I don't care who you are or what rock you hid under but if you haven't heard of this album, or any part of it, your an alien to me. This is probably one of the Top 10 Classic industrial albums of all time, in my eyes, and I'm probably not alone in saying that either.
Even after 15 years it still sounds current and the music still kicks ass. It spans so many levels too. We have hard br... read more
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Amazon.com essential recording
Nine Inch Nails are a pretty amazing phenomenon when one considers what they--um, he--have done with just a few studio recordings. The Downward Spiral, NIN's second full-length album, is just as packed with vitriol as Pretty Hate Machine and the EP Broken--and has just as solid a base of pop hooks tO
O
Amazon.com essential recording
Nine Inch Nails are a pretty amazing phenomenon when one considers what they--um, he--have done with just a few studio recordings. The Downward Spiral, NIN's second full-length album, is just as packed with vitriol as Pretty Hate Machine and the EP Broken--and has just as solid a base of pop hooks that go a long way toward explaining NIN's popularity. Most recognizable is the down-tempo single "Closer," which remains a staple of dance clubs everywhere. But for the most part, the album is all heavy beats and aggressive guitars--industrial music with a pop angle. That winning combination is what makes Trent Reznor a law unto himself, becoming insanely popular while the main body of industrial music retains its subculture status. --Genevieve Williams
It's easy to understand why Nine Inch Nails became the industrial band to break out of the techno ghetto and win a larger audience. Trent Reznor, who records the NIN albums almost entirely by himself (although he tours with a full band), tries very hard to pass himself off as an angry young man, but underneath the angst-ridden lyrics, pounding synths, and grating guitars is an irrepressible pop sensibility. On the second full-length NIN album, The Downward Spiral, Reznor builds his constructions of noise and gloom around warm, fuzzy melodies. On the album's first single, "March of the Pigs," for example, Reznor screams about swine lined up for slaughter amid guitars screeching in pain. Suddenly the guitars fall away to reveal the sensually throbbing rhythm track below; then that falls away to reveal a vocal-and-piano track that's as catchy as anything by Elton John. Because Reznor has a better handle on dynamics now, the melodic core is more obvious than ever. --Geoffrey Himes
"3rd March
One of the darkest albums I've heard in my life, lyrically and musically. This album is a painful and absorbing piece odyssey, a concept album that follows the downward spiral of one man. Perhaps the most startling aspect of this album for me was how relatable I found it. Not necessarily through the protagonist's explicit excess, rather through his general state of mind and depression as a whole. Not something I would listen to over and over again, with a few songs as exceptions, this"
Ryan P. added this to a list 11 months, 1 week ago
"This should come as a surprise to no one. Looking at the rest of this list, a lot of Great albums came out in 1994 but nothing else compares to the album that made NIN a household name.
Favorite song: "the becoming"
See also the "Still" version, originally released in the deluxe version of And All That Could Have Been"
“I don't care who you are or what rock you hid under but if you haven't heard of this album, or any part of it, your an alien to me. This is probably one of the Top 10 Classic industrial albums of all time, in my eyes, and I'm probably not alone in saying that either.
Even after 15 years it still sounds current and the music still kicks ass. It spans so many levels too. We have hard brutal industrial/rock with Mr. Self Destruct. Awesome hard pounding industrial with Heresy. Soft melodic organ music with A Warm Place. The acoustic cover song of Hurt. We even have a #1 hit with Closer, which I actually got sick of after a while. I've heard this song on the most pop of radio stations and it surprised me. I also hated the fact that people thought they were so different and unique beca” read more
ToonHead2102 added this to a list 2 years, 4 months ago
"Then: I was 12 years old when the hit single "Closer" ruled the airwaves. Honestly, the song kind of annoyed me upon first hearing it and I didn't think much of it. But when "Head Like a Hole" and "Sin" (from NIN's debut album Pretty Hate Machine resurfaced on the radio, along with the emergence of the single "March of the Pigs" I began to gain more and more interest. My love for Nine Inch Nails took full swing when my local radio station featured them on their weekly segment, "A-Z Uncensored". "
"One of the best albums I've heard from NIN. Sometimes I find NIN really good, but sometimes I can't stand them.
Best song(s): Hurt, Closer, I Do Not Want This"
eetachi added this to a list 2 years, 7 months ago
"self-destruct tour 1994
The show rolled into town a few days before Halloween, so many audience members showed up in make-up and costumes. The entire audience was amped for this show, and the vibe was a mix of creepy, dark, and anxious.
The first band of the night was a then relatively unknown group called Marilyn Manson. Back in those days they had a very "anything-goes" kind of live show. So in addition to their intense stage presence I recall Mr. Manson shoving a bottle into an uncomfortabl"
schwarzerabt added this to a list 2 years, 10 months ago
"Took what Reznor had tapped into on Broken and fleshed it out with sonic textures and a running theme of self-destruction. One of the best albums ever recorded."
the giraffe added this to a list 3 years, 4 months ago
"'"When I rented the place, I didn't realize it was that house," claimed NIN's Trent Reznor about recording Spiral in the one-time home of Manson-family victim Sharon Tate. Despite "a million electrical disturbances," Reznor made the most successful album of his career - a cohesive, willful and overpowering meditation on the central theme running through all of NIN's videos, live shows, music and lyrics: control. While Spiral has its share of Reznor's trademark industrial corrosiveness, it's bala"
"Trent Reznor is the apex of having music that haunts you in your sleep. Creepy lyrics and music that sounded like it emulated Hades. Nine Inch Nails has never sounded better. Sadly this album is so good that Trent Reznor may be trying to top this his whole career. (Possibly)
Essential Listening: "The Eraser", "Closer", "Hurt""
spiegel added this to a list 5 years, 6 months ago
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