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Rating: Finally, I have found the worthy successor to The Downward Spiral, the worldwide masterpiece by Mr. Reznor and also his artistic apotheosis. Is it important to try to surpass it? Not at all, it is much more reasonable to just continue making good records that can hopefully stand on their own. Something that, for me, did not happen - I'm ready for the insults - with The Fragile, a grand sea of ideas and contents worthy of great respect, but too similar to TDS: that dialogue has already been done, and at its peak expression, you risk redundancy. Even less impacted by With Teeth, which I will skip with an agile somersault, but I had not reckoned with Year Zero, a 2007 album that made me plant my feet on the ground and raise my antennas. This is where things make sense. Similarly to Spiral, it is a concept album, this time based on a dystopian future world not too far away, rich with dark and fascinating political texts. Yes ok, but how is the album? Beautiful, damn beautiful.
It seems that Trent Reznor, I'm open to debates with NIN experts, wanted to revisit and expand the architectures of his beautiful Closer, that is, those of a dark industrial electronic, still strongly sui generis, with an attentive eye to the dancefloor, polished pop music and a bit of trendy. An almost impossible balance, one that many would crave, and which seems somewhat to be the leitmotif of this Year Zero. As a result, the album is surprisingly accessible, almost all tracks have a fairly defined refrain and a sufficient dose of catchiness, this is particularly felt in songs like The Good Soldier, where a remarkable melodic search also dominates, Capital G, which somewhat mocks too much Marylin Manson both in its martial progression and background screams, and My Violent Heart, where the musician lays his cards too bare, exposing himself to a certain dose of gaudiness. Vessel instead hits a genius refrain, which vaguely reminded me of Whatever it is by Mauro Pagani (the soundtrack of Salvatores' Nirvana), surely a coincidence, but who knows, considering Reznor's collaboration with Italians (Cortini), anything is possible.
Continuing the review of a fairly long album, I want to mention the poppy God Given, not only for its provocative text (fundamentalism?), but for the truly fantastic arrangement, kaleidoscopic yet accessible electronics, with a splendid groove and drum machine that make you tap your foot joyfully. Also here, expect a very catchy refrain, ironically introduced by Reznor himself with the equivalent of a "everyone on the dance floor!" I really appreciated the arrangement part, so much that I would have preferred delving deeper into the instrumental part. What can I say? Well done my rebellious and genius guy, even though no longer so young. Maybe this is one of the driving forces of the album, Year Zero explores territories similar to TDS, but almost everything has changed, there is no longer youthful anger, instability, anguish, all replaced by a surgical and controlled impassiveness in looking at facts from an external, alien position. Among all these delightful tracks, we find various electronic experiments surely burst from the latest DAW on Reznor's laptop, but the results are far superior to many youngsters in the scene: beautiful the distortions of The Beginning of the End (but is the base My Sharona?) and in the final minutes of The Great Destroyer. Still noteworthy is the meticulousness in sound choice and the precision in placing them to communicate a precise stylistic coherence, in this case, the theme is distant distorted sirens (of war?). All tracks flow smoothly, and toward the end, in pure Nine Inch Nails style, we witness the overtaking of more instrumental-cinematic atmospheres, but this does not stop Reznor from inserting two great pieces, In This Twilight and Zero Sum, the latter perhaps the precursor of the work that will later be done for The Social Network, still beautiful, and great refrain.
In short, Year Zero is truly a great album, beware of reviews that trash it, but also of the ones giving it merely passable ratings, and do not seek a new Spiral, but rather a rock-pop-industrial listening (yes, labels suck), in a tie, while you reminisce about your youthful adventures.
Tracklist Lyrics 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 Brahms
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.
'Year Zero' surpasses the limits of what is directly stated in the sounds and lyrics of the individual tracks.
