Music Review: Nine Inch Nails - Hesitation Marks

Today's Music Review is of the newest offering from industrial rock outfit Nine Inch Nails, 2013's Hesitation Marks.

Album cover for Hesitation Marks

Nine Inch Nails originally formed in 1988 in Cleveland, Ohio, by frontman and only consistent member of the outfit Trent Reznor. Since the group's conception, Reznor has maintained sole responsibility for the band's direction, writing the majority of the music and lyrics, playing most instruments for recordings, and being a main producer of each album itself. The first album, 1989's Pretty Hate Machine, did not fair too well on record charts but in time became one of the first independently released albums to achieve platinum certification (meaning over 1,000,000 copies have been sold of the album since its release). In 1990, Nine Inch Nails began touring and opening for acts like The Jesus and Mary Chain and Peter Murphy (who would go on to become good friends with Reznor and collaborate with him on covers of both Bauhaus and Nine Inch Nails material).

Trent Reznor (left) and Peter Murphy (right), probably around 2006 when Bauhaus was opening for Nine Inch Nails. Photo from Last.fm

Following touring to support the debut album, pressure mounted on Reznor to produce a follow-up album. However, Reznor was having a hard time coming to terms with the label Nine Inch Nails was on at the time, wanting the band's contract to be terminated. Ultimately, Nine Inch Nails was allowed to switch to a different label, but all new material Reznor had been working on had to be recorded under various pseudonyms to avoid the original label from confiscating the material. In the end, the material recorded in this shaky period was released as 1992's EP, Broken.

Broken, despite being only an EP with six songs, was a major success for the group. The album charted in the top 10 and won the group two Grammy awards (one for a live performance of "Happiness in Slavery" from Woodstock 1994 and the second for the album's second single, "Wish"). Despite the successes of Broken and some reworked material on the follow-up EP (released later in 1992, Fixed), Reznor did not take Nine Inch Nails on tour for this material. Instead, he holed up and began writing new material for the next full length album.

1994 saw the release of what many regard as the best Nine Inch Nails album, The Downward Spiral. The album debuted at number 2 on the charts and remains the highest selling album of the band's tenure, having sold more than five million copies worldwide since its release. Despite the album's overwhelming success, none of its singles fared well, with "Closer" being the highest ranking at a rather mediocre 41 on Billboard's Hot 100 chart (the video is below, but be warned, even the director's cut version can be offensive to some people). The album does include the more introspective and, comparably to the rest of the album, mellow "Hurt" which has gone on to be covered by a slew of musicians, including Johnny Cash and Peter Murphy.

It would be five years until the next Nine Inch Nails release, 1999's double album The Fragile. The album garnered much media attention in the year leading up to its release and debuted at number one on the charts. Despite the high debut and media frenzy leading up to its release, the album received mixed reviews and fell out of the charts over the next week, at the time setting a record for dropping from number one to nothing the fastest (a record that has since been broken). Subsequent touring to support the album was funded purely by Reznor. Various remixes of songs from the album would be released over the next year, mostly to poor reviews.

2005 saw the release of the next big album for Nine Inch Nails, With Teeth. The album also debuted at number one on Billboard's charts. Most reviews were positive for the album, praising it as a return to the original Nine Inch Nails sound. Some reviews knocked it, feeling Reznor had run out of ideas and was repeating what he had done before in an effort to just make some money. All three singles from the album ("The Hand That Feeds," Only," and "Every Day is Exactly the Same") would top Billboard's Alternative Songs chart. To wrap up touring for the album, Nine Inch Nails performed at several festivals and amphitheaters in 2006, notably with one of Reznor's major influencing bands, Bauhaus, as openers (and as a fun factoid, this stint of touring would be the last for Bauhaus before their final split).

2007 saw the release of Year Zero, an album that marked a change in the slow release schedule of the prior albums and one that was a concept album aiming to criticize the United States government and policies in place at the time and what their effect would be in the next fifteen years. Overall, the album received largely positive reviews and would spurn a remixed version of the album. The remixed album would fulfill the contractual obligations of the band to Interscope Records, a contract that would not be renewed.

