Reportedly influenced by the Bomb Squad's spare, hard-hitting production on vintage Public Enemy releases (a point driven home by the stark, stuttering "My Violent Heart"), ZERO also reveals that Reznor picked up a few experimental tricks from tour-mates TV on the Radio, as best exemplified by the guitar squalls of the aforementioned "Survivalism." Less personal and more cinematic than preceding outings, YEAR ZERO is arguably NIN's least-accessible album, and proves that Reznor hasn't abandoned his SPIRAL-era post as a sonic agitator who has infiltrated the mainstream.

Despite its imposing and impossible title, Y34RZ3R0R3MIX3D is actually a highly accessible record. That's meant literally. As an addendum to the Nine Inch Nails remix album on disc one, disc two comes on a DVD/CD ROM that features the multi-track masters of all the original tracks, allowing listeners to revise and remix the tracks themselves. Who would have thought Trent Reznor would release the first industrial-pop "Choose Your Own Adventure"-style album?

That remarkable novelty aside, disc one of Y34RZ3R0R3MIX3D contains some excellent remixes of tracks from 2007's YEAR ZERO. Not only is the material strong (YEAR ZERO was the best NIN effort in years), but the remixes, which include work from Kronos Quartet, Bill Laswell, the Faint, and Olof Dreijer from the Knife, bring a fresh spin to NIN's music by highlighting its dancey and experimental tendencies.