We should consider ourselves very lucky that both Al Jourgensen and Trent Reznor - the last of the great industrialists - have emerged from rehab sans all that weeniedom that most artists seem to align themselves with after such ordeals.
Mr. Jourgensen’'s Ministry went through rough times during the nineties, thanks to drug stuff, legal stuff, and band stuff. 1995’'s FILTH PIG and 1999'’s THE DARK SIDE OF THE SPOON had flashes of greatness, but the rest was less interesting a copy of NPR'’s “"Driveway Moments.”" Then, Mr. Jourgensen emerged from rehab with a Republican in charge and delivered 2003'’s fiery ANIMOSITISOMINA and last year’'s totally nuclear HOUSES OF THE MOLE, two albums that showed, if nothing else, that rehab somehow made Mr. Jourgensen meaner.
Meanwhile, Nine Inch Nails - Ministry'’s little brother in the industrial family - was having problems of its own. Trent Reznor delivered 1999’'s THE FRAGILE to a huge round of disappointing sales and snide looks from all those people who jumped on the “Closer” bandwagon a few years before. It was great, it was loved by every critic this side of NPR, but, well...it was no THE WALL. And “"Ripe"” sucked. Then Mr. Reznor got a case of the alcodrugoholic flu and disappeared for a while, deep into the recesses of that funeral-parlor-turned-recording-studio down in New Orleans.
This particular return from rehab brings both a Glenn Danzig-beefy Trent Reznor and WITH TEETH, the most concise album he’'s done since PRETTY HATE MACHINE. Clocking in under one hour, it brings Mr. Reznor back to the synth-based hookiness that was the reason we all started listening to Nine Inch Nails in the first place. And although THE FRAGILE was an epic of layers and guitars and instrumentals, it had none of the vocal trickery that is so mind-numbingly good here: the falsetto on “"All the Love in the World;"” the self-deprecating, breezy verses of "“Only;"” the added accentuation when he sings “"With Teeth-ah”" on the title track.
Where Mr. Jourgensen'’s attack is a monolithic braining of guitars and programmed drums, Mr. Reznor understands that you can get just as much, if not more, effect if you give the listener a chance to catch his or her breath, creating more tension; the title track'’s middle part of piano and whispers will send listeners into a blissful trance, perhaps having them turn up speakers in an effort to hear, only to be slapped with enough wattage to deserve broomstick pokes from the neighbor below.
But make no mistake; there is no shortage of angst and distress here. “"You Know What You Are”" is everything "“Starfuckers Inc"” wishes it could be, and "“The Line Begins to Blur"” is a thick mosh of prime industrial that hearkens to the "“Reptile"” days. Dave Grohl'’s drums pound feverishly throughout, and while nothing here is as memorable as his work with Queens of the Stone Age, it still adds a considerable attack with which Mr. Reznor can flit his focused anger through lyrics that are pretty much your standard NIN fare; but while he sings about the old “"smashing things apart,"” this time the "you" he yells at” in any of these tracks might just be the older, drunker Reznor.
Mr. Jourgensen’'s Ministry went through rough times during the nineties, thanks to drug stuff, legal stuff, and band stuff. 1995’'s FILTH PIG and 1999'’s THE DARK SIDE OF THE SPOON had flashes of greatness, but the rest was less interesting a copy of NPR'’s “"Driveway Moments.”" Then, Mr. Jourgensen emerged from rehab with a Republican in charge and delivered 2003'’s fiery ANIMOSITISOMINA and last year’'s totally nuclear HOUSES OF THE MOLE, two albums that showed, if nothing else, that rehab somehow made Mr. Jourgensen meaner.
Meanwhile, Nine Inch Nails - Ministry'’s little brother in the industrial family - was having problems of its own. Trent Reznor delivered 1999’'s THE FRAGILE to a huge round of disappointing sales and snide looks from all those people who jumped on the “Closer” bandwagon a few years before. It was great, it was loved by every critic this side of NPR, but, well...it was no THE WALL. And “"Ripe"” sucked. Then Mr. Reznor got a case of the alcodrugoholic flu and disappeared for a while, deep into the recesses of that funeral-parlor-turned-recording-studio down in New Orleans.
This particular return from rehab brings both a Glenn Danzig-beefy Trent Reznor and WITH TEETH, the most concise album he’'s done since PRETTY HATE MACHINE. Clocking in under one hour, it brings Mr. Reznor back to the synth-based hookiness that was the reason we all started listening to Nine Inch Nails in the first place. And although THE FRAGILE was an epic of layers and guitars and instrumentals, it had none of the vocal trickery that is so mind-numbingly good here: the falsetto on “"All the Love in the World;"” the self-deprecating, breezy verses of "“Only;"” the added accentuation when he sings “"With Teeth-ah”" on the title track.
Where Mr. Jourgensen'’s attack is a monolithic braining of guitars and programmed drums, Mr. Reznor understands that you can get just as much, if not more, effect if you give the listener a chance to catch his or her breath, creating more tension; the title track'’s middle part of piano and whispers will send listeners into a blissful trance, perhaps having them turn up speakers in an effort to hear, only to be slapped with enough wattage to deserve broomstick pokes from the neighbor below.
But make no mistake; there is no shortage of angst and distress here. “"You Know What You Are”" is everything "“Starfuckers Inc"” wishes it could be, and "“The Line Begins to Blur"” is a thick mosh of prime industrial that hearkens to the "“Reptile"” days. Dave Grohl'’s drums pound feverishly throughout, and while nothing here is as memorable as his work with Queens of the Stone Age, it still adds a considerable attack with which Mr. Reznor can flit his focused anger through lyrics that are pretty much your standard NIN fare; but while he sings about the old “"smashing things apart,"” this time the "you" he yells at” in any of these tracks might just be the older, drunker Reznor.