NINE INCH NAILS: GHOSTS I-IV Review

иIиE IиCH иAILS GHOSTS I-IV


Hearing of Ghosts I-IV the 36 track instrumental from Trent Renzor and Aticcus Ross (later producing the soundtracks to the social network and the girl with the dragon tattoo) it was not one to inspire me and drive me to a purchase. I downloaded ghosts I to see what it was like, but again remained uninspired and unconnected, I found it hard to connect with the music without vocals and the simplicity of the pieces.


However two years later I picked up a cd copy of Ghosts I-IV and I must say my mind has changed considerably...



Ghosts I starts with a nice simple sombre piano piece of just over two and a half minutes in length, straight away it seems to set up the mood for the rest of the album quite nicely. The second track is a similar yet contrasting piece, slow piano accompanied by some distorted synth that seems to control the mood.


Suddenly on the third track of ghosts I the style changes to some more up tempo looped beats with a synthesised keyboard; about halfway into the song Adrian Belew brings in a traditional NIN style guitar, he does much but not all of guitar work in the album.

The fourth track is the first heavy one so far the off key drum beat is later accompanied by over-driven guitar and is one of the few songs to feature a bass guitar on the album. After the ear-piercing lead of track four, the fifth track gives you a break a slow beat accompanied by effects that sound they belong off the year zero album, this future style melody is later accompanied by the piano, similar to the first two tracks.


The sixth track is the weirdest so far; at just under a four and a half minutes it features a high and almost unsettling beat, accompanied by a slow synth effect over the top that speeds up through the instrumental. The seventh track is pretty normal, it sounds like it has come straight out of year zero with a quirkiness to it unlike much else.

The eighth track features heavy distorted riffs setting the riff to this powerful track. Finally the last track of Ghosts I is possibly the most pleasant piano piece, like the second track but a lot more joyous.


Ghosts I is possibly the saner part of the album; Ghosts II is more up-tempo and has some more techno elements to it, the sixth track is exceptionally weird, with the most surprising effects combination of effects.

Ghosts III is the most industrial part of the album  (with exceptions) and seems to take it's origin from 1999' the fragile. Finally Ghosts IV is the most emotional and seems to take influence from many different areas of music and culture.
Overall Ghosts I-IV is different. There will be some tracks you like, and others you won't, I doubt it will be liked by everyone, but if you take time to listen you may be pleasantly surprised.

Ghosts I is available for free from the NIN website.