The Downward Spiral |
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Released: March 8, 1994 Peak: 2 US, 9 UK, 13 CN, 12 AU Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 4.0 US, 0.10 UK, 4.44 world (includes US and UK) Genre: industrial rock |
Tracks:Song Title [time] (date of single release, chart peaks)
All songs written by Trent Reznor. Total Running Time: 65:02 |
Rating: 4.169 out of 5.00 (average of 22 ratings)
Quotable:“An industrial-rock gem” – Blender magazineAwards:(Click on award to learn more).
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The Recording of the AlbumTrent Reznor “wrote and played the entirety of” TB Nine Inch Nails’ first two releases – the debut album Pretty Hate Machine in 1989 and the Broken EP in 1992. For his third release, The Downward Spiral, Reznor recruited a number of session musicians – including guitarist Adrian Belew, who’d worked with David Bowie, King Crimson, Talking Heads, and Frank Zappa.The album was recorded in the Los Angeles house on Cielo Dive where Sharon Tate was murdered by the Manson family. Reznor claimed that “When I rented the place, I didn’t realize it was that house.” 500 “Visitor Tori Amos concluded the house was cursed.” RD Themes of Gloom and DoomRegardless of what he knew or didn’t, Reznor crafted a record in which “horror soaks through the songs,” RD creating a “cauldron of one’s deepest fears.” TM It was “nastily, noisily, suicidally glum.” RD “Its narratives follow disturbed characters as they attempt to extract themselves from the grip of various psychosis.” TM Reznor described it as being about “somebody who throws away aspect of his life – from relationships to religion. [It] also looks at vices as ways of trying to dull the pain. I’m talking about myself…Not that that’s any great leap for me.” RD“Reznor’s raw intensity and sonic experimentation dive deep into themes of self-destruction and despair.” OH His “preening self-absorption and serpentine sexuality seemed directly descended from Jim Morrison” SH while his “nihilism often seemed like a reaction against some repressively extreme standard of purity.” SH It all led to a “pounding soundtrack to the drug-fueled psychosexual persecution drama that played out in his head.” EW’12 “Reznor spat out a suicidal concept record with industrial metal roots.” CQ An Industrial-Rock GemThe “musically complex, lyrically bleak” BL album “has its share of Reznor’s trademark industrial corrosiveness” 500 but connects “the cudgel-like bluntness of industrial rock…to more ornate – and sometimes surprisingly beautiful – orchestrations.” TM The album is “an industrial-rock gem” BL that established Reznor as “industrial’s own Phil Spector” SH and “a synth antihero.” BL It “remains Reznor’s greatest artistic success and also the biggest selling Nine Inch Nails album.” TBThe album “is full of striking sonic juxtapositions and sudden about-faces in tone, which make for a fascinating listen.” SH It finds Reznor “painting detailed, layered soundscapes from a wide tonal palette,” SH “taking some pop aesthetic from…[the] dance-oriented Pretty Hate Machine and grinding it up” CQ with “the crashing metal guitars of Broken.” SH He also “integrated…several newfound elements – expanded song structures, odd time signatures, shifting arrangements filled with novel sounds, tremendous textural variety [which] can be traced to the influence of progressive rock.” SH A Wide Range of Genre InfluencesReznor “spearheaded a wave of industrial pop, nu-metal, mid-’90s alternative, and the like, all alongside a leviathan called grunge rock.” CQ The album “distills wide-ranging styles and mesmerizing sound effects into his singular brand of brooding computerized art-rock.” UT The album combines “soundscapes inspired by David Bowie’s Low” 500 with “a series of tense and often troubling scenes pumped up to Pink Floyd-esque grandeur.” TMReznor is also “fluent in King Crimson, knows death metal of the late ‘80s, can do a wicked power-ballad guitar solo when necessary (see Ruiner), and, surprisingly, has a healthy admiration for the droning synths of ‘80s mope-rock.” TM Song Highlights“More important than craft in turning Reznor into a full-fledged rock star, however, was his brooding persona. Grunge had the mainstream salivating over melodramatic angst, which had always been Reznor’s stock in trade.” SH “During the harrowing opening moments of March of the Pigs, he throws you in headfirst. The overdriven, serrated-edge guitars and equally distorted vocal shouts bring you to a place where the order of things means nothing.” TM“On I Do Not Want This, a sociopath expresses the desire to ‘do something that matters.’ He could be referring to anything from rape to a random act of heroism.” TM “The aggressive Closer,” OH which samples drums from Iggy Pop’s “Nightclubbing,” RD ended up being a “left-field hit.” SH It made Reznor “a postmodern shaman for the ‘90s, obsessed with exposing the dark side he saw behind even the most innocuous façades.” SH The “album ends on an affecting emotional peak” SH with “the tentatively hopeful (and intensely personal)” 500 as well as “haunting Hurt. ” OH It “mingles drama and introspection in a way Reznor had never quite managed before. It’s evidence of depth behind the charisma that deservedly made him a star.” SH Johnny Cash covered the song a few years later, calling it “the best anti-drug song I ever heard.” RD “You know you’re awesome when Johnny Cash makes one of your songs his own personal, unplanned eulogy.” CQ
Notes:The 2004 deluxe edition adds a second disc of bonus tracks – “‘Burn’ comes from the soundtrack to Natural Born Killers; ‘Closer (Precursor),’ ‘Closer to God,’ and ‘Memorabilia’ from the Closer to God maxi-single; ‘Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now),’ ‘Hurt (Quiet),’ and ‘The Downward Spiral (The Bottom)’ from the Further Down the Spiral remix EP; the covers of Joy Division’s ‘A Violet Fluid’ and Soft Cell’s ‘All the Pigs, All Lined Up’ from the March of the Pigs maxi-single; and ‘Dead Souls’ from the soundtrack to The Crow. The final three tracks are previously unreleased demos of the album tracks ‘Ruiner,’ ‘Reptile,’ and ‘Heresy.’” WR |
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First posted 3/28/2011; last updated 10/7/2026. |
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