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Reviewed
by: Darklight
I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with the music of Nine
Inch Nails. On one hand I do like the ideas and structures
of a lot of NIN songs, but on the other hand I don’t really care for
Trent Reznor’s voice. So while I do enjoy a lot of
NIN songs, they have never really impressed me quite as much as they
have other people. But since I do like a lot of classic NIN songs, I
was really curious to hear them redone on this album by other industrial
bands.
This album starts off strong right from the beginning and continues
to deliver great songs all the way to the end. Rosetta Stone
opens the album with their industrial/goth take on “Closer”.
While this is probably my least liked NIN song, I do like Rosetta
Stone’s version as they give it a darker more gothic vibe while
still keeping it industrial. 80's throw-back Sigue Sigue Sputnik
take “Piggy”, another NIN song I don’t care for, and turn into
an appealing catchy mid-tempo electro track with some good grooves and
quality vocals. Razed In Black explodes onto the scene
with their extremely energetic industrial/techno/trance take on “Starfuckers,
Inc.”. Dkay.com/Die Krupps offer an angry
and aggressive version of “The Perfect Drug” with frantic electronics,
haunting synths and deep vocals. Candymachine 88 deliver
one of the most original sounding songs here with their haunting electro-goth
version of “Mr. Self Destruct” featuring the vocals of Tina
Root (Switchblade Symphony). The Newlydeads
offer what is probably my favorite song here with their energetic industrial
take on “Terrible Lie”. This song is really great with creepy
male vocals that talk out the verses and shout out the chorus’ while
haunting electronics crawl in the background and superb guitar riffs
chug. Meeks offer a noisy and chaotic industrial take
on “Down In It” with some creative twists and turns thrown
into the mix to make for an extremely entertaining take on the original.
Pig creates a funky dark lounge version of “Head
Like A Hole” with bass and jazz horns while deep male vocals croon
out the lyrics. The song gets loud and heavy for the chorus. This song
definitely stands out and is great for variety. Sheep On Drugs
delivers a noisy chaotic and frantic industrial take on “Wish”.
I like what they did with the song, but it does lack the dark, angry
and aggressive edge of the original. It’s still energetic with some
angry shouted male vocals at times, but the funky feel makes it sound
a little more campy than I would like. 16 Volt Vs.
Spahn Ranch create a mid-tempo upbeat electro track
with some funky bass lines and whispered vocals for their version of
“That’s What I Get”. The song gets a little more energetic
for the chorus when the heavy guitar riffs come in. It’s a quality song
that is well done and brings more variety to the CD. Shining
offer a dark and haunting electro-ambient version of “Something
I Can Never Have”. The music creeps along at a relaxed pace as
the vocals whisper in the background. The song picks up its pace further
on with drum ‘n’ bass and more energetic shouted vocals. It’s another
well done song that is a lot different than anything else here. Interface
Vs. Sinboy finish off the album with their
heavy industrial noise take on “Reptile”. It’s an excellent,
loud and chaotic song with eerie female vocals that talk out the verses
and scream out the chorus’.
I personally feel that this a great Nine Inch Nails
tribute album as all of the songs are a radical new take on the NIN
classics. They sound fresh and new while still retaining the main ingredients
that made the originals classics to begin with.
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