The Downward Spiral
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| The Downward Spiral | ||
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| Studio album by Nine Inch Nails | ||
| Released | March 8, 1994 | |
| Recorded | 1993-1994 Le Pig, Beverly Hills; Record Plant Studios & A&M Studios, Los Angeles | |
| Genre | Industrial rock | |
| Length | 65:02 (original) 70:38 (bonus) |
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| Label | Nothing Records | |
| Producer(s) | Trent Reznor, Flood | |
| Professional reviews | ||
|---|---|---|
| Nine Inch Nails chronology | ||
| Fixed (1992) |
The Downward Spiral (1994) |
Further Down the Spiral (1995) |
| Alternate cover | ||
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| Deluxe Edition cover art | ||
The Downward Spiral (also known as Halo 8) is an LP by Nine Inch Nails, released in 1994. It is the eighth official Nine Inch Nails halo release and the band's third major release.
The album's success propelled NIN into the public consciousness, especially after the release of its popular second single, "Closer", which was accompanied by a controversial video directed by Mark Romanek. Some critics have stated that this album demonstrates Reznor's underlying pop music sensibility, and credit his ability to blend it with typically taboo themes (as seen in the catchy "Closer"). The album served as basis for a remix album entitled Further Down the Spiral, released in 1995. In 2001 Q magazine named The Downward Spiral as one of the 50 Heaviest Albums Of All Time. [1] In 2003, the album was ranked number 200 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the 500 greatest albums of all time. [2]
Most of the album was recorded at Le Pig in Beverly Hills, California, a studio space built by Reznor in the house where Sharon Tate was murdered by members of the Manson Family. Before leaving the house, Trent claimed the infamous 'pig' door, and as of July 2006 the door is still located at the (former) Nothing Studios in New Orleans.
Its final song, "Hurt", was famously covered by Johnny Cash a short while before his death in 2003, and the song is sometimes mistakenly attributed in authorship to Cash. However, one line of the lyrics was altered: 'crown of shit' became 'crown of thorns', possibly to remove the profanity but also in reference to Christ's passion. The altered lyric is also present in the "Clean" version (radio edit).
It is a concept album based around the story of a character losing control of his life and finding himself on a downward spiral resulting from his choices. Its plot follows the character as he tries to rid himself of the trappings of religion and society, using sex and drug abuse as methods of escape. Eventually, this character has to face his internal void. Reznor himself is a sufferer of bipolar disorder and is a recovering alcoholic and drug addict.
Reznor made a (unsourced) statement about working in the Tate house: "While I was working on Downward Spiral, I was living in the house where Sharon Tate was killed. Then one day I met her sister. It was a random thing, just a brief encounter. And she said: 'Are you exploiting my sister's death by living in her house? 'For the first time, the whole thing kind of slapped me in the face. I said, 'No, it's just sort of my own interest in American folklore. I'm in this place where a weird part of history occurred. 'I guess it never really struck me before, but it did then. She lost her sister from a senseless, ignorant situation that I don't want to support. When she was talking to me, I realized for the first time, 'What if it was my sister?' I thought, 'Fuck Charlie Manson. 'I went home and cried that night. It made me see there's another side to things, you know?"
Contents |
[edit] Releases
- TVT Records / Interscope Records / Atlantic Records 92346-2 - CD
- TVT Records / Interscope Records INTD-92346 - CD Re-release
- Interscope Records b0003739-36 - SACD
- Interscope Records b0003762-82 - DVD-A
[edit] Tenth Anniversary Re-releases
On November 23, 2004, The Downward Spiral was re-released to celebrate its tenth anniversary. It is available in two versions: as a 2-disc hybrid SACD set and as a DualDisc (DVD-A on one side and CD on the reverse). The SACD version is known as The Downward Spiral: Deluxe Edition and the DVD-A version is known as The Downward Spiral: DualDisc.
[edit] Deluxe edition
The SACD version consists of two discs. Disc one is a CD/SACD hybrid. It has the original album, digitally remastered, in SACD 5.1 surround and SACD stereo on one layer (only playable in SACD players) and regular CD stereo on the other layer (playable in normal CD players). Disc two consists of b-sides, soundtrack contributions, and previously-unreleased demos presented regular CD stereo only.
This version is labeled halo eight DE.
[edit] DualDisc
[edit] CD side
Contains the original album, digitally remastered. Playable on most regular CD players.
[edit] DVD side
- 5.1 surround and stereo version of the original tracks, digitally remastered
- The Downward Spiral Artwork (plays with the music in DVD-A players, viewable as a slideshow on DVD-Video players)
- Music Videos
- "Closer" (available in 5.1 surround and stereo)
- "March of the Pigs" (stereo)
- "Hurt" (stereo)
- Discography, including selected bits of music from each album (starting with Broken) that run about a minute each
This is a North American release (DVD Region 1) and is labeled halo eight DVD-A.
