Today of course marks the 30th anniversary of nine inch nails' legendary record The Downward Spiral. This masterpiece of an album was released March 8, 1994, and was a pretty intense thing for 14 year old me to hear.
This photo is from Instagram - Trent just posted it, saying what 28 year old him had to say still excites him but breaks his heart. It's a dark album, man. All the pigs are still lined up.
@jake4480 it is a dark album. I remember when The Fragile[*] came out, and I remember telling a friend that I was surprised how hopeful it was, considering the nihilism of The Downward Spiral
[*] Perhaps my favorite album — or at least what I say when I have to pick a favorite studio album. I think of it now as a harbinger of his current film score career.
@jonathankoren wow so true. I love all his film stuff too haha- The Fragile has some really good spots. After I found out later about the drugs, The Fragile made so much sense haha. Both albums, really.
@jake4480 absolutely. Trent Reznor had some serious battles, but he’s seem to have beaten them. Like every recent interview I’ve read with him makes it sound like he’s well adjusted and happy now.
@jonathankoren I know! One of the few success stories from that era after losing Kurt, Layne, Chris, Shannon, Scott, and so many others. Ridiculous. VERY few dudes recover from smack addictions. Him and.. Mark Arm from Mudhoney? Bowie and Iggy? Not many.
@jake4480 Absolutely. It's a storming album that hasn't aged for me. It's as fresh and hard hitting as it was 30 years ago.
You posted the line and the rest of the lyrics just bubbled up unbidden 🎸
@jake4480 I'm old enough that this album marked the point I started losing interest in NIN. In my circles we had been listening since PHM. It really is a great album, though.
@kevin ha! I definitely heard PHM around this same time, maybe the year before - or even in 92. As I like to say, nin are an 80s band. hahaha. I like stuff from nearly every nin record minus maybe, Hesitation Marks. Less or more depending on album. With Teeth I found wild, especially. And Year Zero. I like sober Trent just as much as uh.. other Trent. haha. But yeah, his stuff definitely got me into Coil, Throbbing Gristle, Prick, the weirder industrial stuff out there. Legendary.
March of the Pigs was my first-love with NIN, and then Big Man With a Gun; both ultra powerful heavy songs with just enough pop sensibility to be catchy.
@buru5 wow RIGHT? I'm not sure what I heard first, probably Pigs, then of course Closer and I did buy it pretty soon after it came out that year. Still so fresh and so good. I love the whole thing but my favorite on it will always be Ruiner. What a SONG.
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