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Music : The Downward Spiral
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Rating: 
- Trent's best?? Maybe....
I first got the album on cassette not long after it came out in 1994 at the age of 14, and I am not ashamed to say I was pushed towards it by seeing NIN tracks on beavis & butthead!!
At the time, I think I was listening to Jesus Jones, Blur, some metal, Megadeth, Anthrax etc. Putting it on in mother's car on the way back from town I think it nearly made her crash it. Mr Self Destruct was a nasty piece of work to say the least, but now it just seems the norm. Then we had Piggy, not a bad little slow one. By the time we got to Heresy, I think it got turned off to be "listened to at home".
Anyway, that's enough sentimental rubbish, this album has stood the test of time, definitely. Don't get me wrong, I still dig the hard Depeche style sound of Pretty Hate Machine, and I will never get bored of Fragile, but Downward Spiral is where NIN set the mark for everything that followed, and probably why Trent has never silenced the critics since.
The arrangement, layering, samples and effects on this album make it that little bit cleverer, deeper and more empathetic than his more recent efforts.
It took me a couple of years of the odd listen to get what was going on, that may have been my own naivety or just getting into more electronic luminaries such as Orbital, Erasure and the more creative aspects of Pop Will Eat Itself in the meantime.
In the last couple of years, I probably haven't given the record as many listens as I may have done say 5 years ago. That may be due to me discovering Foetus - Nail, all the shoegazer bands (Ride, Swervedriver etc), Luke Haines, Julian Cope and Cathal Coughlan, my 8 year love for Nitzer Ebb and co, and my general disappointment at With Teeth and other releases.
But what I will say is, The Downward Spiral is a fantastic piece of art, and if you are just a little bit curious, get hold of a copy and just see what you think.
Oh, for people who say, "yeah yeah, this is really depressing music", it isn't. It's just realistic, a little understanding always helps, don't you think??
Rating: - much imitated, never equalled
Let's get one thing out of the way - this is not a rock album, or a metal album, or anything like that. It falls neatly into that rather overcooked category "electronic dance music" in almost all respects, and certainly isn't the only such album to make prominent use of the old six string (as do everybody from Daft Punk to Redanka to Skazi).
I say this, because to judge this as a rock album is to completely miss the point of NIN main-man Trent Reznor's abilities - there are only a very few producers (in the EDM sense) as imaginative and immersed in the finest details as Reznor, none of which work in the various genres termed "industrial". The lyrical obsessions with control and domination are only half the picture. Reznor seeps into every second of this record; samples and found sounds aren't just thrown in, but meticulously weaved into the mix. He is matched in this perhaps only by the more cerebral minimal techno producers, such as Richie Hawtin. That he was doing this in 1994 (and before), in the era before dual-core Logic 8/Cubase 4-powered, soft-synth loaded mega-computers, in nothing short of remarkable - this record sounds completely perfect, timeless, permanently modern and impeccably loud.
Forget the massive hits. "March Of The Pigs" rages nicely, of course, and "Closer" is a grinding slo-mo club-banger of the first order (yet was thrown into the "modern rock" playlists!). But it's all about the lumbering, crescendoing waltz of "Eraser", indisputable album highlight - building from a couple of reedy, wheezy FX, through a cavernous beat and layers of detuned synths, dropping into a vocal breakdown, and only then launching one of the clipped-to-death snarling guitar riffs that make up Reznor's claim to alterna-rock royalty. (I barely need to tell people to ignore the lyrics, which are portentiously angsty and more-or-less wafer thin. But then, dance music fans are used to ignoring dreadful lyrics.)
Also pay close attention to "Hurt". It may have escaped many people's attention, given the now-popular myth (in the sense of its social role, rather than the sense of a lie or untruth) building around the Johnny Cash cover. If you want an object lesson in why Trent Reznor is great, forget about the Man in Black and compare him with his 'rival' producer, Rick Rubin. While the latter piles on the string section, records everything with the bright and clean sound beloved of American Idol finalists and generally does all he can to make Cash sound completely out of place, Reznor tweaks everything and sits it in a gentle bed of resonating noise. The big moment in the second chorus is provided by a semi-monotonous guitar thump. Reznor doen't need the string section to get a bit of drama.
