Nine Inch Nails - Beside You In Time

Nine Inch Nails have never looked or sounded so good. The recording is clean, the performances hot, and there are plenty of cameras to catch all the angles of the action. Reznor’s voice is in great shape, and his focus intense. New members Josh Freese (guitar) and Aaron North (guitar) give the band a clarity that goes beyond the sweaty aggressiveness of past line-ups. To break up the visual scheme, the band performs a few songs behind a scrim, upon which are projected images that are at first docile (fish, birds) and eventually terrifying (missiles and bombs). This sequence ends with a startling effect of Reznor throwing his mike stand at the scrim, where it seems to shatter into the audience. The DVD includes 18 of the 23 songs performed on the 2006 “With Teeth” tour, and ends with a trashing of the instruments that was more impressive live. On the whole, the film captures the performance with an energy equal to the performance itself. DVD extras include songs from the summer amphitheatre tour that are not so great and rehearsal clips that are amazing. [www.nin.com]