[.ca] Nine Inch Nails:W/Teeth

From Amazon.com:
Trent Reznor has always been a one-trick-pony, but it's a damn good trick: sunny melodies filtered through ferocious electronics. Unfortunately, the trick's impact was often watered down by a tendency toward petulance and self-absorption. Still, almost six years after NIN's last release, The Fragile, the trick itself has lost none of its Teen-Beat-from-hell appeal. With Teeth blisters from the start with "All the Love in the World," and tracks like "The Collector" take full advantage of Dave Grohl's sledgehammer drumming. Reznor stretches occasionally, trying out different tactics, from crunchy, overtly commercial rave-ups ("The Hand That Feeds") to borderline New Wave ("Only"). But Teeth isn't about stretching. It's about doing the same trick, only better, with less clutter and more bite. By neatly distilling the sparseness of Pretty Hate Machine with Downward Sprial-style density, it ends up being the most focused record in the NIN catalog. -Matthew Cooke

Solid NIN Rock Album:
Okay, so I'm not a true hardcore NIN fan. This is my first real exposure to NIN, and sure it may be a little more "commercial" and less tortured than past works, but it has made me a fan and I can't wait to pick up The Fragile. This CD is filled with great songs, aside from the crappy filler Beside You In Time. The intro starts slowly and switches completely in its second half, and the rest of the album is tightly connected; Every Day Is Exactly The Same, With Teeth, and Only is a back-to-back-to-back set worth the price of the CD by themselves. The rest of the CD is great too, and I hear new sounds every time I listen to the album (which is several times weekly for the last 4 months). If you want exposure to NIN, this is the way to start.

One of the best NIN:
I'd recommend this album to almost anyone. It's scope is broad enough that most people would like the sounds of this album. This is my second favourite major Halo album, behind The Downward Spiral. (Major being: Pretty Hate Machine, Broken, Downward Spiral, The Fragile, and With Teeth). I'll talk about some of the songs. Track 1 is an awsome Jazz/Piano/Progressive Rock type song, and makes an unbelievable introductory song. Track 2 is an excellent "industrial" metal song, one of my favourite NIN songs. Track 3 is typical NIN, think Downward Spiral meets The Fragile. Track 4 (you should have heard this on the radio) is essentially a dance tune, something a little new for NIN. Track 5 is very Downward Spiralish. Track 6 is a dreary, tedious song that inspires despair, but thats what it's supposed to do, I think, so it's a good song (sometimes I feel every day IS exactly the same). Track 7 has an interesting trippy drum beat, the lyrics are interesting to decypher. Track 8 (Only, the second single) is just great NIN, kind of remeniscent of Pretty Hate Machine in that its kinda Pop. Track 9 is more industrial Metal that inspires feelings of franticness, slightly tamer than Track 2. Track 10, one of my favourites that I think is overlooked, is themed along the lines of "Deep" or "Closer". Good ambient sounding song with some great bass. Track 11 is a noisy, distortion based song, not particularly noteworthy, but improved TENFOLD when I watched him do it live in the 2005 tour, great special live effects. Track 12 is just a synth/ambient sounding song, nothing special. Track 13 is an AMAZING song that ends the album perfectly. Unlike most albums (not his, I mean in general) that end weakly, this one ends on a great highnote, like The Downward Spiral with Hurt. This song is kind of muted for half of the duration, then comes alive when he says "What if everything around you isn't quite as it seems." Gives me goosebumbs. One of my favorite NIN songs. I'd recommend this as a good starter album for someone looking to get into NIN, who likes pop and rock songs. For someone with a darker flare though, I'd recommend The Downward Spiral. For someone who likes older 80's stuff though, Pretty Hate Machine is the way to go. Also, if you like remixes, check out Halo 21 - Every Day is Exactly The Same.

