Nine Inch Nails: Year Zero

Nine Inch Nails: Year Zero
Interscope: 4/17/2007

Listening to Year Zero, one might question whether Trent Reznor has made much progress emotionally since getting clean. After all, Year Zero is as angry as any other Nine Inch Nails album. The difference, though, is that Reznor's rage is now directed outward rather than inward. Reznor is done beating himself up; he now has a target much more worthy of hate.

Though Year Zero is set in a dystopian future, like all good sci-fi allegories, it's really a commentary about what's going on here and now. One might be tempted to point out that there is nothing original left to say about the Bush administration, as every recording artist outside of country music has recorded material criticizing the President. But that would be missing the point. What makes Year Zero so superior to most anti-Bush music is Reznor's talent for evoking terror. There is plenty to be afraid of, and Reznor exploits all of it. Every aspect of the current administration's unprecedented consolidation of power is carried out to its logical end, demonstrating the potential for the end of liberty in America. Bush doesn't carry all the blame, as Reznor points the finger at all of us, we who have passively given away our own civil liberties so our leaders could "protect" us. I cannot think of a more intelligent and biting critique of post-9/11 culture than Year Zero, save for Radiohead's stunning Hail to the Thief.