Exploration of Mainstream Music Subject B: NIN: Album #2: The Downward Spiral: Thoughts: Wow...I was so misinformed...
...I always wanted to try this album out...I'd heard "Closer" and "March of the Pigs" before hand and liked the rhythm to them even if they still had pop tendencies attached to them the sound still felt very raw...there are those nay sayers that say "This isn't industrial look it follows a simple beat and melody and is just reliant on Trent's vocals"...well done...I'm glad you can point out the obvious...this is reliant on Trent's very clever vocals and yes...it is rather likely that the melody samples made are very simple...however; this does not mean it's a bad album at all...in fact it is the best mainstream album I've heard since Muse's "Origin of Symetry" and I cherish and regard that album quite highly...allow me to analyze the tracks...

Mr. Self-Destruct 10/10: Fell in love with this song...what starts with a movie sample implodes into a very fast beat...which someone said was 13/4...this is a lie...it is just basic 4/4 time signature but nice try...the whole time Trent explodes into this synthy hook and shouts...it's fast and hurried and throughout the whole time the tempo seems to increase your heart rate to an unnatural point...it then suddenly breaks into a very quiet whisper and bass...which in one place where I was listening to it quietly had thought the track had actually stopped...it then very gradually gets louder until exploding with a sforzando and ends how it starts...relentless and aggressive...oh and with a lot of static feedback...to a crazy guitar ostinato which had me very impressed...very impressed indeed...

Piggy 8/10: A much more relaxed begginning...the bass quietly grooving to itself while Trent sings about pigs of some sort...there's a chorus key change also where you can hear the ghost of the mechanical noises of the previous track...the synths then enter in the second verse...it's one of those tracks when everything gradually builds up on eachother as is the fashion in most industrial music...but to be honest it's not the best in my opinion...maybe because it's overshadowed from the previous track but it just didn't have enough emotion or aggression for me...

Heresy 9/10: Starts with some very dark synthy bass and the typical industrial drums...Trent's voice is put through a machine...it sounds very electronic and gives off this oh so dark feel with his falsetto...within the chorus the whole synthed instruments explode with the line "GOD IS DEAD!!" from Trent...the guitar then enters with a repitive evil mechanical riff...another straight up industrial track with nothing special...but I accept this is of mainstream media and incredibly good at what it does...

March of the Pigs 10/10: I can't help but enjoy this incredibly short song...the whole quick build up from the drums to the quick bass and then the sudden explosions that are suddenly stopped by a calm piano interlude only to explode right into action again...it's a very simple concept but work so so so well...one of the highlights...the only problem is I wish they did more with the track...

Closer 9/10: Probably one of the more fampus songs on the album (Hurt is more well known due to Johnny Cash's cover) starting with a very simple synthetic beat Trent turns the entire song into an obvious innuendo with his vocals...personally it reminds me slightly of Terrible Lie in the previous album only with alot more going on and the instrumentals with a lot more of an interesting arrangements...I especially like the very funky bass...the ending is also a very good gradual window to some calm and desolate synthetic notes...well done Trent...well done...

Ruiner 10/10: Starts with some very interesting sampled noises put in a melodic sequence transferring over to a synth loop...Trent adds his magic by going crazy in the chorus with drums and sound completely muffling everything and turning into what seems like a holy synthesiser noise Trent asking "How did you get so big" until being dragged back into the land of crazy noises...a random woman's voice is now added and backing vocals of his own voice sounding like he's arguing crazily to himself...and then the holy synths come back for the chorus...only to be dragged into a simple bass beat on its own...a distorted guitar then attempts to solo over the bass without falling apart and the drums try and give it some moral support...it then returns to a darker more evil version of the chorus with the holy synths no longer present until they return a few bars later...the whole track feels alive and is of course one of the main reasons I enjoy it so much...

The Becoming 10/10: Starts with an awkward toy like bass line that sweeps into a synthy bass beat with random people screaming in the background...Trent enters talking calmly over the screams and trying to sound normal while the clunking of metal can be heard...who knows what's happening to these people right now...they just won't stop screaming over the beat...in time to the beat as well...they must be all musicians or something...hurrah...he clearly seems to be in a lot of musical pain at this point...it's then broken with an accoustic guitar quite cleverly...the screaming turns to breathing and groaning and Trent talks about something or other...I enjoy his crazy thoughts but the lyrics are rather...something...the machine then comes back at full blast with lots of crazy sound not staying in one specific octave and going all over the place...Trent then keeps talking in the hope to reassure the machine but failing quite badly at beating the noises in his head...an amazing track...

