NIN Album - The First Listen

Nine Inch Nails - Year Zero
Some pretty seismic changes have taken place in the NIN camp since 'With Teeth'. Trent has cleaned up, hit the weights and is now a man of steel like Rollins. He's also written a new album in about a fifth of the time it usually takes him. So, what's it like?

Well, Trent says:
'This record was more of a 'sound collage' than recent efforts from me.
A lot of it was improvised.
It is very tedious describing your own music.
It's probably too long, but it felt like the right thing to do to paint the complete picture.
It will sound different after a few listens.
You cab think about it and it will reveal more than you were expecting.
You can dance to a lot of it.
You can fuck to a lot of it (maybe all of it depending on what you're into)'

Harry says
'Year Zero' is about an imaginary future that isn't much fun. It sounds like 'Blade Runner' with more religious fanatics, more drugs and fewer flying cars. A huge Sci-Fi / comic fan, Trent spent weeks planning out a suitably twisted 'back story' to the album in HUGE detail. The websites below are the tip of the iceberg, there's tons more to come. People will be able to work out the complex 'Lost'-style story behind the album from clues on-line, in the songs and in the packaging.
This may sound completely bananas but I kinda like it. The previous NIN albums were all about Trent's (largely drug-fuelled) inner demons. Now he's hugely rich, successful AND clean I'm glad he's still got plenty of nasty ideas. You wish The Red Hot Chilli Peppers would work this hard on a new album, instead of 'phoning in' the usual boring crap about California, yoga, chakras and California.
The album itself seems more influenced by Trent's soundtrack work than anything else. There are fewer guitars and more electronics, but it's still very loud and very heavy in places. The tunes are a mixture of violent big -bass stuff and more brooding moments akin to 'Something I Could Never Have'. It's a little hard to judge properly in one listen on a Thursday lunchtime, but it sounds like it'll all make sense after a few listens in the dark.

Check these websites from Year Zero. To really read what's on these sites you have to highlight the words. Once you get there, you'll understand what I mean

http://anotherversionofthetruth.com/ Click and drag on this picture long enough and watch what happens
http://iamtryingtobelieve.com/ Official website of Parepin, the drug that's fed into the public water supply
http://www.churchofplano.com/ The government-run church of Year Zero
http://www.consolidatedmailsystems.com The mail service of Year Zero. To access the site type 'nooneimportant' into the address bar where 'citizen_unknown' is......try to click on any other section and watch what happens.
http://105thairbornecrusaders.com/ The military troop where the Sniper, a character in Year Zero, received his training.
http://www.uswiretap.com Contains several 'classified' documents. To access the site, type case number 71839J into the address bar. This one is probably the scariest site!
http://www.bethehammer.net/ The Sniper's 'blog,' if you will.
http://artisresistance.com The site to download desktops and wallpaper, but done with a twist....once accessing the site, try to click and highlight any words and watch what happens.

A Rolling Stone article about 'Year Zero'
http://www.rollingstone.com/rockdaily/index.php/2007/02/22/year-zero-project-way-cooler-than-lost/