A classic of the producer's art, and a classic electronic album anyway.
Rating: - in response to review below.
I was a moody teenager who LOVED NIN with a passion - the angst fell away and i got into a much wider range of music.
but having revisited this after what must be at least 10 or more years since i last heard it - i have found i still beleive it is a really good album.
ignore the self loathing and 'i hate the world' attitude and you still have a very very good set of songs that are perfectly crafted. This really is his masterpiece - i cant think of anything you could add to this album to make it a better slice of commercial heavy metal??
an angt ridden teen - (although you won't admit it)?? - buy it!
into white noise....buy it!
appreciate well produced music?? Buy it!!
Rating:
- 2 stars... here's why
This album is like suicidal depression set to music. In that context, it works, and perhaps even deserves to be lauded as a "classic". However, I found the album far too bleak and nihilistic to listen to once I left behind my "angsty teenager" phase, so I gave away my copy.
In short: if you're depressed and want to make yourself feel worse, get this. If, like me, you don't want to wallow in depression and self-pity, don't bother.
Rating:
- good for depression
The best from trent, easily. Every track is passionate and melodic with that rasp and bite you'd expect. There are things to dance (well fling yourself around the room to anyway); piggy, march of the pigs, eraser, big gun; also some real serene moments in the album; hurt, warm place (used to wonderful effect in Natural Born Killers), i do not want this.
Hard to listen to the first time, especially with such a painful opener in mr self destruct, the guitar may as well be a chainsaw; but every time after that is a joy.
4 stars for one reason, piggy and hurt, great songs, but a lot better on the one version of further down the spiral, the one with the live hurt on, can cry to that version for days, his voice cracks wonderfully.
- Trent's best?? Maybe....I first got the album on cassette not long after it came out in 1994 at the age of 14, and I am not ashamed to say I was pushed towards it by seeing NIN tracks on beavis & butthead!!
At the time, I think I was listening to Jesus Jones, Blur, some metal, Megadeth, Anthrax etc. Putting it on in mother's car on the way back from town I think it nearly made her crash it. Mr Self Destruct was a nasty piece of work to say the least, but now it just seems the norm. Then we had Piggy, not a bad little slow one. By the time we got to Heresy, I think it got turned off to be "listened to at home".
Anyway, that's enough sentimental rubbish, this album has stood the test of time, definitely. Don't get me wrong, I still dig the hard Depeche style sound of Pretty Hate Machine, and I will never get bored of Fragile, but Downward Spiral is where NIN set the mark for everything that followed, and probably why Trent has never silenced the critics since.
The arrangement, layering, samples and effects on this album make it that little bit cleverer, deeper and more empathetic than his more recent efforts.
It took me a couple of years of the odd listen to get what was going on, that may have been my own naivety or just getting into more electronic luminaries such as Orbital, Erasure and the more creative aspects of Pop Will Eat Itself in the meantime.
In the last couple of years, I probably haven't given the record as many listens as I may have done say 5 years ago. That may be due to me discovering Foetus - Nail, all the shoegazer bands (Ride, Swervedriver etc), Luke Haines, Julian Cope and Cathal Coughlan, my 8 year love for Nitzer Ebb and co, and my general disappointment at With Teeth and other releases.
But what I will say is, The Downward Spiral is a fantastic piece of art, and if you are just a little bit curious, get hold of a copy and just see what you think.
Oh, for people who say, "yeah yeah, this is really depressing music", it isn't. It's just realistic, a little understanding always helps, don't you think??
