CD Reviews

How To Destroy Angels | Welcome Oblivion

Columbia (2013)

By BARRY THOMPSON | March 13, 2013

3.5 Stars

Out of all the household names from the '90s "alternative" boom, arguably the most damaged of them all is, amazingly, still relevant, an Oscar winner, and not dead from drugs or suicide. Trent Reznor is reactivating Nine Inch Nails, which is well and fine, but even at its nadir, like the abominable "Immigrant Song" cover from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo soundtrack, his work outside of his signature brand has been much more provocative than anything NIN did in the '00s. Particularly this project with wife Mariqueen Maandig and The Social Network soundtrack co-scribe Atticus Ross. Whereas the monsters and ghosts of NIN songs can scream in your face and rip you to bits with their fangs, Welcome Oblivion tracks like techno-folk haunter "Ice Age" and the doom-pop jaunt "How Long?" make uncredited cameo appearances in your nightmares until you go insane and eat your own hands.

» BARRYTHOMPSON84@GMAIL.COM

Topics: CD Reviews , Music, Trent Reznor, review

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ARTICLES BY BARRY THOMPSON

HOW TO DESTROY ANGELS | WELCOME OBLIVION | March 13, 2013
Whereas the monsters and ghosts of NIN songs can scream in your face and rip you to bits with their fangs, Welcome Oblivion tracks like techno-folk haunter "Ice Age" and the doom-pop jaunt "How Long?" make uncredited cameo appearances in your nightmares until you go insane and eat your own hands.

JOHNNY MARR | THE MESSENGER | February 25, 2013
Going solo is rarely a good decision. For every exception to the rule of who flourishes after unburdening themselves of the half-talents that have been holding them back — Justin Timberlake, for one — there are dozens of embarrassing Dee Dee Ramone rap albums that exist because Joey and Johnny Ramone weren't around to kibosh a terrible idea.

WHAT'S F'N NEXT? BUKE AND GASE | January 29, 2013
Almost every person I've told about Buke and Gase assumes that they'll hate this band, which isn't their fault.

BLEEDING RAINBOW | YEAH RIGHT | January 23, 2013
The only defect of the sort-of-but-not-really debut from Bleeding Rainbow (no longer called Reading Rainbow, possibly due to litigious ire festering under LeVar Burton's genial television persona) is that the Philly foursome merely hop off the launching point forged by Sonic Youth, My Bloody Valentine, and a handful of others from the oft-exalted grunge era.

10 THINGS I WISH I KNEW BEFORE I STARTED PLAYING IN BANDS IN BOSTON | January 25, 2013
We hear you just moved to "the Bean", and you're thinking about starting a real life rock-'n-roll band! Here's a bunch of bullshit you should know about.