Such bedlam is palpable from the first note of And All That Could Have Been, where opening cut "Terrible Lie" is transformed from a spiteful dance-floor work-up into a lead-dense stomper with blood dripping from its teeth. Two tracks later, the once-pensive "Piggy" is subjected to the same (mis)treatment, with larynx-mincing screams and wailing, mournful guitars layered on top, making it exponentially more disquieting. And it's not just the tranquil cuts in the NIN catalog that suddenly grow fangs live; even the band's most combustible material somehow becomes more heated in the concert hall. The fevered "March of the Pigs" further devolves into a din of epithets and white noise; "Gave Up" is rendered a breathless, four-minute heart palpitation; and "Head Like a Hole" gets its bloody knuckles outfitted in brass.
All this sonic chaos is matched visually on the DVD that accompanies the collection. Using a series of handheld digital video cameras, rather than a professional film crew, Nine Inch Nails capture all the pandemonium of their performances in every jittery shot, every jagged camera angle. It all amounts to a package that truly adds something to one's understanding of this band -- which is rare for a live recording these days, making this set a cut above the competition. Literally.