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Rating: Last year, seven years after the previous work, The Fragile, the new album by the band led by Trent Reznor was released, recently coming out of a struggle with substance detoxification. The album reflects this a bit, as you can feel less aggression in the lyrics, which become slightly more introspective. The electronic component changes function in the album, shifting from the music's basic structure to a vehicle for sound; indeed, the drum machine and synthesizer have been replaced by Dave Grohl (drums) and Jeordie White (bass), to make the sound more realistic (although the use of the computer is obviously included); the album thus confirms Reznor's ability to meld metal with electronics in the genre defined as "industrial," which has influenced dozens of bands from the nineties. It's therefore a good album, although far from the masterpiece that was The Downward Spiral.
The first track, All The Love In The World, is a very introspective and melancholic electronic piece, unfortunately disrupted by an agitated finale that I find inappropriate; the beautiful You Know What You Are? introduces Reznor's classic aggression, with transporting distortions and synths and a very powerful, almost cruel drum. The Collector, another pounding track, results in a rock/metal piece akin to Muse, coordinated by synths that give that classic Nine Inch Nails aftertaste impossible to forget. The Hand That Feeds is the single, a radio-friendly track, yet very engaging; the song has an almost dance rhythm but stays on the album's overall levels despite being clearly designed as a single to prompt album purchases. The next, Love Is Not Enough, is a very dark piece, with almost apocalyptic sounds, softened by heavy but at the same time reflective distortion, and Reznor's evergreen voice. Every Day Is Exactly The Same is a ballad filled with melodies as introspective as they are effective, an almost sad piece yet very compelling. With Teeth, which gives the album its name, is the classic Nine Inch Nails piece readapted in the new, more involuted and timid style, branching into a rhythm we can define as tribal surrounded by insane distortions, which once vanished with a piano interlude attack even crazier and more devastating. Only is perhaps the most beautiful song on the album: the track, somewhat commercial (which is why it was made a single), is a mix of electronics, NIN's typical industrial, Prodigy's techno-metal, and '80s funk, with elements that one way or another will make anyone love it. Getting Smaller, a track with rather clever guitar phrases, connects with professionalism the Nine Inch Nails' madness, misleading distortions, the band's general aggression, and Grohl's extreme precision on drums. Sunspots, with a falsetto chorus, is another very introverted electronic ballad, almost enclosed in a journey to discover Trent's mind; the bass, synths, and voice here form a single melodic organ that creates a particular atmosphere, truly appreciable. The eleventh track, The Line Begins To Blur, like the subsequent Beside You In Time, are pretty aggressive pieces, with carefully curated sounds where Trent's ability to combine industrial elements with new melody is evident, always achieving good and never boring results. The first is a piece dominated by sounds that tear at the hearing, before launching into a melody of rare beauty; the second is a psychedelic tunnel that gives the listener that special something that Trent managed to place, with the musical maturation of 16 years of career, in his renowned music. The final track, Right Where It Belongs, is a very calm piece, very "trippy," with truly splendid lyrics, where the piano combined with distorted synths that increase in intensity until the end of its 5:04 duration, concludes an album truly worthy of Reznor's greatness.
In the end, this album confirms how Reznor is musically a great composer, and how he has been able to sustain for over 15 years a genre he practically invented without ever veering off course. This album, although partly desecrated by critics who describe it as the commercial turning point of yet another band to discard, contains as many commercial influences as innovations, which doesn't hurt because the new material seems to work really well. A recommended album.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 You Know What You Are? (03:41)
I tried to sneak myself through tried to get to the other side
I tried to patch up the cracks and the holes that I have to hide
For a little bit of time even made it work okay
Just long enough to really make it hurt
When they figured me out and it all just rotted away
Don't you fucking know what you are?
Don't you fucking know what you are?
don't you fucking know what you are?
Go on get back to where you belong
You better take a good look cause I'm full of shit
With every bit of my heart I have tried to believe in it
You can dress it all up you can try to pretend
But you can't change anything
You can't change anything in the end
Don't you fucking know what you are?
Don't you fucking know what you are?
Don't you fucking know what you are?
Go on get back to where you belong
Don't you fucking know what you are?
