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Year Zero (album)

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Template:Year Zero alternate reality game Year Zero (also known as Halo 24) is the sixth Nine Inch Nails studio album, released on April 16, 2007 in Europe, April 17 in the United States, and April 25, 2007 in Japan.[1][2] Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor produced it in collaboration with engineer Atticus Ross; longtime collaborator Alan Moulder mixed the album (both worked in a similar capacity on NIN's previous major studio album, With Teeth)[3] and Brian Gardner mastered it.[4] In a 2005 interview with Kerrang!, Reznor expressed his intentions to write material for a new release during the With Teeth tour,[5] and it was confirmed that he was working on it by September 2006.[6] Year Zero began its mixing stage in January of 2007,[7][8] and Reznor stated on his blog hosted at the Nine Inch Nails official fan club that the album was finished as of February 5, 2007.[9]

Promotion

Main article: Year Zero (alternate reality game)

On February 12, 2007, fans found that a new Nine Inch Nails tour T-shirt contained highlighted letters that spell out the words "I am trying to believe."[10] It was discovered that iamtryingtobelieve.com was registered as a website, and soon several related websites were found in the IP range, all describing a dystopian vision of the world fifteen years in the future.[11] Many events reported on these websites take place in the year "0000." Digit Online later reported that 42 Entertainment had created these websites to promote Year Zero.[12] Rolling Stone described the fan involvement in this promotion as the "marketing team's dream."[13] Trent Reznor has however stated, "The term 'marketing' sure is a frustrating one for me at the moment. What you are now starting to experience IS 'year zero'. It's not some kind of gimmick to get you to buy a record - it IS the art form... and we're just getting started. Hope you enjoy the ride."[9]

USB drives

On February 12, 2007, a USB drive was found in a bathroom stall during a NIN concert in Lisbon. It contained a high-quality MP3 of the track "My Violent Heart," which quickly circulated throughout the Internet.[14][15] Another USB drive containing the same track was purportedly found in Madrid.

On February 19, another USB drive was found in Barcelona, containing the track "Me, I'm Not" and an MP3 of static.[16]

On February 25, a third USB drive was found in Manchester, containing the track "In This Twilight" and an image of the Hollywood sign apparently demolished.[17]

Concerning the use of USB drives as a form of promotion, Reznor explains:

The USB drive was simply a mechanism of leaking the music and data we wanted out there. The medium of the CD is outdated and irrelevant. It's really painfully obvious what people want — DRM-free music they can do what they want with. If the greedy record industry would embrace that concept I truly think people would pay for music and consume more of it.[18]

Teaser trailer

On February 22, 2007 a teaser trailer was released through the official Year Zero website. It featured a quick glimpse of a blue road sign that said "I AM TRYING TO BELIEVE", as well as a distorted glimpse of "The Presence".[19] Unknown at the time was that the music of the trailer was a low-pitch mix of "Another Version of the Truth", the fourteenth track of Year Zero.

Radio

The song "The Beginning of the End" was played on KROQ between 1 and 2 A.M. on March 3, 2007. Although the song was not officially "leaked", a radio recording began circulating on the Internet soon after.

On April 4, 2007, KROQ premiered "Capital G".

Streaming

On April 4, 2007, the entire album was made available for streaming on the album's official website. The album also became available for streaming on Nine Inch Nails' MySpace page on April 10, 2007. [20]

Multitracks

In March 2007, the multitrack audio files of the first single, "Survivalism," were released in Garageband format on the official Year Zero website for fan remixing. The multitrack files for "Capital G," "My Violent Heart" and "Me, I'm Not" were released on April 26;[21] those for "The Beginning of the End," "Vessel" and "God Given" were released on June 12.[22] The formats were for Garageband and Logic Pro, and there were also WAV files for other applications, with the latter distributed through BitTorrent.[23]

Themes

Reznor said that Year Zero is a concept album,[24] "could be about the end of the world," and marked a "shift in direction" in that it "doesn't sound like With Teeth."[9] The 2006 tour merchandise designs featured overt references to the United States military, which "reflects future directions."[9]

