Pitting a whisper against a scream, and the notion of a divided self have always been a hallmark of Reznor's songwriting, but on With Teeth, the volume and intensity doesn't assault, rebuke, and punish you like The Downward Spiral and parts of The Fragile did. If there is a soft touch here, it isn't the coy come-on before he rips your head off; it's the heart of it this work - his voice and piano speaking of sadness, anger, resignation, fear and finally a self-aware, realistic hopefulness - with a new openness and clarity that invites you to enjoy the texture of the sound and emotion without retribution. When the inevitable yowling does begin, and it kicks into full-throated gear on track two, complete with the inimitable way Reznor rocks the F-word like no one else, it's with a positive lucidity that has never been present on a Nine Inch Nails record. Instead of indulgent self-loathing and petty resentment, we have a guy looking in the mirror, knowing he's not where he should be. Reznor's screeched "Don't you fucking know what you are?" decays in the electronic soup, and is replaced by a whispered "Remember where you came from, remember what you are." Dave Grohl's drums replace the digital precision of Reznor's habitual looped beats with an aggressively human warmth, as the piano underneath the chorus strikes minor notes of ominous warning. The whisper turns into a new roar, but this time, it's as if he's reminding himself of his own value before the machine slowly gives way to the piano, which finishes the track alone, like a rueful memory of what's real.
The clarity keeps coming on With Teeth, with "The Collector", which, to my mind, takes on the icky-sicky symbiotic relationship Reznor's melodramatic alter-ego manufactures with it's audience - collecting feelings to "feed upon," cherishing the drama and putting oneself in the way of things that destroy heart and soul. The allusion to The Downward Spiral is strong here, "I am the plague, I am the swarm" recalling the beehive noises of that record, but unlike it, also places those evils in his own agency - part of him, and his choices, rather than casting him as a victim. It's an excellent precursor to the album's first single; and while "The Hand That Feeds" has the a political edge of a call to arms in response to current U.S. foreign policy, it could also be read as a coalescence of the first three songs, and biting the hand that has fed him for all the years that being a fucked-up, miserable, reclusive bastard have been Reznor's stock-in-trade. It's straightforward, hard-driving and purposeful, but it's probably the song with the shortest half-life on the album.
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Kate
THIS is a beautiful column. Just what I was hoping for to intorduce me to his new work. More thanks.
2 - bryan
What a beautiful breakdown of a truly wonderful record. For all of his Reznor's recent talk about this not being a concept album, I think this critic has revealed the real truth at play -- this is the work of an artist who has rediscovered his voice, and he's neither going through the motions because he can (U2) nor keeping his emotional core at that safe, arms' length distance so prevelant in benign radio rock (Weezer).
Ms. Nichols is right -- this is a record of resurgence and rebirth, but in a sense it's collaborative. It's the Artist proposing that we meet up with him in his place of new, revitalized world-view, with nothing more than the joy of his abilities and the convictions of his his beliefs to show the way.
Challenging himself. Challenging us. The line does begin to blur.
3 - jason
finally...thank you for realizing the beauty that is "with teeth"
4 - jason
and for anyone who wants to go even deeper into this cd's message, I suggest reading "The Lathe of Heaven" by Ursula K. LeGuin, trent cited this source once during the recording of the album for a small amount of time on the homepage.
5 - Zaldor
Very good review - I couldn't have said it better myself! This is beginning to be one of Trent's best works... :)
6 - Dawn
Another excellent review! Have to get this cd asap.
7 - Mark Saleski
one of the best reviews i've read in a while here.
...and now i've gotta get the danged cd too.
8 - Howler
Thank you for such a thoughtful review! You are so right about this record. I think it's Reznor's best.
9 - Eric Olsen
just super Jaime, you have penetrated the Trentian psyche. Thanks!
10 - Jaime Nichols
Eric & everybody else: Thanks for the compliments. I'm all a-flutter. It's nice to be able to write a response to this very nice record that frankly, I love the bejesus out of. As for penetrating the Trentian psyche, I think you should be careful when using the words "penetrate" and Trent" in the same sentence. Cue Beavis and Butthead-style sniggering.
Blogcritics is fun! Thanks for having me.
11 - brian
wow! I already know how beautiful the record is, but also, what an amazing review of how beautiful it is.
12 - David
excellent review. there's a few conceptual artists out there in the music industry. NIN being one of them. Having the privilege to deal with a performer as open-minded and conscious about his work like he is, it's a real delight for listeners and quite too rare in 2005.
13 - onebyone
THE best review I have read yet. It is nice to hear someone not only get the CD, aka that Trent is better and not ashamed, but to welcome that.
14 - Max
I very much enjoyed reading your review. It's nice to see someone actually peel back the surface when reviewing With Teeth, and truly understand that this record is not about teen angst, being isolated or all that other whiney shit that many "professional" reviewers label Trent with these days.
Great review!
15 - deco
finally someones gets the album the way it sounds to me... thank u, there is a god^^
16 - Kim
Thank you so much for writing this review. Yours is the only one I've read so far that's bothered to see the album for what it truly is, and you took the words right out of my mouth.
17 - themarina
Brilliant review. As per everyone eleses comments, it was wonderful to read a review that took into consideration the new NIN and didn't just provide the same rehash of years past.
Well done. And yes, the album is fantastic.
18 - Taylor Pile
Dude, I totally agree. I've been reading all these reviews and most are giving the album average marks. I can't believe it. Read this crap.
If you scroll down this guy is review the album and calls it "White Teeth" wtf is that? And he states that reznor hasn't pushed the envelope enough. Agian, wtf? I haven't heard anything this groundbreaking since his last album. Reznor is light years ahead of any musician out today and I stand behind that.
Thanks for hearing the album and giving it the review it deserves.
NIN
19 - Jake
VERY well written. Thank you, it was nice to actually read a review for With Teeth by somebody who actually knows what they're talking about. Thanks again.
20 - dan
This review was as good of a review as with teeth is of an album.(excelent!)
21 - Patrick
I was beginning to wonder if any of the reviewers had this perspective on the cd. Awesome job and this should be the article in Rolling Stone rather than the horrible one they wrote. Thank you.
22 - john murran
" WITH THE TEETH AH! "
great review, thanks.
i want money back from my yearly roling stone subcribtin, so diapointed.
23 - Mark
Man...i'm so glad someone finally wrote a true review. Everything in this article is exactly what I heard in the album. It wasn't another self loathing album but a look at two different personalities, and realizing the things he created in himself and around him. Great review and AWESOME album.
24 - T'Kir
This is one of the best album reviews I have read in a long time, it was both a gratifying read and very thoughtful!
I like your alternative suggestion for the meaning of The Hand That Feeds... although my first hearing of the track made me think of Trents acrimonious split with his ex-manager (before I read the lyrics and the interviews stating the war aspect).
I would've liked to have heard your thoughts on the other tracks not mentioned in your review: Getting Smaller ('flip-flop'), Sunspots, The Line Begins to Blur and Beside You in Time. But anyway, a really enjoyable review :-)
25 - static
YOU GET IT! An excellent review for an incredible album! Thank you for being the one critic that is open-minded!
This is yet another NIN album that proves to be a brilliant work of art. There are few artists that remain that have the integrity, the vision and the follow-through to create the whole package deal... that which consists of the music, the design and the performance. Very inspirational! In fact, I think I'm going to lock myself in my studio right now...