Nine Inch Nails
Ghosts I-IV
The Null Corporation

Former Clevelander Trent Reznor laid down tracks at The Right Track studio on Brookpark Road in November of 1988, that, once remixed by the producer Flood and others, became Nine Inch Nails' breakthrough first album, Pretty Hate Machine. Reznor opened the door to a new genre of take-no-prisoners, 90's industrial noise and launched a brilliant career for the songwriter/ vocalist/ instrumentalist and a shifting array of NIN bandmates hired for touring -- peaking in 1994 with The Downward Spiral and it's massive radio hit Closer. In 2007, Reznor opted to not renew his contract with his label Interscope, and has instead released the 36-track instrumental Ghosts I-IV directly from his site, http://www.NIN.com. Taking his cue from Radiohead, whose In Rainbows was offered for free from their site months before it was released as a disc by their label (and still hitting #1 in sales that week), NIN fans have five choices for how to get Ghosts I-IV: a free download of the first 9 tracks as DRM-free MP3s with the accompanying PDF of graphics and liner notes; $5 for all 36 tracks in higher quality downloads, plus the PDF; $10 for two audio CDs in a six-panel digipak with a 16-page booklet, plus immediate high quality downloads; or $300 for an "ultra-deluxe limited edition package" that was sold out of the available 2500 units within a few days. Doing the math, former NIN manager and Clevelander John Malm Jr. marveled that Reznor probably earned $1.7M in four days, and Rolling Stone magazine estimated that NIN made more from Ghosts I-IV in a week than his previous Interscope release, Year Zero, for which he only received only $2 per unit, which so far has sold approximately 500,000 copies.

So, how's the music? In a word, unbelievable. It's hard to fathom that an artist of Reznor's stature would take the risk of releasing a totally instrumental (disc, album...?) project, when so much of his fan base relates to his angst-driven, over-the-top vocal shredding. And it's hard to believe that he pulls it off, with shifting, moody soundscapes, often featuring acoustic instruments like piano, marimba and dulcimer, alternating with high-energy electronic squash and throb, remaining true to the Cleveland post-industrial aural aesthetic that defined a generation and that he helped invent. Arranged into four different nine-song suites, Ghosts I-IV can be listened to in a variety of ways: straight through, the songs segue into one another, and combine to form an ambient "soundtrack for daydreams" (as the NIN site calls it) that defies description; listening one 30-minute suite at a time, Ghosts III offers an intense peak, IV the denouement; shuffled on your iPod, the tunes hold up as individual statements. Possibly understood better as a nearly-two-hour classical music ambient symphony, the music includes a surprising range of sonic textures, including a sometimes unidentifiable guitar by Adrian Belew. It is also the first time that Reznor has shared significant songwriting credits, this time with Atticus Ross on almost every track, and with musical collaborators including electronics player/guitarist Alessandro Cortini and drummer Brian Viglione. The result is music with deep emotional impact that is a blast to listen to with ear buds or computer system with subwoofer.

Instrumentals are not new for Reznor and Nine Inch Nails. We're reminded of the October 1995 Blossom Music Center concert (opened by Prick, headed up by Clevelander and former Reznor bandmate Kevin McMahon), which featured David Bowie stepping onstage at the end of NIN's set to collaborate on Low-era instrumental Subterraneans, and NIN's Reptile and Hurt before Reznor and band turned the stage over to Bowie for his closing set. Reznor's instrumental tendencies have been exhibited throughout his oeuvre, especially 1999's The Fragile, and the limited edition of 2002's And All That Could Have Been, which included a second disc of old and new songs "recorded live (in the studio) in a deconstructed fashion, including a number of instrumentals. Ghosts I-IV'' takes these inclinations to their ultimate expression, heavily referencing Brian Eno's ambient work while exhibiting the indelible NIN signature of angst, art and ambivalence.

It is truly a pleasure to be in the presence of an artist at the top of their form. Offering unprecedented freedom for the artist to craft and present their own work, Ghosts I-IV is possibly the first release by a major artist that fully understands and takes advantage of the digital age. Each track includes its own artwork, visible on your iPod as the song plays (usually you get to look at the album cover for all songs). The lossless compression on all but the free option is appropriately flawless, adding to the sonic experience. The download includes wallpapers (standard and widescreen), web graphics, album art, and a brilliant 40-page PDF that serves as an accompanying art catalog as much as it does liner notes. The CDs finally arrived in the mail today. But since I've been listening to the downloads for weeks, I'm in good shape. And to my ears, it sounds like the future. http://www.NIN.com

Review by Thomas Mulready
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