Grade: D+ | In the life and career of Trent Reznor, he has seen it all. He has released a record that can arguably be considered one of the hundred greatest albums of all time (“Pretty Hate Machine”), along with a slew of other chart-topping releases, to have some of the biggest hits in rock ‘n ‘roll history to encompass his amazing career.

He even found a way to dig the band out what was once thought to be in a “downward spiral” with his contributions to The Lost Highway soundtrack (“Perfect Drug”), revitalizing the bands’ life. NIN singlehandedly defined industrial music by putting the once-obscure style on the map.

But has this life that was once lost by the band, found, then lost again, made a comeback for the second time? The answer is: No.

“Year Zero” has found its way into the catalog of NIN albums that slip off the beaten path the group has traveled down so many times before. Lacking in anything that resembles a fresh feel for the modern era of music, “Year Zero” is just a bunch of songs with holes all over the place.

On one hand, there is half an album with great beats, great music and a fantastic industrial sound, but no melody and no songs to leave listeners singing. On the other, there are songs with decent melodies but no creative edge to the music that backs them. There is just so much missing that it is hard to discern one song from the other.

As creative as Reznor has been in the past, his reputation of being a musical genius leaves the listener wondering: Exactly what happened on this?