Nine Inch Nails- Ghosts I-IV (*****)

The music industry is dying.

Climbing CD prices coupled with digital sales from iTunes and Amazon that don’t quite cover the loss, make for a business that’s in need of serious restructuring. Yet despite this, record labels resist change and pass off the costs to the consumer. Normally, businesses would change their practices to better fit the needs of the market to turn profit, but here we see the business strangling what little life is left from those that still pay for music.

This is where Trent Reznor has decided to plunge a giant, nine inch nail, into the coffin of the music industry.

And rather than use 2008 as a time to rest on his laurels after the smash Year Zero and Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D, the mastermind behind Nine Inch Nails (NIN) has decided to take his new found freedom from Interscope Records to make a huge statement.

In the waning hours of Mar. 2, www.nin.com was completely reconfigured to allow for the distribution of Nine Inch Nail’s newest album, Ghosts I-IV. There was no official statement, no press releases, just a cryptic blog entry two weeks prior in which Reznor simply stated, “2 weeks.”

While Nine Inch Nail’s management team has been responsible for running the website and maintaining the servers, there is no distribution or marketing being done from any sort of record label. In fact, the only thing Reznor has stated about the project, besides names of various producers and NIN personnel, is that it’s licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike Act.

Being protected under this act allows Reznor to not only maintain full control of his work, but it forces those to attribute him if they use the material from his work for remixes. It also allows people to freely share the material found on Ghosts I-IV without the threat of legal action, so long as they don’t use it for commercial gain.

In other words, file sharers can freely download without the fear of a lawsuit.

But the testament to the release is how Reznor has really provided a full experience for the consumer and really makes it special by purchasing through his website. He’s provided fans with a variety of choices, ranging from a free 9 song sample, a $5 digital version of the album, and a $10 double disc release that comes with a 16 page photo booklet.

Just when you think he’s finished, he’s included two options for collectors and high spenders. Reznor has created a $75 dollar bundle that contains all of the above plus a data CD full of the master tracks for audio editing and mixing as well as a Blu-Ray DVD containing a slideshow of more accompanying artwork.

Finally, there is a $300 package that is a limited release, containing all that’s listed as well as Ghosts I-IV on 4 vinyl LPs that are signed by Reznor himself.

It’s a risky move to take, but by offering such complete packages Reznor doesn’t punish file sharers. Instead he entices people by providing exclusive items that are unique, that downloading the album won’t yield. And of course, the whole scenario effectively cuts out the use of a record label, so those just interested in a CD copy aren’t left paying an arm and a leg to get one.

And for all the commotion about the release, Ghosts I-IV is equally as engaging as a body of songs, as well as the method with which it was released.

The collection of 36 songs are all instrumental pieces, split up into 4 E.P.s and only differentiated by their place in the track listing rather than actual titles. And unlike the tight construction of most NIN releases, Ghosts I-IV finds Reznor focusing with mood and atmosphere. This isn’t to say that the tracks meander and drift, but that they have a much more fluid and expansive quality rather than the meticulous clusters of noise found on most NIN albums.

Here, Reznor toys with somber piano balladry and eerie strings to provide the tension that NIN is known for. The tones all over the album are warm yet ethereal, from the pulsing bass to the brightness of the electronic flourishes spackled through out the collection. And when Reznor really lets loose on his electric guitar, the result is a cross between melodic fuzz and lumbering white noise.

The distortion is thick as it ebbs and flows through the songs. Much like a My Bloody Valentine record, it carries over a certain beauty and density rather than the bludgeoning force NIN is known for. Nothing on the release is overtly glitchy or break beat oriented, but this is far from NIN stripped down. The drums are still powerful and rich, but the tracks don’t feel processed and overindulgent like most instrumental collections do.

Instead, these songs represent a happy medium between sprawling experimentation and tense claustrophobia. And with Reznor stating that fans can expect further installments of Ghosts in the future, this not only means they’re in for more well assembled music, but that the record labels needs to wake up.

If more artists follow along in Reznor’s steps, the music industry might become ghosts themselves.

Sounds Like: Loveless (My Bloody Valentine), The Fragile (Nine Inch Nails), Kid A (Radiohead)

Key Cuts: 4 Ghosts I, 10 Ghosts II, 31 Ghosts IV

Author's Note: This review appears in a recent issue of the Sonoma State Star. As this is the author's own writing and this is his own blog, in addition to holding the position of A&E Co-Editor for the Sonoma State Star, he posts it here with express consent of himself. Duh.