Reviewed by Hunter M. Daniels

I’ve long been a Trent Reznor apologist. I enjoy his work, even as I am aware that he borrowed a lot of his best tricks. His music is a perfect pop blend of nihilism and humability.

However, even I have had to admit that sometimes Reznor’s lyricals can leave his audience…wanting, to say nothing of his limited vocal range. For every Closer there are 5 Starfucker’s. But even with all these limitations, there is still something endearing about Reznor’s work.

For a while though, it seemed as if Reznor was as good as dead. After 1999’s execrable, The Fragile, there was nothing for 6 long years. Then, in 2005, Reznor unleashed, With_Teeth. A more focused, mainstream, and lyically superior album that demanded attention from a public that had all but written Reznor off.

As his comeback continued, Reznor toured the world twice and released Year Zero only 2 years later. Last October he produced Saul William’s self released, THE INEVITABLE RISE AND LIBERATION OF NIGGY STARDUST!, followed quickly by the eclectic Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D. Now, without the constraints of a record company comes Reznor’s first independent Nine Inch Nails release, Ghosts I-IV.

Ghosts is an interesting choice for Reznor’s first foray into self releasing. The album is wholly uncommerical and totally unconventional. On one hand, this is the perfect format to release such a record, but it could also work to weaken the NIN name brand for future, more rock based endeavors.

But beyond the politics, posturing and release gimmicks, is the record itself.

This isn’t a rock record. There is nary a distorted guitar riff, nor a hook to be found. Instead, there are plenty of African sounding drums, weird noises, and mid-song tempo changes aplenty. Most early reports, including my own, indicated that this was an instrumental album, it’s not. Instead, Ghosts grasps at soundscapes, acid jazz and improvisational music. Mostly however, it feels like the worlds most melodic Noize record.

Noize is about as far underground as one can get. It’s the musical equivalent of Dada. It is anti-music. It is bizarre, dealing primarily with the textures of sounds and the physical feeling of a bass turned way up so as to vibrate one’s chest. It’s a generally violent, abrasive, and deceptively complex genre.

In essence, what Reznor and his cohorts, who include Brian Viglione from Boston’s incendiary The Dresden Dolls, have done is create Nine Inch Nails first truly industrial album. An album that is, ironically, perfect background music for an evening in.

If this makes no sense, it’s probably because the record so baffles me. One moment it is aggressive, the next it’s a bit dance-y, the next it’s morose, after that it feels classical and yet, there is an internal logic to each ghost and an individual complete feeling to the record.

Most of it sounds a bit like Clint Mansell’s collaborations with Darren Aronofksy, which makes sense considering that Mansell’s Pop Will Eat Itself was a major contemporary of NIN’s. But even this undersells the album. If any of what I just said intrigues you in the slightest, I recommend a purchase. It’s 36 tracks for 5 bucks flat. That’s a bit under 14 cents a song.

Also, the record has been licensed under Creative Commons Non-Commercial licensing, so all you film students officially have permission to use it in your class projects.