Nine Inch Nails - With Teeth

Alex Yamakazi - Wednesday, May 4, 2005 - Print Version

You almost have to feel sorry for Trent Reznor. He is an incredibly smart businessman with a real talent for marketing himself, but making a NIN album at this point must be a daunting task considering the weight of fan expectation that has to be dealt with. It's like making a Star Wars or Lord of the Rings movie... there's no way you're going to please everyone and your fans are as pedantic and picky as they are passionate.

Unlike the sweeping epic that was The Fragile, With Teeth is by no means a paradigm shift. If you expect it to be a huge leap forward you will be disappointed. If you accept and appreciate it as a further exploration and refinement of concepts that have been visited in previous albums you will be rewarded.

With Teeth combines all the elements that have made NIN successful in the past. Whilst you have to appreciate the complex production values, the core of NIN's appeal has always been emotion. Brutal, primal raw emotion. It is this emotion that lends power to Trent's often simplistic lyrics. It's aggressive, it's brutal, it's sexy and at times it's even ugly but there is a complexity there that will see With Teeth reveal itself more fully with repeated listens.

It's hard to pick standout tracks because With Teeth does not carry a lot of dead weight. The more obvious anthems include "You know what you are" which has an aggression which will surely translate well live and the instantly accessible "The Hand That Feeds". Fans of a more complex and layered sound will be drawn to "All the Love in the World", "Love is not enough" and the quirky "Only". "Sunspots" and "With Teeth" are both sexy and menacing with an unmistakable classic NIN sound.

Once again Trent renders industrial palatable to the masses with the infusion of an unmistakable pop sensibility. I'm not sure if it's art but does it need to be?

Alex Yamakazi

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