Review: Ghosts I-IV

Ghosts I-IV

Nine Inch Nails

2008

It was a few weeks before September of 2008 when I listened to Ghosts I-IV for the first time. It was probably late at night, as is often the case with the things I do. I'm just more of a night person, especially these days but that's not the point. The point is that I first listened to Ghosts I-IV sometime in late 2008 at night and this is where my review starts.

When one thinks "Nine Inch Nails", a lot of things come to mind. One of the few things that don't come to mind is "an instrumental album." That being said, it's interesting to listen to Ghosts I-IV for that reason alone. It's not exactly what you'd expect from Trent Reznor but that's by no means a bad thing. In fact, it's in many ways a good thing as it expands his range and audience. More people listening to Nine Inch Nails is always a good thing. More people listening to any band is often a good thing, despite what hipster and music snobs may tell you.

I tend to think of Ghosts I-IV as more of a venture into quieter Nine Inch Nails territory rather than a radical departure. If anything, the listener can make the listening experience more or less of what Reznor may have intended. The energy is still there only in a different exploration of what one has come to expect from the name Nine Inch Nails. By energy, of course, I mean the sonic elements that we've come to expect that have always spoken for us what we can't articulate. You can still hear the ferocity and ire simmering, the only difference is you don't have Trent Reznor snarling something bizarrely poetic this time around. He lets the instruments do all the talking.

It defies expectations that have been set by preceding albums though to be fair, there have been shades and hints from the very beginning. Some are more obvious than others ("A Warm Place") and others have been not as blatant ("That's What I Get"). And it had always been a wish of mine to listen to Trent Reznor do something entirely instrumental. I'm sure others might have been keen on seeing an instrumental release by Reznor, and they got it with Ghosts I-IV (and would get it again with the scores for The Social Network and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo).

I find Ghosts I-IV to be excellent reading music. Especially when re-reading Neil Gaiman's Sandman from time to time. The fact that I can listen to this album and read is what makes it one of my favorite instrumental albums of all time. It can set the tone for a number of different books and stories without distracting you from what you're reading (thereby allowing you to gain control over your focus.)

If I really had to think of one flaw is that sometimes the pieces bleed into each other in an undecipherable blur. The distinction isn't there sometimes unless you actually look at the track name (the fact that it's all in numbers makes no impact or difference to me). Though I'd imagine one would have a hell of a time trying to think of titles for every piece. As such, it becomes very easy for Ghosts I-IV to disappear into the background though it ultimately does a good job at haunting you because you don't always have to rely on spoken words to carry a message.

8/10