Year Zero
by Nine Inch Nails
  • Record Label: Nothing
  • Release Date: Apr 17, 2007
Metascore
76

Generally favorable reviews - based on 28 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 18 out of 28
  2. Mixed: 10 out of 28
  3. Negative: 0 out of 28
  1. The Guardian
    60
    Its nihilism can grate, but it makes an impression.
  2. Slant Magazine
    60
    Reznor seems to eschew depth for surface explosions and instant gratification, and the result is a finished product that, while decent on an individual track, doesn't hold up as Year Zero progresses.
  3. PopMatters
    60
    Hearing new material from this old warhorse at a time when it’s most needed is damn reassuring; however, it cannot be said, in all honesty, that the music on Year Zero is good.
  5. NOW Magazine
    60
    Thematically it's overboard and at 16 tracks over 60 minutes repetitious and ham-fisted. But musically, Year Zero offers moments of industrial brilliance.
  6. Dot Music
    60
    Everything here sounds familiar.
  7. Uncut
    60
    Nothing sounds more dated than an ageing futurist, and it's only when Trent cuts loose... that we get a glimpse of the world-beater we know he can be. [May 2007, p.103]
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  8. cokemachineglow
    56
    Year Zero massively benefits from lowered expectations. Reznor channels his anger, focuses it and takes a much-needed breather from his tried-and-true formula of nihilism and the question of self-destruction, but at its core the album has very little to teach us or anything original to say.
  9. New Musical Express (NME)
    50
    This is just one long squelchy fart of a soundscape that Reznor himself admits is probably too long. It's certainly too unremitting.
  10. Hot Press
    60
    A number of tracks here follow a similar, frustrating formula. For three minutes they showcase Reznor’s worst tendencies; the boorish plod of the choruses, the hoarse moan of the vocals. On the remainder of each of these songs Reznor does what he’s good at – i.e. creating delicious layers of chaotic industrial noise.
  11. Spin
    50
    The songs drag in the middle, choruses become interchangeable, and too many tracks end with the same electronic stuttering. [May 2007, p.84]
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Awards & Rankings

24
#24 Most Discussed Album of 2007
32
#32 Most Shared Album of 2007

User Reviews

All reviews »
User Score
8.7

Universal acclaim- based on 256 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 235 out of 256
  2. Mixed: 9 out of 256
  3. Negative: 12 out of 256
  1. CraigC.
    May 29, 2008
    10
    THE best NIN album thus far!
  2. RingoDingo
    Sep 6, 2007
    0
    Terrible. I guess I bought the non-concept version because mine sucks. No immagery, no hooks, very forgetable. I listed to it twice, tried to Terrible. I guess I bought the non-concept version because mine sucks. No immagery, no hooks, very forgetable. I listed to it twice, tried to make it a third time through but got bored. I then popped in 90's NIN, cried a little, because like Nirvana that music will not be created anymore. Trent isnt dead, just his ideas. You can post masterpiece on a canvas smeared with fecal matter and people will buy it. I guess Trent smeared fecal matter on a mixing console and you all bought it.… Full Review »
  3. JK.
    Aug 8, 2007
    10
    Fantastic album.
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