Pros: Videos and artwork add additional symbolism to the albums already thick imagery.
Cons: Video images are too graphic for minors.
The Bottom Line: Buy it. Being able to scroll through the videos for "Hurt" and "Closer" to contemplate their meanings at leisure is enough to justify the additional cost of the Dual Disc.
welleducated's Full Review: The Downward Spiral (Dual Disc) [PA] [Remaster] by...
“The Downward Spiral” Dual Disc DVD offers a fair amount of additional content for the additional cost. However, it also contains highly disturbing images and something I would urge parents to keep their children away from until they’re 18. Following the imagery of the album, one version of the main menu graphics gives the impression of metal fused with skin; small pustules push through holes while what looks like seared flesh protrudes from the edges. “The Downward Spiral” Dual Disc includes Dolby surround sound and stereo playlists, three video tracks, an image gallery (showcasing artwork from the album) and a listing of Nine Inch Nails’ body of work.
The first video is for “Closer” and is offered in both surround and stereo. This is not the version edited for MTV. Rather, it is Reznor’s original vision and includes extremely graphic imagery. The video opens with a heart on a chair, attached to electrodes. Throughout the video, a nude woman appears, a monkey is tied to a cross, a pig’s head turns on a spit with an apple in its mouth and numerous images of bondage appear. Clearly, “Closer” is not a video for the youth of the nation. That being said, the video is clearly in synch with the artistry of the album. One could spend hours dissecting the meaning as he/she moved through the video one frame at a time. Set aside metaphoric imagery that smacks of “Lord of the Flies” and you’re still left with the dual images of Reznor hanging by both unseen and visible chains mixed with a slab of beef cut open for the market, also hanging by chains. The video is deliberate and purposeful. While some images appear straight forward (a naked woman spinning two eggs; Reznor with a red ball gag/a pig’s head on a spit with an apple in its mouth; a fleeting image of Reznor standing with a shell, cut open in one hand, staring off camera until his eyes momentarily flit to make direct contact with the viewer; cockroaches fumbling in sawdust), others are more subtle (a man in a booth, separated by translucent glass, a hole just where his face is, his left arm protruding from a gap beneath the glass, a pile of books and a slate that says “Copyright by 926” with an anatomical picture of a heart). Like any extraordinary painting or piece of literature, the symbolism is complex and open to interpretation.
In contrast, “March of the Pigs” is a more straightforward video. Playing against a white background, Reznor is clad in burgundy leather pants and a black t-shirt with leather gloves, overlaid by a long sleeve, fish net shirt. Fellow musicians are clad in black as Reznor belts out his lyrics and smacks the mic around. The video ends with the image of a hand over the camera lens. One can just make out what looks like Reznor in the background having makeup put on while the video crew wonders around.
“Hurt” is a live video that does a great job of showcasing the effort Reznor can put into his touring act. This video also contains graphic images and opens with a projection of a dead fox decomposing. A huge canvas theater screen is stretched across the stage behind which one can just make out Reznor singing. As with “Closer,” one could take days dissecting the meaning behind each symbol. Images of a snake are juxtaposed with images of dead soldiers, plants, women, reptiles, explosions and so much more.
Including a listing of Nine Inch Nails’ body of work is a nice touch. One can scroll through the track lists for Halos 1-17, checking out selected sample tracks and video clips. Disappointingly, no sample tracks are included for the “Pretty Hate Machine” years (Halos 1-4). Still, the list is extensive and the variety of both tracks and video clips is a nice touch.
