Nine Inch Nails "With Teeth"
Translated by Scero
By MARTIN CARLSSON for Expressen on May 4, 2005
5 of 5 (Classic)
(Interscope/Universal)
ROCK
If you like this, also listen to
Then: Depeche Mode "Violator" (1990)
Now: Radiohead "Hail to the thief" (2003)
When I was recently asked to name the world's greatest singer, my
answer was just as easy as it was unexpected for the person asking:
Trent Reznor. On a technical level he is pretty mediocre, but that
doesn't matter. Reznor shows emotion and speaks to me like no other
artist, one moment he is vulnerable and insightful, the next he is
angry and desperate.
After a few years of problems and abuse, Reznor is back with his first
studio album since 1999. That he now privately has found his place is
not something you can tell from this trip to hell, spread over 13
songs (and the bonus track home found in Europe). On "With Teeth" he
settles the score with himself.
When compared to the predecessor "The Fragile", and the chaotic "The
Downward Spiral", the album is straight and minimalistic. But when
Reznor made all the tracks to the single "The Hand that Feeds"
available, you could tell he rarely chooses the most apparent
solutions. There are a lot of layers to discover.
What is clear though, is that Nine Inch Nails has created his most
accessible album since "Pretty Hate Machine". Here are choruses to die
for, clever and cool instead of ingratiating. Towards the end, the
drama increases, and the triple "The line begins to blur", "Beside you
in time" and the piano ballad "Right Where It Belongs" gives me goose
bumps.
Four masterpieces on just as many attempts. Trent Reznor is definitely
a unique artist in today’s disposable society.