The Downward Spiral

A lighthearted romp for the whole family

Even knowing this is randomly generated, giving me an easy five bagger of an album, that I already know and love, after Kid Rock still feels like an apology. Not a skip to be found, not a moment to be unfelt, an encompassing experience made of rage, misery and despair. Still cooks.

I prefer Pretty Hate Machine, but this is good too

holy shit what a fucking intro

Need to do a NiN deepdive. This is something that wasnt up my alley a few years ago but glad to come around to it now. Love the production and angry vocals. Need to spend more time on the lyrics

Too distorted for me but hurt is so good so brings it just up

3.5 Es muy dificil de escuchar. Pero entiendo que ese es el punto un poco

It is unique and it makes it better than 70% of the albums I listened to here.

Pretty good as a wall-of-sound, ambient noise sort of thing. I somehow absorbed an idea from culture that NIN was basically doing the same thing as Radiohead, that they were a kind of revered artsy indie thing. This is way outside my expectations and I'm kind of surprised this got popular! I enjoy it a lot but it feels like it is especially *for me*, narrowly. It's a great feeling knowing that so many other people seem to like what I like. Listening to this album basically elevated my opinion of society in general, or at least their taste in music.

"The Downward Spiral" is just more evidence that I'm getting more washed as the years go on. I used to really like this record. It is an angry young man record and I was an angry young man. Even in my ancient, decrepit years (early 40s) I still normally like this stuff, but The Downward Spiral feels like I'm in the same room as an angry, young man who likes to scream a lot and I want him to get off my lawn. This is an album that begs to be blasted, but between Reznor's shouting and the blasts of distortion, it's not fun to blast. My engineering brain hates the way some songs on this album were produced with the louder blasts being mixed in a way that will make your speakers crackle unnecessarily. There are some great songs on here, though. I think I appreciate "Closer," "Reptile" and "Hurt" more musically than I did when I was younger, while the ragers like "March of the Pigs" and "Big Man With A Gun" that appealed to me back then but are more irritating now. Back in the day, I liked NIN's debut album Pretty Hate Machine more, and giving it another listen, that's still the case. It's a dancy, groovy album that uses it's industrial elements in a more interesting way to me. Also, Reznor sounds a lot more mature, which is interesting, since it came first. Perhaps he emotionally went on... a downward spiral.

Literally predicted NIN as my next album so I really tried. Not really my every day easy listening. Songs are too loud. If I were going to a cyber punk club in the matrix this is 100% the vibe though

Great instrumental, too long and i dont like the vocals 2,5/5

A classic.

Déjà écouté avant. Abrasif. Voilà le mot qui vient à l'esprit quand on écoute The Downward Spiral, l'un des albums "mainstream" qui pousse le plus loin l'exercice de style industriel, quitte à assumer une forme de laideur cathartique... Clairement, Trent Reznor n'était pas là pour s'amuser ou nous prendre par la main, et ce récit d'une descente aux enfers psychique, racontée aussi crûment qu'elle est mise en musique, ne peut que laisser des gens sur le côté. C'est désespéré, cradingue, vulgaire, repoussant même, mais d'une intensité dingue, presque cinématique (ça n'est pas un hasard si Reznor deviendra ensuite un immense compositeur pour le grand écran) qui agresse les oreilles pour mieux réveiller les neurones. Top : March of the Pigs Flop : Big Man With a Gun

I do not like Nine Inch Nails. I don't like Trent Reznor's voice. I knew Closer and Hurt. I love Johnny Cash's version of Hurt, but I do not like the original. Not for me.

I think this is probably a generous score but I enjoyed this

Industrial rock is pretty cool but it’s not quite my style

No thanks. "Hurt" is a good song but I much prefer the Johnny Cash cover.

Oof, I just can't with this kind of music.

Pretty good album overall wasn't what I was expecting.

It’s a Perfectly mixed journey of despair

Not for me, I respect it - some really good bass lines but a bit tool scratchy for me to be honest. Didn’t listen to the whole thing, to be fair.

It’s noisy, angry and confused, but it all comes into focus on the final track, Hurt. I prefer Johnny Cash’s later cover but i can hear why the song was chosen. It’s glorious and worth working your way through the album to get to.

Absolute masterpiece

a lot of atmosphere to this album, but i struggled to connect with it emotionally. Hurt is ofc remarkable, but I quickly queued Johnny Cash's version soon after...

Feels like a 4. But honestly some of the songs AND LYRICS could have made it a 1.

