NIN Review series part 6: With Teeth
AngryByrd If you've been following my series, you should know that my favorite Nine Inch Nails album is Pretty Hate Machine. I praised it a lot in my review of it, and for good reasons. It's a truly amazing album. Of course, none of the band's material since has been as good as Pretty Hate Machine, but there is an album that definitely does it justice. It is known as With Teeth, and I believe it is the band's best album since PHM.If you thought The Fragile was overdue, this album took 6 years to be released, partially because Reznor entered rehab during the hiatus. But it was definitely worth it! One of the best things about this album is that it takes a lot of very apparent inspiration from Pretty Hate Machine. For example, Only is pretty much Down In It part 2, and a lot of the dance elements make a comeback. Unlike the band's previous two albums, this album doesn't try to have any weird atmospheres or be experimental. It simply does its job as an album. It's simpler, yes, but it's much easier on the ears. Even with all of this some people may call the album unoriginal, but it has a lot of distinction. It's definitely not a Pretty Hate Machine clone, and besides, it's Nine Inch Nails. Nothing Trent Reznor has ever done could really be called unoriginal.
Musically, this album fluctuates a lot, especially along the lines of heaviness. This is even evident in the album's first two songs. On "All The Love In The World" Trent Reznor is gently singing behind mild drums and piano, but on "You Know What You Are?" the drums are firing and Trent is screaming his lungs out. This cycle continues throughout the album. Combine that with a couple of dancier songs in there, and you have a very fresh and interesting experience. Like The Fragile, guitars and pianos are used a lot, but they are used much more fluidly on this album. There is also a large emphasis on drums with this album, as Dave Grohl (Nirvana, Foo Fighters) takes the drum stool for many of the songs. Along with the music, this album is easily Trent Reznor's best vocal performance to date. The vocals are a perfect blend of spoken words, whispers, harsh screams, and Trent Reznor beautifully hitting notes that he has never sung before. Also, it goes without saying that this album is lyrical perfection.
My favorite song from this album is Every Day Is Exactly The Same. It's a beautiful piano work with sweet vocals and a calm, but effective beat. I can't really pick a least favorite song from this album, becuase really every song is nice to listen to. Also, I will highlight the fact that this is the first time since Pretty Hate Machine that I've had an incredibly hard time picking a favorite song. This album is that good!
All in all, I really feel like this is the Pretty Hate Machine companion that I really wanted. It's original, nostalgic, and it really shows what Nine Inch Nails can do. It's a very modern album that follows in the wake of PHM. It's also a refreshment from the weirdness of The Downward Spiral and The Fragile. Because of how amazing it is, I proudly give With Teeth a 10/10. It's not as orgasmically joyful as PHM, but it's definitely an album you need to buy and listen to.
Comments
The music video to Only is very nice. - visitor
I love it! Just shows how original Trent is! - AngryByrd
Awesome album! It's also cool how they got Dave Grohl (former drummer of Nirvana) to work on a few songs on the album. - visitor