Noise du Jour’s High Concepts: “Year Zero” by Nine Inch Nails

It was, perhaps, inevitable that Trent Reznor would have a hard time of it after The Downward Spiral, having been almost universally praised as both a commercial and critical success. The Fragile was certainly his most musically mature and complex work but the lyrics, already a favorite target of detractors, were doing his cause no favors. After another meandering journey through substance abuse he presented With Teeth, an album so transparent as an effort to fulfill a contractual obligation while trying to expand an audience that most critics and fans treated it thusly, though certainly there are many who pointed to it as a sign that Reznor had finally lost it, or at least shown himself to be the untalented sample man that they always thought him to be.

Year Zero, in many ways, did not do much to dissuade people from this opinion and this may mostly be the fault of an album that is defined by its concept. The problem is that Year Zero, the album, is part of a much larger piece that is Year Zero. It is a link in a massive chain that tells the story of a near future America where the government controls all aspects of life, where anti-depressants are found in the drinking water, and where an underground resistance has begun to form.

This tale was told through a massively complex A.R.G. (Alternate Reality Game) that comprised of coded messages on concert t-shirts, hidden USB thumb drives in public restrooms, state sponsored websites from the future, video surveillance, wire taps, government documents, the list goes on and on. Upon purchasing the album one would take notice of a sticker that read:

USBM (U.S. Bureau of Morality) WARNING: Consuming or spreading this material may be deemed subversive by the United States Bureau Of Morality. If you or someone you know has engaged in subversive acts or thoughts, call: 1-866-445-6580 BE A PATRIOT - BE AN INFORMER!

When you called the number a recorded message informed you that by doing so you had admitted your guilt; the authorities now had your location. Just stay put and they were on their way to take you into custody. It has the distinction of being one of the first and most prominent examples of a musician stepping beyond his music to create something akin to an experience — something that may not have been possible were it not for the pervasiveness of the internet — but this in itself is perhaps its greatest flaw.

The issue lies with that very experience and the need for those listening to the album to have some knowledge of it for the music to have any real impact. The stories and concepts laid out in the lyrics of Year Zero are but nonsense if one is not aware of the events that they reference. Indeed, watching the video for “Survivalism” seen above, one could be forgiven for taking it to merely convey an insipid, reactionary sentiment lacking the added depth that the surrounding fiction lends it. It is an album that requires much of its listeners and, in this regard, I think that it is a fascinating album, a stunning execution of concept but not quite the musical success it might have been otherwise.

Video is slightly NSFW: breasts! Also, under the sheets gay sex.

Nine Inch Nails - 2007 - Year Zero - Survivalism [YouTube] : Year Zero Research