As the architect of cold war deterrence, Hudson Institute founder Herman Kahn inaugurated the nuclear era. Kahn's bestselling books On Thermonuclear War (Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press: 1960) and Thinking About the Unthinkable (London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1962) glorified the grim specter of nuclear holocaust and technocratic planning. Stanley Kubrick satirized Kahn's vision in his film Dr. Strangelove (1964). Mutually Assured Destruction never came to pass, but its dystopian vision has infiltrated popular culture.

As a technocratic planner, Kahn was also fascinated by the future, as evidenced by essays like "Choosing a Perspective on the Future." Yet the cataclysmic music that crystalized in the wake of Kahn's vision, goth-industrial bands like Nine Inch Nails, have been defined by a cathartic prescience of the future. Trent Reznor's music has evoked themes of existentialist betrayal, personal loss and unrequited love: a manifestation of Kahn's long-term impact, transmuted through cyberpunk imagery, degenerate art and S&M fetish-motifs for a prime-time audience. If evolution has become fixed, Reznor contended, and there's no hope of resacralizing transcendence, then our only option may be escape through madness.

When the Only Winning Option Is to Survive

Reznor's debut album Pretty Hate Machine (1989) fused late 1980s synth rock with industrial overtones and was hailed as a commercial breakthrough. The Broken EP (1992) featured Aghori and S&M imagery, experimentation with computer manipulated instruments, and a "fuck you" reply by Reznor to his original label TVT Records. These themes coalesced into The Downward Spiral (1994), an overpowering aural depiction of pre-millennial tension. This was Nine Inch Nails' commercial highpoint, as the follow-up album The Fragile (1999) proved too complex and lengthy for an MTV audience that was conditioned to nanosecond surges.

While their label executives complained of (comparatively) poor album sales, Nine Inch Nails thrived on the tour circuit. The Fragility v2.0 concerts were voted "Best Tour 2000" by Rolling Stone Magazine. The release of the live album and DVD And All That Could Have Been (2002) has been portrayed unkindly by some industry analysts as Reznor's career survival move. Rather, it's a snapshot of a phase in Nine Inch Nails' continued evolution. A deluxe version of And All That Could Have Been features Still, a second CD of four acoustic deconstructions, four extra live tracks, and several new tracks. The DVD version, shot by Reznor and crew, synthesizes five concerts in Northern California into one show. Reznor edited the footage and the DTS soundtrack using Apple computers and software. "Small mobile intelligent unit" circa 2001.

Mutation Through Touring

Reznor commented in an interview that he experienced psychological mutations during live tours. The Fragility v2.0 concerts showcased the most recent live incarnation of Nine Inch Nails: Reznor (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Danny Lohner (bass, guitar, keyboards, vocals), Robin Finck (vocals, guitar, keyboards), Charlie Clouser (keyboards, theremin, vocals) and new addition Jerome Dillon (drums).

Most live albums, Frank Zappa once observed, try to recreate the studio version of songs. Zappa foresaw that effects racks and synthesizers would increasingly eclipse the musicians. Reznor opts for translating his studio overdubs into energetic and intense live versions. On-stage banter is kept to a minimum and extended prog-rock solos are avoided. What And All That Could Have Been reveals, after numerous listenings, is how Reznor, like Zappa and Roger Waters before him, obsessively crafts and hones the band's performance.

The album ditches tour opener "Pinion" for the confronting "Terrible Lie" and closes with the mournful "Hurt." Thematically, Reznor's set-list juxtaposes tracks from each studio album: the evocative "The Great Below" segues into the claustrophobic "The Mark Has Been Made" and "March Of The Pigs" becomes a medley with "Piggy." The selection 'paces and leads' the audience through forceful peaks and mesmerizing valleys, with enough nods to their greatest hits and back catalogue. The final quarter of the show is essentially a collation of their memorable singles, including rousing versions of "Head Like A Hole" (with a nod to world music samples) and "Closer" (which receives ecstatic applause from the audience). By fractalizing the concert's set-list into stable discontinuities, Reznor extends the longevity of his command to listen.

Tracks from Pretty Hate Machine (1989) and the Broken EP (1992) are reinvigorated with the addition of live drums (especially on the rarely-performed "Gave Up" and the bitter "Wish"). Material from The Fragile (1999) is slightly tweaked with: "The Frail" features a lengthier piano segue, while extended versions of the bombastic "The Day The World Went Away" and the triumphant "Starfuckers, Inc." up the ante with passionate energy. The 16-track selection has been carefully mixed so that the band's sonic palette is evident without compromising its essential dynamism. Reznor's skill as an arranger and classical music background, frequently overlooked by his critics, is brought to the fore.

Balance of Power