Rating:
- much imitated, never equalledLet's get one thing out of the way - this is not a rock album, or a metal album, or anything like that. It falls neatly into that rather overcooked category "electronic dance music" in almost all respects, and certainly isn't the only such album to make prominent use of the old six string (as do everybody from Daft Punk to Redanka to Skazi).
I say this, because to judge this as a rock album is to completely miss the point of NIN main-man Trent Reznor's abilities - there are only a very few producers (in the EDM sense) as imaginative and immersed in the finest details as Reznor, none of which work in the various genres termed "industrial". The lyrical obsessions with control and domination are only half the picture. Reznor seeps into every second of this record; samples and found sounds aren't just thrown in, but meticulously weaved into the mix. He is matched in this perhaps only by the more cerebral minimal techno producers, such as Richie Hawtin. That he was doing this in 1994 (and before), in the era before dual-core Logic 8/Cubase 4-powered, soft-synth loaded mega-computers, in nothing short of remarkable - this record sounds completely perfect, timeless, permanently modern and impeccably loud.
Forget the massive hits. "March Of The Pigs" rages nicely, of course, and "Closer" is a grinding slo-mo club-banger of the first order (yet was thrown into the "modern rock" playlists!). But it's all about the lumbering, crescendoing waltz of "Eraser", indisputable album highlight - building from a couple of reedy, wheezy FX, through a cavernous beat and layers of detuned synths, dropping into a vocal breakdown, and only then launching one of the clipped-to-death snarling guitar riffs that make up Reznor's claim to alterna-rock royalty. (I barely need to tell people to ignore the lyrics, which are portentiously angsty and more-or-less wafer thin. But then, dance music fans are used to ignoring dreadful lyrics.)
Also pay close attention to "Hurt". It may have escaped many people's attention, given the now-popular myth (in the sense of its social role, rather than the sense of a lie or untruth) building around the Johnny Cash cover. If you want an object lesson in why Trent Reznor is great, forget about the Man in Black and compare him with his 'rival' producer, Rick Rubin. While the latter piles on the string section, records everything with the bright and clean sound beloved of American Idol finalists and generally does all he can to make Cash sound completely out of place, Reznor tweaks everything and sits it in a gentle bed of resonating noise. The big moment in the second chorus is provided by a semi-monotonous guitar thump. Reznor doen't need the string section to get a bit of drama.
A classic of the producer's art, and a classic electronic album anyway.
Rating:
- in response to review below.I was a moody teenager who LOVED NIN with a passion - the angst fell away and i got into a much wider range of music.
but having revisited this after what must be at least 10 or more years since i last heard it - i have found i still beleive it is a really good album.
ignore the self loathing and 'i hate the world' attitude and you still have a very very good set of songs that are perfectly crafted. This really is his masterpiece - i cant think of anything you could add to this album to make it a better slice of commercial heavy metal??
an angt ridden teen - (although you won't admit it)?? - buy it!
into white noise....buy it!
appreciate well produced music?? Buy it!!
Rating:
- 2 stars... here's whyThis album is like suicidal depression set to music. In that context, it works, and perhaps even deserves to be lauded as a "classic". However, I found the album far too bleak and nihilistic to listen to once I left behind my "angsty teenager" phase, so I gave away my copy.
In short: if you're depressed and want to make yourself feel worse, get this. If, like me, you don't want to wallow in depression and self-pity, don't bother.
Rating:
- good for depressionThe best from trent, easily. Every track is passionate and melodic with that rasp and bite you'd expect. There are things to dance (well fling yourself around the room to anyway); piggy, march of the pigs, eraser, big gun; also some real serene moments in the album; hurt, warm place (used to wonderful effect in Natural Born Killers), i do not want this.
Hard to listen to the first time, especially with such a painful opener in mr self destruct, the guitar may as well be a chainsaw; but every time after that is a joy.
4 stars for one reason, piggy and hurt, great songs, but a lot better on the one version of further down the spiral, the one with the live hurt on, can cry to that version for days, his voice cracks wonderfully.