The Downward Spiral

To the commenter who said they see lots of NIN bumper stickers, I think that’s the Kia emblem.

Load of nothing album. There's sound and its playing from the speakers but its never really music that captures my attention. There aren't really any hooks or songs, there's noise but not noise that keeps my interest. Quite dissapointed with this album. I like everything it inspired and what it was inspired by but this is a load of meh. March of the Piggies and Hurt are pretty nice songs but I struggle to really remember anything else.

While I admire the production to some degree, Trent Reznor's abrasive whisper has a one-dimensional flow, and his flimsy allusions to Nietzsche ('God is dead / and no one cares') don't even excite this hardened atheist. 'Closer' is a miserable ode to rough animal sex: 'I drink the honey / inside your hive / You are the reason / I stay alive.' His junky and unimaginative philosophizing is incredibly tedious, and tho the instrumental moments can sustain an authentic energy, too much of it sours from Reznor's annoying poetry: 'And nothing comes bleeding out of me / Just like the waterfall I'm drowning in.' In Romanticism, the child is revered. Reznor, however, is only childish. There is a huge difference.

Ehkä joskus teinimpänä olisin välittänyt tästä enemmän, mutta nyt kolmoseksi jää.

I skipped extra quick through this album just in case I happen to die in the middle. I didn’t want this to be the last thing I heard.

My rating is absolutely biased by nostalgia, I've loved this album since I was in high school... the album being 30 doesn't make it any less amazing, though! 🤘

Not as good as I remember when it came out. A little too heavy in places for my current tastes

There were some very good songs on this album! I knew a handful of them already

Sadly a lot of filler though and it was a bit long. I was hoping all these songs would have the same energy as March Of The Pigs - rather than the slower sort of songs

Overall still a good album, but I do prefer the Johnny Cash cover of Hurt!

4 ⭐️

Dark, industrial, powerful, disturbing, groundbreaking. A shame this is the only NIN album in the 1001. While this is NIN's breakthrough album, The Fragile is their (his, really) masterpiece. I'm also a big fan of Year Zero - I wouldn't say it needs to be on the 1001, but it's a great album. Guess the authors needed more room for additional Leonard Cohen albums (insert eye roll emoji). The production style was so new and unique and often imitated afterwards. A great album, but certainly not an easy listen with all of its disturbing imagery. Easy 5. Favorite tracks: Mr. Self Destruct (massive aggression right from track 1), Piggy (love the live version on And All That Could Have Been), Heresy, March of the Pigs, Closer (amazing track - amazing even moreso that it was a huge hit), Ruiner (hmm, I seem to be naming all the songs), The Becoming, Big Man with a Gun, A Warm Place (shades of the instrumentals on David Bowie's Low), Eraser (very dark), Reptile (dark and sludgy), Hurt (supplanted in greatness by Johnny Cash's version, but this one is still amazing, particularly how quiet it is compared to much of the album).

Solid 5. It's only getting better with time.

The Good: Nine Inch Nails
The Bad: Being stuck on a downward spiral
The Ugly: Trying to get out of the spiral without any of the nails puncturing you and causing pain, and blood, and anguish, and mayhem, and…

Like the music, don’t like the music, impossible to ignore the impact that this album had on putting Industrial music in the spotlight, or the soundtrack of the cult classic Se7en!

The album has put me in a slight trance all day, my wife hating the music coming from my speakers, while I just kept on keeping on with whatever I was doing. And to think that during the ‘90s I did not listen to this album ever…

A solid 4* for certain!

Such a dark great comprehensive album. I never realized how nuanced how he delivered his vocals. It's like the album exists inside his head, yet feels so expensive too.

More hardcore than what I choose to listen to usually. But I can appreciate this musically. It is emotional, which I think good music should always be. Goes for an emotion I usually try to avoid, but I can appreciate people feeling seen by this one and getting some release from it. I can put my personal taste aside and give this the full recognition it deserves.

That’s an incredibly easy 5.

I’ve never heard this album until today – the extent of my knowledge of Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails is the few times Weird Al has touched on them in polka stuff, and that Trent Reznor did the soundtrack for Quake 2. Yeah, I know, not a great basis to work with.

This album is a fucking masterclass in using sound design to convey not only a mood, or an atmosphere, but personality traits and full-fledged storytelling, and I can’t say I’ve ever really heard an album break convention to use sound so effectively as a device in this way. I love the way harsher tones denote a more broken mind, and how calming stuff represents the last bastion of sanity left in this main character we’re following. I can only assume this is partially Trent Reznor himself, whether it’s a bit exaggerated or not.

I’m really just stunned; that was a very fast 65 minutes, and it’s remarkably just how much it touches on while sticking to its harsher tones – there’s elements of electronica and dance in here, anchored by some very 80s-adjacent soundscapes, but really torn apart and deconstructed, like the last grasps of a mind trying to find comfort in the past and having them distorted and ripped away. Trent Reznor’s vocal range, as far as his emotional depth goes, is rather impressive here.

I could keep going, but I’m just utterly blown away. Somehow, through all of its pain, it’s kind of beautiful in its honesty. This isn’t a playlist album, not by a long shot, but for 1994, this feels deeply fresh and somehow timeless, even if it’s the least traditional sound there could ever be. It’s a really, REALLY good album, and a highly recommended listen. An incredibly easy 5.

There is a lot I like about NIN. There are more than a few songs like on this album. But so much of it just sounds like noise to me. And Closer feels more and more cringey the older i get.

Missed out on this album when I was a teenager. It's great. 4.28

I love NIN, but this is not my favourite album from them, as groundbreaking as it is. I love most of the songs and the delivery though. It definitely made an impact on the music industry.

the best

I’m a casual fan of early Wax Trax material, and loved Pretty Hate Machine years back, but I never really gave NIN’s later material attention. Digging this a lot more than I expected. It’s got just the right blend of chaos and aggression, but still sticks with that early industrial dance beat to keep it focused. Probably going to be listening to this more.

Average...prefer Pretty Hate Machine