In a 2005 interview with [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerrang%21 Kerrang!], Reznor expressed his intentions to write material for a new release during the [[Live: With Teeth|''With Teeth'' tour]], and it was confirmed that he was working on it by September 2006. ''Year Zero'' began its mixing stage in January of 2007, and Reznor stated on his blog on [[The Spiral]] that the album was finished as of February 5, 2007. The album marks a new style of lyric writing for Reznor:
<blockquote>"...for the first time in my life, I wanted to break away from the idea of opening up my journal and transferring that into song lyrics. And I really thought about what was at the forefront of my concern, and, at the state I'm at right now, at the age I'm at, just the state of being an American citizen, a lot of concern I have about the direction the country's headed in, and uh, kind of the erosion of freedoms that seems like we're experiencing, and the way we treat the world and our own citizens felt like something I needed to comment on." [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xr8FXnur5Z4]</blockquote>
==Alternate Reality Game==
==Trent Reznor on ''Year Zero''==
<blockquote>"<p>This record began as an experiment with noise on a laptop in a bus on tour somewhere. That sound led to a daydream about the end of the world. That daydream stuck with me and over time revealed itself to be much more. I believe sometimes you have a choice in what inspiration you choose to follow and other times you really don't. This record is the latter. Once I tuned into it, everything fell into place... as if it were meant to be. With a framework established, the songs were very easy to write. Things started happening in my "real" life that blurred the lines of what was fiction and what wasn't. The record turned out to be more than a just a record in scale, as you will see over time.
Part one is year zero. Concept record. Sixteen tracks. All written and performed by me, produced / programmed by me and Atticus Ross, mixed by Alan Moulder, mastered by Brian "Big Bass" Gardner. Release date: April 17, 2007.
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What's it about? Well, it takes place about fifteen years in the future. Things are not good. If you imagine a world where greed and power continue to run their likely course, you'll have an idea of the backdrop. The world has reached the breaking point - politically, spiritually and ecologically. Written from various perspectives of people in this world, "year zero" examines various viewpoints set against an impending moment of truth. How does it sound? You will hear for yourself soon enough, but given the point of this document is to provide information...
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This record is much more of a "sound collage" than recent efforts from me.
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A lot of it was improvised.
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It is very tedious describing your own music.
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It's not just music.
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It's probably too long, but it felt like the right thing to do was to paint the complete picture.
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It will sound different after a few listens.
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You can think about it and it will reveal more than you were expecting.
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You can dance to a lot of it.
<br><br>You can fuck to a lot of it (maybe all of it depending on what you're into)."</p>[http://www.xtaster.co.uk/feature_detail.php?id=13688]</blockquote>
==Album Credits==