REVIEWS

Buy this album from Amazon.com

Nine Inch Nails
With Teeth

Nothing / Interscope

Posted: Tuesday, March 28, 2006
By: Ilker Yucel
Editor

Few bands in the industrial scene have faced as much derision and caused as much division among audiences as Nine Inch Nails have. Headed by the (in)famous Trent Reznor, the name of Nine Inch Nails has been called everything from the biggest band in industrial, responsible for bringing the enigmatic genre in to the mainstream's consciousness, to the ruin of all that was good in the genre to begin with. It's not difficult to see the scope of Trent's influences, having collaborated with the likes of David Bowie, Skinny Puppy, hip-hop guru Dr. Dre, and even metal god Rob Halford; Nine Inch Nails have drawn comparisons to Bowie's more artsy moments, and even inciting accusations of ripping off Skinny Puppy's sound and style. Six years after the last NIN album, Trent and company release With Teeth. Boasting a more song-oriented approach to the music, Trent has crafted yet another angst-ridden yet vehement blend of vitriolic negativity and surprising sensitivity.

From the first track, the soul-wracking "All the Love in the World," With Teeth sounds as if it picks up right where The Fragile left off. With a combination of bouncy electronic percussion, a dark but groovy bass line, and some sickly sweet piano melodies that harkens back to the previous album's motives. In typical NIN form, a chorus like "Why do you get all the love in the world?" shows that at age 40, Trent isn't ready to give up on the "nobody loves me" formula that seems to work for much of his musical output. "You Know What You Are" pounds out with a barrage of distorted buzz saw electronic attacks and some amazingly pummeling drums. This song is NIN at its best, complete with the screamed chorus and the gratuitous swearing. With its odd rhythmic combinations, "The Collector" is slightly reminiscent of The Downward Spiral, reminding this reviewer of "The Becoming." The chosen single, "Bite the Hand that Feeds" is probably the most radio-friendly song NIN has ever recorded; little more than a simple verse and chorus progression only augmented by some vintage synthesizer effects. "Love is Not Enough" is strangely simplistic, with a dark sustained bass drone and some foreboding drums, while "Every Day is Exactly the Same" is somewhat vaudevillian with its classy jazzy piano. These songs probably would've been better suited for a female vocalist along the lines of Anna Wildsmith (of Sow), Claudia Sarne (of 12 Rounds), or even Nicole Blackmon. The title track returns to some randomized industrial noise; pounding rhythms amid a droning guitar and some trademark NIN changeups, going from a grating abrasive industrial track to a peaceful moment of classical piano. Trent goes unapologetically disco with "Only" and "Sunspots," while "The Line Begins to Blur" sounds like an indulgent clatter of screamed vocals over distortion. "Beside You in Time" stutters by with a skittering beat and some fuzzy skipping of sustained guitars, before the album's closer, "Right Where it Belongs" ends things with a minimalist arrangement of pianos and fuzzy noise, not unlike "Hurt."

All in all, With Teeth is probably best seen as a sequel to The Fragile. The trademark NIN production is still present, with that distinctive distortion sound and the mixture of electronic oddities that are so buried in the mix that they barely register, and yet without them the album would falter. Like The Fragile, the piano is very present, giving NIN a slightly classical edge that most industrial bands fail to indicate. However, the so-called more "song-oriented" approach of With Teeth becomes the album's weak point; with most of the songs clocking in at less-than-four minutes, the album seems almost tailor made for mass consumption, fit for extended radio play. While NIN has always had a flirtation with the bounds of what is acceptable for radio, Trent has always managed to find a dark medium between the pop market and art. Here, he stretches for it, but the result is at best hit or miss. Longtime NIN fans may find much at fault with this album, though it is not without its level of merit. The production is as brilliant as ever, showing that Trent can at least deliver the goods in constructing music, if not in composing. Those who found The Fragile too long-winded will probably find With Teeth more satisfying, while others who felt The Fragile was too soft compared to Broken or The Downward Spiral will think it to be a step in the wrong direction. One thing that is for certain, it is undoubtedly Nine Inch Nails; at least they're consistent if nothing else.