Fifteen original tracks were considered for inclusion on the album, which Reznor described as "Highly conceptual. Quite noisy. Fucking cool."[7] He further wrote that when he finishes a new album, he has to "go into battle with the people whose job it is to figure out how to sell the record. The only time that didn't happen was [for] With Teeth. This time, however, [he was] expecting an epic struggle. [Year Zero] is not a particularly friendly record and it certainly doesn't sound like anything else out there right now."[25][26] Reznor has expressed his dissatisfaction with current trends in rock music, especially emo music.[27][28]

Thermo-chrome disc

The two states of Nine Inch Nails' Year Zero disc — black (brown is also available) when cooled, white when heated to apparently parallel the concept and/or content of Year Zero.

Year Zero features a thermo-chrome heat-sensitive CD face. Appearing mostly black except for the title, when heated the disc turns mostly white, hiding the title and revealing lines, blocks, the copyright notice and a series of zeros and ones. The binary sequence translates into "exterminal.net," leading to a website sharing the same URL.

There are also rumors of faulty copies of Year Zero in circulation without the apparent thermo-chrome face. These discs, upon the removal of the packaging appear to reveal the white face without any heating. Inquiries have been put forth to determine whether or not this is a factory defect, although the discs still play as normal.

Also in some Year Zero CD cases the thermo-chrome disc had been packaged twice, another possible factory mistake.[citation needed]

The Thermo-Chrome effect can be seen here on this YouTube video.

Reznor has recently displayed displeasure at the extra $10 tacked on the price in Australia for the thermo-coating which he states only costs an extra 83¢ per CD.[29]

United States Bureau of Morality

Included with the album is a small insert which includes, among copyright information and piracy warnings, a warning from the fictional United States Bureau of Morality (USBM). The warning reads:

USBM WARNING:
Consuming or spreading this material may be deemed subversive by the United States Bureau Of Morality. If you or someone you know has engaged in subversive acts or thoughts, call:
1-866-445-6580
BE A PATRIOT - BE AN INFORMER!

When the number is called, a recording of a woman from the USBM warns the callers that they are "implicitly pleading guilty to the consumption of anti-American media and have been flagged as potential militants."

In the album liner, if one looks closely at the title "Another Version of the Truth" just to the left a much fainter "http://" can be seen. Inputing this as well as ".com" at the end leads to this faux USBM site. When the mouse is clicked and dragged across the image, a new image appears behind the first. If one clicks on "Another Version of the Truth" in the revealed image, it takes one to a faux message board with apocalyptic subjects and mentions of "The Presence." By clicking on the word resistance on the "Acts of Resistance" message board one is linked to another fake website called bethehammer.net.

Leak

On April 1, 2007 a bootleg recording of the Chicago, Illinois listening party of March 18, 2007 surfaced on several peer-to-peer networks. The quality of the recording is very low and it is apparent that whoever made the recording did not have very good sound capturing equipment, presumably a cellphone.

On April 4, 2007 a high-quality leak of the promotional disc supplied to listening parties was also leaked onto peer-to-peer networks.[30] The entire album was made available for free streaming on the album's official website later that afternoon.

Film project

Kerrang! Radio reported that "Reznor admitted he's already in talks about a movie version of his upcoming album a concept piece, with part two scheduled for next year."[31] He had earlier noted Year Zero as "part of a bigger picture of a number of things I'm working on. Essentially, I wrote the soundtrack to a movie that doesn't exist."[24]

Track listing

The Year Zero mini-site originally contained only boxes that corresponded to letters in actual song titles. Almost daily, the image on the site was updated to "fill in the blanks", revealing the titles one by one. This occurred until February 12, 2007, after the tracklisting was leaked over the internet, when a complete list appeared.

