Stand Out Albums has been a showcase for my favorite albums across the vast performers that I love. Covering a little bit of everything from classic rock to country hits, much like Key Movies of My Life, it has been the albums that shaped me.
After covering the works of The Posies and Guster I figured it was time for a tonal shift into my rather eclectic taste in music so I though, what could be more of a change than a band I have loved since the early 90’s, Nine Inch Nails.
Today’s album is an all time favorite of mine (yeah, I know they all are but this one…) and is probably Nine Inch Nails most innovative to date. The album is Year Zero, the last NIN album to be released under Interscope Records.
Why This Album?
After the tremendous release of With Teeth, there was every reason to expect that we would be waiting another 5+ years for another album, however, almost immediately rumors began to spread that Trent Reznor and his new producer Atticus Ross were already at work on something new, something unique. Before long stories began circulating that USB’s were being found at concerts containing new unreleased tracks with information on how to get special items as well as clues to an interactive alternate reality game that was unfolding piece by piece revealing more as it went on. If you signed in you would get tidbits of information about a dystopian world where something happened that changed the world. There were even mock raids that were conducted when people got instructions via special numbers only to find themselves carted away to…special concerts performed by none other than Nine Inch Nails themselves.
The concept was a cool one, the new album would be about the future, 2022 to be exact and something called ‘The Warning’ that shook humanity to it’s core. The government had gone beyond corrupt and now the world was more of a dystopian plane of existence not unlike 1984. The album pains a picture of what is going on, how things got so bad and where they went from there. The thing is, this album never has received any closure as it was originally intended to be only part of a multimedia event that would eventually turn into a tv series or film…sadly that has yet to come to fruition. However, the album that released is one of this bands finest works and is certainly one that need to be enjoyed from start to finish to really get a feel for what it is all about.
Favorite Tracks
I will reiterate…listen to this in it’s entirety. Sure there are some amazing track on this but it is a work of art all on it’s own. Now. That being said I will only drop one track as a taste and you have to do the rest.
Ok, Where do I get it?
This one is still very available and you can get it here from our friends at Amoeba. Plus, one cool aspect of the physical disc…it changes color when warmed. pretty cool huh? It’s also on Spotify.
Next week its all about Ghosts. Till then…
Late to the Game 10/5/2021
Thanks for reading, If you would like to read more reviews I have a weekly series called Key Movies Of My Life that comes out every Thursday and also check out some retro tv goodness with the ongoing series Retro TV Reviews here. You can also find a few of my other Music Reviews Here.
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Late to the Game Blog 