Nine Inch Nails – With Teeth
It’s been over five years since our boy Trent has graced us with his presence. The previous LP was that double disc job “The Fragile” while it was a good album, it was a transition for Trent . “With Teeth” returns to a more striped down affair. The album as whole is a bit more polished and there is two songs with “love” in the title.
“All The Love In The World” starts off with a slow little beat and Trent ‘s vocal just slides on over it. It slowly starts to build and the piano bit in there is fantastic. It’s simple but very effective. “You Know What You Are?” is classic NIN, that is reminiscent of say Starfckers or something off Pretty Hate Machine. It’s fast, and really loud. The hook of “don’t you fucking know who you are” is cheesy yes but dam it it sounds great. “The Hand That Feeds” is the single we have all been going crazy for. It’s the closest thing to a pop song that they have ever written. “Love Is Not Enough” here is song number two with love in the title. Are you ok Trent ? This one is a bit more experimental. The drums here are very loud and industrial but everything else is just some odd distorted guitars and Trent never really gets loud. “With Teeth” one of the craziest songs on here, it starts off in say a more traditional NIN fashion. Then at about three minutes in the song suddenly stops into a quiet piano bit with Trent sounding barley audible. The last minute is outstanding, great tune. “Only” this has to be the strangest album track. No one could have seen this coming. The track starts off with an eighties dance beat and Trent has a very David Byrne like delivery here. Its got a great back beat to it. Different for Trent but it works somehow. “Line Begins To Blur” the intro is very raw and dirty. The live drums really add to everything. The heavy verses plus the slower hook make for a gorgeous song. “Right Where It Belongs” is a slow number full of pain and emotion… just how he likes to end the records.
This is certainly is a different album for the band. There is a bit more experimentation, different effects, more piano, and songs about love. For the diehard fans of the older stuff precede with caution you might be a bit disappointed. But otherwise this is a great comeback disc.
By John Siwicki
