Nine Inch Nails: “With Teeth”
THE CD: “With Teeth” (Universal)
PERFORMER: Nine Inch Nails
Trent Reznor proves on this record that he’s just getting better with age. The solo force behind NIN has been putting out hit records for nearly 20 years (See Pretty Hate Machine), and continues to challenge assumptions and expectations.
At first I was a little disappointed with this CD, expecting more of the hyper-aggressive sound that seems now to have largely ended on “The Downward Spiral.” It does, however, fit right in with where Trent left us on 1999’s two-disc White Album “The Fragile“. For every “Star****ers, Inc.”, there is “A Warm Place” or a “La Mer” to bring balance to the sound.
Flashes of old
There are flashes of the older, harder NIN; one being “You Know What You Are?” Kick drum pounds relentlessly; clear piano contrasting distorted synth; space auhs that soar into the stratosphere. And, one of the things that I’ve always noticed others biting (pun?) off of Reznor: The digital slicer-type effect over his vocals. I can’t say he started that, but he made it popular.
“The Hand That Feeds” is the first single, and it shows a more pop-oriented side of the composer. It’s what he could easily put out and be successful with, but Trent has way too much vision for easy consumption. It includes one of the staples of Reznor’s lyric imagery: Slavery (See Broken). He shouts: Will you bite the hand that feeds you/Will you stay down on your knees? over top of a crescendo of noise, synthesizers, and guitars.
“Every Day Is Exactly The Same” and “The Line Begins To Blur” are classic NIN. In addition to the digital feel the vocals (yes, the music, too) can have, there’s another common NIN production technique: The schizophrenic layering of Trent’s words. They are at once barely audible, saying one thing, over top of (or underneath) that are the screaming vocals we know and love.
Exercising demons
You may have already seen the video for “Only”, an office-oriented hellscape that is reminiscent of Atari Teenage Riot’s “Revolution Action.” (I mention ATR also because of the cohesive relationship — and tour — Reznor and Alec Empire once shared.)
“Only” at first sounds like it’s straight out of a generic techno DJ’s beat library. That preliminary assumption is soon set aside with a funky bassline that drops in after the first couple of bars. In the song, Reznor seems to be in a therapy session, exercising demons that have been haunting him all these years, while, at the same time, making my CD collection even better. He seems to be cracking up: There is no you, there is only me, he shouts over and over again. And, telling himself over and over (it seems fruitlessly): I just made you up to hurt myself.
“With Teeth” closes with “Right Where It Belongs”, a piano ballad (See “Hurt”) that finds Trent questioning reality:
What if everything around you isn’t quite as it seems/What if all the world you think you know is an elaborate dream/If you look at your reflection/Is that all you want to be?
However, he has one thing most wannabes don’t: Millions of fans. Rare is the occasion for samples on a Nine Inch Nails record as Trent has little use for them.
But as “Right Where It Belongs” closes, as the filthy sound of one guitar or keyboard is beautifully contrasted with single, clear, piano notes, thousands of fans explode into cheers, seeming to keep Reznor grounded. This has been done by other bands, but most of the time it seems over the top, like they need to prove they have fans. Reznor doesn’t need (or does he?) the adulation of the masses, as his music continues to prove.
– By Nick Harrah