Five stars for artistic vision, but I just can't stand listening to it.. so three stars I guess

Got this one right after Achtung Baby and have the exact same feeling. The production is very dated and the music is way over dramatic. And perhaps this is blasphemous but Johnny Cash's cover of "Hurt" is far superior to the original.

5/5 https://rateyourmusic.com/release/album/nine-inch-nails/the-downward-spiral/ Love this album. It's dark, loud, abrasive, but never in a way that is too heavy to appreciate. For me, this is the best NiN album and a sound that remains unique.

A collection of lyrics that summarize my feelings on this album: “Damn this noise inside my head” “I do not want this” “I hurt myself today” (by listening to NIN)

Not for me

I couldn’t listen to the whole thing. I don’t think I hate myself enough for that. It succeeds at what it does well.

Chaotic and Insane, yet Sexy, incredible. Some real lyrics from the soul here, very truthful. Didn’t adore a bit of the second half so i have to give it a 4, as much as i loved those standouts. Standouts are Mr. Self Destruct, Heresy, Closer, Ruiner and Hurt.

This is a really solid album, honestly, it flew by without me, even realizing it. Very interesting, grading, yet catchy album at the same time, at first, I was thinking a solid for, but I think, because of the impact on music and lasting, I’ll give it a five

4.5 I have known of this album for a long time and have always meant to listen to it but kept putting it off until now. Wow. I had somewhat of an idea of what to expect and I was still som blown away. Brilliant album

The sounds on this thing are something else. Easy 5.

Noise.

I really hate this. Sounds like cheap digital production with then digital distortion applied so it all just sounds like absolute trash

Lots of anger and clanging metal pipes. And some art. The Downward Spiral is well thought out and a perfect entry to The 1001 Must Hear List with many controversial song topics; Closer and Big Man With A Gun being perfect examples. I remember the bleeped out version of Closer from mainstream radio throughout the nineties. This was not an enjoyable listen for me, but the album is List worthy, even has some spoken word, ha. (4.2*s) Stop yelling at me! I know you’re angry and frustrated about the situation you’re currently in, just stop yelling at me.

Nine Inch Nails is a 90s band not to be ignored. Trent Reznor established industrial rock and made it mainstream despite it's dark and dirty sound. Not acceptable by your conservative parents and cast aside as demon music by your grand parents. As a 90s kid, I knew of a few hits but never listened to The Downward Spiral in full. I am impressed and raise Trent higher in my music book for his unique abilities. The mix of electronica with metal and rock has not been duplicated to this degree. The songs are gut wrenching, scary, and also cool. For an hour I was pretty entranced through my headphones. One of a kind artist with this guy...he was even whisper singing before Eilish made it cool and is also better at it. A solid hour listen (longer if you listen to deluxe edition...recommended) of something new and a worthy spot on the list. 3.84 stars and I'll take more from Mr. Self Destruct.

The Downward Spiral is a tough one for me to give a number rating to. There are aspects of this album that I absolutely respect and understand why it had such influence. The production is wholly unique in all the best ways. NIN has a certain sound that he/they pioneered through the use of all sorts of audio tricks. For this reason I enjoy a lot of the music on this album. At the same time I'm not huge into the vocals on this album (both content and style). I get that this album is emotionally charged and semi-autobiographical while Trent was dealing with depression, drug abuse and all sorts of angst, but its tough for me to listen to an album that features so many aspects of mental illness or controversial subject matter on the face of it. I get that fading from whispers, to shouts, to everything in between adds some gravity to lyrics, but a lot of it is hard to take in and makes me prefer that some parts of this album remained instrumentals. The Downward Spiral is a great example of an album that executes on all levels from master-class to angsty teenage bullshit and everything in between. I can't help but bop my head to parts of it, but there are also tracks that completely rub me the wrong way. I recognize it for its importance and definitely understand why the crowd who loves it is drawn to it. It's emotional, cathartic, controversial and helped establish NIN as an artist that tries new things, most often in the cool or at least interesting ways. I often feel like such a square when I listen to Nine Inch Nails. "Wow, this is really creative, but does everything have to be so angry?" I like that this helped vault Reznor to the next level. I like a lot of his and NIN other stuff, including quite a bit of the movie OST's they are involved in. The Downward Spiral belongs on the list for a handful of reasons even if parts of it make me feel icky. A very torn 2.50 stars because I just can't quite commit to either the good or the bad on this album.

