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→Year Zero and Beyond
It all started with an ominous daydream about what the world might be like if things in the United States continued on their current path with no change in course. With some of his personal experiences from recent years mixed in, Reznor created the outline for what would be his most ambitious project ever. During the recording process of this album, he met with people from [[42 Entertainment]], a marketing company that had been behind the successful alternate-reality games (A.R.G.s) that promoted the video game ''Halo 2'' and the TV series ''Lost,'' the latter of which Reznor is a fan. They would help in the package design and advertising for the forthcoming album, though Reznor saw it as more of an experience than marketing and advertising. A European tour was announced for early 2007 in November of 2006, as Reznor was finishing the recording process.
In January of 2007, Reznor announced that the forthcoming album would be called ''[[Year Zero]]'' and that it "could be about the end of the world. " Mixing had begun on the album and would finish on February 5. Shortly after mixing was complete, the European tour began, along with what Reznor called the "Year Zero experience." He did very few interviews during this time, not wanting to spoil the surprise. He would become more vocal about Interscope his record label and the RIAA during this time, expressing his disdain for what he felt was the wrong approach to dealing with MP3 sharing and leaking songs.
The Year Zero experience was Reznor's vision of the world in 15 years if the decline of civil liberties and an endless war on terror continued. People are drugged to keep them complacent and have GPS chips implanted under their skin. Separation of Church and State are a thing of the past and the government can now spy on everyone at every waking moment, even in their own homes. Most significantly, Reznor seems to be asking his fans to take action and prevent this vision of the future from happening, providing sites with downloadable stencils, flyers, and patterns to spread a message against censorship and the decline of civil liberties.
''Year Zero'' was released on April 17, 2007 , and debuted at the Number 2 position on the ''Billboard'' charts.
Today, Reznor is happier than he's ever been. He feels that he has found his calling in life and has found joy in creating music. Although he admits he could very easily relapse into his old ways, because he has been there, he has said he never wants to go back. He curently resides in Los Angeles with his dog.