Hesitation Marks - Nine Inch Nails
Hesitation Marks Image
Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 36 Critics What's this?

User Score
8.3

Universal acclaim- based on 83 Ratings

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  • Summary: The eighth full-length release for the Trent Reznor-led band is its first in five years was produced with Atticus Ross and Alan Moulder.

Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 29 out of 36
  2. Mixed: 7 out of 36
  3. Negative: 0 out of 36
  1. Drowned In Sound
    Sep 11, 2013
    90
    There’s a master at work, no doubt about it, but he’s already living in the future writing complex symphonies, letting the rest of us know that everything’s going to be ok.
  2. The A.V. Club
    Sep 3, 2013
    83
    It’s obvious on the rest of the album that the fear of living isn’t holding Reznor back anymore. This outlook has given a huge boost to NIN’s creativity, and helped the group re-emerge as a relevant, vital, and still weird band.
  3. The Line of Best Fit
    Aug 29, 2013
    80
    Sure, it’s chorus-driven and a touch too slick, lacking the density and the ambition and the sheer bloody nihilism of NIN’s 90’s heyday, but Reznor’s not that guy anymore--that guy died with the heroin overdose. But there are more than enough moments here to suggest a maker not--whatever the protestations of one of its tracks--yet at peace.
  4. Clash Music
    Sep 6, 2013
    80
    Family life and a well-earned break have given this one-time Gothfather new tricks that pure despair could never provide.
  5. Sputnikmusic
    Sep 9, 2013
    72
    The record lacks the depth found in Nine Inch Nail’s previous records and the engrossing brilliance of their more experimental leanings. All that aside, Hesitation Marks stands as incredibly solid, perhaps more so than any record put out by the band in over a decade.
  6. Slant Magazine
    Sep 3, 2013
    70
    In almost every way, this is the least outré effort NIN has proffered since Pretty Hate Machine. It's focused but inquisitive, as opposed to declarative.
  7. Uncut
    Aug 28, 2013
    50
    Black gothic grandeur, but with a beige, biscuit-coloured centre. [Oct 2013, p.72]
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See all 36 Critic Reviews

User Reviews

Write a Review
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 20
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 20
  3. Negative: 1 out of 20
  1. Turtleyturtle
    Sep 3, 2013
    10
    Given the singles that had come I made sure to steer clear of any other leaks to keep the album a surprise. Boy was it a pleasant surprise! so many soundscapes and so many different moods and atmospheres captured in different and exciting ways. with that signature Trent Reznor sound to the music. I was so thoroughly impressed, I love this album even after my third listen beginning to end. Trent still has it's bite and this album stands tall in the Nine Inch Nails catalog.… Expand
  2. dpeters911
    Sep 3, 2013
    10
    Trent Reznor hasn't so openly embraced pop melodies and dance-able structures like this since 1989's Pretty Hate Machine. Hot off the heels of an Academy Award win and other score nominations, this is a record fusing dance, restrained yet sweeping vocals, and fine musicianship of Lindsay Buckingham (Fleetwood Mac), Alessandro Cortini (modwheelmood), Peter Paladins, and Adrian Belew (King Crimson).

    It's every genre but never quite any one genre per song.    … Expand
  3. simonn
    Sep 27, 2013
    9
    Having listened to this album pretty much non stop from release date, I'm still not tired of it. This is Reznor's best album since 1999's The Fragile. Boasting a more electronic sound than his last few albums, at times almost danceable, with undeniable nods to Prince at times, but still with great dark undertones. Highlights include In Two, All Time Low and Find My Way. Best album released in a year of great albums.… Expand
  4. SamuIndie
    Oct 16, 2013
    8
    Very good album, not Nine Inch Nails best album, but is very nice. The Eater of Dreams is a perfect intro. Copy of A and Came Back Haunted are sublime.… Expand
  5. Slowave
    Sep 3, 2013
    7
    "Sonic train wreck" is how I like to describe The Downward Spiral. And while Hesitation Marks is definitely "sonic," I felt I was often waiting in vain for the trademark "wall of sound" to hit my headphones like it often felt it should... and they simply do not come. Most songs pretty much stay "safe" from beginning to end, and there are none of those blissfully angst ridden sucker punches that blew your mind as a college freshman. I'm okay with a happier, fitter, more productive Trent Rezner. But I'm also wishing this album could get just a bit dirtier once in a while. All in all, it's a return to form and offers the intricate sonic layering you come to expect on the best of NIN. Good album. But still.... too safe.… Expand
  6. visor97
    Sep 11, 2013
    7
    I feel like I really like a little under 3/4 of the songs on this album a lot. A lot of the songs I don't like as much are on the second half, and the reason why I don't like them is because they contain elements that I find repetitive. Overall I do very much enjoy the album, and I think Nine Inch Nails fans should buy it. I'm still digging into it, so maybe my opinion of those songs will change. Anyway, the first half in itself up until the song, Everything, makes this worth a purchase.… Expand
  7. CFM
    Oct 15, 2013
    3
    Hesitation Marks, is as boring as hell It's no Pretty Hate Machine and has certainly gone downward Spiral. Song structures as basic, glitch drums, bit of singing, bit of synth noise, bit more singing, the end! What makes it worse some of the vocal lines boarder on the cringed worthy. You have to wait to near the end of the album to get anything like a decent NIN song but by that time all interest has vanished into a haze of nothingness. NIN fans will not like this review, as Trent is untouchable but NIN has no relevance today. Trent give up NIN and make film music.… Expand

See all 20 User Reviews

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