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There exists, especially in the realm of classical music but not only, the concept of "absolute" music. We could try to simplify it by saying that music, of any genre or era, has intrinsic characteristics, internal structures that, like a mathematical formula, manage to make what I often call the container and content merge. In this way, a composition of absolute music is born; that is, music that manages to surpass the limit represented by what were originally the expressive intentions of the artist who created it. This introduction seemed to me the best way to talk about a work by a group like Nine Inch Nails, an undisputed icon of Industrial music.
Beyond Trent Reznor's undisputed ability to "translate" the typical language of Industrial into something more accessible to broad audiences, mainly approaching more traditionally rock sounds, the infinitely greater merit of his work lies in the creation of powerfully "absolute" musical structures. It is also true that an album like "Year Zero" is an openly political and direct work, certainly compared to "The Fragile," where Reznor laid bare his more intimate and personal side. But the great merit of this realization, in my view underrated, is that it surpasses precisely the limits of what is directly stated in the sounds and lyrics of the individual tracks. It is entirely superfluous to know, for instance, that "The Good Soldier" refers to something related to wars, and even less so that it concerns those fought under the Stars and Stripes: for its admirable fluidity, the barely contained tension, the piece is a spiritual gem that could be about anything. What we perceive then is not merely a trite invective against war itself, but even a "regret" for the wars of yesteryear, when there was no pettiness in fighting them using unmanned aircraft; this is the "depth" of a piece of absolute music. That is, not forcing us to go in a single direction in our perception of a track, but leaving our consciousness open to the reception of a broader truth. The pressing drums with which "Hyperpower!" and the entire album open are simply and absolutely a workers' tumult in the face of advancing technology in factories, perhaps at the beginning of the 1900s. This is the point: it does not matter if an alien appears on the album cover. The absoluteness - and the objectivity - of this music is such as to lead the listener toward a broader interpretation of what would seemingly be suggested to him. Nothing prevents us from considering the mechanical noises that serve as the background to "Vessel" an allusion to the machinery of a 1970s factory, where work still had dignity. Or again: why force ourselves to receive "Capital G" perhaps as an obvious denunciation of current consumer alienation? It can mean an infinite number of other things. While "God Given" brings us back to pure Nine Inch Nails, "The Greater Good" is the epitome of the most alienating and grotesque aspects of globalization: a hallucinatory atmosphere with a vaguely tribal undertone, almost the image of the contrast between prehistoric Africa and the computer age. Something similar also appears in "Another Version Of The Truth" where, however, that ethereal piano lets us glimpse the light at the end of the tunnel, tells us that, as in "Blade Runner," the rain will eventually stop, and the sun will reappear to light up our lives... A feeling completely sealed by "Zero Sum," which closes the work almost with a sense of redemption.
In the end, in conclusion, we are faced with an excellent example of absolute music. A work that demonstrates the ability to transcend its label, in this case, Industrial, with which it is nonetheless classified. It is the essence of great music, from every time and every genre.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
03 Survivalism (04:24)
I should have listened to her, so hard to keep control
We kept on eating but our bloated belly's still not full
She gave us all she had but we went and took some more
Can't seem to shut her legs, our mother nature is a whore
I got my propaganda, I got revisionism
I got my violence in hi-def ultra-realism
All a part of this great nation
I got my fist, I got my plan, I got survivalism
Hypnotic sound of sirens echoing through the street
The cocking of the rifles, the marching of the feet
You see your world on fire, don't try to act surprised
We did just what you told us, lost our faith along the way and found ourselves believing your lies
I got my propaganda, I got revisionism
I got my violence in hi-def ultra-realism
All a part of this great nation
I got my fist, I got my plan, I got survivalism
All bruised and broken, bleeding
She asked to take my hand
I turned, just keep on walking
But you'd do the same thing in the circumstance I'm sure you'll understand
I got my propaganda, I got revisionism
I got my violence in hi-def ultra-realism
All a part of this great nation
I got my fist, I got my plan, I got survivalism
You got your pacifism, I got survivalism (repeat)
05 Vessel (04:53)
I let you put it in my mouth
I let it get under my skin
I let you pump it through my veins
I let you take me from within
They tell us what we can and cannot do
Same thing we've heard a hundred times before
When I put you inside of me
None of that matters anymore
My God
Can it go any faster?
Oh, my God
I don't think I can last here
My God
Can it go any faster?
Oh, my God
I don't think I can last here
I am you and you are me
We will never be alone
I have finally found my place in everything
I have finally found my home
I can leave all of the flesh behind
I can see right through the whole façade
I am becoming something else, yeah
I am a turning into God
My God
Can it go any faster?
Oh, my God
I don't think I can last here
My God
Can it go any faster?
Oh, my God
I don't think I can last here
My God
Can it go any faster?
Oh, my God
I don't think I can last here
My God
Can it go any faster?
