On the internet, a few self-proclaimed gatekeepers and guardians of the truth continue to rant to anyone who still has the patience to listen to them that Nine Inch Nails isn’t really industrial music, as if that condemnation meant anything in terms of quality. Meanwhile, Trent Reznor, now in his sixties, doesn't care and is becoming the hottest pop star on the planet! The man, having nothing left to prove and no need to churn out albums or tours, seems driven by a single leitmotif: to experiment, try new things, venture into uncharted territory, and push the boundaries of what was once his solo project to turn it into a pop-culture behemoth. NIN, the imposing acronym, released the soundtrack for Tron: Ares a few months ago—well-crafted but jarring and predictable. The entire internet chimed in with its little comments, heavy on interchangeable superlatives… and quickly moved on to something else. That’s just how music is today. The fifteen minutes of fame really do last just fifteen minutes, and then we skip, scroll, and move on.
And then, NIN broke the internet AGAIN. Following last year’s Peel It Back tour (we told you about the Paris show), where techno/house artist Boys Noize shared a few tracks with Reznor and his crew, and in the wake of the soundtracks for Challengers and Tron on which all these artists collaborated, the Coachella festival announced a Nine Inch Noize concert, the logical continuation of their joint musical adventures of the past few months. Then came that insane live show, where Nine Inch Nails reinvented themselves with an apocalyptic techno twist and where Reznor, surrounded by a troupe of zombie dancers, performed a butt-sliding routine on a sloped stage/slide. Something never before seen from NIN, a wild spectacle where the extravagance of the show matched the band’s dark universe and illustrated a new ambition. The hottest pop star on the planet is Trent—that’s just how it is, and we’re going to have to get used to it. A pop star who wants to do things to us like an animal and who screams that no one cares if God is dead.
So God, actually, isn't dead at all. God is pretty much alive, at least as we need him to be, and is just releasing an album with a cover that's absolutely hideous (even by NIN standards), but one that gives us what we'd given up hope of: the chance to rediscover tracks—some of them thirty years old—that have been dusted off, reinvented, but never betrayed. Nine Inch Noize is a hybrid because it’s the meeting of Nine Inch Nails and Boys Noize, but also because it was recorded all over the place (live, on a plane, in the studio), and finally because it draws from several eras of Reznor’s discography, including remix albums and side projects. You can tell the track selection was driven by the live experience: it has to pulse. It keeps the best of Year Zero, the catchy singles from the otherwise terribly boring Hesitation Marks, the hook-laden hits from The Downward Spiral, and all of it put through a techno/industrial/EBM/cyberpunk grinder overflowing with ideas and ingenuity. Are they just following current trends? Not at all: it’s more about reminding everyone who’s the boss. Remixes? Not at all. The vocals have been re-recorded; these are genuine new versions.
And the result is devilishly sexy. The crowds shout to make it sound like a live album, while surprising, adds an organic touch to the electronic sound, whether through the crowd’s screams or the echo on Reznor’s voice. Liveliness, humanity, a soul pitted against cold machines—in short, the DNA of Nine Inch Nails is clearly present. Vessel packs a punch, She’s Gone Away gains a formidable new intensity, and Mariqueen Maandig Reznor joins in on Heresy, transformed into a raging hit... There’s no need to get used to these tracks we already know; all that remains is the pleasure of this reunion, of this new lease on life (in fact, Reznor’s voice, as we observed on stage last year, seems to have rejuvenated!). In this little game, Parasite (from the How to Destroy Angels discography) and Memorabilia stand out in particular, with their nervous, chaotic assaults where Reznor and Ross once again demonstrate their genius when it comes to sculpting electronic music like a tangible material.
While one might argue that NIN’s direction over the past twenty years has tended to prioritize production manierism, cold atmospheric experiments, and a style that’s sometimes a bit too trendy to be entirely sincere—often relying on an instantly recognizable trademark—Nine Inch Noize reconnects with the raw emotion and visceral rage we’ve been sorely missing. Admittedly, not everything is equally essential or inspired (As Alive as You Need Me to Be, too recent, doesn’t gain anything from this). On the other hand, the tracks from Year Zero lend themselves particularly well to the exercise... and guess what? Nine Inch Noize is NIN’s best album since Year Zero. Maybe Reznor and Ross needed a little fresh blood to get their butts wiggling again and remember that they’ve got guts... and that they’re hell-bent on making you sweat! Just a year or two ago, we never thought we’d say this, but with this ambition and this newfound drive we sense from Nine Inch Nails (or Nine Inch Noize, whatever!), the future hasn’t looked this exciting in a very long time.
