With Teeth

I haven't paid much attention to music in the past five years since the RIAA started acting like dicks and since good music pretty much started to evaporate. I had always been familiar with Nine Inch Nails since a remixed version of "Closer" was used as the opening audio loop for the my all time favorite movie, "Seven." I wouldn't really say I'm a "fan" (and by the connotation of the word, I'm not much of a "fan" of any particular category, band, or musician) but I thought "The Fragile" was one of the last great albums, along with Dr. Dre's "Chronic 2001," to be released before music became exceptionally boring. Granted, there's nothing in particular these days that grates on my nerves the way that lilith fair bull dyke feminazi shit did back in 1997, but there's nothing really spectacular either.

So "[With_Teeth]" got leaked and I figured I might as well use the bandwith I'm paying for. I had already heard "The Line Begins To Blur" and "The Hand That Feeds" last month. I thought "The Line Begins To Blur" was a great song, and "The Hand That Feeds" was shitty. I still like the former, and the latter has grown on me. There's just a bit too much repetition in the lyrics. While this album is not as good as "The Fragile" or "The Downward Spiral" there are a few more great tracks that make it worth checking out: Love is Not Enough, Every Day is Exactly the Same, Only, and my personal favorite, Sunspots.

I'm not sure there's enough notable material on here to justify what is almost a six year gap between albums, but with the rancid state of music these days, beggars can't be choosers. Hopefully the next album goes for a sort of highs and lows approach, mixing stuff similar to the heavy tracks of "Broken" with the more vacant sounds of "Still" in one big clusterfuck of awesomeness. I still can't stand gothballs, trech coat rejects, and what likely constitutes 99% (no pun intended) of the fanbase, but I respect the fact that Reznor hits the hill and turns forty next month, but continues to do things his own way. It's unfortunate that I develop a liking for musicians, game developers, and movie directors who take a fucking eternity with each project. Oh well, you get what you wait for.