The Downward Spiral is the second studio album by the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released on March 8, 1994, by Nothing Records in the United States and Island Records in Europe. It is a concept album detailing the self-destruction of a man from the beginning of his misanthropic downward spiral to his suicidal breaking point. The album was a commercial success and established Nine Inch Nails as a reputable force in the 1990s music scene, with its sound being widely imitated, and the band receiving media attention and multiple honors.
Band frontman Trent Reznor had moved to 10050 Cielo Drive in Benedict Canyon, Los Angeles, the site of the murder of actress Sharon Tate by members of the Manson Family in 1969; it was transformed into a studio for recording the Broken EP (1992) and subsequently The Downward Spiral with collaborations from other musicians. The album features elements of industrial rock, techno, metal and ambient soundscapes, in contrast to the band’s synth-pop-influenced debut album Pretty Hate Machine (1989). Reznor was strongly influenced by David Bowie‘s Low and Pink Floyd‘s The Wall for their themes of introspection and dissociation, and their focus on texture and space.
The Downward Spiral has been regarded by music critics and audiences as one of the most important albums of the 1990s, and was praised for its abrasive and eclectic nature and dark themes, although it was sensationalized by social conservatives for some of its lyrics. The album spawned two lead singles, March of the Pigs and Closer, in addition to the promotional singles Piggy and Hurt. The lead singles were accompanied by music videos, with the former shot twice and the latter being heavily censored. A remix album titled Further Down the Spiral was released in 1995.
To mark the album’s tenth anniversary, The Downward Spiral was re released on November 23, 2004, in high resolution SACD and DualDisc formats. Disc one of the album’s deluxe edition re release is nearly identical to the original version; track anomalies such as sounds from previous tracks creeping up on start of tracks are fixed, and it includes a stereo and multi-channel SACD layer. The second bonus disc is a collection of remixes and B-sides and also includes a stereo SACD layer in addition to the Redbook CD layer. The last three tracks on the bonus disc are previously unreleased demo recordings from the original album. All tracks are written by Trent Reznor, except Dead Souls by Joy Division and Memorabilia by Soft Cell.
Tracklist:
- Mr. Self Destruct
- Piggy
- Heresy
- March of the Pigs
- Closer
- Ruiner
- The Becoming
- I Do Not Want This
- Big Man with a Gun
- A Warm Place
- Eraser
- Reptile
- The Downward Spiral
- Hurt
Bonus disc
- Burn (from Natural Born Killers)
- Closer (Precursor) (from Closer to God)
- Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now) (from Further Down the Spiral)
- A Violet Fluid (from March of the Pigs)
- Dead Souls (from The Crow or Japanese Edition)
- Hurt (Quiet) (from Further Down the Spiral, US version)
- Closer to God (from Closer to God)
- All the Pigs, All Lined Up (from March of the Pigs)
- Memorabilia (from Closer to God)
- The Downward Spiral (The Bottom) (from Further Down the Spiral)
- Ruiner (Demo)
- Liar (Reptile Demo)
- Heresy (Demo)
Credits
Trent Reznor: vocals, all instruments, drums (on Piggy), arranger, producer
Mark “Flood“ Ellis: producer, hi-hat (on Closer), ARP 2600 synthesizer (on The Becoming)
Chris Vrenna: drums (on Hurt), programming, sampling, additional drums (on Burn)
Adrian Belew: texture generating guitar (on Mr. Self Destruct), ring mod guitar (on The Becoming)
Danny Lohner: additional guitar (on Big Man with a Gun)
Andy Kubiszewski: drums (on The Downward Spiral)
Stephen Perkins: drum loops (on I Do Not Want This)
Charlie Clouser: programming, continuity
John Aguto: engineer
Brian Pollack: engineer
Sean Beavan: mixing
Bill Kennedy: mixing
Alan Moulder: mixing
Tom Baker: mastering
Bob Ludwig: high-resolution mastering (reissue)
James Brown: 5.1 mix (reissue)
Neal Ferrazzani: assistance (reissue)
Russell Mills: paintings
David Buckland: photography
Gary Talpas: package
Rob Sheridan: package, additional photography (reissue)
