Album Reviews

Five years after “The Slip”, Nine Inch Nails is back with a new album called “Hesitation Marks”. Just like their recent shows, opener “The Eater Of Dreams” starts off in Spartan fashion. A single note is being repeated over and over with some of that typical NIN noise slowly moving in. It’s just one minute long but it helps set the tone before exploding in “Copy Of A” and “Came Back Haunted”, two kickass songs that show that 24 years after “Pretty Hate Machine”, Nine Inch Nails is still relevant.

Pretty much everything on “Hesitation Marks” is vintage Reznor… beats that will have you nodding along in no time and lots and lots of weird bleeps. The only thing different here is that over the years Reznor has become a happier person. You might not think it when you song titles like “All Time Low”, but it’s true.

Along with Fleetwood Mac’s Lindsey Buckingham, King Crimson’s Adrian Belew and bass guru Pino Palladino, Reznor recorded another solid album. Is “Hesitation Marks” the best NIN album to date? Of course not. But with songs like “Find My Way” and “While I’m Still Here” it is definitely a worthy addition to Nine Inch Nails’ discography.