KEY POINTS:
Herald rating: * * * *
Label: Shock
Verdict: The ghost of Trent Reznor is alive and well, writing inspired instrumental music
At 36 tracks, in four parts, across two discs, and all instrumentals, you have to ask whether this is self-indulgent twaddle or ambitious genius.
The answer depends on whether you're a Nine Inch Nails fan or not. For non-believers Ghosts will be maudlin, verging on sulky and a track like Ghost XXIII will sound like nothing but a random insert of warped industrial noise.
But really, after years of stagnation, Ghosts marks Trent Reznor's latest outpouring of creativity which started happening hesitantly on 2005's With Teeth and then returned fully for last year's Year Zero. Ghosts, however, is not your typical NIN's album. It is an ambient industrial keyboard concerto in 36 movements and is gloomy, graceful, arduous and pummelling.
The first track, Ghosts I, starts with a tender piano and an unnerving whirr which later descends into tribal beats and staccato plucks. On the second disc the industrial dance of Ghost XXIV is like something Reznor conjured up on 1989's Pretty Hate Machine.
Ghosts has moments of brilliance and if you can stick it out, this unique concept makes for intriguing and rewarding listening.
