Nine Inch Nails isn't as much of a band as they are just one man, Trent Reznor, with some occasional studio musicians and a live band. Trent is an odd little man who struggles with depression, anger issues, and being horny.
Much like the rest of America.
NIN is industrial-rock, but on this album, the debut, there's more of a dance-type music going on. Like songs meant to be danced to, is what I'm saying. You can easily see that in the opening 'Head Like a Hole'.
Shall we move on to the positive or negative aspects of the album first? I say we go for the positive to keep you guessing why you should possibly stay away from this album. I like to torture like that.
The songs are sometimes pretty good, it's a bit dark for a dance album but that's good because I can see how this has influenced dark dance music (I don't know the term for it). Trent made some smart lyrics on this album about consumerism. And the ideas for songs he came up with are even occasionally clever and complex for typical dance songs. Catchy too, sometimes.
The bad part? Some of the songs sound a bit alike due to the atmosphere, and it's a bit under-produced. It doesn't sound full, is what I'm saying. But that's expected as I imagine Trent was new to producing and didn't have much to work with, seeing as, if I remember right, he only recorded this when he had the spare time and couldn't devote that much time to it. Also, while Trent's voice is nice, it occasionally doesn't fit the music. Some of the songs aren't very memorable either.
I give this about a 6/10. If you're new to NIN, maybe you'll like it given how simple it is, maybe you won't. It's not their best. But if you're already a NIN fan, there's absolutely no reason why this shouldn't be in your library.
Recommended Track(s): Head Like a Hole
