Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero

I picked this up yesterday (shh dont' tell). Holy cow, this is easily the best album since The Downard Spiral. While I thought that "The Fragile" was a great album, "With Teeth" disappointed me a bit. It was what it was, just a collection of songs, some good, some not so good. This is the album I hoped "With Teeth" was going to be. What change in approach from the Nine Inch Nails I remember.
There's a few decent tunes that stand out early on but what really grabbed me the most was the concept as a whole. Mr. Reznor's been teasing fans for at least a year now about this project, and the concept delivers.
Lyrically, this is Nine Inch Nails at their best. Very cerebral, and much more mature than the earlier stuff. Musically, the sounds really complement the overall theme of each song and the album as a whole. Far less personal. And it's interesting to not that there's a lot of familiar musical themes from each of the earlier albums on this.
I kinda thought maybe this was Nine Inch Nails last stand considering the relatively quick turnover from the previous album (which was my least favorite). Not so. If you're a long-time fan you've probably matured with the band, and this is a refreshing new album. Get it.

Nice info!
I should pick it up on the way home tonight.


JRA

It's is a great disc, but I want to know when that Tapeworm project is ever going to release a disc! (Trent and Maynard)

My friend burned me a copy but I haven't listened yet. May as well right now . . .
NP:

Thanks Kexodusc.

I, too, was wondering about this one since I was very disappointed with their last outing.

Based on your rec, I'll be picking this one up tomorrow, when I'm in the city. I absolutely love the Downward Spiral!

Cheers,

Bill

I loved The Fragile. With Teeth was kind of 'meh'. This is better than With Teeth, but still not as good as The Fragile in my book. Time might perhaps change that, but I do enjoy this a lot, and that's all I care about. I do applaud Trent for no longer feeling the weight of having to change the world with every record, and just make good old hard-rockin' music.

Is my system too $hitty or Saul Williams is used too subtely?

I'm still enjoying it quite a bit.