Sonically interesting enough without ever been a dirge of noise, the lyrics plumb depths of humanity and masculinity that is too rare in this era

trash

That was... what a break of character I got from this site. Finally a dose of edginess, it actually caught me in a perfect mood. Its edgy, angry, vulgar even for what I usually listen to, but it was so well put togheter you can't help it but vibe when you are angry. And I was very angry. And I will definetly listen to it again. It is also one of those albums that is overall an experience, not picking just some tracks

Dark, and kind of in a bad way. Cool that he covers that Johnny Cash song though.

Gar nöd mis, hab so metal nöd gern, zu wenig melodie für mich und verstahn de text nödmal Chan leider nöd ischätze öb es objektiv betrachtet für es metal Album guet isch Find aber guet das sie kritisch gegenüber Religion, aber au sehr extrem, hetts zu dere zit warschinlich müesse si, will susch niemert zueglost hetti Anderer sits isch es au huere pervers vom text her und das eklet mich lowkey es bitzeli „A warm place“ hett mich actually überrascht will es so sanft im verglich gsi isch

Mr. self destruct - 3 Piggy - 4 Heresy - 4 March of the pigs - 4 Closer - 5 Ruiner - 4 The becoming - 3 I do not want this - 3 Big man with a gun - 3 A warm place - 3 Eraser - 3 Reptile - 3 The downward spiral - 3 Hurt - 5

Something tells me I'll be judged for this take, so I'll keep it mostly to myself. Regardless, this is one of the most influential albums ever, at least to me. Get with it or suffer in ignorance and mediocrity. That's mean of me to say, maybe you people don't need industrial music with massive soul to calm all the angst within your minds, lucky you.

Super cohesive and inventive. Abrasive and offensive. Consistently engaging despite not really being my thing generally. Eerie, sexy, captivating. Reminds me of portishead and deftones at times. I like the industrial vibes, and imagining the production of this is prettyyyyy crazy. I respect this record and its adventurous, experimental edge. Even when I don’t want it in my ears.

It was hard to get used to the flow of this album, which interpolates moments of pure screaming with minutes long silences. I tried to wrap my head around the fact that this is to create an atmosphere. I didn’t dislike it, though not something I’d go back to.

No me gustó nada pero nada.

1. 4.5 2. 4 3. 5 4. 5 5. 5 6. 4.5 7. 4.5 8. 4 9. 3.5 10. 4 11. 4.5 12. 5 13. 3 14. 5

Never in my life have I TRIED to like an album as much as I have for this one. What could be a 4/5 or even a 5/5 record is ruined by all the tracks being too long or too short, the production and vocals getting to be grating at points, and did I mention these songs are TOO FUCKING LONG!? Hurt was pretty good though, although the Johnny Cash version is 10000000000 times better.

pretty intense - not really for me but cool

This sounds so raw to me. "Closer" is (obviously?) the song that I most associate with this NIN era, and "Hurt" belongs to Johnny Cash now. I find I really like "March of the Pigs" today.

5 starts from me, really enjoyed the sound. Closer and Hurt are great.

Very good listen for the Downward Spiral. It’s very like a concept album. It’s dark, eclectic and Trent Reznor mastered the atmosphere. But, this album is way better listening in a whole sitting instead of picking songs. They were placed in an order that flows very well, but individually, except for Closer, they loose that edge a bit. 4/5. Mr. Self Destruct: 4 Piggy: 2 Heresy: 5 March of the Pigs: 3 Closer: 5 Ruiner: 4 The Becoming: 3 I Do Not Want This: 3 Big Man with a Gun: 3 A Warm Place: 3 Eraser: 2 Reptile: 3 The Downward Spiral: 3 Hurt: 5

I hurt myself today listening to this album

Bitvis najs. Men alldeles för spretigt. Ibland direkt jobbigt. Man kanske hade behövt lyssna mycket mer. Men har ändå lyssnat typ fyra gånger. Inte klickat fullt ut.

The album cover is very noisy, not sure how one would draw this on a paper. Its okay, personally I do not like it. "Mr. Self Destruct" is extremely fast, much faster than the rest of the album, which is already fast itself. Some of the songs are quieter, which I do prefer. "The Becoming" sounds like fighting the Others in Scarlet Nexus (Knowers know). Good album all around, not a 5 because its just not for me. Best Song: A Warm Place. Worst Song: Big Man with a Gun.

Artistically, one of the best albums I’ve heard. NIN created their own, distinctive sound with intense passion. Each song takes the listener further down the spiral, to the ultimate ‘Hurt’.

