Let me start this review by saying I was blown away by the live set that Nine Inch Noize performed at Coachella last weekend. I didn't attend, but I caught the livestream. It put a goofy smile on my face seeing such dark, industrial music being performed shortly before Justin Bieber was about to hit the stage.
It was also an incredible performance. Four musicians armed with their vocals, drum machines, syths and samplers transported a festival-size crowd to a Blade Runner dystopia. Powerful stuff, and people are already calling it one of the best Coachella performances of all time.
I was able to catch Nine Inch Nails on the “Peel It Back” tour back in February, where Boyz Noize, their collaborator on this album, was the opener. Based on that concert, when I heard this collab album was coming out my expectations were high.
As usual, Trent Reznor does not disappoint. This is a reimagining of classic NIN songs and some of their more recent offerings. It’s heavy on the electronic side — it's not a rock record. If you ask me, that’s fine, because (arguably) nobody does this type of music better than Reznor.
Easy standouts on this record are The Downward Spiral tracks “Heresy” and “Closer.” “Heresy” enters a realm that I can’t easily explain, but here you go: It starts like something you would hear in a David Lynch hallucination, and then when the chorus hits and Reznor yells “God is dead and no one cares” you feel it more than you did on The Downward Spiral. It’s raw and powerful and hits you in the gut. Reznor’s wife Mariqueen Maandig (also his How to Destroy Angels collaborator) shines here by adding a delicate vocal that juxtaposes nicely with Reznor’s aggressive delivery.
Other standouts include the 2013 tracks “Came Back Haunted” and “Copy of A,” which were originally more rock-like tracks. Here, however they enter a club nightmare. While listening I was transported to the blood rave from 1998's Blade. If Wesley Snipes had randomly appeared in my office I wouldn’t have been surprised.
Ending the album is the most recent Nine Inch Nails release, “As Alive As You Need Me To Be,” from the TRON: Ares soundtrack. Of all the tracks on the album this one's the most honest to the original. Also, in all honesty this song was the best part of that movie, so I’m glad they didn’t change it too much.
When Nine Inch Noize concludes you're slapped in the face with the reminder of just how talented these individuals are. The simple fact that Reznor and company can win an Oscar for the Pixar film Soul and then release something like this is testament to human creativity and the power of art as a whole.