Year Zero

After 2005's 'With Teeth' and the poor reception it got, many NIN fans waited with much anticipation for the follow up.
First of all, the wait wasn't even half as long as it usually is between the "once-in-a-blue-moon" release style of NIN albums (after 18 years there are but 5 full studio albums - with this being the latest).

To say that this album is a step in a different direction concerning NIN is an understatement and a half.
The usual gritty, vicious introverted lyrical and vocal content of previous NIN records seems a little absent here. Nothing short of amazing, however.
This seething attack upon the political climate that we live in today, as well as the consequences that it may bring if we don't book up our ideas is one that is both satirical but helplessly terrifying, simultaneously.

The advertising campaign that accompanied this MARVEL of a musical achievment was mind blowing with websites, t-shirts, USB pens and even tracks that were "leaked" by Trent Reznor himself adding to the sheerly over-whelming involvement of it all coming together.

If you want to get a good taste of what NIN are then this is definitely an essential purchase, next to The Downward Spiral and/or The Fragile.

Year Zero is here, and with a "part II" follow up in the works, as well as a rumoured film adaptation, let's hope it's here to stay!

Nine Inch Nails in all honesty as a band don't exist. Alternatively Nine Inch Nails is the title which has followed Trent Reznor's solo career.
Year Zero is a record which has a defined spirit. Contemplating a world post Iraq and absent of George Bush, Trent's ambition to manipulate a music album into an anti-propaganda attack is highly unorthodox.
Yet Year Zero gloriously maintains the bands stunningly effective cutting edge and precedence. Trent, similarly to others such James Maynard Keaton, can tone down his vocals to a whisper which helps to connect and communicate, creating a more intimate environment. Perhaps the finest example of this is
"my violent heart". What can secondary be witnessed in this track is the sudden escalation in vocal depth. The chorus comes into play without any slight indication and Reznor implodes with the words " On hands and knees we crawl you can not stop us all". The fact that Trent has never been a typical "screamer" increase the emphasis and rarity of this particular song.

"The beginning of the end" and "Capital G" are an attack against the power of the state, whilst "Survivalism" advocates the power of the individual. Year Zero's zeitgeist is apparent in every song and Reznor made it that way.
The concrete fan base will welcome Year Zero and hold it in high regard whilst new fans might see it as a moment of serendipity.

i was a bit wary when i got this but after listing to it a few time over it accually really quite good.

its a good album look beneath the surface and you have a mind melting concept. opening with hyperpower! trancending into the beggining of the end it hits the nail (no pun intended) on the head. To the casual listner may sound a bit much. but to anyone who has an intrest into nin or industrial / electro well worth buying! plus it came with a cool heat sensitive cd :p

Very good album, i think. Real industrial sound.
Trent Reznor knows how to make a good music!

Comparing to the "With teeth" album, i can say, that "Year Zero", maybe, more heavy, aggressive, but , at the same time, it is more thoughtful.