Nine Inch Nails: Live - Beside You in Time (2007)

DVD

**NOTICE** The following review is written with the bias of a longtime Nine Inch Nails fan. They are far and away my favorite band, so please be aware that this review is written by somebody who IS familiar with the band's music.

Beside You In Time is a groundbreaking concert DVD from the hard rock/industrial band Nine Inch Nails. This is the first tour DVD to be done in High Definition, and Nine Inch Nails was the perfect band to do it. The visuals are unbelievable, and the High-Def quality makes you feel like you are on stage with Reznor and the gang. Oh yeah, and the music will knock you out of your seat.

The tour on display is their North American Winter 2006 tour, so most of the songs are from their most recent album, With Teeth. Besides the newer stuff like The Hand that Feeds, Only, and Right Where it Belongs, there is a lot of great tracks from The Fragile, The Downward Spiral, and Pretty Hate Machine. No hit is left unperformed. Wish, Hurt, The Big Come Down, March of the Pigs, Head Like a Hole, and many more are each done with more passion and fury than the last.

NIN is such a spectacular live band, when I first got the DVD I was a little worried if the emotion you feel when at one of their shows would carry over onto the DVD. My concerns were muted after about ten seconds of watching the concert. As many NIN fans know, one of the things that sets their shows apart from many other bands is "The Screen". That is, the gigantic 200 feet tall, 200 feet wide screen that descends in front of the band to have images projected upon it. During many of their songs that have particular emotional or political motifs throughout them, the band chooses to juxtapose their music with certain images for the audience to absorb. Some of the footage is beautiful, some of it is disturbing, but it all adds to the overall effect of the music in a positive way. In many songs, the screen takes the heartfelt emotional lyrics of Trent Reznor and turns them into poetry in motion. Its really an amazing effect, and is one more reason to be thankful that the concert is in HD.

Beside You In Time is a must have for any fans of Nine Inch Nails. For people who are just getting into their music and don't know many of their tracks, this concert will give you a whole new appreciation for the brilliance of Trent Reznor and company. This is the best non-live concert I've ever seen, from one of the best bands of our generation.

Summer 2006 With Teeth Tour:
Aside from the main show from the Winter 2006 With Teeth tour, there is a lot of footage from the summer tour (Also in High-Def). This was a great addition to the DVD, mainly because of the song variation. The winter tour was mostly With Teeth and The Fragile material, the band's two most famous records. But the summer tour had a few more songs from The Downward Spiral, my personal favorite NIN album. The visuals aren't the same either; instead of a gigantic projected image there is a huge TV tube wall that descends behind the band on stage. Many different colors, patterns, and images flow throughout this wall as if it were a two story tall Lite-Brite. A great addition to the DVD.

Rehearsal Performances and Music Videos:
The two rehearsal performances are fantastic. They are of two songs from With Teeth that didn't make the main show, but easily could have. The two music videos included on the DVD are of the two With Teeth singles, The Hand that Feeds and Only (Only music video directed by David Fincher)

There is also a stills gallery from the tour and a list of the band's body of work.

An emotional, imaginative, and truly great rock show from the world's best live band, Nine Inch Nails. An absolute must have for fans of the band. If you've ever thought about seeing them live, buy this DVD and see just how great they are for yourself. The HD really does wonders for the show, bringing the band right into your living room.