The hand that feeds

It's been a hectic but rewarding summer, with storm chases on the great planes of the US and a brand new job at Schibsted. And, as the famous icing on the cake, Trent Reznor finally released a follow-up to his brilliant 1999-album "The Fragile", this summer!!

The new Nine Inch Nails album was supposed to be called "Bleed Through" and arrive sometime in 2004. But, as usual with Mr Reznor, things changed and got delayed; "With Teeth", as the album finally ended being called, wasn't released until May this year.

After weeks of intensive playing I must admit that the new album does not stand up to his 1990s releases. Musically, Trent hasn't developed much since the classic "Broken" EP in 1992, and that is slowly wearing out his once so large fan base. A little novelty wouldn't harm NIN.

Still, the best songs on "With Teeth" are among the better songs Trent has ever written. The album opens beautifully with the mellow and slow "All the love in the world" where Trent, in well-known style, complains about being all alone - almost outside humanity:

Watching all the insects march along
Seem to know just right where they belong
Smears of face reflecting in the chrome
Hiding in the crowd I'm all alone

No one's heard a single word I've said
They don't sound as good outside my head
It looks as though the past is here to stay
I've become a million miles away.
"All the love in the world"

The noise element is never far away though, and it reaches the climax on the majestic "With Teet", a title cut that really knows how to carry an album. Two more tracks are worth mentioning, "The Hand that feeds" - the first single from the album - is an agressive song and typical old school NIN, then the last track of the album, "Beside you in time". Both well executed.

Thus, my initial reaction is that this is a good album but not a classic NIN-release.