Lyrics by Trent Reznor

  1. "HYPERPOWER!" – 1:42
  2. "The Beginning of the End" – 2:47
  3. "Survivalism" – 4:23
  4. "The Good Soldier" – 3:23
  5. "Vessel" – 4:52
  6. "Me, I'm Not" – 4:51
  7. "Capital G" – 3:50
  8. "My Violent Heart" – 4:13
  9. "The Warning" – 3:38
  10. "God Given" – 3:50
  11. "Meet Your Master" – 4:08
  12. "The Greater Good" – 4:52
  13. "The Great Destroyer" – 3:17
  14. "Another Version of the Truth" – 4:09
  15. "In This Twilight" – 3:33
  16. "Zero-Sum" – 6:14

Album personnel

File:1 26 07.jpg
Promotional photo of Darren Kroupa, Trent Reznor, Atticus Ross, and Alan Moulder mixing Year Zero. From the official Nine Inch Nails website.
  • William Artope – trumpet on "Capital G"
  • Matt Demeritt – tenor sax on "Capital G"
  • Josh Freese – drums on "Hyperpower!" and "Capital G"
  • Geoff Gallegos – brass / winds musical arrangement on "Capital G"
  • Brian Gardner – mastering
  • Elizabeth Lea – trombone on "Capital G"
  • Alan Moulder – mix engineering
  • Trent Reznor – production, performance
  • Atticus Ross – production, sound design
  • Saul Williams – backing vocals on "Survivalism" and "Me, I'm Not"

Chart positions

As of July 11, 2007, the album has sold 401,675 copies in the US.[32]

Album

Year Chart Peak
position
2007 Billboard 200[33] 2
2007 Billboard Top Internet Albums 1
2007 Billboard Top Rock Albums 1
2007 United World Chart[34] 2
2007 Australian Albums Chart 5
2007 Austrian Albums Chart 4
2007 Belgian Albums Chart 17
2007 Canadian Albums Chart[33] 3
2007 Czech Republic Albums Chart 40
2007 Croatian Albums Chart 15
2007 Danish Albums Chart 24
2007 Dutch Albums Chart 25
2007 Finnish Albums Chart 5
2007 French Albums Chart[35] 17
2007 German Albums Chart 6
2007 Greek Albums Chart 12
2007 Hungarian Albums Chart 37
2007 Icelandic Albums Chart 10
2007 Irish Albums Chart 13
2007 Italian Albums Chart 18
2007 New Zealand RIANZ Charts 20
2007 Norwegian Albums Chart 8
2007 Oricon International Album Chart (Japan) 7
2007 Spanish Albums Chart 32
2007 Swedish Albums Chart 7
2007 Swiss Albums Chart 13
2007 UK Albums Chart 6
2007 UK Rock Albums Chart 1

Singles

Year Single Chart Peak
position[36][37]
2007 "Survivalism" Canadian Singles Chart 1
2007 "Survivalism" Eurochart Hot 100 Singles 36
2007 "Survivalism" U.S. Billboard Hot 100[38] 68
2007 "Survivalism" U.S. Modern Rock Tracks[38] 1
2007 "Survivalism" U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks[38] 14
2007 "Survivalism" U.S. Hot Digital Songs[38] 66
2007 "Survivalism" U.S. Pop 100[38] 66
2007 "Survivalism" UK Singles Chart 29
2007 "Survivalism" UK Rock Singles Chart 2
2007 "Survivalism" Scottish Singles Chart 7
2007 "Capital G" U.S. Mainstream Rock Tracks 25
2007 "Capital G" U.S. Modern Rock Tracks 6

