Better concept than album

I want terrible things to happen to Trent Reznor.\nIt's not that I have anything against the man. In fact, he's one of my favorite artists, but he clearly does his best work when he's incredibly depressed and abusing drugs to excesses that would make Keith Richards blush.\nYear Zero marks the second Nine Inch Nails album since Reznor has gone sober, and much like 2005's With Teeth, it's a fine album but fails to live up to the high quality of his earlier work.\nFor those of you who haven't been following the development of the album closely, Year Zero is a concept album about a world 15 years in the future in which the president of the United States is seen as God and occupations of Middle Eastern countries are done regularly in his name. \nSeveral viral Web sites have been set up that tell this story that includes a drugged water supply, nuclear attacks and a giant hand coming out of the sky known only as "The Presence."\nReznor sets the stage for this world from the get-go with "Hyperpower!," an instrumental intro with strong militaristic overtones, the title of which references the idea of the United States as the world's lone superpower, followed by "The Beginning of the End," another song which leads the listener into believing an interesting story about this future is about to be told.\nBut from there, things hit a bit of a road block. Tracks such as "Survivalism," "Me I'm Not" and "My Violent Heart" are interesting lyrically, and the first single, "Survivalism" especially, has a strong, classic NIN beat, but what each song does to further the concept, besides just bitch about totalitarianism, is debatable.\nLater tracks are more on topic and musically much more interesting. "God Given" is a track that is especially on point, but also rocks with a pop beat that would fit in well at any dance club. \nThe beauty of Nine Inch Nails has always been their wonderfully depressing music, which is on full display in the closing tracks "In This Twilight" and "Zero Sum," both of which lament the end of this world and question where to go from here and what could have been done to stop it.\n"Zero Sum" in particular might be the best NIN album closer since "Hurt" on The Downward Spiral.\nStill, while individual tracks deliver, I can't help but feel somewhat unfulfilled by the album as a whole. I have viewed the Web sites affiliated with the story of "Year Zero," and it's an interesting concept, but in the end that's all it is: an interesting concept that fails to fully deliver as an album.\nDon't get me wrong. This is not a bad record, and Nine Inch Nails fans such as myself will find a lot to enjoy here, it just fails to live up to the hype. But considering that Reznor has already stated this is part one of a two-part album, maybe that makes sense. \nPerhaps when the next installment is ready next year, Year Zero will truly shine. For now it's an interesting but ultimately disappointing album that is just too ambitious for its own good.