Sample tracks are as follows:
Halo_5 (“Broken” EP 1992) – “Wish”
Halo_6 (“Fixed” EP 1992) – “Gave Up” (remix by Coil with Danny Hyde)
Halo_7 (“March of the Pigs” Single 1994) – “All the Pigs, All Lined Up”
Halo_8 (“The Downward Spiral” LP 1994) – “Hurt”
Halo_9 (“Closer to God” Single 1994) – “Closer to God”
Halo_10 (“Further Down the Spiral” EP 1995) – “Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)”
Halo_11 (“The Perfect Drug” EP 1997) – “The Perfect Drug” (remix by Meat Beat Manifesto)
Halo_12 (“Closure” Double VHS 1997) – “March of the Pigs” [video live], “Wish” [video live] & “The Perfect Drug” [video clip]
Halo_13 (“The Day the World Went Away” Single 1999) – “The Day the World Went Away”
Halo_14 (“The Fragile” Double LP 1999) – “Somewhat Damaged,” “The Wretched,” “Into the Void,” & “Starf^ckers, Inc.”
Halo_15 (“We’re In This Together” Import Singles 1999) – “We’re In This Together”
Halo_16 (“Things Falling Apart” LP 2000) – 㥶 Miles High” (version)
Halo_17 (“And All That Could Have Been” Live DVD/VHS 2002) – “The Wretched” [video live] & “The Great Below” [video live]
(“And All That Could Have Been” Live Deluxe LP 2002) – “Gave Up”
(“And All That Could Have Been” CD Two) – “And All That Could Have Been”
CD REVIEW -----------------------------------------------
When Trent Reznor first hit the industrial scene with “Pretty Hate Machine,” it was clear he was a genius. This one-man band took industrial into mainstream airwaves and found a broad audience for his music. Nine Inch Nails wrapped industrial up with a pop filler that made it more palatable for the masses. “The Downward Spiral” is not that kind of album.
I had the rare pleasure of seeing Reznor’s first solo tour for “Pretty Hate Machine” at the Warfield in San Francisco. A beautiful old theater with balcony seating, the Warfield’s carvings and old-world trappings were the perfect backdrop as Reznor swung by a chain through the thick smoke out over the audience. Reznor’s performance was gripping. When I returned from a summer trip to Europe, all I heard about was Reznor’s “breakdowns” on stage and how he threw a fit at Lollapalooza, storming off stage and refusing to finish. In some ways, it feels like Reznor does the same thing on “The Downward Spiral,” but that is his genius. He is creating more than songs to top the charts, he is creating music so tangible that one can virtually see it and touch it.
Reznor layers sound like a painter layering images for a landscape. To create a fully vibrant background for his striking lyrics, Reznor toys with music, adding unexpected details and sounds. “Mr. Self Destruct” opens with the sound of footfalls (or is it the sound of fists falling) and a man’s cries, followed by fierce crashing guitars and screams proclaiming, “I am the voice inside your head … and I control you.” Then Reznor takes the listener on a journey where he maintains control at all times. Using sudden changes in arrangements and odd time signatures, the listener is caught in a riptide of unpredictable sound, never knowing when or where he’ll at last find the water’s edge and gasp air.
For another artist, the intricacies of “The Downward Spiral” would preclude any commercial success. Yet the album spawned two singles: “March of the Pigs” and “Closer.” With flailing drums, “March of the Pigs” opens to a wild roller coaster of what appears to be traditional industrial rage: “I want to break it up. I want to smash it up.” Yet this is a trick and Reznor changes midstream to a lilting chorus that ends with an ironic “Now doesn’t that make you feel better?” only to fall into another round of smashing guitar chords. In complete contrast, “Closer” is about as sexy as a song can get. Leading in with pulsing drums, one can feel the veins flowing as the keyboards come in: “You let me violate you.” It is this ability to hook the listener in from the first note that gives Reznor’s music such power. “You get me closer to God!” he cries.
Although they didn’t spawn a commercial single, both “Hurt” and “Piggy” also received radio play, with “Hurt” garnering even more attention after a 2002 Johnny Cash cover. The closest thing to a ballad on the entire album, “Hurt” opens to the sounds of white noise and slowly builds with whispering lyrics to a thrumming guitar until the drums come out and Reznor proclaims: “You could have it all, my empire of dirt. I will let you down. I will make you hurt.” Then the music abruptly settles down, only to build once more until it falls into a single guitar note stretching endlessly back into white noise. In contrast, “Piggy” has a simple, repetitive beat that underscores Reznor’s sighing and then angry voice. As the second track on the album, he prepares the listener for the inevitable journey they will be drawn into as he endlessly repeats “Nothing can stop me now.” Through to the last second of the track, the final notes of the song can still be heard playing as if they are only fading into the distance, rather than coming to an end.