I Do Not Want This 10/10: Alot more of a dark and solemn track...primitive like drums used played over a piano and good old singing Trent who decided to randomly sample other people's voices too...he doesn't want this apparently...it then explodes into this crazy "DON'T YOU TELL ME HOW I FEEL!" tantrum which then very suddenly fades away back into a variation of section A which sounds like it has a life support machine in the background...random crazy talking samples added makes this track very dark in it's own right...not like Sopor Aeternus or Sunn O))) dark but still...in it's own crazy way...dark...the fuzzed up guitar then takes first in line in the mix and starts playing really heavily and unnoticable notes will pass your ears until it gradually grinds to a halt...there is a lot going in this track...yet again another amazing track...just too much stuff for me to point out everything that happens...

A Man With a Big Gun 8/10: Another short and intense track...this time about the problems of gun trouble within america and how men use it to magnify their masculinity...it's pretty good but so short there's a chance that it'll never actually kick in with you...unlike march of the pigs and Mr. Self Destruct it just seems to be a consistent barrage of noise with no actual evolution...

A Warm Place 9/10: Starting with a soft choral sound that keeps slowly appearing and disappearing...the calm sonars in the background as these calm waves of chords slowly rise up with the sonar of this giant machine...the synths add their own very eerie melody to this beautifully fragile piece of music as it tries to find its feet...no drums at this point...just the calm drones of music...the key changes as the waves of chords decide to take a new direction and stay in a swirling pool for a while...these calm organs come in as the synthesisers add a new melody to a new tapestry...it feels like someone is slowly drowning and they don't know how to feel about it...this makes me really interested in Trents instrumental tracks however...

Eraser 9/10: The light thud and scrape of drums starts this track as there is awkward voice noises slowly carrying it until the true drum track comes through and the voices get all deformed and distorted...the synths then enter with a one note ostinato reliant on its rhythm...a higher synthed sound adds a bit more melody varying in notes sounding like the creaking of a gate if you put it through a computer (if that makes sense) and as it begins to build more and more the whole melodic part gets doubled up and gradually louder and louder as time goes by...ever so slowly so you can take in everything it's trying to say to you...Trents voice then cuts out the entire atmosphere with his piano and awkward cutting like drums...then exploding into his own creation all together shouting "ERASE ME!! KILL ME!!!" Probably wanting to create some kind of suicide anthem or something...very low static then slowly builds up and the track dies away...

Reptile 10/10: Starting with a calm "Nothing on TV" tone out comes this popping sound of percussion that builds up into an explosion of awkward sounds...to me it sounds like bunnies getting their heads very quickly chopped off...but I'm sure there's a more logical sound to think of...Trent and the thundering bass enter and he sings about...something...it then explodes into this other sound crazy sounds everywhere but alot more controlled and restrained at this point...and still chopping bunnies heads off...the distorted guitar then enters sounding like a tyrannosarus for some reason (well the song is called reptile Oliver)...this then goes on for a while with Trent still singing yada yada (it is 8 minutes long after all) and the chorus is brought back...and he doesn't stop with the bunny head chopping...and ends with crazy voice sounds and the guitar comes back sounding like a crazy roar...maybe that's what's decapitating the bunnies...OF COURSE!! It all makes sense now...

The Downward Spiral 10/10: Starting with a cold howling sound slowly building into some chattering noises...the guitars enter with gradually growing pings in an awkwardly quiet yet busy atmosphere...we then hear a melody that we heard at the end of Closer with those cold evil notes...now in accoustic form we can see its true colours...turquoise...who'd ever thought...ends with crazy muttering and a muffled scream...it's definetely a track that you will either feel very powerfully about...or just say very ignorantly "Duuur this sounds so emo"...it's all personal preference...personally I love what Trent is trying to get across...

Hurt 9/10: And of course we end with the most sucessful song...a dark and eerie ballad of hurting oneself...I'm not even going to bother analyzing it because it's very likely that you've heard already and I'm wasting enough time writing this review as it is...

..overall I found this album to be a much more interesting treat then I expected...although the bass lines and drum beats would be simple to perform...they all work together to develop textures of very very very evil hate...Trent really did well with this album and I expect him to carry on in this evolutionary way to stay within the good book of my mainstream outlook...