Certainly not Reznor's 'Filth Pig', but a low point:
Trent Reznor's 'With Teeth' is quite possibly his worst album to date. That isn't to say that it's a waste and a tragedy of a record; thankfully for Reznor, he's yet to hit that rock in his career that puts out the outcast album that some love but most hate. It was 'Filth Pig' for Ministry, but it's yet to exist for Reznor. Nonetheless, 'With Teeth' (WT) had the potential to be so much more. 'All the Love in the World', the opening track, is a perfect introduction to the album in that it totally leaves you unprepared for what will follow. With soft synth-pop beats and quiet vocals, Reznor slowly builds up to a piano chanting charm of a latter half in which he simply repeats 'why do you get all the love in the world?' over and over again. Slowly, the voices and noises build up, as they tend to do in NIN songs. This is one of the better tracks on the album. However, it's also totally different from what Reznor has been putting out; it can relate to 'The Fragile' off of the album of the same name, sort of, but not really. It's a rather unique song that built high hopes. And then 'You Know What You Are?' thrashes into my ears with uninspired hatred that feels forced. This is a first for Reznor; a raging hate song that doesn't feel like he cares. This song sounds like it's desperately trying to be the most angry parts of 'Mr. Self Destruct', 'Eraser' or 'Somewhat Damaged', but it comes off so flat that you as the listener begin to not care, either. It's one of the worse songs on the album, and a terrible way to follow up 'All the Love in the World'. 'The Collector' is a great, drum beat driven track that doesn't quite hit the nail on the head, but comes close. It's catchy, it's forceful, and it's feels unique among Reznor's work much like 'All the Love in the World' does, though in a totally different sort of way. It isn't the crowning achievement of the album, but it's a competent work that you're bound to listen to whenever you pop the disc in. 'The Hand That Feeds', which immediately follows, it catchy and bland. You've probably already heard it; it's aired on the radio. It isn't so bad on the first few listens, and is sort of similar to the main chorus of 'We're in this Together Now', but repeated listens brings the track down. An obvious single that shares every single's flaws. The three tracks that follow, 'Love is Not Enough', 'Every Day is Exactly the Same' and 'With Teeth' are mediocre but workable. They each share the same haunting musical overtone created by the notes and beats of the tracks, but each are different enough to be looked at differently. They aren't generic, really, just not up to snuff with the rest of Reznor's work. These feel like cutting room floor tracks from 'The Fragile', put on WT with a little touching up. Not great, but not bad, either. 'Only', the album's second single, is quite possibly the worst track on the record. It's initially addictive, but it's all over the place, as if Reznor has no idea what he wants to pursue with the track. It's very akin to 'Down in It', and even share a part of the lyrics, but the mixture of lazy music composition and laid back lyric speaking (not singing, not ranting, not screaming. Speaking) form to create one terrible track. It feels like a last minute filler song that just happened to be annoyingly catchy. 'Getting Smaller' is a fast, pounding and rythmic song that quickly alleviates the bad aftertaste of 'Only'. It's addictive and it rocks out with little effort. It's up with 'The Collector' on WT, and works well with the album. If you will, it's WT's 'Into the Void' with faster music and more screaming. It's followed up with 'Sunspots', a quiet song that reminded me of 'Piggy', which happens to be one of my favorite NIN tracks. 'Sunspots' quietly allows its haunting bass notes to sear into your head before it goes into a 'The Fragile' like main chorus and then picks up the pace later into the song. It's another great, mellow track. 'The Line Begins to Blur' and 'Beside You in Time' are mechanical, charming, industrial tracks that evoke powerful emotion from the listener with a great contrast of noise, instrument and vocals. Reznor isn't screaming or whining; he's speaking softly and singing. These two tracks are the best tracks on the album, easily. These tracks are the pay off on a lighter note, much as 'The Downward Spiral' was the pay off on a darker note. 'Right Where it Belongs' is often referred to as WT's 'Hurt'. I think that it has nothing on 'Hurt', but it still a nice track that sits nicely with 'The Collector' and 'Getting Smaller' in quality. It's a soft, piano driven track that's different from 'All the Love in the World', but evokes similar emotion. Reznor lets his vocals morph the feeling and lets the piano that accompanies it hold that feeling steady. It's a great finishing track that will leave you wanting more. Which is part of the problem with WT. After the masterpiece 'The Fragile', which was a behemoth of an album (double disc) and was thoroughly entertaining, WT simply feels like so little. I'm not arguing against the direction Reznor's taking with his music - a definite change from his older stuff - and I actually support it if it means we get more tracks like 'The Line Begins to Blur'. But the crap needs to get cut; if you're not angry, Trent, then don't force an angry track! Not every album of yours needs one! WT could benefit from the removal of several tracks and the addition of more, different tracks in the same vein as the rest of the record. As it stands, it's a good album that suffers from a bad beat too many and is too short to redeem it.

WITH_TEETH has teeth \olate review\c:
Why do so many people hate this cd? I think it's getting to be a bit rediclous. Obviously after The Fragile, he isn't going to release TDS P 2, there is never going to be one. Of course, it may have been the finest record he has ever made, but if you like it that much, you may as well just listen to that and not evolve new tastes in music, it serves you right. Everyone knows NIN has a different sound each album, and this one is no exception. This is the most stripped down recording to date (other than and all that have could been:still, but that is an ep, so it doesn't count) in fact, they almost sound like a traditional band, other than the sampling. People are also critising that this is the first album that he also need manual help for some sections, i.e. drumming. Well, I'd like to see YOU try to make an album this good, yet be one of the most popular bands of the 90's-00's while you're on the verge of your 40th birthday. A lot of songs can also be compared to songs on other NIN records. Sunspots- the new closer Only - the new down in it Love is not enough - the new Something I Can Never Have All in all, if you're a true fan, you'll support the band, no matter how horrible they sound, I think they are like fine wine, improving with age. 5/5

Amazing again:
NIN are back and what a fine album this is. The songs The Hand that Feeds, Everyday is exactly the Same, and All the Love in the World really do it for me. These tunes get you out of your chair and remind me of Skinny Puppy, Dada Pogrom and perhaps, Marilyn Manson. I don't think Trent Reznor could write a bad song ever.

• All The Love In The World
• You Know What You Are?
• The Collector
• The Hand That Feeds
• Love Is Not Enough
• Every Day Is Exactly The Same
• With Teeth
• Only
• Getting Smaller
• Sunspots
• The Line Begins To Blur
• Beside You In Time
• Right Where It Belongs