I’M REALLY LOUD AND ANGRY, and now i’m quiet and depressed. Nine Inch Nails seem to have a thing for huge outbursts that are both chaotic and controlled. “Mr. Self Destruct” is the prime example of a song that just works. The layered, complex backing amplifies the passionate hatred in the record. The mellow, almost sorrowful, moments, too intensify the rage — an aspect I must appreciate despite my complaints at times.

Yksi säväyttävimpiä levykokonaisuuksia, mitä olen kokenut. Konseptialbumi, jossa nimetön päähenkilö vajoaa yhä syvemmälle huumeriippuvuuteen ja itseinhoon, päätyen lopulta (mahdollisesti) itsemurhaan. Matka on erittäin synkkä, täynnä ahdistusta ja raivoa, mutta The Downward Spiral ei kuitenkaan ole pelkkää nihilismiä. Päätösraita Hurtin viimeiset sanat ovat toiveikkaat. Jos kertojahahmo saisi uuden mahdollisuuden, asiat voisivat vielä järjestyä.

A little hard to get into at first, but what a depressing/scary album once you’re in it. Really interesting music and crazy that this made it into the mainstream, popular culture. Never really gave NIN much of a listen, but this makes me want to go into their early 90s work

Again, another band with horrifically assaulting vocals (on multiple tracks). However, it kind of works here. At the very least, I felt that the vocal choices made by Nine Inch Nails were intentional and not genre or spectacle driven. This is a solid album, but it feels more like interesting soundscapes than a track based album. The content of the album is contradictory at times, but it sounds good. Finally, this album is better than it should be, but it really serves to prophecy Reznor's cinematic gifts than establish the band as a great voice for rock and roll.

Doesn't get much better than this.

i thought i liked this album more but a lot of the songs are not on my radar, still some classics on here though

Wanted to like it, if their style was more in the style of the two hits then maybe I would like it more but most of it sounded like too heavy of a guitar paired with too uninteresting of a voice and lyrics. 2/5

Bien.

mmm demasiado

Soooooo…. Trent Reznor seemed to be going through some stuff when he did this record. It’s loud, it’s abrasive, and it goes down worse than that nasty cough syrup. It’s also an effective concept album of a man collapsing in the worst aspects of his life. The lyrics are nasty at times, but sometimes good art is ugly. The guitars and mechanical noises make this the platonic ideal of an industrial rock classic. It’s not an easy listening, but the album title could’ve clued you in on that.

This album took a good 20 years to grow on me. I bought it on CD in prob 1995/1996 because I had heard Closer and Hurt on the radio. But I found myself not being able to get into the rest of the album. It was simultaneously too much noise and too slow, depending on the song. Many years later, I came to realize the beauty and genius of this album, and now it's one of my all time favorites. It's not for everyone, but damn, Trent Reznor knows how to create a feeling via music.

Maybe the best "industrial" album of all time. Hurt still hits like a truck.

Dull self-indulgent music to slash your wrists to.

A bit of something and nothing really. A bit of screaming, a bit of atmospheric sound, not much engagement. Ultimately uninspiring.

More like Nine Inch Nails on a chalkboard, am I right guys...

An hour of songs that continuously devolved into unpleasant screaming. I still do not enjoy nine inch nails, this has certainly not changed that opinion.

Crass lyrics paired with music that offers little to enjoy in its technical execution. Post-production distortion and other effects add a unique flair to the music, but because I already don't like it, the effects don't seal the deal.

This was my first full NIN album. I know if I listened to this more, I would be really into it. Its interesting because the sound is a bit dated, but not by time, but by everyone else ripping it off. Theres a lot of interesting stuff going on in here.

shit

A fair bit of noise here, to be expected. Not altogether unpleasant but not quite as melodic as I’d hoped.

Masterpiece. This is almost perfect in the story it is trying to tell. Not the best album I've ever heard but top tier certainly.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘭 is harsh, ugly, and surprisingly addictive. The guitars grind, the beats feel mechanical, and Trent Reznor often sounds as if he is barely holding everything together, yet the album never collapses into shapeless noise. What keeps it compelling is the amount of contrast. 𝗖𝗹𝗼𝘀𝗲𝗿 is almost perversely catchy, while the quieter passages make the aggression around them hit even harder. By the time 𝗛𝘂𝗿𝘁 closes the album, the restraint feels more devastating than another wall of distortion ever could. It is not an easy listen, and I would not want every album to sound this miserable. But for something this abrasive, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘋𝘰𝘸𝘯𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘚𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘢𝘭 is remarkably good at pulling me in.

