Muzak: Nine Inch Nails - Ghosts I - IV

I loves me some Nine Inch Nails. When Cobain passed on and grunge was dying a public and painful death from overexposure, NIN was the band that I turned to. My anger, rage and roiling emotions were nicely duplicated in Trent’s muzak. It was a much needed outlet for pent up teenage life.

As I matured, and Trent mellowed, I found that NIN was one of the few bands who’s new albums continued to be just as relevant and groundbreaking as their older material. They resisted the urge to milk the nostalgia of their older fans and persisted in exploring the breadth and depth of their unique sound.

So it’s almost inevitable that NIN would get around to creating an album like Ghosts I – IV. This album, which is completely instrumental, also happens to be their first studio album recorded outside of a major record label deal. Where Radiohead hath trail blazed, NIN shalt follow.

What else can I say about this album? Well, the majority of it is like listening to the acoustic version of wallpaper actually. That sounds overly critical and I don’t mean it to be. It was actually meant as a compliment. I’m crap at just putting something on in the background and letting it function as white noise. If the radio or television is on I have to actively focus on what is being played. I am biologically incapable of tuning anything out.

Ghosts is the rare exception to this. Alternating between light piano interludes and the more familiar grinding guitars Ghosts seems to be made up entirely of the instrumental segues that are peppered throughout so many of his other albums. At times I felt like I was listening to a lost track from ‘The Downward Spiral’ or an extended version of something off of ‘With Teeth’.

But with this album I was able to listen to the whole thing and drift in and out of it at will, enjoying a snatch of guitar here or a particularly noteworthy solo there. Although it’s all solo when you get down to it. The songs on Ghosts don’t employ a typical verse, chorus, verse, chorus, bridge, chorus structure. They are all essentially rambling train-of-thought pieces, which only helps add to the albums background music feel. There is no stress on the listener whatsoever to actively participate in the experience of enjoying these tunes.

So on the whole, I approve. I probably wouldn’t normally have given an album like this the time of day, instrumental\experimental muzak isn’t really for me. Having the NIN name on the disc made all the difference regarding my choice to purchase it. But now that I have bought it, I’m glad I did. It’s a welcome break from what I normally listen to and I think it broadened my horizons enough for me to consider giving something similar a try.

Well played Trent Reznor. Well played.