...unfortunately I have to skip reviewing the Fragile...it would just take to long to review every track in a double album so I move on to their apparent "sell out" album when Trent sobers up...what will I find?

Dissecting the Spiral
A lot of people seem to bash a review titled "A Kid's Review," so I'm going to start off by saying that I am 14 years old, not 13 or under, and I don't consider myself an expert on Nine Inch Nails or on music in general. I just like putting my opinion out there to help people make informed decisions about the music they buy.

Now, I think it's generally pointless to pigeonhole an album as "the best album ever." It does a disservice to all the other great albums out there, just as it seriously narrows your or anyone's taste in music. On a similar note, an album doesn't have to be totally obscure for you to like it. Don't tell me this is pop. Sure, it has elements of a pop-like structure, but just because other people actually know about an album and like it doesn't make it mainstream.

So now we're at The Downward Spiral. What Trent has here is a fairly depressing, not-so-easy listening mix of techno beats, synth, static, sound effects, loud guitars, screaming, whispering, occasional singing, and a bunch of melodic hooks. No, it's not metal, and I never said it was. It doesn't easily fit into a genre, but it's not genre-shattering. It's just a snakier, more sinister, depressing version of what Trent was already doing. The lyrics supposedly depict one man's descent into insanity, which is more or less suitable. The lyrics are not earth-shattering, but those who say they're inane are missing the point. Big Man With A Gun is satirical, Closer is desperate, Heresy depicts religious fanatics, not religion. This is an album meant to show, not to tell. It describes, it doesn't instruct. Don't take it to heart. If anything, it says what not to do if you wish to remain sane and alive in today's society.

If nothing else, Trent Reznor is a master of texture. If, perhaps, you're turned off by Closer's chorus (which you shouldn't be, for reasons I've already explained), then listen carefully to the final two-and-a-half minutes of the song. When a hook comes in that you really like, focus on it, and be amazed as the other hooks and beats surrounding you complement and enhance it. Switch focus to the piano melody, and I'm sure you'll be pleased to find that this crazy layering effect applies to everything in the song. Do the same to the exploding March Of The Pigs and suddenly it seems more melodic, rather than Reznor merely screaming "I wanna f*** it up!" and such as you may have thought at first. The piano coda stands out more, and the synth line is melodically interesting.

All of the above said (and I know it was long, but hopefully it was helpful), The Downward Spiral isn't for everyone (at times, myself included). If nothing else, buy Closer and listen to it in the manner that I suggested, and you might find something you like. If you like it enough, buy the whole thing and let it sink in. But let it sink in multiple times so you can actually appreciate what Reznor has done here, instead of dismissing it as "mainstream," or the opposite extreme, "just noise."

Down In It
Not much can be said about this that hasn't been said before.Yes,it is dark and intense and explores the deepest parts of the psyche but i don't think this is necessarily a bad thing.I think this album can be very therapeutic in a way to help release built up emotions.Embrace the way you feel when you listen to this album as it is in all of us humans."The Downward Spiral" is an emotional rollercoaster and is well worth the ride if you stay on till the end.I got this cd when it first came out and it STILL gets regular play at my house.Buy,cheat,or steal a copy of this if you have to.Just get it whatever you do!

The Downward spiral
This is one of my favourite album of all "extreme" music of ninety years. Music and lyrics are quite all about social and sexual disease, swinging from anger and hate to a deep latent anxiety and a self-annihilation desire. The sound, as the rest, is very innovative and deep. Try to listen something for a better comprehension.

ignore the nay-sayers
First of all, owning all the throbbing gristle, coil, skinny puppy, laibach, wumpscut, or whatever other " real" industrial LPs doesn't make you some kind of expert on music.

downward spiral is highly overrated by the mainstream music critics but at the same time it is highly underrated by people who's main mission in life is to only listen to underground music and to constantly talk about how mainstream music will never be as good.

All the bands listed above are great. That doesn't make nine inch nails bad. Saying that there is no musical talent on this album is absurd. in fact pretty hate machine to the fragile are all really good albums

i'm not going to bother going into detail on this album because there are six hundred other reviews to do that for you.

its a good album. regardless of whether or not you usually listen to silver mt. zion on vinyl with all your snobby friends. Its possible to like underground music and also be able to appreciate something more popular. its called listening to what you like instead of what your supposed to like in your close-minded music elitist world.

good music is good music. get over yourself