By C D REVIEWS BY DANIEL ARCH ULE TA
Nine Inch Nails, ‘Year Zero’ ★★★★ The media buzz surrounding the release of the latest Nine Inch Nails studio album almost eclipses its content. There was a clandestine Web site created by the enigmatic publicity firm 42 Entertainment and an unorthodox method of leaking material before the official release of the disc.
It seemed to all come together during the first week of the album’s North American release, debuting second on the Billboard 200 chart with a reported 187,000 units sold. Apparently, the viral marketing campaign worked. Although the publicity behind the release should get some of the credit for the strong opening, you have to take into consideration that NIN’s last release, “With Teeth,” opened with 272,000 sold during its initial week on the shelves.
While the advertising staked out a place for “Year Zero” in the marketplace, it will be the music that will have a lasting imprint on listeners.
The sonic environment is very rhythmic and leans toward the dance/hip-hop spectrum of the music world. Front man Trent Reznor has been known to be fond of rap music and even appeared on the recent Definitive Jux release of “I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead” by innovative rapper El-P.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 26, 2007. Read the original PDF.