Band:	Nine Inch Nails
Album:	Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D
Style:	Industrial metal, Industrial rock
Release date:	November 20, 2007
A review by:	jupitreas

01. Gunshots by Computer [Saul Williams version]
02. The Great Destroyer [Modwheelmood version]
03. My Violent Heart [Pirate Robot Midget version]
04. The Beginning of the End [Ladytron version]
05. Survivalism [Saul Williams version]
06. Capital G [Epworth Phones version]
07. Vessel [Bill Laswell version]
08. The Warning [Stefan Goodchild and Doudou N'Diaye Rose version]
09. Meet Your Master [The Faint version]
10. God Given [Stephen Morris & Gillian Gilbert version]
11. Me, I'm Not [Olof Dreijer version]
12. Another Version of the Truth [Kronos Quartet & Enrique Gonzalez Müller version]
13. In This Twilight [Fennesz version]
14. Zero-Sum [Stephen Morris & Gillian Gilbert version]

Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D, besides having the most annoying title possible for a reviewer to type into a review (I'm not doing it again, thats for sure), is a fairly well realised remix album and worth hearing for anyone who enjoyed this year's Year Zero. Like most remix albums, this is by no means a must-have release; however, it provides enough truly inspired re-imagined versions of the original songs and flows well enough to earn a recommendation from me.

The album kicks off with Saul Williams making "Hyperpower!", originally merely an intro to Year Zero, into a compact and visceral aggressive hip-hop track, a move that sounds almost planned considering Williams' involvement in the original album. More highlights follow. Modwheelmood's version of "The Great Destoryer" turns the heavy original into a haunting and somewhat creepy piece, while the Ladytron remix of "The Beginning Of The End" is as close as it gets to what Year Zero would sound like if Trent decided to make it a modern Downward Spiral (going as far as including samples from the classic album). Stephen Morris and Gillian Gilbert (New Order) similarly apply a familiar industrial rock treatment to the two tracks they remix. Meanwhile, Olof Dreijer (The Knife) creates his own minimalist music out of "Me, I'm Not", seemingly without any regard for the original piece. The blipcore raver "Capital G" and electroclash "Meet Your Master" must also be heard to be believed.

Perhaps inevitably, next to the above excellent remixes, Bill Laswell's (Praxis, Painkiller) somewhat pedestrian metallic dub version of "Vessel" fails to impress. The same is true of Saul Williams' second contribution "Survivalism". The remaining remixes are also somewhat lackluster, although this is only due to the unfortunate juxtaposition with the much superior attempts described above.

Still, even with the few lackluster tracks, Halo 25 flows extremely well as an album, which is quite an achievement for a compilation of remixes. Reznor seems to really be in one of his creative peaks these days and the excellent choice of contributors for this album proves it.