Trent Reznor

They're a star-crossed couple, two misfit provocateurs brought together by fate, on a mission of mayhem to shock the system with images of extreme brutality. Mickey and Mallory, the merciless titular figures of "Natural Born Killers"? Or Oliver Stone, the film's director, and industrial-rock star Trent Reznor, who helped shape the movie's ambitious musical track and album? The latter, like the former, was a match made in, well, wherever.

As the lone artistic voice behind Nine Inch Nails, Trent Reznor regularly had the pleasure of answering to no one during NIN's approximately 20-year run of emotionally damaged hard rock. Now in his mid-40s and into his second career as a film composer, Reznor not only is having to learn a new discipline, but adjust to ceding control and holding back his reflex of saying 'no.' Take, for instance, the music that opens David Fincher's "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo," which marks the second film score for Reznor and his latter-days NIN producer Atticus Ross.

*** 1/2; VARIOUS ARTISTS, "Natural Born Killers," soundtrack ( Nothing/Interscope ) This has been a career year for Trent Reznor, who exhibits as an artist and producer the daring instincts and rich musicality of Prince back in the days when his records mattered.

Industrial rockers, country songwriting veterans, India's soundtrack guru ? the Oscar nominees in the music categories this year are as eclectic as an iPod on shuffle. Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor, nominated for original score for "The Social Network" with collaborator Atticus Ross, might be the best example of the ethos of serendipity and surprise. "This opportunity came completely out of the blue, and it gave me a chance to work with [director] David Fincher, someone at the top of his field," Reznor said.

"Hey, that guy kinda looks like David Bowie. . . . Naahh, can't be." The speaker is part of a growing crowd of onlookers on a downtown Manhattan street. Surrounding him are police officers, paparazzi, men and women carrying walkie-talkies, tourists with cameras and other gawkers--all clear signs of a celebrity in the neighborhood. Still, the doubting passerby has reason to be skeptical.

There's a misconception afoot about "Year Zero," the latest project from musical puppet master Trent Reznor's Nine Inch Nails. Launched in February with a cryptic message on a tour T-shirt, fleshed out in dozens of websites, scary voicemail messages, Morse code blips, murals, fliers and other real-world propaganda, "Year Zero" reaches a peak (but not its conclusion) with today's album release. There's never been such an extensive or well-planned campaign involving a major pop release.

Trent Reznor has two piles of scientific photo books, their titles promising microscopic views of molecular chaos and such, stacked on the coffee table in his San Fernando Valley hotel suite. It's not that the musician has suddenly acquired an academic interest in biology. Rather, he's on the lookout for pictures that he can use as promotional art for his new album, "The Downward Spiral."

This world threw me away This world never gave me a chance . . . This world gonna have to pay. --Lyrics by Trent Reznor * Forget, for a moment, all the talk about Trent Reznor's eerie, mud-caked performance at Woodstock '94 . . . or the self- loathing that made this year's "The Downward Spiral" perhaps the darkest album ever to crack the national Top 10. Never mind the inquiries about his bloodthirsty "Natural Born Killers" soundtrack album . . .

There's no reason to suspect the anger and alienation that fueled the rock world in 1991 is going to disappear over the next 12 months, which means an ideal emotional climate for Trent Reznor. Blessed with a brooding, obsessive stage manner that can make Axl Rose seem tame at times, Reznor--the leader of the industrial Angst band Nine Inch Nails--stole the show some nights last summer from heady competition on the "Lollapalooza" tour and he should parlay the success of the group's debut album into a Top 10 contender during 1992.

It's understandable that Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor speaks with the seriousness of a man giving a deposition when he talks about his first album since 1994's "The Downward Spiral." The rock auteur is very much under scrutiny these days. "Spiral," a frightfully dark look at youthful angst, helped Reznor establish a deep, Kurt Cobain-like bond with the Generation X audience.