Number: 264 Familiarity: Moderate (3) Rating: 2 Before: ======= They're fine, but not of my favorites. The only other similar group I really like is Ministry; not sure why I like Ministry but not Nine Inch Nails. After : ======= On a song by song basis, when accounting for song lengths, I came up with 2.45.

The 8th song on this album describes my reaction to the album The only redeeming quality is "pull me closer in the back seat of your Rover on that mattress that you stole from your roommate back in Tucson something blink 182 song" Wait wrong Closer (1/5)

I'll say it in Italian: Che schifo ahahahah

Listened to borderline ear rape for an hour just so I could listen to Hurt. Dedication

Pre Listen: Nine Inch Nails is yet another more modern band I've heard of, but in a sort of infamous context similar to Slipknot. I don't know why my association with them is negative, and I can't name any of their songs off the top of my head, but I got a gut feeling I'll recognize one at some point. Notable Tracks: Mr. Self Destruct - There's no fucking way people actually like this. This is just noise with awful audio mixing. I'm giving this album 4 more songs, and if they all sound like this, I'm not wasting my time on this garbage. Heresy - Nine Inch Nails *will* be going to hell, but not for comitting heresy. Rather, it will be for the high crime of exposing people to such a miserable sound. Closer - 4th song I gave it. Didn't get any better. I recognize this one actually, and I hate it. What a piece of shit album! Post Listen: 9 Inch Nails? More like 9 Nails on a Chalkboard! Downward Spiral? Yeah, this albums making me spiral! I'm sure no one has ever made those jokes before. Stupidity aside, this was trash. Edgy nonsense with messy instrumentation, for the sake of being edgy and messy. I've expressed my distaste for albums like this in prior reviews of mine, summarily I just don't think that music which intentionally sounds bad is anything other than just....bad. I don't hold nearly enough hatred for myself or this lovely planet to get anything out of the self-defeating lyrics. The only compliment I want to give is that it has some pretty good dark-synth moments, before drowning them out with shiet. Music for suicidal people. Not because suicidal people relate to it, but because they don't realize listening to this crap is what got them suicidal in the first place. Save your ears, save your life, and pass this one by.1/5

Big NiN fan so guaranteed 5 and delighted to see this on here. I was originally going to say I preferred the more industrial sound of Pretty Hate Machine, but on re-listen this is the more accomplished album. Very dark and a little disturbing in places but that’s Reznor for you.

Du bon métal indus

Сара 1 Марко 1

What happens when an American man listens to Einstürzende Neubauten and Depeche Mode. No wonder Bowie wanted to work with Reznor. This is a good (but not great) album. On another day this would climb into a four star rating but I'm settling on a very high three.

Between a 2 and a 3 for me. Only giving it a 3 cause Trent Reznor will go on to eventually give us the Challengers soundtrack.

Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral (1994) Boy oh boy, this is a TOUGH listen. The first three songs sound like heavy metal meets construction zone. The messaging is really pessimistic. To date, this might be one of the WORST albums I have ever had to listen to. I don't dig the techno meets hell sounds. For example, the incorporation of women screaming in "The Becoming" is extremely disturbing. The last four songs weren't as bad as I thought, and glad I got to hear the original version of Hurt, that Johnny Cash would later famously cover. However, I stand by my comment that this is one of the WORST albums, for me personally. I guess I'm not into Industrial Rock. The only song I truly liked was A Warm Place, and that was an instrumental! Album Rank: 1 Favorite Song: A Warm Place

Album #163: The Downward Spiral - Nine Inch Nails Genre (W): Industrial rock, alternative rock, industrial metal Singles: March of the Pigs, Closer I have not listened to this album previously. Thoughts?: This is a gruesome album. I liked a handful of songs but I was greatly disturbed. Great job NIN! Favorite tracks: Mr. Self Destruct, Heresy, March of the Pigs*, Reptile, Hurt*

Not my fav NIN album, but this one’s still good and holds up.

The only Nine Inch Nails album on the list is also their most popular and representative of their sound. It's really good. This one is particularly depressing, I prefer Broken personally but I get why Downward Spiral is on the list. Anyways, it's good.

one of the best albums ever, so raw so visceral and so heartbreaking at times. one of the most defining albums of my teenage years as well

Very dark and harsh. Really interesting production underneath all that aggression.

Ok