“You have power over your mind — not outside events. Realise this, and you will find strength.”
“The Hand That Feeds” did well on radio, and anticipation for the new Nine Inch Nails album was high. With Teeth was released on 3 May 2005, marking a welcome return to form for many fans.
Fronted by singer and producer Trent Reznor, Nine Inch Nails were one of the biggest alternative acts of the 1990s, rising to prominence with the release of The Downward Spiral in 1994. The album’s success was driven by the singles “Closer” and “Hurt,” as well as their appearance at the twenty-fifth anniversary edition of Woodstock. In 1999, the double-disc album The Fragile was released. Both albums were highly successful, critically and commercially. However, during the 90s, Reznor became increasingly addicted to drugs and alcohol, resulting in severe depression and writer’s block. He checked into rehab in 2001.
“There was a persona that had run its course,” Reznor said in an interview with Kerrang! “I needed to get my priorities straight, my head screwed on. Instead of always working, I took a couple of years off, just to figure out who I was and working out if I wanted to keep doing this or not. I had become a terrible addict; I needed to get my shit together, figure out what had happened.”
With Reznor having managed his addictions, and after a decent hiatus, Nine Inch Nails (NIN) returned with the release of With Teeth. “The Hand That Feeds” was the lead single, a snappy, bombastic mix that made for an excellent introduction to the album, both for new listeners and veteran fans alike. With its “Will you bite the hand that feeds?” refrain, many interpreted the song as a protest against the presidency and foreign policies of George W. Bush.
The recording sessions for With Teeth began in September of 2004, in Reznor’s Nothing Studios in New Orleans, before relocating to Los Angeles. The album was produced by Reznor and longtime NIN associate Alan Moulder, who had previously worked on The Downward Spiral and The Fragile. Nirvana drummer and Foo Fighters frontman Dave Grohl performed on several of the album’s tracks, while Atticus Ross assisted with engineering.
Although he wasn’t officially involved with the album, Reznor cited legendary producer Rick Rubin as a sort of mentor during this time.
The product was a body of work that was definitely more straight ahead rock-oriented than The Downward Spiral or The Fragile. Still going for a lo-fi vibe, it doesn’t quite reach the heaviness of 1992’s Broken EP. One could listen to the album as a whole, or cherry pick which tracks sound just fine individually. Reznor described With Teeth as “a collection of songs that are friends with each other, but don’t have to rely on each other to make sense.”
The album’s themes marked something of a turning point for Reznor. On one level, the album maintains his lyrical themes of depression and alienation, as he explores his journey through addiction and recovery. “You Know What You Are” and “Right Where It Belongs” fit right in with those classic NIN albums, raging about isolation, self-destruction, and the loss of control. But he also took inspiration from world events, such as 9/11, the Bush administration’s invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, and the wartime propaganda that was so pervasive around this time. “The Hand That Feeds” is probably the most famous example, though this theme would inform the subject matter for the follow-up, 2007’s Year Zero. “Every Day Is Exactly the Same,” “With Teeth,” “Only,” and “Getting Smaller” set the direction going forward, as the sense of anger is balanced with a sharper sense of focus and introspection.
Then there’s “Love Is Not Enough.” Not my favourite, but a song I’ve grown to appreciate more and more over the years. In the chorus, Reznor sings:
“Hey, the closer we think we are
Well it only got us so far
Now you got anything left to show
No, no I didn’t think so
Hey, the sooner we realize
We cover ourselves with lies
But underneath we’re not so tough
And love is not enough“
Mark Manson has an awesome take on this:
“In 1967, John Lennon wrote a song called, ‘All You Need Is Love’,” he says. “He also beat both of his wives, abandoned one of his children, verbally abused his gay Jewish manager with homophobic and anti-semitic slurs, and once had a camera crew film him lying naked in his bed for an entire day.”
As opposed to Reznor:
“Trent Reznor from Nine Inch Nails wrote a song called ‘Love Is Not Enough’,” he continues. “Reznor, despite being famous for his shocking stage performances and his grotesque and disturbing videos, got clean from all drugs and alcohol, married one woman, had two children with her, and then cancelled entire albums and tours so that he could stay home and be a good husband and father.”
Love is important, sure, but so is compatibility, humility, empathy, and understanding. Viewing love as a cure-all, for Reznor and Manson at least, doesn’t conquer much of anything.
That, and I’m sick of Lennon always getting a pass just because he’s John Lennon.
Moving on.
The album was generally well-received, but there were a few who didn’t appreciate Reznor’s evolution. Some fans, especially younger fans, wanted everything to be The Downward Spiral. What, for Reznor to be addicted and depressed all the time? I found this artificially limiting, if not insulting to the artist. People are complex and layered, so much more than just one thing. Artists are not marionettes on strings, or jukeboxes that play the same songs over and over. Like any artist, Reznor is going to do what he’s going to do.
The success of the lead single and some keen fan anticipation allowed for With Teeth to debut at number one on the US Billboard 200 chart, and number ten on the ARIA chart here in Australia. And when it came time to tour, Reznor and his live bandmembers — Jeordie White, Aaron North, Alessandro Cortini, and Jerome Dillon — originally played some club dates to test the waters, given that Nine Inch Nails had been on hiatus for a decent length of time. But fan interest was so strong, that soon they would headline festivals and headline their own arena tours across the United States, as well as Europe, Australia, Japan, and South America.
“Only” and “Every Day Is Exactly the Same” were also issued as singles, the latter being released as an EP, a nice set of remixes that could almost make for an album in itself.
Touring is rough, even at the best of times. And for most of the 90s, Reznor fuelled himself with alcohol and all kinds of substances. For the With Teeth tour however, he found himself hooked on black coffee and protein shakes. Not that I imagine things being easy for him or his bandmates and crew, but the way he pulled himself back up during that time is one of the things I admire most in the rock world.
His material might be discomforting to some, but there is no doubt that Reznor and Nine Inch Nails have been an absolute force in modern rock. Without them, the music of Korn, Marilyn Manson, Fear Factory, Linkin Park, Evanescence, and generations of artists, would sound drastically different. Every new release, each musical evolution, will be a must to my ears.
Lawrence Deveney 