With Teeth - Music and Lyrics

Music and Lyrics

Before the album's release, Reznor described With Teeth as "more song-oriented" and "lean" than the previous Nine Inch Nails album, The Fragile (1999). In reference to the album's sound, Reznor said he "tried to keep a lo-fi aesthetic running through it, a kind of carelessness." Moreover, he stated the music was less of a concept album, and more of "a collection of songs that are friends with each other, but don't have to rely on each other to make sense".

The album's lyrics tackle Reznor's opinion of himself, his relationship with the world around him and his place in it, as well as his struggles with addiction. Although it dealt with these issues, Reznor was hopeful that it was still "disguised enough that not a terribly boring record about recovery and addiction".

Reznor also drew influence from the September 11, 2001 attacks, which occurred shortly after his recovery. The album's first single, "The Hand That Feeds", was a direct example of the themes of protest and propagandist fear that helped influence the album. These influences became more prominent in his next album, Year Zero, and the alternate reality game that accompanied it.

There are over 30 expletives included in With Teeth. Inaugurating the majority of them evident on the album is "fuck", heard most commonly in "You Know What You Are?". This led to a Parental Advisory Explicit Lyrics sticker being printed on most copies, as seen on many editions, and also being the final Nine Inch Nails studio album to be labelled as such.