In 2008, messages on Reznor's website appeared and simply stated "2 weeks." There was some speculation of a new album, but the thought of a new album seemed equally silly as Year Zero had just been released. In March 2008, however, two weeks after the message appeared, Ghosts I-IV was released, a 36 track instrumental saga that could be downloaded for free (in part) or purchased on various media formats. The album is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike (basically, people can freely share this album as long as they don't look to make profit from it). A similar "2 weeks!" message appeared on Reznor's website in April, and true to form, two weeks later in May 2008, the double album The Slip was made available as a free download (under the same Creative Commons license as Ghosts I-IV) and later released as a limited edition CD of 250,000 copies.

2009 marked the Wave Goodbye Tour, which was promoted as the farewell tour for the band. The group performed several of their hits from the previous albums and only played minimally off the more recent albums. Following what seemed to be the end of Nine Inch Nails, Reznor went on to form the band How to Destroy Angels with newly married wife Mariqueen Maandig and longtime collaborator Atticus Ross. The group has since released one EP and one full length album. Reznor and Ross would also go on to produce soundtracks to a few movies, notably "The Social Network" and "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo."

February 2013 marked the official return of Nine Inch Nails with the revealing of a new album to be released later in the year and confirmed touring to support the new album. Throughout the summer of 2013, three singles from the upcoming album were released with the first single, "Came Back Haunted," given a music video directed by the infamous David Lynch (see my review of the first single here: Click Here!)

September 3, 2013, marks the release of the first new Nine Inch nails album in roughly five years - Hesitation Marks. The album title, referring darkly to the first cuts one makes in attempting suicide, sets the tone for what may be one of Reznor's strongest albums yet, combining the musical exploration and textures prevalent on The Fragile with a dash of experimental ambiance found on The Ghosts I-IV with much of the anger and emotion coming through in parts of Pretty Hate Machine and The Downward Spiral. Lost on this album is much of the commercial feel recent albums like With Teeth and Year Zero contained (and especially loses the overproduction feel that both Year Zero and The Slip often had), instead opting for a more exposed look and feel that may even hint at some of Reznor's past personal problems with alcohol abuse.

The album evokes feelings of losing oneself and feeling like you have reached the lowest point without any means of escaping it (as felt in "Find My Way," an emotional slower tune), and feelings of trying to move on but being incapable of doing so (such as in "Came Back Haunted" which may refer to Reznor's attempt to leave Nine Inch Nails behind to work on other things, but inevitably being haunted by a desire to work more in this vein and continue on). Half way through the album is the catchy tune "Everything" which serves as a transformative moment on the album (with the first half focusing on the darkness and feelings of loss and hopelessness and the second half focusing more on finding a way out of that darkness and surviving). The album closes on the dark, brooding instrumental piece "Black Noise," which may suggest that no matter how you try to escape your troubles, they will always be looming around the corner, waiting. There is no escape, only survival.

Some notable tracks to listen to include "Copy of A" (which features a rather unexpected contribution with Fleetwood Mac vocalist Lindsey Buckingham), the first single "Came Back Haunted" which proves to be chilling in its own right, the transformation rock hit "Everything," the edgy and pressing "Running," the brooding and expressive "I Would for You," and of course the final note of the album in its dark glory, "Black Noise."

Compared to the rest of the Nine Inch Nails catalog, Hesitation Marks may not be as good as Pretty Hate Machine or The Downward Spiral. The album however is perhaps one of the best Reznor has made since The Fragile, combining glimpses of Reznor's personal struggles, his methodical composing, enough experimentation to be unique yet not alienating, and enough of an emotional experience to hold up with the best albums from Nine Inch Nails. It is an album that has evolved greatly from the early Nine Inch Nails albums, but I think after a few listens, if you open your mind to the music and understand how a musician can evolve over almost twenty-five years, you start to see where this album is still the same edgy Nine Inch Nails they were back in the early 90s and how they have also become a more calculating and at times introspective brooding entity that slowly washes over you. If you're a long time Nine Inch Nails fan, this album is sure to please. And if you're new to the band, this is one great album to get you started on their full body of work. Be sure to catch Nine Inch Nails on their upcoming Tension 2013 tour (I know I will when they play San Antonio in November).


Rating: 5 out of 5

More Information: Official Site of Nine Inch Nails Official Site for How to Destroy Angels