Product Description

Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor became an instant alternative-music hero with 1989's PRETTY HATE MACHINE, an angry-yet-accessible album that appealed to rock fans and clubkids alike. Record-label woes led to a five-year delay for Reznor's follow-up, with two hard-edged EPs (BROKEN and its remix disc, FIXED) issued in the interim. Finally released in 1994, THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL seethes with an almost unhinged industrial ferocity, due, in part to both Reznor's frustration with messy bureaucratic entanglements and time spent withMinistry's Al Jourgensen during the peak of that band's guitar-heavy phase.
Although, SPIRAL does reveal the influence of latter-day Ministry (particularly on the blazing opener, "Mr. Self Destruct", and the scathing, distortion-filled "March of the Pigs"), Reznor also incorporates elements of progressive rock and funk into the proceedings. More than anyother Nine Inch Nails song, the provocative, groove-laden "Closer" (and its shocking video) established Reznor as a bold, audacious artist. In contrast, quiet and emotive songs such as Eno-esque instrumental "A Warm Place" and the spare, haunting "Hurt" (famously covered by Johnny Cash shortly before the country legend's death) revealed Reznor's sensitive side. Here the intense performer works with his largest sonicpalette yet, and the results are fascinating.

Track Listing

Disc 1:

1. Mr. Self Destruct
2. Piggy
3. Heresy
4. March Of The Pigs
5. Closer
6. Ruiner
7. The Becoming
8. I Do Not Want This
9. Big Man With A Gun
10. A Warm Place
11. Eraser
12. Reptile
13. The Downward Spiral
14. Hurt
15. Mr. Self Destruct
16. Piggy
17. Heresy
18. March Of The Pigs
19. Closer
20. Ruiner
21. The Becoming
22. I Do Not Want This
23. Big Man With A Gun
24. A Warm Place
25. Eraser
26. Reptile
27. The Downward Spiral
28. Hurt
29. Mr. Self Destruct
30. Piggy
31. Heresy
32. March Of The Pigs
33. Closer
34. Ruiner
35. The Becoming
36. I Do Not Want This
37. Big Man With A Gun
38. A Warm Place
39. Eraser
40. Reptile
41. The Downward Spiral
42. Hurt

Disc 2:

1. Burn
2. Closer (Precursor)
3. Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)
4. A Violet Fluid
5. Dead Souls
6. Hurt (Quiet)
7. Closer To God
8. All The Pigs, All Lined Up
9. Memorabilia
10. The Downward Spiral (The Bottom)
11. Ruiner
12. Liar
13. Heresy
14. Burn
15. Closer (Precursor)
16. Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)
17. A Violet Fluid
18. Dead Souls
19. Hurt (Quiet)
20. Closer To God
21. All The Pigs, All Lined Up
22. Memorabilia
23. The Downward Spiral (The Bottom)
24. Ruiner
25. Liar
26. Heresy

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #23368 in Music
• Released on: 2005-02-07
• Number of discs: 2
• Formats: SACD, Explicit Lyrics
• Running time: 336 minutes

Customer Reviews

Awsome
I love NIN have done for years and this is my first SACD and frankly I am still recovering, it is awsome. I would say CD's are the past but looking at the titles available for SACD's maybe not. Why has this format never taken off, I don't get it?. So many things you have never heard right there in your face, its the mutts nuts. Buy it, buy it now!

The best gets better
OK, I'll start by putting my cards on the table. I am a NIN fan. A big NIN fan. But I really wanted to write something about this release. I bought the original of Downward Spiral when it first came out, and it blew me away. As is shown by some of the reviews below, NIN is clearly not for everyone. Reznor's lyrics are very intense, and personal.

However, I must disagree that the music is a "cacophony". If you listen to it carefully, there are as many layers in Trent Reznor's music as in something like Mahler. Call me pretentious if you want, but...

And this is where the SACD comes into its own. SACD is so much clearer than CD or even DVDA / DVDV, and the mix on the SACD separates out the elements of these tracks so that even a die-hard NIN nut like me hears things I have never heard before.

OK, I have a serious top-end system, but anyone with a decent surround system with an SACD-capable player should get this, if you are even vaguely interested in NIN (or even like other bands like Marilyn Manson).

If you don't have an SACD player, this is possibly still worth it, for the inclusion of pieces mainly from the Further Down the Spiral ep, which form the second disc.

Now, why does Trent not release all his other albums on SACD?

sheer brilliance
i must say, that this is my most celebrated buy in years. never since have i been so captivated with any cd before or since. the way mr. reznor creates those sounds is frankly beyond me, and the songs he writes are simply frightening. not because they talk about suicide and self loathing, but the fact that you can't help but love them.
i really can't recommend this album enough. if you like any sort of depressing, wierd, industrial music then i would recommend this.
personal favourites, the ruiner with its wierd pop synth beats, and reptile, for what i can only imagine as a disturbed child crying in the background in the last chorus.


compelling