[edit] Track listing
[edit] Original version
- "Mr Self Destruct" – 4:30
- "Piggy" – 4:24
- "Heresy" – 3:54
- "March of the Pigs" – 2:58
- "Closer" – 6:13
- "Ruiner" – 4:58
- "The Becoming" – 5:31
- "I Do Not Want This" – 5:41
- "Big Man With a Gun" – 1:36
- "A Warm Place" – 3:22
- "Eraser" – 4:54
- "Reptile" – 6:51
- "The Downward Spiral" – 3:57
- "Hurt" – 6:13
The Japanese version also has the Joy Division cover "Dead Souls", from the soundtrack to The Crow, between "Big Man With a Gun" and "A Warm Place".
[edit] Deluxe edition
(disc 1)
- Identical to the original version, although technically improved: 1 dB louder mix overall, track anomalies fixed (sounds from previous tracks creeping up on start of tracks)
- Includes SACD layer
(disc 2)
- Collection of remixes and b-sides. Last three tracks previously unreleased
- "Burn" (from the Natural Born Killers soundtrack) – 5:00
- "Closer (Precursor)" (from Closer to God) (remixed by Coil, Danny Hyde) – 7:16
- "Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)" (from Further Down the Spiral) (remixed by Rick Rubin) – 4:03
- "A Violet Fluid" (from March of the Pigs) – 1:04
- "Dead Souls" (from The Crow soundtrack) (originally by Joy Division) – 4:53
- "Hurt (Quiet)" (from Further Down the Spiral (US version)) (remixed by Trent Reznor) – 5:08
- "Closer to God" (from Closer to God) (remixed by Reznor, Sean Beavan, Brian Pollack) – 5:06
- "All the Pigs, All Lined Up" (from March of the Pigs) – 7:26
- "Memorabilia" – 7:22 (from Closer to God) (originally by Soft Cell)
- "The Downward Spiral (The Bottom)" (from Further Down the Spiral) (remixed by John Balance, Peter Christopherson, Drew McDowall, Hyde) – 7:32
- "Ruiner (Demo)" – 4:51
- "Liar (Reptile Demo)" – 6:57
- "Heresy (Demo)" – 4:00
[edit] Personnel
- John Aguto - Engineer
- Tom Baker - Mastering
- Sean Beavan - Mixing
- Adrian Belew - Ring mod & texture generating guitars
- Charlie Clouser - Programming, Continuity
- Flood - Producer
- Bill Kennedy - Mixing
- Andy Kubiszewski - Drums
- Tommy Lee - Steakhouse
- Danny Lohner - Guitar
- Alan Moulder - Mixing
- Stephen Perkins - Drums
- Brian Pollack - Engineer
- Trent Reznor - Vocals, Guitar, Piano, Arranger, Producer
- Chris Vrenna - Drums, Programming, Sampling
[edit] Chart positions
[edit] Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | The Billboard 200 | #2 |
| 2004 | The Billboard 200 | #19 |
[edit] Singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | "March of the Pigs" | The Billboard Hot 100 | #59 |
| 1994 | "Closer" | The Billboard Hot 100 | #41 |
| 1994 | "Closer" | Modern Rock Tracks | #11 |
| 1994 | "Closer" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | #35 |
| 1994 | "Closer" | Hot Dance Music/Club Play | #29 |
| 1994 | "Closer" | Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales | #29 |
| 1994 | "Piggy" | Modern Rock Tracks | #20 |
| 1995 | "Hurt" | Modern Rock Tracks | #8 |
| 1995 | "Hurt" | Mainstream Rock Tracks | #10 |
[edit] Miscellaneous
- The kick drum sound used in "Closer" is a heavily modified sample from the song "Nightclubbing" from The Idiot album by Iggy Pop. [3]
- The song "Mr. Self Destruct" kick-starts with a sample from the film THX 1138. It is taken from a scene in which a man is being beaten by a guard depicted on a holographic television. [4]
- The looping female voice that appears on "Reptile" (approx. 5:06) is a sample from The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.
- The frantic drumming on the end of "Piggy" (where he repeats that "nothing can stop me now") is courtesy of Reznor himself. This is currently his first and only attempt at live drumming on a record, and one of the few "live" drum performances on the album (Stephen Perkins on "I Do Not Want This" and Andy Kubiszewski on "The Downward Spiral"). He states that it was from him testing the mic setup in studio, but he liked the sound too much not to include it. [5]
[edit] External links
- Official Nine Inch Nails site
- Official The Downward Spiral 10th Anniversary Edition site
- Album Concept breakdown at Everything2.com
- Halo 8 at NINCollector.com
- The Downward Spiral (US CD) at discogs.com
- The Downward Spiral (US LP) at discogs.com
- The Downward Spiral (EU CD) at discogs.com
- The Downward Spiral: Deluxe Edition (US 2xCD) at discogs.com
- Halo 8 Lyrics