Plenty of filmmakers took non-traditional routes this season, turning to the world of rock to bring an immediacy to their stories. Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails scored his first flick in the Facebook drama "The Social Network," and French disco purveyors Daft Punk anchored Disney's high-concept reboot in "Tron. " Digging deeper, former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr brought a human element to "Inception," LCD Soundsystem leader James Murphy distilled the anxiety of "Greenberg" and Radiohead producer Nigel Godrich experimented with electronics for "Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.

"Nothing can stop me now," Trent Reznor snarled as he lunged toward his audience during the song "Piggy" at the outset of Nine Inch Nails' sold-out show at the Hollywood Palladium on Wednesday. The statement held some irony, given that Reznor has announced he's retiring his band, as a live act at least. It's been 15 years since "The Downward Spiral," the concept album about loneliness and despair that contained that song, became the most successful industrial music album in history and catapulted Reznor squarely into the mainstream spotlight.

There was something about a Nine Inch Nails show in the daylight that just felt wrong. "Maybe," Trent Reznor said in a sly murmur, "it was the fact that it wasn't dark." Reznor, the angst auteur behind Nine Inch Nails, toured this summer with Jane's Addiction with every intention of retiring from the road. The plan, Reznor had said, was to put the band's concert life on hiatus for a decade or so and to say farewell with a twist, as the opening act for the elder Jane's latest reunion.

There's a misconception afoot about "Year Zero," the latest project from musical puppet master Trent Reznor's Nine Inch Nails. Launched in February with a cryptic message on a tour T-shirt, fleshed out in dozens of websites, scary voicemail messages, Morse code blips, murals, fliers and other real-world propaganda, "Year Zero" reaches a peak (but not its conclusion) with today's album release. There's never been such an extensive or well-planned campaign involving a major pop release.

A jury awarded Nine Inch Nails alternative rocker Trent Reznor $2.95 million after finding that John Malm, his former manager, breached his contract and acted fraudulently. The civil verdict, disclosed this week, came after a three-week trial in New York City in which Reznor testified that he was stunned to learn in 2003 that despite millions of dollars in earnings, he was left with as little as $400,000 in cash.

Trent Reznor continued his dramatic comeback Wednesday as his first album in six years, "With Teeth," entered the national sales chart at No. 1 after selling 272,000 copies in its first week in stores, according to Nielsen SoundScan. Reznor, who records and tours under the band name Nine Inch Nails, was one of the great rock voices of the '90s, but his future was in question recently.

There was something about a Nine Inch Nails show in the daylight that just felt wrong. "Maybe," Trent Reznor said in a sly murmur, "it was the fact that it wasn't dark." Reznor, the angst auteur behind Nine Inch Nails, toured this summer with Jane's Addiction with every intention of retiring from the road. The plan, Reznor had said, was to put the band's concert life on hiatus for a decade or so and to say farewell with a twist, as the opening act for the elder Jane's latest reunion.

Thank YOU so much, Robert Hilburn, for the article on Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails ("Beyond Hurt," April 10). Reznor's music has always been exciting to look forward to. There are not many artists who are willing to take creative risks in the music industry like he is. "With Teeth" should be a welcome and refreshing piece of work in 2005, especially when music has become so disposable. Sal Marz Venice

Trent REZNOR works in mysterious ways. He may be the brooding architect behind the epic, intricate soundscapes of Nine Inch Nails, but now he's allowing outsiders an unusual view into NIN's hit "The Hand That Feeds," with a free download of the new single's multiple tracks, allowing fans to remix, rearrange and reinterpret the song at will. The download is available from the band's website (www.nin.

Thank YOU so much, Robert Hilburn, for the article on Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails ("Beyond Hurt," April 10). Reznor's music has always been exciting to look forward to. There are not many artists who are willing to take creative risks in the music industry like he is. "With Teeth" should be a welcome and refreshing piece of work in 2005, especially when music has become so disposable. Sal Marz Venice