Customer Reviews: Read 161 more reviews...
  A long string of random music July 5, 2008
I tried "Ghosts I-IV" and found I really couldn't get into it, because for me, one track was identical to every other other track, and every other track was the same as every other other track, and with no titles or lyrics or any sort of distinction beyond "Ghost I" and so on. The songs were, on the whole, completely unremarkable on their own.
I haven't given up on the album but thus far it just seems to be one long, four or five or however many hour, jam session with separations in tracks given sometimes at random. Maybe it works for Jazz and some Rock, but I never liked Jazz, and I have a very hit and miss relationship with many musical genres.
Maybe this was a release to recuperate from giving away the actual album "The Slip" away for free, by recording a random jam session and trying to sell it without any hype so as to surprise fans into buying it without realizing they're not buying an actual album but one big jam session where one track is as discardable as another.
And please, no comments from NIN fans saying I'm not a "real" fan or don't know what I'm talking about or can't appreciate NIN's artistic style. I absolutely loved "The Fragile" and "The Downward Spiral" and thought they were the perfect blend of art and music. But it seems with this album and every other NIN release as of late that ART is starting to become more of a priority than MUSIC, most heavily displayed by Year Zero, where the "art" of electronic noises took the place of music, and the attempt at "art" became a pretentious smug excuse to not bother to play any real instruments for more than a cameo appearance alongside the warped static.
Not NIN enough July 2, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I appreciate what Trent tried to do by avoiding the record labels, but this is lacking. It is essentially a collection of noise and single riffs. Not much in the way of actual songs. Half of the tracks are little more than noise that don't lead anywhere. Might be good for background music. The next album "The Slip" is much better.
 Great if you are a die hard NIN fan June 28, 2008
There are 36 tracks. No lyrics. A handful of the songs are really amazing. The others are slow and methodical but still have the unique trent reznor sound. Definitely worth it if you already like reznor's style. Otherwise, you might be disappointed.
 Just Great! June 27, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
People ripped into 'With Teeth,' and its not half as bad as most of the reviews make it out to be. If it takes 5 years to make anything, take 5 years! Atleast it will be real! Atleast, the emotion sensed from the work will be life-like, whether sad or happy or whatever! This sounds like it was just meshed together for the hell of it. There's pictures of equipment here like "this is it guys, here's where it happens." I really don't know what this was suppose to be (this, or the last 2 'conceptions'). I think 'The Slip' is going to flow in the same direction.
 Not a NIN fan, but love this Instrumental Album June 22, 2008
Without a word on the entire 4-disc album, Ghosts is an excellent instrumental album, ranging in feel from gentle and smooth and hard and grating. Unlike much in the ambient, industrial, instrumental genre, you won't find yourself annoyed by the predictable and repetitive. Rather, the more you listen, the more you will enjoy it. Each piece has a photo as the album art which was the The quality of the music and the recording is superb, best discerned by enclosing yourself in some high-quality headphones. At the price, you will be hard-pressed to find a better musical value.
I would never describe myself as a Nine Inch Nails fan, not in the least, but I have found hours of enjoyment in these cds while reading. I find that my reading retention and length of concentration is increased while listening to instrumental (wordless) music. Apart from classical and a few standout ambient releases (the genre is mostly junk floating in a sea of even more repetitive junk with a few excellent pieces here and there. So this is a very nice, enjoyable, and unexpected find from a guy (Trent Reznor) who I never would have thought to have gone to to help me concentrate while reading the Bible and other books.
For five bucks for almost two hours of music, you'd have a hard time passing this up. Still not sure? You can download the first of 4 cds for free at ghosts.nin.com.
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