I think I might be the only one around here that's stoked about this.
You are wrong there, skvor. I am so stoked for the new NIN, and if
M doesn't mind, I'm going to make a stand in their defense, right now.
I hate it when anyone claims the music/lyrics of NIN are in any way necessarily "immature" or "stuck in teen angst", because honestly -? I don't feel that way -? And it's cuz the
music sounds, Awesome -? haha ok I'm havin fun w/this, but seriously . . ..
... Take THE FRAGILE, for instance. The music on that in no way, shape, or form could possibly be relegated as seperate, i.e, "below" that of any other artist I listen to regularly. It is in no way, at least to my ears, "closer to teen angst" nor is it in any conceivable manner reflective of "under-developed" concerns, to me.
As for the lyrics, well, I have to *koff* go out on a limb here and claim, that in my opinion, Trent's lyrics are not reflective of "teen angst" any more than the lyrics of Pink Floyd (some of the best god damn lyrics in the rock canon imo) nor the lyrics of any
other artist you might care to mention which teenagers have been universally known to listen to (i.e, The Beatles, The Clash, etc).
That said, I guess what I'm aiming for here, is to call out that those who point an accusatory finger at NIN declaring they are "stuck in teen angst" or otherwise should be relegated to a "phase one should have grown out of by now", well I couldn't disagree more although I guess I can see why Nine Inch Nails seems to have been singled out for this particular criticism.
But the way I see it, is it ain't NIN's fault or even intention necessarily that generations of teens would have responded to it w/such devotional intensity; if anything, teenagers are often more open to the kind of poetry / lyricism inherent to artists aiming to pinpoint deep
universal themes, and in this light it should be more obvious that Reznor's lyrics just happen to hit the bullseye in this regard.
I.e, more people than TEENAGERS
should appreciate NIN's introspective lyricism and heady, intoxicating music, but the truth of the matter is, that most people seem to depart from the wide-open "sensory scoops" so rich & alive during one's teen years, that they instead become
deadened to this sort of fine-tuned artistry.
All of that said . . . I don't want to give the impression I think Mary (for instance) is "deadened" to the finer points of musical artistry, not in the least! In fact, I can also see that side of the coin, how one would relegate the music and lyrics of NIN to nothing but a "teen phase" which implies most of us should "leave that behind" as we mature and grow on up and out to "better things", I mean, sure I can see how any adult could perceive it that way . . . it's just, quite simply, that I don't.
As for Trent's latest incarnations of the Nine Inch Nails mythos -- the last one,
[With_Teeth], and on into this new one - "Year Zero" -- in my honest opinion, (and based strictly on the 2 latest albums "The Fragile" and "With Teeth"), I feel that Trent has matured far beyond the music of his earlier albums which teens worldwide
appropriated as their anthems, and it is my honest opinion that these albums reflect mature, adult themes, period.
And I fully expect "Year Zero" to continue in this vein; that is, onward into the heady realm of adulthood and maturation into an increasingly splintering world wherein it is all one can do to either Escape or Confront the shifting paradigm of chaotic progress.
That's just my way of saying, in the final analysis -- I believe NIN's music and lyrics to be
every bit as much for the fully matured adult today as it can also continue to be hoisted as the flag of disenfranchised youth.
