Marilyn Manson's label boss finally gets around to his own album.
By John Aizlewood for Q Magazine on December 1, 1999
Although he'll never quite dispel the suspicion of charlatan and Emperor's New Clothes that surround him, Trent Reznor deserves at least some of the attention he so craves. Thus, five years after The Downward Spiral, he returns with a sprawling 23-track, 2CD epic. It's let down by Reznor's refusal to trouble himself with melody and by some embarrassing lyrics, either desperate to shock ("When I suck you off, not a drop will go to waste", which is reassuring, if nothing else) or sub-student-common-room ("Smash it apart just for the fuck of it"). Literacy aside, Reznor expertly sculpts his sounds like an electro-grunge Henry Moore and he's used former Pop Will Eat Itself leader Clint Mansel on Starfuckers Inc. He doesn't mention Courtney Love directly, although she might be advised to take a keen
interest in the aforementioned Starfuckers Inc.
Transcribed by Keith Duemling