Day 36: "With Teeth" - Nine Inch Nails (2005)

Having spent over a calendar month in days writing these things, I had an interesting experience yesterday when I met for lunch with my friend Matt.  Matt's been away travelling for 9 months, as and as well as filling me with jealousy with his travels, he's also been reading my posts, and so as our lunch was drawing to a close, he asked me about the blog and we talked about it for a bit.

It was initially slightly unsettling, only because I hadn't really talked in detail about this with anyone before.  A lot of the ideas which are the foundation of what I'm doing here exist really in a kind of nebulous, undefined space, and Matt asked some smart questions which made me think about what I am trying to do, which was helpful.  One of the things he mentioned was that he tended to read the posts for albums he wasn't familiar with, because it gave him an insight into why that music, that album, would appeal to someone when he, as the reader, has no frame of reference for it.

His observation could not have been more timely, because when I saw this album on the pile this morning, I realised what a perfect opportunity this was to talk more generally about a band which have been a big part of my musical adolescence, have a widely misunderstood reputation, and the creative force behind them might be one of the most inspired and interesting (and challenging) musicians of my generation.

Listen to me here

Let's do our due diligence first before I go more into Nine Inch Nails in general.  "With Teeth" is Halo 19 (you may remember I talked about Halo numbering back here), and so I bought it.  Like R.E.M., Nine Inch Nails are one of those bands where I'll just buy whatever they put out sight unseen because its become habitual now.  And with Nine Inch Nails I had a very strange experience, which was each time they (I keep saying they, the reality is that 99% the work of one man, Trent Reznor, so if I flip into the singular when referring to NIN that's why) put out a new album, I put it on with the expectation that this would be the time that I'd kind of grow out of it;  even I, as a fan of theirs, had some surface level expectation that listening to them is just a passing phase.  To my constant surprise, every successive studio album of theirs I have enjoyed.  Even now I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop, but they put out "Hesistation Marks" in 2013, 23 years after I first heard "Pretty Hate Machine" and somehow they haven't let me down yet.  

The year of the release of this album also coincided with one of the worst calendar years of my life.  I'de been pitched unceremoniously out of a long term relationship, been made redundant, forced to move house into a flat I couldn't really afford, and got a dead end job I hated just to keep the lights on.  Let me tell you, when you are angry, depressed, frustrated, and feeling spat on by life in general, there's something to be said for listening to music that can help you feel like someone is connected to your emotional state, and this album (and a lot of NIN) were in heavy rotation that year.

But what does this mean to you, fictional person reading this blog who hasn't really listened to Nine Inch Nails before?  Well, lets knock that fiction on the head to start with.  There's a very real chance you've heard Nine Inch Nails songs without realising it.  You've probably heard this version of "Something I Can Never Have" from the Westworld TV show.  Or you might have heard the music he wrote for the movie "Se7en" or David Lynch's "Lost Highway".  Or "The Social Network".  Or "The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo".

But even if you haven't heard any of that stuff, you've definitely heard this.

I've long since made my peace with the fact that the Johnny Cash version of "Hurt" will be considered the superior version, and I'm not going to deny it's an incredible version of an incredible song.  Loyalty and familiarity compels me to still prefer the original though.

So what is it about this band that I find so compelling?

First, they are a great companion for a bunch of minor key emotional states.  I've been drunk and bummed out and listening to Nine Inch Nails has felt appropriate.  I've been angsty and frustrated and there have been songs that I've been able to shout along to that have made me feel better.  But to me, Nine Inch Nails have always been at their best when they are being weird and introspective.  Every song they put out feels like its loaded with meaning;  when they marry wistful piano lines with the crunchy, growly industrial sounds which form the basis of their sound (as demonstrated beautifully on this album's closing track "Right Where It Belongs") it produces something, in combination with Trent Reznor's vocals, which I've not heard replicated by any other band.

They're also fans of two other things I'm a big proponent of;  narrative in songs ("Year Zero", "The Downward Spiral", and "The Fragile" all have through line narratives when you start to really dig in), and overtly political songs expressing dissatisfaction with the status quo.  "With Teeth" and "Year Zero" were both released in the throes of the second Bush Administration, and both albums contain songs railing against the Governments treatment of its people.  

So, do they deserve their reputation as being a shouty, inaccessible band for sad goths from the 1990s?  Well, I can't deny that all of those things are true on the surface (especially the last part, I am living proof), but if you take the time to give them a chance, you might find they surprise you with all the other things they are as well.

Still not convinced?  Well, I made you a sampler;  some of the quieter, more interesting, more introspective tracks from the NIN catalogue.  I hope you dig it.

Also, if you're interested in movies, I'd like to heartily recommend Matt's long-running Movie podcast "Shot/Reverse Shot".  You might dig that too.