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CD Reviews:
Nine Inch Nails:
And All That Could Have Been (Live)
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I am not a big fan of live concert albums. That having been said,
And All That Could Have Been is a solid, rocking album. Better played loud, Trent Reznor's take on the concert motif reads like a greatest collection of his dark, angry industrial vision. He is nearly as good live as in studio, which should put to rest all of his critics who say he relies too much on electronic synth/industrial production gadgetry, but this observation is double-edged. Since the live sounds as good as the studio, what does the album really add to your collection? In fact, this live version is very rarely different from the studio version. Sure you can hear the crowd's roar at various times, which can add to the overall energy; however, he does nothing here that will make this album stand out as a truly great live performance, ala Led Zeppelin with
The Song Remains the Same, or Iggy Pop live at Boston's The Channel.
If you don't have many of the albums in the NIN canon, this will serve nicely as a greatest hits collection. "The Great Below," "Suck" and "Hurt" stand out as particularly strong and haunting. I went to this show in May of 2000, and Rolling Stone Magazine picked it as the best tour of the year. The album is a great reminder of that show for me, but does nothing to really enhance the memory.
~Matt Saha
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