Nine Inch Nails

[dotancohen]

I guess that I'll start this forum with a mention of my all-time favorite band: Trent Reznor's Nine Inch Nails.

I was blown away by Broken, and since have adopted Pretty Hate Machine, The Downward Spiral, and The Fragile not only as some of the greatest (and most diverse) albums ever written, but also as a redefenition of what music is.

I think this qualifies Trent Reznor as one of the greatest artists mankind has yet to produce. Not only his field of music has benefited, but also art in general has been advanced and enrichened by his influence.

Thank you Trent!

[dotancohen]

For me, NIN has been about hurt, disappointment, anger. Pretty Hate Machine was mostly about HER and what SHE has caused. I was the most amazed 12 year old when I discovered these things through Trent. Broken was just that: broken with anger, with hate, with FEELING. No other album, by no other artist, has been able to convey feeling as clearly and directly as Broken. The Downward Spiral got listened to more than even The Wall. So many lessons to be learned there. NIN was growing with me. I was growing with NIN. I won't even begin to describe The Fragile. If you have heard it, then you know. If you haven't, then I can't help you. Go hear it. The Fragile will be remembered in centuries future as Bach is today. More than a masterpeice- a showcase of what is possible. Music was invented with the intention of it being perfected into The Fragile.

With Teeth is a great album. The soundtrack for Natural Born Killers was a great album. But neither of them are NIN albums in my opinion, whether or not Trent produced them (Yes, Trent did NBK). With Teeth does not follow in the Nine Inch Nails tradition of successing previous albums. It does not expand on the previous works. Progressing from Pretty Hate Machine through Broken and The Downward Spiral to The Fragile was like progressing from simple math through algebra and finally calculus. With Teeth is not a continuation of the trade in that sense.

With that said, I repeat that With Teeth is a great album. With the exeption of one (or two) songs, it is an amazingly moving album. In contrast to previous NIN works, it is trendy. I didn't like that at first, but I give Trent Reznor credit for expanding my musical tastes. This bit of trendiness grew on me.

I'm writting this review because I heard a dentists' drill today. It got me singing Sunspots. I think that says enough.