4 out of 5

Label: Columbia, The Null Corporation

Producer: Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, Alan Moulder

I’m not a Nine Inch Nails guy.  I grew up in the era of ‘Downward Spiral’ and lusted after the album – at a point in my record buying career when that ‘Explicit’ sticker on the cover held sway with my parents – but I missed the boat, then began associating the group with all the sweaty dudes rockin’ Hot Topic t-shirts with the logo.  Eventually, my lusts went the way of my Tool records, and I moved on to becoming an indie asshole, who sweats and replaces Hot Topic with tour t-shirts.

Still, I would hear tracks from Reznor / the group and they would stick.  I would try to justify it to myself in various ways (required at that point, to make an album that might not look ‘cool’ on my shelf as legitimate in some fashion), but though some NiN albums would float into my collection, I could never get over the stigmas and legitimately listen to them.  Blah blah time passed, and then through an avenue I wouldn’t have expected, I was awesomed by a Trent Reznor project – Saul Williams’ Niggy Tardust disc, produced by Trent.  Undeniably bearing the hallmarks of the Nine Inch Nails sound, Mr. Reznor focused Williams (all of whose previous albums were uneven) and brought to light the understanding I think I couldn’t glean before: that his years in the biz have given him a damned fine-tuned sense of sonic layering in terms of production and song composition, and that the seeds of those skills have been present since the start.  I know that the lyrics and ‘concept’ behind Nails was what gave me pause previously, and the lyrics are still a weak point with ‘Hesitation Marks.’  But there’s more evidence on the album of Reznor choosing words for drone effect rather than direct meaning (‘Copy of A’ being a great example), and there’s certainly less of the angry thrust behind the whole affair; it is aggressive, but expressed through the music, and not shouted curses.  Meaning that ‘Marks’ makes it easiest to view NiN’s compositions as full pictures rather than an industrial vehicle for Trent’s black-clad words.  Tracking the discography backwards, I’m not mistaken in that the lyrics were more of a focus before, but I’m interested now to listen to the old in view of the new, just accepting the words as part of the vibe and not trying to force myself to side with what’s being said one way or the other.

So: Hesitation Marks has some unbelievably head-nodable songs.  The whole first half of the album is cluttered with badass compositions that make use of the tinniest of sounds to layer on top of thick electronic beats.  While Reznor does put some gusto into the singing (‘Came Back Haunted’), its more in line with the groove; I can sense him enjoying the beat while singing.    And the tracks where he lays back and lets the music work for him – ‘Find My Way,’ ‘All Time Low’ – come to rousing conclusions, and allow the listener to revel in all those details that ping in and out for only a moment.  Which I think is the biggest testament to his skills – it’s not just build and build, but bring a piece in, work it for a moment, keep a piece of that piece and then move on and bring in another piece and etcetera.  For the most part, Trent only keeps what he needs to keep the structures strong.  When the balance does shift toward the lyrics (‘Satellite’), it can highlight the simplicity of the rhymes, but there’s equally something honest about it that makes it non eye-rolling.  The latter half of the album gets a bit mixed in terms of effect – the last trio of tracks blend together somewhat with similar beats, but we also have some ‘whoulda’ thunk’ tracks like ‘Everything,’ which is totally a pop song, that make your eyes bug out when the sing-song chorus come in.  Amazingly, its still wrapped with a Nine Inch Nails feel, but its exciting to hear Reznor stretching the definitions of what the band may mean… assumedly an influence of the various projects (How to Destroy Angels, his soundtrack work) with which he’s been involved between now and then.

The remixes that come with the extended edition are interesting but not necessities.  Todd Rundgren’s mix effectively changes the feeling of the song of choice, which is cool, but also sort of strips of its momentum, whoops.  The other two remixes are, uh, remixes.

I suspect there are a lot of NiN haters like me running around, and I’d happily hand them ‘Hesitation Marks’ as a starting point for rediscovering the group.  Trent has grown so much during his career, but these skills were always there, he’s just harnessed them in different fashions.  ‘Marks’ evolves them into expert songsmithery, restraint paying off big time for some of the most catchy, moody tracks I’ve had the fortune to hear in the past few years.