning if what he is doing is right or not.
"Vessel" is a nice follow-up, quite loud. The surprise here is the breakdown at the end, i'm not quite sure what instruments are used but the sounds created work together very well, making seemingly random noise into a very nice melody. Thematically it's about someone either being experimented or someone with drug problems , though the lyrics are the ones you can make the most fun out of here.
"Me, I'm Not" is another slower song, you can see it as the calm after "Vessel" . It still has some noise leftover and a similar structure to "Vessel" (similar breakdown at the end as well) but i find this one a lot nicer and creepier. Lyrically I consider it a follow-up to "Vessel" , a man not being able to control himself because of some mysterious circumstances.
"Capital G" is probably the most controversial song here. I've talked to a fair amount of people that call it the worst NIN song or at least the worst on the album, I however disagree. It's great, just as catchy as the rest of the album , lyrically however it is very on the nose , Trent basically impersonating a politician that only cares about himself . However what this song has that the rest of the album doesn't is a very good guitar solo towards the end. All and all good track even if the lyrics will most definitely turn people off
"My Violent Heart" starts with quiet vocals, before bursting with noise during the chorus, which has a very weird squeaky sound in it , couldn't quite figure out what it was but it sounds like rubbing a balloon. One of the weaker tracks on the album in my opinion , doesn't have the same energy as the rest, while also not being different enough to stand out.
"The Warning" starts with a really nice beat, which features a sort of Spoken Word bit by Trent, the lyrics are definitely unsettling but the execution isn't quite there.
"God Given" is the catchiest song on the album, the hook is just perfect while being as noisy as the rest of the album . This one is Trent impersonating a religious fanatic making people join his cult (not quite an anti religion song i don't think , just mocking the extremists).
"Meet Your Master" is musically the same as the rest of the album , big drums and a lot of noise. This is the hardest one for me to figure what it's about . I think it's about punishing the leader of a country or interrogating someone , i'm not 100% sure. Either way it's one of the weaker tracks on the record , it's just not as good quality wise as the rest of the record .
"The Greater Good" is a noise free track (compared to the rest of the album anyway) , very simplistic, starts off with a drum pattern then some light noise and it keeps building up , while Trent whispers some stuff . I have no idea what it is about but it's one of my favourites on here, the tracks that tried to be creepy up to this point felt short but this one just grabbed me.
"The Great Destroyer" is the weirdest one to review here.It's basically a huge build-up to noise mayhem. I don't really like it but once Trent stops singing it gets kinda good, even then I had to listen to it a lot to actually "get it". Also the part where he screams "I am the great destroyer" is just so bad, i can't get past it .
"Another Version Of The Truth" is a sort of ambient piece , having the least noise in it compared to the rest of the album. It's really mellow and it seems like it builds up to another breakdown but it just quiets down. Not the greatest instrumental only track by Trent but it's still really good.
"In This Twilight" is just plain bad i'm sorry . It almost made me lower the score but it doesn't outstay it's welcome. It also has this recurring noise that just sounds like someone ripping paper.
"Zero Sum" finishes off the album.It is an extremely good closer that ties the whole album together, my favourite song on here for sure. It's very somber and quiet, up until the chorus that starts with some glitchy drums and some sparse piano keys. Lyrically it's Trent saying his final goodbyes before the world ends. This is the song that ties the whole experience for me, it's perfect. The lyrics, the way Trent describes the end and the way he says his apologizes for the stuff he has done, the glitchy music that makes you know the end is night, the amazing chorus Trent just saying how this was meant to be and how we couldn't stop it, the way everything just stops and we are left with some very quiet piano notes at the end, it's the perfect end. This my favourite Nine Inch Nails song, no other track has this sense of dread and melancholy to it.
All and all this is a fantastic record, with great hooks, a great use of noise, a great concept and a last song that ties the whole thing together. The second half is slightly weaker than the first but this is easily the most underrated album by Trent and I think it's one of the only albums that can truly be called a masterpiece.
Favourite Tracks: Zero Sum, HYPERPOWER, The Good Solider, The Greater Good
Least Favourite Tracks : In This Twilight
