Nine Inch Nails 2007 album Year Zero is a true Unsung Masterpiece. It’s one hell of an album. The concept behind it is super eerie when you think about what has been happening to society and government over the years. The first single from the album, “Survivalism” is tremendous. The lyrical content along with the pulsating beat are so damn good. The video for the song is on a whole other level. At the end of 2007, Rolling Stone readers voted the video as the best music video of year. Directed by Trent Reznor, Rob Sheridan and Alex Lieu, the video consists of a series of images from a console of secret cameras installed in an apartment block. As the camera moves between the footage, viewers are able to see into the lives of a number of residents, including:
- A catatonic older couple watching television with a portrait of Jesus behind them.
- A man looking after his drugged spouse (and in one scene possibly dripping or injecting the fictional drug “opal” in her eyes).
- Two men having sexual intercourse in bed. (Covered by the US Bureau of Morality image in the TV edit.)
- A topless woman applying make-up in a bathroom. (Covered by the US Bureau of Morality image in the TV edit.)
- A man sitting at a table staring at his food.
- Three men in a shop (and later in an alley) working with stencils.
- A man in his cubicle surfing the Internet on his laptop computer.
- Nine Inch Nails performing the song in a room.
There’s so much more to this video. Each time you watch it, you find something else that was hidden in there and a bit subliminal. Nine Inch Nails videos are some of the best you’ll see.
Nine Inch Nails- Survivalism:
