comprised of snippets and rough sketches of songs that came about during the year zero recording process, ghosts is another interesting addition to the NIN catalogue. since with teeth, trent reznor has made countless attempts to rethink and shift the way in which his music is marketed, presented and interpreted. ghosts continues that tradition, as the record marks reznor’s first release since his departure from interscope, and is also his first album to be released completely under creative commons licencing, meaning that anyone, anywhere, can do what they wish with the songs and do it legally. on the actual release date, trent personally uploaded the torrent file that many fans would use to download the album for free.
although it represents a “fuck you” to the record industry, the music from ghosts does not really echo the same sentiment. while you might argue that a collection of 36 instrumental songs that each last from 1-2 minutes in length and are simply titled “(track number) ghosts,” defies the conventional understanding of what an album is, the collection is still marketed and sold as an album. it functions, however, more as a source for music that people can draw from freely, not something one would listen to in it’s entirety. listening to ghosts start to finish is a monotonous and boring experience that is occasionally highlighted by some interesting moments (like when trent uses a banjo!), but overall, it is really not much of a departure from other nine inch nails material. in short, i’m torn. yes, it makes a shitty album, and a shitty listening experience, but i’m not sure it is an album or is even meant to be listened to in such a way.
Filed under: Album Review , 2008, creative commons, ghosts i-iv, NIN, nine inch nails, trent reznor
