The Downward Spiral - Nine Inch Nails

There can be few bands more under-rated and more deserving of recognition from the music press than Nine Inch Nails. Never afraid to experiment with new and innovative ideas, their albums are always impeccably produced and thought provoking. In my opinion, the sign of a great album is whether it challenges you as a listener and whether you can listen to it for the 50th time and still find something new in it. I find that every NIN album I own meets these criteria and I would class them all as musical masterpieces. NIN is essentially the creation of Trent Reznor, who provides the main vocals as well as writing, arranging and playing most of the instruments on the ...  Read the complete review

Intro Nine Inch Nails (NIN) is an American industrial rock band that formed in 1988, The Downward Spiral is their second full length studio album that was released in 1994. The album was produced, written and performed by front man Trent Reznor. This is quite possibly my favourite NIN album although I think they are all fantastic. Out of the bands entire discography this is their most well known and celebrated album, and is the one that brought NIN and industrial music in general to the mainstream listener. Almost every weekend on a night out in my local underground rock club the track Closer was often played and would always have me ...  Read the complete review

I searched through my cd collection, trying to find that one perfect album. I looked at some Smashing Pumpkins, Our Lady Peace, Furnaceface, Hayden, KMFDM, and so on, and so on. But the one cd that I had in mind to begin with just kept sticking out, so I'm going to go with it. Nine Inch Nails masterpiece, The Downward Spiral. A Little Background... The Downward Spiral was released in 1994, and was Nine Inch Nails third release, following Pretty Hate Machine and the Broken EP. The Downward Spiral is the cd that brought Nine Inch Nails to the forefront of the Industrial genre, and helped to bring them to a more mainstream audience. I keep saying ...  Read the complete review

We judge music albums a lot differently from other media such as feature films, TV series or novels. Albums are rarely seen as sequels they are more a stage of development. Sequels are often considered to be cash-ins and cynical attempts to continue the success of the original concept. Albums are a demonstration of an artist's maturity and possibly his or her range. With this in mind, if Pretty Hate Machine, NIN's first album, is to be seen as the child prodigy and Broken, their follow up EP, the angst-filled teenager, then The Downward Spiral is the fully developed adult. It is tempting to say that this is where the band peaked, but considering how much fantastic work ...  Read the complete review

Adults only please 18+ some lyrics contain offensive words It's taken me a long while to think of what i could ever say about NIN that would do them justice (8years actually) ! Well here goes, The Downward Spiral is more than just an album made up of songs, it is a philosophy, it is a story of despair and ruin, of hopes being crushed and a man being reduced into taking his own life. This in my experience is not an album for women, (nothing sexist ladies), it is a mans story of testostarone fuelled insanity and the anger and pain that men feel inside and are loathed to express in this stereotypical society. Reznor puts it all ...  Read the complete review