MIDVALE, UT — The newest collaboration between Nine Inch Nails and Boys Noize — called “Nine Inch Noize” — released their debut album last week. The album, which contains the remixes of popular Nine Inch Nails songs that were played both for the Peel It Back tour and the Coachella performances, features Boys Noize heavily influencing the sound of previous songs, making them both more energetic and danceable. Released to streaming services, the album contains 11 remixes of previous songs, spanning nearly their entire discography from 1994’s “The Downward Spiral” to the soundtrack to Tron: Ares.
The first thing one may notice about the tracklist is that there are a few notable omissions. Specifically, at least 5 songs from the Peel It Back tour (none of which were played at the Coachella performance) are included, which does unfortunately mean that the incredible remixes of “Sin,” “Branches/Bones,” and “Only” are not included. Despite this, the album does still have an interesting combination of famous tracks, with both popular songs like “Closer” and hidden gems such as “Vessel” or “She’s Gone Away” included, meaning that the album still feels “complete.”
These remixes, however, are not your typical fare for a remix album. Rather, they appear to be combinations of both live and studio recordings. This may be offputting to some— for instance, many tracks begin with a crowd cheering— but it works well in the album itself, helping it retain the energy of the live performance. Furthermore, the tracks often deviate wildly from the source material, especially in songs such as “She’s Gone Away” and “Heresy.” What before were slower, more guitar heavy tracks, become energetic, synth-heavy songs in this album. While the results of this can be varied (the remix of “She’s Gone Away” specifically may be offputting to those who are familiar with the original) overall it makes for an engaging listening experience, even for long-time fans.
At the same time, however, it can sometimes feel as though tracks weren’t remixed enough. This applies to the tracks that were already more danceable for the most part— “Vessel” and “As Alive As You Need Me to Be” being examples— but it can still be offputting when you go from a more “normal” track such as Vessel to “She’s Gone Away” which is vastly different from the original song. Overall though, the tone remains consistent— the entire album feels cohesive, despite none of the tracks being written for it.
One track in particular— “Memorabillia” — stands out for being far more obscure than the other tracks on the album. It is not only the only cover song on the album, but it was originally a b-side for the song “Closer” 30 years ago. Perhaps the most interesting part of the song, however, is how the lyrics were changed from the original release by Soft Cell. Despite being a cover, Nine Inch Nails truly made it their own song on this album, which makes its surprising inclusion feel integral to the track listing of the album.
The biggest detractor from the album, ultimately, is that the tracklist does not deviate at all from the setlist at Coachella. Given that it is to some extent something of a companion piece to the live show it makes sense, but that does not mean that it might be somewhat disappointing for those who already watched the show online. Furthermore, this means that some albums have more representation than others— Year Zero, for instance, has three songs, while The Downward Spiral only got two (not counting the aforementioned b-side.) This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean that fans of albums such as “Bad Witch” might be miffed that it did not get any representation.
Overall, Nine Inch Noize is an interesting addition to the discographies of both components of the supergroup. Seamlessly combining elements of both Nine Inch Nails and Boys Noize, it provides a brilliant snapshot of the Peel It Back tour and the Coachella performances that ensued. While different from other Nine Inch Nails albums, it is undoubtedly worth listening to— even though one may want to hear the original songs first in order to get the most out of it.
