Hesitation Marks

Hesitation Marks is the seventh studio album by Nine Inch Nails, released in September 2013 on Columbia Records and produced by Reznor and Atticus Ross, the band's first studio album in five years, during which Reznor had been primarily focused on film scoring (with Ross, for The Social Network, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and Gone Girl) and had received three Academy Awards. Reznor wrote all material; the album's production reflects the minimalist electronic precision of the film scoring work, with more space and tonal restraint than any previous NIN album, 'Came Back Haunted,' 'Everything,' 'Copy of A,' and the orchestral 'In Two' among the principal tracks. The album debuted at number three on the Billboard 200 with 97,000 first-week sales and has been certified gold in the United States; 'Came Back Haunted' spent five weeks at number one on the Rock Airplay chart. Hesitation Marks represents the most directly film-influenced NIN album and demonstrates the reciprocal influence between Reznor's film scoring work and his rock recordings. Hesitation Marks' critical and commercial success, including its Grammy-nominated tracks and the critical recognition of its production sophistication, confirmed that the NIN brand remained commercially viable even after a five-year absence from rock recording, and its evidence of the reciprocal influence between film scoring and rock production has made it one of the more intellectually discussed albums of Reznor's catalog.