NINE INCH NAILS
"And All That Could Have Been" [2 disc version with "Still" CD]
Nothing/Interscope (0694931862; HALO SEVENTEEN)
Release Date: January 22, 2002

And All That Could Have Been is a live disc with performances from Nine Inch Nails' "Fragility v2.0" tour. The disc starts right with the opening of the first track, "Terrible Lie"; there is no crowd noise to act as a "buffer" like you would hear on a typical live CD. However, you can hear the audience throughout the CD, which helps reinforce the fact that you are listening to a live recording. During the performance, Trent Reznor has very little stage banter, which helps the songs segue together rather smoothly. Around the middle of the disc, there is a slower section featuring "The Great Below" and "The Mark Has Been Made"; this kind of bogs the CD down (however, this is the way the performance was, so it's nice to see that the setlist was left intact when the disc was put together). The third-to-last track is "The Day the World Went Away," which is the longest track on this disc; while there needs to be a break after having four uptempo songs in a row, having a six-minute long song near the end of the setlist bogs it down a little. Right after this is "Starfuckers, Inc.," which really picks the tempo back up again. But right after this is "Hurt," which concludes the disc; while "Hurt" also slows things down, it's the closing song of the show (and sonically, "Hurt" sounds like a concert closer). The disc ends rather abruptly, rather than letting the audience's cheering fade out.

This version of the album comes a bonus CD, Still (which is probably the closest thing you’ll ever see to an "acoustic" Nine Inch Nails disc). "Something I Can Never Have," which originally appeared on the Pretty Hate Machine album, is almost a minute longer here and features a more laid-back arrangement (you only hear a piano and Trent Reznor's vocals). "Adrift and at Peace" is a new song, which is an instrumental that features piano and something that sounds like someone plucking on violin strings. "The Fragile" (originally from The Fragile album), is about 45 seconds longer than the original. It starts out with just piano, then slowly adds in a bass line and percussion (and is a more laid back arrangement compared to the original). "The Becoming" originally appeared on The Downward Spiral album; this version is about a minute shorter, and features piano, keyboard, percussion (but it's not as heavy as the original version), as well as what sounds like an acoustic guitar. "Gone, Still" is another new song on this disc; it's a piano instrumental with minimal percussion. "The Day the World Went Away" originally appeared on The Fragile album; it's about 45 seconds longer than the original, and features keyboard and some percussion. "And All That Could Have Been," another new song on the disc, has piano, keyboard, some percussion, guitar, as well as some vocals (however, for about the first two minutes, Trent's vocals are rather soft and hard to make out; but the vocals get louder at around the 2:15 mark). "The Persistence of Loss" is another new instrumental which features piano and a bassline. "Leaving Hope," the last track on the disc, is another piano and bassline instrumental.

Overall, these are strong discs, and should be in a Nine Inch Nails collection. However, the second disc may be too "mellow" for some Nine Inch Nails fans (I would only recommend this pressing of the album to a track collector or an everything collector).

(reviewed by Lesley Muir on January 18, 2003)