Remember where you came from
Remember what you are
(9x)
Don't you fucking know what you are? (go on get back to where you belong)
Don't you fucking know what you are? (go on get back to where you belong)
Don't you fucking know what you are? (go on get back to where you belong)
Don't you fucking know what you are? (get back to where you belong)
03 The Collector (03:07)
I pick things up
I am a collector
And things, well things they tend to accumulate
I have this net
It drags behind me
It picks up feelings for me to feed upon
There are times, plenty of times I wish I could let it go
But they start to breathe
And they start to grow inside me
There are times, plenty of times I wish I could let it go
But they start to make me think
Things I don't wanna know
I'm trying to fit it all inside
I'm trying to open my mouth wide
I'm trying not to choke and
Swallow it all
Swallow it all
Swallow it all
Swallow it all
I am the plague
I am the swarm
All your hurt sticks on me and I keep it warm
They make me stay
They won't let me leave
There are so god damn many of them it gets hard to breathe
I'm trying to fit it all inside
I'm trying to open my mouth wide
I'm trying not to choke inside
I am a good boy and I will
Swallow it all
Swallow it all
Swallow it all
Swallow it all
Every last one (20x)
04 The Hand That Feeds (03:31)
You're keeping in step
In the line
Got your chin held high and you feel just fine
'Cause you do what you're told
But inside your heart it is black it is hollow and it's cold
Just how deep do you believe?
Will you bite the hand that feeds?
Will you chew until it bleeds?
Can you get up off your knees?
Are you brave enough to see?
Do you wanna change it?
What if this whole crusade's a charade
And behind it all there's a price to be paid
For the blood which we dine
Justified in the name of the holy and the divine
Just how deep do you believe?
Will you bite the hand that feeds?
Will you chew until it bleeds?
Can you get up off your knees?
Are you brave enough to see?
Do you wanna change it?
So naive
I keep holding on to what I wanna believe
I can see
But I keep holding on and on, and on, and on
Will you bite the hand that feeds you?
Will you stay down on your knees?
Will you bite the hand that feeds you?
Will you stay down on your knees?
Will you bite the hand that feeds you?
Will you stay down on your knees?
Will you bite the hand that feeds you?
Will you stay down on your knees?
Will you bite the hand that feeds you?
Will you stay down on your knees?
Will you bite the hand that feeds you?
Will you stay down on your knees?
Will you bite the hand that feeds you?
Will you stay down on your knees?
Will you bite the hand that feeds you?
Will you stay down on your knees?
07 With Teeth (05:37)
She comes along
She gets inside
She makes you better than, anything you've tried
It's in her kiss
Black as sea
And it runs deeper than you, dared to dream it could be
With teeth
With teeth
With teeth
With teeth
Wave good bye
To what you were
The rules have changed, the lines begin to blur
She makes you hard
It comes on strong
You finally found, the place where you belong
With teeth
With teeth
With teeth
With teeth
I cannot go through this again
I cannot go through this again
I cannot go through this again
I cannot go through this again
I cannot go through this again
I cannot go through this again
I cannot go through this again
I cannot go through this again
With teeth
With teeth
With teeth
With teeth
She will not let you go
Keeps on and on
She will not let you go
Keeps on and on
This time I'm not coming back
She will not let you go
This time I'm not coming back
She will not let you go
09 Getting Smaller (03:35)
Getting a little erratic here
And I don't know who to trust
I guess they got a way of reading my mind
I guess I gotta adjust
Got my arms they flip flop flip flop flip
Got my head on a spring
Well I thought I got you on my side
I haven't got fucking anything
I'm just a face in the crowd
Nothing to worry about
Not even tryin' to stand out
I'm getting smaller and smaller and smaller
And I have nothing to say
It's all been taken away
I just behave and obey
I'm afraid I am starting to fade away
Uh-huh
I cannot see through the cracks
When I'm pressed up on the wall
I'm not looking to stand up real high
I'd be happy to crawl
I think I'm losing my grip
But I can still make a fist
You know I still got my one good arm
That I can beat...
nnn, I can beat myself up with!
I'm just a face in the crowd
Nothing to worry about
Not even tryin' to stand out
I'm getting smaller
And smaller and smaller
And I have nothing to say
Its all been taken away
I just behave and obey
I'm afraid I am starting to fade away
And for what it is worth
I really used to believe
That maybe there's some great thing
That we could achieve
And now I cant tell the difference
Don't know what to feel
Between what I've been trying to hard to see
And what appears to be real
Fading away
Fading away
Fading away
Fading away
My world is getting smaller everyday-yay-yay-yay-yay
My world is getting smaller everyday-yay-yay-yay-yay
(and thats ok)
My world is getting smaller everyday-yay-yay-yay-yay
My world is getting smaller everyday-yay-yay-yay-yay
(and thats ok)
10 Sunspots (04:03)
sunspots cast a glare in my eyes
sometimes i forget i'm alive
i feel it coming and i've gotta get out of it's way
i hear it calling and i come cuz can't disobey
i should not listen and i shouldn't believe but i do
yes i do
she turns me on
she makes it real
i have to apologize
for the way i feel
my life it seems has taken a turn
why in the name of god would i ever want to return
peel off our skin we're gonna burn what we were to the ground
fuck in the fire and we'll spread all the ashes around
i wanna kill away the rest of what's left
and i do
yes i do
she turns me on
she makes it real
i have to apologize
for the way i feel
and nothing can stop me now
there is nothing to fear
and everything that ever was
is inside of here
woah woah woah woah
inside us here
now i just stare into the sun
and i see everything i've done
i think i could have been someone
but i can't stop what has begun
when everything is said and done
and there is no place left to run
i think i used to be someone
now i just stare into the sun
11 The Line Begins to Blur (03:44)
There are things that I said I would never do
There are fears that I cannot believe have come true
For my soul is too sick and too little and too late
And myself, I have grown too weary to hate
The more I stay in here
The more it's not so clear
The more I stay in here
The more I disappear
As far as I have gone
I knew what side I'm on
But now I'm not so sure
The line begins to blur
Is there somebody on top of me?
I don't know, I don't know
Isn't anybody stopping me?
I don't know, I don't know
I won't try and hold my breath
I don't know, I don't know
Just how far down can I go?
I don't know, I don't know, I don't know
As I lay here and stare
The fabric starts to tear
It's far beyond repair
And I don't really care
As far as I have gone
I knew what side I'm on
But now I'm not so sure
The line begins to blur
13 Right Where It Belongs (05:07)
See the animal in his cage that you built,
Are you sure what side you're on?
Better not look him too closely in the eye,
Are you sure what side of the glass you are on?
See the safety of the life you have built
Everything where it belongs
Feel the hollowness inside of your heart
And it's all, right where it belongs
What if everything around you,
Isn't quite as it seems?
What if all the world you think you know,
Is an elaborate dream?
And if you look at your reflection,
Is that all you want it to be?
What if you could look right through the cracks,
Would you find yourself, find yourself afraid to see?
What if all the worlds inside of your head,
Just creations of your own?
Your devils and your Gods, all the living and the dead
And you really are alone?
You could live in this illusion
You can choose to believe
You keep looking but you can't find the woods
While you're hiding in the trees
What if everything around you,
Isn't quite as it seems?
What if all the world you used to know,
Is an elaborate dream?
And if you look at your reflection,
Is that all you want it to be?
What if you could look right through the cracks,
Would you find yourself, find yourself afraid to see?
14 Home (03:14)
Everything
Is catching up with me
I awake
To find i'm not at all where I
Should be
And it feels
I'm getting to the end
And it's hard
To figure out what's real
And what's
Pretend
To break from what
We're tied to
God knows
How much i've tried to
And I am still inside you
And I am still inside you
I escape
Every now and then
And to think
I find myself
Back here again
And again
I used to know who I was
Untill you came along
I return
To the only place
I've ever felt
That I belong
To break from what
We're tied to
God knows
How much i've tried to
And I am still inside you
And I am still inside you
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Other reviews
By josi_
Not with this "With Teeth," which ten years ago would have been a great album, but now is - in a word - useless.
There is one song, only one, that adds something to the crackling and anguished breath of the NIN world, and that is Right Where It Belongs.
By Carillon Infernale1
With Teeth is an album slightly less raw and angry compared to previous NIN works, benefiting from a sound, though still very refined, decidedly more 'human'.
Instead of playing the different parts and then inserting them into the structure, I started by playing the entire songs first, and then added the drums to have a different energy.
By Undying
Great artists never meet public expectations. They follow instinct and talent, never resting on their laurels, and always challenging themselves.
Right Where It Belongs is a demonstration that the genius of an artist can manifest even (and especially) in simplicity.
