The Downward Spiral [PA] by Nine Inch Nails

Pros: Beautiful, emotional, operatic masterpiece...truly inspiring.
Cons: Nothing.

Happy birthday to me!

As many of you may know, Trent Reznor has been my biggest musical inspiration, and his band, Nine Inch Nails, ranks as one of my favorites of all time. Accordingly, Trent’s second full-length studio album,...

Pros: anger and anguish conveyed through uniquely aggressive sounds
Cons: May be hard to get into

Nine Inch Nails had already released two stellar albums and won a Grammy. But it was 1994's The Downward Spiral that took the industrial metal band to the apex of its acclaim and popularity. Meshing the catchiness of Pretty Hate ...

Pros: Amazing lyrics and musicianship, Trent Reznor has never been better.
Cons: A few filler songs, and he's never again achieved this level of brilliance.

I blame the video for “Closer”. Before that, I’d heard the name Nine Inch Nails, but hadn’t given it a second thought. Just another band. They’re not Prince, or Bowie, so how good could they possibly be? But, man, that video . . . Problem was, no ...

Pros: Yes
Cons: Big man with a gun

The train rattles through the early darkness of an October evening. Rain spatters against the window, inches from my face, as I peer into the pitch darkness beyond: my own reflection more visible than anything beyond the train. It’s almost as if there ...

Pros: It'll smash you in the face and hump ya like the pig you are.
Cons: Largely lacks the delicate nature of a Hungarian dessert wine.

I can just imagine the expression on the faces of record kooks upon hearing the rough mixes of "The Downward Spiral". The guys at Interscope must've been immensely concerned about the mental well-being of Trent Reznor and probably wondered if their ...

Pros: Production, Arrangements, Layers, Instrumentation, Lyrics, Tone, & Performance.
Cons: None.

In 1992, Nine Inch Nails and its leader Trent Reznor had one of the most incredible periods that year when their 1992 EP Broken was an instant success while their 1989 debut album Pretty Hate Machine was still in the mind of fans and ...

Pros: Great industrial music. An album you can listen to all the way through.
Cons: A little heavy for some people. Couple controversial type songs.

Well here I go, involved in my first write-off. Seeing as how the topic is a 5-star album, 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...

Pros: 'Ruiner', 'The Becoming' and 'I Do Not Want This'.
Cons: Vastly overrated, over produced and lacks true originality.

Unfortunately there’s going to be two ways to look at this album. One from the perspective of an industrial nut, basing his opinion on experience from more extreme bands in the genre, or the less experienced, first taste of industrial listener. I ...

Pros: An album brimming with psychological issues, delivered in a very harsh, restrained style...
Cons: While some will write it off, many will identify with the message that it conveys...

To be honest, I think that in a lot of ways Trent Reznor is to music what Clive Barker is to movies and books in the last few decades. Hell, in the booklet for "Pretty Hate Machine," he even credits Clive among various other artists for inspiration for ...

Pros: Epic thematics and variety keep this classic alive after ten years.
Cons: Victimizes itself far too often to be taken seriously. Reznor's hatred for pork is apparent.

Trent Reznor has to be bipolar. The world he paints with his music is of either absolute purity or torrid uncleanliness, a soft second of euphoria or cold and apathetic hell on earth. Fortunately, for his sake, rather than see the glass as half empty or ...

Pros: The Downward Spiral (album, not song)
Cons: Cons don't exist in the same universe as this album.

I've been meaning to review this album forever now. I first heard it for the first time a few months ago (which may not seem like a very long time to hardcore NIN fans who have been listening since Pretty Hate Machine's release, but it is for ...

Pros: The most focused of any of his albums. Pure sonic mayhem with strong melodies. Reptile
Cons: It's only a little over an hour

Nine Inch Nails have been around since the late 80s, but I hadn't even heard of them till about a year ago, and had never heard any of their, (I mean his) music until about 5 months ago. However, from the moment that I first heard Head Like A Hole on ...

Pros: Great production and layering of the music, Trent's best lyrics
Cons: Takes itself VERY seriously, almost to a fault

-I've only been introduced to Nine Inch Nails very recently, through The Fragile, actually, which I quite enjoyed. However, that CD's main flaw to me wasn't that it was overly long or repetitive (which I don't think it was), but that the lyrics ...

Pros: Masterpiece of art which contains tracks that appeal to mainstream audiences.
Cons: Unique and often disjointed sound which not everyone can appreciate.

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 ...

Pros: Angry, broken sound, great pop hooks, passionate, desperate lyrics
Cons: The album has to end sometime

Ah, yes. Here we have it. NIN's most popular and probably most acclaimed album. Interestingly, I must have been in a cave for the first half of 1994, since I did not hear the leadoff single, "March of the Pigs" until almost the summer of that year, ...