References

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Japan was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "nine inch nails: current". NIN.com. 2007-02-05. Retrieved 2007-02-13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ "Nine Inch Nails - With_Teeth". discogs.com. Retrieved 2007-02-16.
  4. ^ "Features: Nine Inch Nails". xtaster.co.uk. Retrieved 2007-02-25.
  5. ^ "New NIN Album Next Year?". Kerrang!. 2005-07-06. Retrieved 2006-10-22. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  6. ^ "New NINE INCH NAILS In The Works?". Blabbermouth. 2006-09-06. Retrieved 2007-02-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  7. ^ a b Reznor, Trent (2006-12-13). "Updates from Trent". NIN.com. Retrieved 2007-01-04.
  8. ^ Colothan, Scott (2006-12-19). "Nine Inch Nails Finish New Album". Gigwise.com. Retrieved 2007-02-07.
  9. ^ a b c d "The Spiral (registration required)". Retrieved 2006-02-05.
  10. ^ Meathead (2007-02-12). "New tour t-shirts". The NIN Hotline. Retrieved 2007-02-13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  11. ^ James Montgomery (2007-02-15). "Weird Web Trail: Conspiracy Theory — Or Marketing For Nine Inch Nails LP?". MTV News. Retrieved 2007-03-11. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  12. ^ "42 creates viral campaign for Nine Inch Nails". digitmag.co.uk. 2007-02-14. Retrieved 2007-02-16.
  13. ^ Goodman, Elizabeth (2007-02-15). "Coachella Stops Sprawl, NIN Fans = Marketing Team's Dream, Aerosmith Pressed for Time". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2007-02-15. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  14. ^ "New Nine Inch Nails song found on a USB drive in a bathroom in Portugal". Digg.com. Retrieved 2007-02-16.
  15. ^ "My Violent Heart leaks, Year Zero discussion forum". The NIN Hotline. 2007-02-14. Retrieved 2007-02-14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  16. ^ "Me, I'm Not found on flash drive in Barcelona". theninhotline.net. 2007-02-19. Retrieved 2007-02-19.
  17. ^ "The contents of tonight's USB key…". theninhotline.net. 2007-02-25. Retrieved 2007-02-25. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. ^ Mackintosh, Hamish (2007-03-29). "Stars compose new ways to use music". The Guardian. Retrieved 2007-04-06.
  19. ^ "Year Zero preview and possible album cover". theninhotline.net. 2007-02-22. Retrieved 2007-02-22.
  20. ^ "NIN Myspace Now Features 'Year Zero'". theninhotline.net. 2007-04-10. Retrieved 2007-04-10.
  21. ^ "Multitracks for 3 YZ songs posted on nin.com". The NIN Hotline. 2007-04-26. Retrieved 2007-04-27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  22. ^ "Hot Multitrack Action". The NIN Hotline. 2007-06-12. Retrieved 2007-06-12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  23. ^ "Year Zero". Nine Inch Nails. 2007-04-26. Retrieved 2007-04-27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  24. ^ a b "NINE INCH NAILS Mainman On New CD: 'I Wrote The Soundtrack To A Movie That Doesn't Exist'". Blabbermouth. 2007-01-03. Retrieved 2007-02-09. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  25. ^ Reznor, Trent (2006-12-28). "Nine Inch Nails Mainman On New CD: 'This Is Not A Particularly Friendly Record'". Blabbermouth. Retrieved 2006-12-28. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  26. ^ Zahlaway, Jon (2007-01-01). "New NIN album recorded, live DVD due". liveDaily.com. Retrieved 2007-02-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  27. ^ Goodman, Elizabeth (2007-01-11). "Trent Reznor Announces His Best Is Ahead…Oh, and Emo Sucks!". RollingStone.com. Retrieved 2007-02-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  28. ^ "Nine Inch Nails frontman speaks out on new sound forthcoming album". Side-line. 2007-01-23. Retrieved 2007-02-07. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  29. ^ "Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails". Herald Sun Sunday. 2007-05-17. Retrieved 2007-05-19.
  30. ^ "Year Zero". Nine Inch Nails. 2007-04-03. Retrieved 2007-04-05.
  31. ^ "Kerrang discusses movie possibility with Trent Reznor". Kerrang!. 2007-03-06. Retrieved 2007-03-13. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  32. ^ Billboard Top 200
  33. ^ a b "Year Zero > Charts & Awards > Billboard Albums". All Music Guide. 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-01.
  34. ^ "United World Chart". Mediatraffic.de. 2007-04-27. Retrieved 2007-04-27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  35. ^ "France : Classement des ventes d'albums". ifop.com. Retrieved 2007-04-27.
  36. ^ "Nine Inch Nails Survivalism". Top40-Charts.com. 2007-04-22. Retrieved 2007-06-01. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  37. ^ "Nine Inch Nails - Survivalism: Charts". Music Square. 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-01.
  38. ^ a b c d e "Year Zero > Charts & Awards > Billboard Singles". All Music Guide. 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-01.


External links


Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Year_Zero_(album)&oldid=145348908"