Customer Reviews: Read 162 more reviews...
 Amazon forgot to include the 40 page PDF booklet March 3, 2008
Matthew Dunphy (Harrisburg, PA)
83 out of 98 found this review helpful
What a diverse album! Amazon didn't include the PDF with the download, but you can get it directly from nin.com -- http://ghosts.nin.com/main/pdf
 Good stuff. Thanks Trent! March 5, 2008
Paul Fischer (NE)
62 out of 71 found this review helpful
Some reviewers have complained that Ghosts i-iv meanders on and on with brooding instrumentals, it gets old, etc. I would disagree. First of all, you have to realize that this is not one mega-album to digest in one sitting--it's best to listen to each "ghost" separately as a 30-minute body of work. Quite frankly, I never thought Reznor excelled in the lyrics department, ("I'm the one without a soul/I'm the one in this big f--king hole!") so this comes as a refreshing two-hour opus sans all the verbal angst he trademarked in the 90s.
For five dollars, I'd encourage the skeptical to give it a try. This is great music for a rainy day, or for working on homework (I'm in college). After several spins, there's nothing here that strikes me as never-play-again awful, and a majority of it is quite memorable (especially #28). Ghosts i-iv sounds like the musical cousin to The Fragile instrumentals or the Still disc from 2001. So if you dug that stuff, go ahead and dive into this. And in any case, by downloading this album, you're taking part in a revolutionary concept in music marketing that you can tell your kids about decades from now (if that really matters to you!)
A soundtrack for daydreams March 15, 2008
Daniel Maltzman (Arlington, MA, USA)
25 out of 27 found this review helpful
Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor, infamous for long delays between albums, sure has been productive lately. 2007 saw Reznor release the critically acclaimed "Year Zero" and its' follow-up "Year Zero Remixed." In addition, last year Reznor produced Saul Williams' "The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust." Now, out of nowhere, with no advance notice, Reznor is back with NIN's sixth album, the instrumental "Ghosts I-IV."
"A soundtrack for daydreams," is how Reznor sums up the new album...and that, I feel, is the best way to appreciate the new NIN. Rather than listening to this album as background music while driving or doing housework, "Ghosts I-IV" is best appreciated with relaxed, yet concentrated listening. Lie in bed or on the sofa, relaxed, and immerse yourself with this CD. Just sort of daydream--meditate, think about whatever...and let "Ghosts I-IV" be the soundtrack...
And as the mood of the album changes, allow your mood to flow with the album...try to get lost in the music.
Some have commented that "Ghosts I-IV" sounds similar in style to the instrumental music from "The Fragile," (1999) but I don't know if it's all that accurate to say that. While the instrumental music from "the Fragile" sort of held the vocal compositions from that CD together like glue, "Ghosts I-IV" is a little more "out there." It can, therefore, be seen as a mosaic--of several different styles--piano compositions, industrial beats, the avant-garde--all mixed together, with no real dominant flavor overpowering the rest. And while the album is all-over-the-place, treading many territories, everything works; "Ghosts I-IV" takes so many twists-and-turns-its always interesting. At the same time, with almost two hours of music to absorb, "Ghosts I-IV" is best appreciated with repeated listens--to fully appreciate all its' rich textures and intricacy.
A soundtrack for daydreams April 8, 2008
Daniel Maltzman (Arlington, MA, USA)
18 out of 20 found this review helpful
Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor, infamous for long delays between albums, sure has been productive lately. 2007 saw Reznor release the critically acclaimed "Year Zero" and its' follow-up "Year Zero Remixed." In addition, last year Reznor produced Saul Williams' "The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust." Now, out of nowhere, with no advance notice, Reznor is back with NIN's sixth album, the instrumental "Ghosts I-IV."
"A soundtrack for daydreams," is how Reznor sums up the new album...and that, I feel, is the best way to appreciate the new NIN. Rather than listening to this album as background music while driving or doing housework, "Ghosts I-IV" is best appreciated with relaxed, yet concentrated listening. Lie in bed or on the sofa, relaxed, and immerse yourself with this CD. Just sort of daydream--meditate, think about whatever...and let "Ghosts I-IV" be the soundtrack...
And as the mood of the album changes, allow your mood to flow with the album...try to get lost in the music.
Some have commented that "Ghosts I-IV" sounds similar in style to the instrumental music from "The Fragile," (1999) but I don't know if it's all that accurate to say that. While the instrumental music from "the Fragile" sort of held the vocal compositions from that CD together like glue, "Ghosts I-IV" is a little more "out there." It can, therefore, be seen as a mosaic--of several different styles--piano compositions, industrial beats, the avant-garde--all mixed together, with no real dominant flavor overpowering the rest. And while the album is all-over-the-place, treading many territories, everything works; "Ghosts I-IV" takes so many twists-and-turns-its always interesting. At the same time, with almost two hours of music to absorb, "Ghosts I-IV" is best appreciated with repeated listens--to fully appreciate all its' rich textures and intricacy.
 And on the seventh day, He rested. March 12, 2008
psychomuse
17 out of 18 found this review helpful
The downward spiral away from music with any semblance of song structure continues. The God of Anger Pop, who once created the singularly perfect musical moment that was Pretty Hate Machine, must have reached his seventh day of creation: for he is clearly resting on Ghosts. This is Reznor on a lazy day, bored with nothing better to do.
Ghosts I-IV is an organized chaos of happy (and angry and sad) accidents. I imagine a herd (or pod?) of Macs and samplers, pots and pans; left to their own devices, could produce something akin to Ghosts if they tried real hard. And I suspect Trent made exactly what he intended to make.
I admit that I'm still a pathetic hold-out waiting for Pretty Hate Machine II - The Revenge. Thus, nothing less will ever truly satisfy. Ghosts is neither fixed nor broken. It's really not that bad, but it's just not that good. And for a small fistful of dollars, I shouldn't complain.
I certainly like the progressive and revolutionary distribution (a la Radiohead's Rainbows) where the evil middle-man record company is kept out of the artist's and fans' relationship. I have to give kudos to NIN for fighting the good fight. So at worst, Ghosts I-IV will take up some precious space on your iPod. At best, it's harmless background noise. NIN Ghosts is a little haunting but definitely not scary.
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