But these four tracks are in no way the pinnacle of this album, which contains over an hour of provocative music. Reznor is a true artist. Combining an extensive palette of sounds with double entendre lyrics, he is both a painter and a poet tracking the mental journey of one man in song. “The Downward Spiral” remains the highest selling Nine Inch Nails album in the United States. It also received a number of critical accolades including: ranked 25 by Spin’s list of the 㺜 Greatest Albums, 1985-2005” and 200 on Rolling Stone’s 䀬 Greatest Albums of All Time.” The album’s “Self Destruct” tour reached mass audiences at Woodstock 㥦 where it was seen in 24 million homes on pay-per-view.
With these credentials, it is clear that “The Downward Spiral” has many gems. “Heresy” is an intense spine chiller in which Reznor proclaims, “God is dead!” Another high-energy favorite is “Ruiner.” With a guitar solo reminiscent of Pink Floyd’s “The Wall,” the tension builds and the lyrics marvel at the strength of the oppressor until, once again, Reznor underscores his storytelling (“Nothing can hurt me, nothing can stop me now”) with repetitive sound and lyrics which, this time, are cut off abruptly. “The Becoming” cuts into this blank space to simulated sounds of human cries and robotic noise, telling the metaphorical story of a soul’s death by replacing emotions with the coldness of machine. Left to drums, vocals and piano, “I Do Not Want This” continues this theme of the man being emptied and replaced with only the chorus to try to scream in protest against the robotic sounds of the process: “And maybe this is a cry for help.” Yet the song fades out with the sounds of the machine still intermingled with the cries of the man. Thus begins “Big Man With a Gun” where factory noise intermingles with the ravings of the man who seems to have lost the fight for his soul. He screams, “I’m as hard as f^cking steel, and I’ve got the power.” Finally in “A Warm Place” the sounds of agony slip away and in come the soft, dream-like sounds of the synthesizer, void of a single word. With a total of 14 words found in twelve lines, “Eraser” follows up with a beat that kicks against the confines of its indistinct structure for 3.5 minutes, as if trying to become more than the song which contains it. In the final minute of the song, the lyrics burst out and rise into indistinct noise. “Reptile” embodies the industrial genre. Filled with mechanical sounds, at one point the man can be heard as if yelling from within the confines of the machine. “Need to contaminate to alleviate this loneliness.” Finally, the sounds of a respirator and the whir of monitors lead into title track “The Downward Spiral.” Softly spoken words over anguished cries, the narrator talks about shooting himself. Then the album closes its story with “Hurt” and the promise that “if I could start again, a million miles away, I would keep myself. I would find a way.”
To truly appreciate “The Downward Spiral,” one should look at it as art – a novel or a series of paintings – which tell the epic story of one man’s journey. Much like its predecessor, Pink Floyd’s “The Wall,” this album is made greater by the sum of its parts. However, industrial is not for everyone. Just as an abstract painter does not have mass appeal, industrial rarely breaks into the mass market. Once again, proving the genius of both Reznor and Picasso in painting their art so vividly that even the novice connoisseur can appreciate the greatness of individual works.
My individual rankings of each song are more in line with the potential commercial response rather than focused on a song’s merits as a work of art. While “Mr. Self Destruct” is a masterpiece of storytelling through sound and lyrics, it would not be well received by those who had not cultivated a taste for such things. As with Picasso, it will not have mass appeal due to its disjointed sound. On the other hand, “Closer” is an anthem for teens and sexuality and, therefore, will please a much wider audience. So, with that disclaimer…
My individual song rankings relative to mass appeal (* to *****):
1. Mr. Self Destruct **
2. Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now) ****
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 *****
---------Check out my other Video reviews-----------
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