ARTIST: Nine Inch Nails
ALBUM: Hesitation Marks
LABEL: Columbia Records
RELEASE DATE: August 30, 2013
Is He Just a Copy?
Written by Dan Sinclair
Dear readers, perhaps you recall last month’s issue where this writer discussed his journey to San Francisco’s Outside Lands to witness some pretty amazing live acts including the work of Nine Inch Nails, yes? Well, this writer has hit the Trent Reznor sweepstakes and will now review Hesitation Marks just for you! Said album is the eighth studio release from the industrial rock act originally started in Cleveland, Ohio way back in 1988 and the first one since The Slip came out a half decade ago. Reznor produced this one with his movie-scoring buddies Atticus Ross and Alan Moulder.
Hesitation Marks starts off with a very brief electronic intro called “The Eater of Dreams,” setting the mood to be one of tense, uneasiness as if you just wandered through some strange dark tunnel and were just to come out the other end. Shaking, you cry out with uncertainty and worry, “What the hell is happening to me?”
And then it happens. A fast industrial beat starts pumping and the familiar raspy voice of Trent Reznor lets you know, “I am just a copy of a copy of a copy/everything I say has come before.” This is “Copy of A” and it is pretty fucking awesome. The idea that everything in this world is just something that’s been done before and therefore the people who inhabit this world are also just copies themselves should sound depressing, but it doesn’t here because “Copy of A” has a kick ass beat. Good way to start off the album.
Next is “Come Back Haunted” also known as “my favorite song on Hesitation Marks.” This is the song that sounds like the Nine Inch Nails that we know and love. And you do love them… you may have just forgotten how much. I know I did until I saw them live. This will be the track that will let you admit that Nine Inch Nails wasn’t just a 90s fad and that it’s okay to still be a fan in 2013.
“Find My Way” steps in to steer the album down a more moody and mysterious path. Though it’s not quite on the level of “Hurt” or “Something I Can Never Have,” it is nonetheless a memorable Nine Inch Nails slow groove. After all, we’re all just trying to find our way, aren’t we?
Things get funky on “All Time Low” and you surely won’t be disappointed with “Disappointed,” but it’s “Everything” where things get really good, and well different. It is by far, the punkiest Nine Inch Nails track I have ever heard with its peppy guitar riff and steady drum beat, complete with something not usually associated with Trent Reznor and that’s harmonizing. It’s all very new and strange, but that’s what Nine Inch Nails does best. It’s a very welcomed track in the middle of the album.
“Satellite” has a sort of dance beat, so I won’t judge you if you start getting down in your car when you blast it on the radio. I can’t. I already did it myself.
Though “Various Methods of Escape” does remind this writer a little bit of “Dead Souls” from The Crow soundtrack, it’s also a strongly produced and composed track with a memorable chorus that does enough to not sound like a total “Copy of A,” uh, that song.
“Running” is probably the most forgettable track on the… what was I talking about? Oh, yeah, “I Would for You” is another cool, scary slow groove that only Nine Inch Nails can do right. “In Two” gets angry and aggressive, though, just so Hesitation Marks doesn’t go out with a whimper.
“While I’m Still Here” for all intents and purposes closes out Hesitation Markssince track 14 “Black Noise” is an instrumental continuation of the same beat. And since Reznor admits “Yesterday I found out the world was ending” seems like a good a place to stop. However, if you get the deluxe edition, you can enjoy a few remixes afterwards. Hooray!
Nine Inch Nails may always be associated the 90s, but Hesitation Marks serves as a remarkable reminder of just how fucking great Trent Reznor can be when he gets his studio and creates as many sound arrangements as he can with all the instruments he can find regardless of the era in which he does it. Nine Inch Nails still stands apart from the others in this day and age whose electronic music is nothing more than mindless commercial jingles. Hesitation Marks lets music fans know it’s still all right for rock music to, you know, fucking rock.