Year Zero
I actually purchased a CD. With money. For real.
I was at the mall on my lunch break and I walk into Hot Topic because they usually have really neat stuff to look at. And there's an instrumental industrial song on and I'm digging it.
So I ask the guy there what it was and lo and behold, Year Zero has finally be released. I promptly purchased it. The guy behind the counter would not stop talking about how great / genius it is.
Apparently, it follows a story line. The music definitely has a bloody kick to it and it's aggressive.
Wiki has an awesome article about it. The marketing on this album is amazing. Very clever, very cutting edge.
Here are some excerpts
Reznor said that Year Zero is a concept album,[24] "could be about the end of the world," and marked a "shift n direction" in that it "doesn't sound like With Teeth."[9] The 2006 tour merchandise designs featured overt references to the United States military, which "reflects future directions."[9]
Fifteen original tracks were considered for inclusion on the album, which Reznor described as "Highly conceptual. Quite noisy. Fucking cool."[7] He further wrote that when he finishes a new album, he has to "go into battle with the people whose job it is to figure out how to sell the record. The only time that didn't happen was [for] With Teeth. This time, however, [he was] expecting an epic struggle. [Year Zero] is not a particularly friendly record and it certainly doesn't sound like anything else out there right now."[25][26] Reznor has expressed his dissatisfaction with current trends in rock music, especially emo music.[