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I'm not one of those people who can say they were listening to Nine Inch Nails before everybody else, but I am a longtime listener. One of the first bands I discovered while in high school, NIN also counts as one of the first I gave money. While the posuers and party people hooked onto "Closer" my sophomore year, I first discovered an earlier effort called *Pretty Hate Machine*.
Now founder and front man Trent Reznor brings an LP some believe harkens back to that seminal album. Yes, *With Teeth* stays true to established Nails themes and elements. Yet it evolves both musically and socially from the very sub-genre he helped create. Overall, *With Teeth* is a fine addition to the NIN discography, though also quirky and different enough to put everybody off.
-1989 Inch Nails--
People seem to have trouble fingering this album. There's a lot a blanket comparisons to past works. That's understandable precisely because it isn't that simple. For example, people say track 2 sounds like something from *Broken*. But "You Know What You Are?" features chords, beats, tones, and lyrics almost alien to the 1992 EP. The track sounds more mature and expensive than probably the entire, earlier album. The only similarity lies in the sheer vocal aggression.
Even more inaccurate and complicated are the comparisons to *The Downward Spiral's* "Hurt" and *With Teeth's* "Right Where it Belongs". Yes, both haunting pieces end their respective albums with a whimper instead of a bang-a NIN trademark. The former focuses on the dramatic ruin of a man. It's a self-pitying tragedy. The newer track, aside from being a more complex piece of music, portrays a man fighting to live and to assert his identity in a mass media world. It almost contradicts "Hurt" to say "Hey, don't take this all so seriously! I'm just a rock star. Hear that audience cheering towards the end of the song? That's my idea of making fun of me and my fans alike!"
Indeed, a lot of *With Teeth* sounds like an effort to break away from the mold he cast himself in his first three albums. "Only" draws PHM comparisons because of it's overtly 80's style beat, combined with lyrics bearing a superficial resemblance to "Down in it". But it doesn't seem to occur to people that this might be satire-even sarcasm. "Only", like "RWIB", seems to reflect a tongue-in-cheek reference to his entire reputation, in addition to his first album.
-Breaking the Fragile-
Standing 16 years from *PHM*, his latest album seems to draw from its immediate predecessor. Reznor's 1999 double-CD *The Fragile* remains among my favorite music albums of all time, in part because it demonstrated a musical depth and complexity far beyond anything attempted in not only in Reznor's earlier efforts, but that of many other artists.
But Reznor, like many other meaningful artists who hit it big around 1994, made the mistake of waiting too long. It wasn't just a matter of the "Closer" poseurs leaving the show in the face of Reznor's improved musicianship. In his five-year absence, Britney Spears and Limp Bizkit stole the spotlight. The wings filled up with rap-rockers, piano girls, and strip-tease pop stars. In the `99 music environment, *The Fragile* went straight to the head of the stage--only to be pushed into the orchestra pit.
-Somewhat Repaired-
*With Teeth* sounds like a lessoned learned, being the most dance, single, and radio-friendly material he's made in my ears. It drops the instrumentals, and a lot of instruments, and cranks up the bass over guitars and drums. The first half rocks with catchy anthems and raps. Supposedly geared towards a more live or organic performance, the album sounds heavily synthesized to me, and frequently reminds me of David Bowie-reasons why people might compare it to *PHM*.
Yet a lot of *Fragile* and *Still* mechanics exist here. Reznor pulls off a coup in retaining the complexity and depth of music while making it utterly stripped and digestible. And like its predecessor, many of the tracks abandon lyrics at some point to embark on lengthy and fascinating solos. The lyrics themselves tend towards *Fragile* structure than those of prior albums. *With Teeth* also marks the second album in a row in which the song titles are as lengthy and involved as the music. Finally, it builds off the *Fragile* graphic design, employing a minimalist album art consisting of fuzzy close ups and maimed logos, as well as abandoning the distinctive font used in most of the NIN catalogue.
Structurally, the album inverses *Fragile*, having a rocking first half and a more critical second. It also resembles *PHM* in being an anthology of songs. Yet it's extremely cohesive-one of the most cohesive pieces Reznor has assembled. I think it's as conceptual an album as anything Reznor's done. As the album progresses the tracks increasingly and dramatically segue, and plunge into increasingly challenging and interconnected layers. So too are the ideas in the songs.
Overall *With Teeth* has at lot more depth and individuality than it may first appear to have, both beneath the public appeal and among NIN's prior albums. I can listen to "Right Where it Belongs" constantly though it's not something to tap my feet to as I'm driving to work. This is the sort of thing I look for in music.
-And All that Could Have Spent-
Which leads me to the album tray and cover. The layout compares to *PHM*: both albums are the only albums to feature Reznor's picture. Both also invoke computerized distortion in the album art. Then it departs for the first time from the practice of including lyrics and album information. The cover looks and feels like the same sort of thin cardstock used with *And All that Could Have Been* Deluxe, only with out the heavy cardboard slipcase. On the other hand, I paid less for *With Teeth* dual-disc edition than that of esoteric and anti-establishment CD's like King Missile's *Royal Lunch*.
In the end, *With Teeth* seems to gain good reviews, but it's more of a challenge than people credit. No mere throwback, NIN critics probably won't be converted by its satires and self-references, while those who take the past drama too seriously may be disappointed by the very same. None of this wears the album for the worse. It's about as straightforward a band rock album as NIN manages while still being complex and unique.
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Reviews with images
Spend time with this, another gem.
In addition to this reissued version sounding way better, there’s an extra song I’ve never heard before called Home. I love the whole package and it also comes with a great article written by David Fricke from Stone. It even has artwork including the tour posters from the Live With Teeth tour.
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