Oh, my God
I don't think I can last here
07 Capital G (03:50)
I pushed a button and elected him to office and uh
He pushed a button and he dropped the bomb
You pushed a button and can watch it on the television
Those mother fuckers didn't last too long, huh huh
I'm sick of hearing about the haves and the have nots
Have some personal accountability
The biggest problem with the way that we've been doing things is
The more we let you have the less that I'll be keeping for me
Well I used to stand for something
Now I'm on my hands and knees
Trading in my God for this one
And he signs his name with a capital G
Don't give a shit about the temperature in Guatemala
Don't really see what all the fuss is about
Ain't gonna worry 'bout no future generations and uh
I'm sure somebody gonna figure it out
Don't try to tell me that some power can corrupt a person
You haven't had enough to know what it's like
You're only angry cause you wish you were in my position
Now nod your head because you know that I'm right
Alright
Well I used to stand for something
But forgot what that could be
There's a lot of me inside you
Maybe you're afraid to see
Well I used to stand for something
Now I'm on my hands and knees
Trading in my God for this one
And he signs his name with a capital G
Well I used to stand for something
But forgot what that could be
There's a lot of me inside you
Maybe you're afraid to see
Well I used to stand for something
Now I'm on my hands and knees
Trading in my God for this one
And he signs his name with a capital G
09 The Warning (03:39)
Some say it was a warning
Some say it was a sign
I was standing right there
When it came down from the sky
The way it spoke to us
You felt it from inside
Said it was up to us
Up to us to decide
"You've become a virus
Killing off its host
We been watching you with all of our eyes
And what you seem to value most
So much potential
Or so we used to say
Your greed, self-importance and your arrogance
You piss it all away
We heard her cry
We've come to intervene
You will change your ways and you will make amends
Or we will wipe this place clean"
Your time is ticking away
11 Meet Your Master (04:09)
Bow down in position
Against the polished steel
This is something different
You like the way this feels
No time for asking questions
No time for wondering
We've had enough of you now
You've heard everything
You want to play a new game
You put on this blindfold
You do what we tell you
You do as you're told
Used to be the leader but
Now comes the time to serve
Maybe we'll show some mercy
Maybe you'll get what you deserve
Countdown to the end, gonna make it go faster
Right around the bend
Is a coming disaster
Countdown to the end, can I get a little faster
Come on down, my friend
It's time to meet your master
You've left quite a mess here
Under your stewardship
You thought you'd figured it out but
You'll find your place in this
You think its so convincing
You think you see the truth
Give us so many things now
We've got in store for you
Countdown to the end, gonna make it go faster
Right around the bend
Is a coming disaster
Countdown to the end, can I get a little faster
Come on down, my friend
It's time to meet your master
Come on down
12 The Greater Good (04:52)
Breathe us in
Slowly, slowly
Everything you do
Everywhere you go
Anything we want
Anything
Breathe
Breathe us in
Slowly, slowly
Persuasion
Coercion
Submission
Assimilation
Persuasion
Coercion
Submission
Assimilation
Persuasion
Coercion
Submission
Assimilation
Breathe us in
Slowly, slowly
15 In This Twilight (03:34)
watch the sun, as it crawls across a final time
and it feels like, like it was a friend
it is watching us, and the world we set on fire
do you wonder if it feels the same?
and the sky is filled with light, can you see it?
all the black is really white, if you believe it
as your time is running out, let me take away your doubt
you can find a better place in this twilight
from dust to dust, ashes in your hair remind me
what it feels like and i won't feel again
night descends, could I have been a better person?
if i could only do it all again
but the sky is filled with light, do you see it?
all the black is really white if you believe it
and the longing that you feel, you know none of this is real
you will find a better place in this twilight
16 Zero-Sum (06:15)
they're starting to open up the sky
they're starting to reach down through
and it feels like we're living in that split-second
of a car crash
and time is slowing down
and if we only had a little more time
and this time
is all there is
do you remember the time we
and all the times we
and should have
and were going to
i know
and i know you remember
how we could justify it all
and we knew better
in our hearts we knew better
and we told ourselves it didn't matter
and we chose to continue
and none of that matters anymore
in the hour of our twilight
and soon it will be all said and done
and we will all be back together as one
if we will continue at all
shame on us, doomed from the start
may god have mercy on our dirty little hearts
shame on us, for all we've done
and all we ever were, just zeros and ones
and you never get away
and you never get to take the easy way
and all of this is a consequence
brought on by our own hand
if you believe in that sort of thing
and did you ever really find
when you closed your eyes
any place that was still
and at peace
and i guess i just wanted to tell you
as the light starts to fade
that you are the reason
that i am not afraid
and i guess i just wanted to mention
as the heavens will fall
we will be together soon if we
will be anything at all
shame on us, doomed from the start
may god have mercy on our dirty little hearts
shame on us, for all we've done
and all we ever were, just zeros and ones
shame on us (shame on us), doomed from the start
may god have mercy on our dirty little hearts
shame on us (shame on us), for all we've done
and all we ever were, (just) just zeros and ones
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Other reviews
By Enkriko
This album is the confirmation that our esteemed Trent Reznor has always been a pop music writer in disguise.
One really wonders where the author of 'March of The Pigs' or 'Closer' has gone.
By beso
Perhaps we are witnessing a multi-instrumentalist genius who has decided at 40 to drop the mask and reveal a part of his soul intentionally hidden until now.
This, in my opinion, is an album much more beautiful than the previous one. More complete, more mature, and damned technical.
By Omega Kid
Year Zero is truly a great album, beware of reviews that trash it.
It seems that Trent Reznor wanted to revisit and expand the architectures of his beautiful Closer.
