How does music get any crazier than this?

No. Music is music, its not satanic. Satanism doesnt exist. If a song slaps it slaps so yes we will listen to it, you dont have to be fucked up to enjoy it

You guys have no idea how much of an outlet for teen angst this was when it came out. I was 14 and it was glorious.

It's weird to see these guys be kind of immature listening to this album while 11 year old me in '94 was intrigued and opened my mind to this type of music . To each their own I guess. Haha

Dude in red was so triggered after Heresy 😂 Song is so true though. Stop killing people in the name of God Reznor is pretty well adjusted in fact. Guy is a Grammy award winner and movie score specialist. Downward Spiral is a magnificent work of art. Glad you enjoyed it!

Watching the guy on the left squirm and feel uncomfortable is great, and the only thing he can do is call the guy crazy for being artistic. Appears very close minded. Guy on the right is super cool and completely open minded. Trent Reznor is one of the most creative geniuses of our lifetime. Again like you mentioned, it's a concept album.

Trent Reznor has been making film soundtracks for over a decade now, he has even won a couple of oscars, one of them for a Disney/Pixar movie, lol.

Oh shit, religious people are listening to nine inch nails. Watch out!

Closer was played at every strip club through the 90s

Some trivia: - Some of The Downward Spiral was recorded where the Manson murders took place. - That sample at the beginning of Mr Self Destruct is from the film THX 1138, the directorial debut of George Lucas and the namesake for the company THX. - The weird sound at the end of Mr Self Destruct is a guitar played by Adrian Belew of King Crimson, which was processed so heavily it became... that. - The drums at the end of Piggy were played by Reznor and were intended to be filler (a stand-in for a proper drum track) but he liked how they sounded, so they stayed. - There is a recurring motif on the album that can be heard on Piggy, Heresy, Closer, and the title track. - March of the Pigs has a weird but cool time signature, with three bars of 7/8 and one of 4/4. The chord progression in the calmer bridge is borrowed from an older song called Wish off of the EP Broken. - The kick on Closer is sampled from the Iggy Pop song Nightclubbing. Starting in the second verse, there's a subtle 808 bassdrum that adds rhythm to the steady four-on-the-floor kick pattern. It is not supposed to be a sexy song. The song is about the protagonist coping with intense self-loathing through sex. - The Becoming is in a combination of 7/4 and 6/4, with the "Annie" section being solely in 6/4. The opening samples a scene from the 1989 film Robot Jox. - Big Man With A Gun was written as a parody of gangta rap of the late 80s and early 90s. Ironically, some complained about the song, assuming it WAS a gangsta rap track, which is funny. - A Warm Place is the only track to be in a "typical" key, being D minor. The rest of the album heavily utilizes dissonant intervals like tritones and minor seconds, as well as interchanging minor and major thirds. - The "eraser" sound effect at the opening of Eraser was made by blowing into a detached sax reed. The song is in 6/4, but switches to 4/4. - Reptile samples a sound effect from the 1989 film Leviathan. I have been caught off guard SEVERAL times by the sudden jump in volume at the beginning. - The title track samples ambient sounds from the 1979 film Alien. It marks the final appearance of the Spiral motif, as well as the album's protagonist (if you interpret the song as depicting a successful suicide attempt). - The noise on Hurt is mostly present in the left stereo channel, almost as if the hearing in that ear was damaged by, say, a really loud sound. The song was famously covered by Johnny Cash.

You guys got a great channel, but I wanted to address that just because someone is interested in the darker side of life doesn’t mean they’re bad or evil. Trent was a really dark dude but he’s a good dude. Don’t let something being dark automatically make it bad/evil. Charles Manson who was mentioned in this video was a fan of The Beach Boys and The Beatles, you just never know someone’s true moral compass.

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have written the scores for 27 films and have won 2 Oscars for Best Original Score for the movies "The Social Network" in 2010 and "Soul" in 2020. They also won The Emmy for Outstanding Music Composition for a Limited Series or Movie for the score for "The Watchmen". Trent also has 4 Grammys and Atticus has 2. There has been talk of making "Soul" a musical potentially giving them an opportunity to win a Tony Award and complete the EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony) cycle which has only been done 19 times before. I know this album seems like total chaos (and it is) but these are some serious and in-demand artists and surprisingly down to earth. Thank you for reacting to my favorite band...

The downward spiral is about a person who discards every aspect of his life. His inability to relate to others, to personal relationships, religion, fear of disease. Trent said he wanted to address not just anger but tension. He did it perfectly…

The dark underbelly of GenX. Cynical, angry, self-deprecating….ultimately not giving a fuck.

Trent DIDN'T intentionally buy/rent the murder house. It just had all the room for the equipment and a guest house for what was needed. The other thing you guys need to learn is that everytime when people say fuck, its not always about sex. Sometimes it's referring to fucking someone over or betraying them.

God this album is nuts but so great. “The Fragile” is Trent’s masterpiece in my opinion. It’s very long, but definitely worth a look. Both that and Downward Spiral are 10/10 for me. Great job guys!

Johnny Cash covered this original version of Hurt.

It’s funny that Trent Reznor has made scary sounding shit like this and then also did the soundtrack for Disney Pixar’s Soul and TMNT: Mutant Mayhem

Nine Inch Nails released this record in 1994 along with the single "Hurt" Johnny Cash released "Hurt" in 2002. Do the math

"reminds me of call of duty" my dude he literally did the soundtrack for black ops 2, you hit the "nail" on the head haha

you read what the concept of the album was but then just.... ignored it i guess.

The references to Pigs is most likely a throwback reference to Animal Farm. Pig's are authoritarians.

They were actual drums played by Trent on Piggy. They were originally recorded as microphone test drums, but he thought they sounded cool and put them in the song

I love your opposing reactions. It was the same back in the 90s. Half of us went 'oh shit, this is amazing', the other half went 'oh, shit' and felt uncomfortable.

Some Nine Inch Nails trivia for you. You mentioned how a warm place sounds like Call of Duty or something like that. Trent Reznor did the opening song for Black Ops II. This same guy did the soundtrack to a Pixar film called Soul. Reznor and Ross are geniuses.

Most of these songs are sung from the perspective of the drugs like heroin that had a hold on Trent, depression and the downward spiral one can take. I love you guys but this whole album went over your heads lol

I was NOT expecting u guys to react a industrial metal album. Thank god u did, this is one of my fav albums!

Cash's cover of "Hurt" was from a cover album he did shortly before he passed. The director of the iconic music video also directed the video for "Closer." That video and Cash's passing imbued it with a lot of cultural significance and caused it to overshadow the original. And yes, Trent has a wife and several kids. He and his wife have their own band called How to Destroy Angels, along with his music writing partner Atticus Ross. In addition to occasional NIN projects and collabs he also does film/television scores and ocassionally video game soundtracks. Most recently they did the score for the movie _Challengers,_ and Ross did the score for the show _Shogun._

You boys weren't even ready.

The nineties were a great time to be going through teen angst. We had the perfect soundtrack for our lives on the radio, in our cd players, and on Mtv.

Man literally said "further down the spiral"

This is the original; version of Hurt

The amount of observations made in passing. Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the screams in The Becoming are sampled from that film. Trent has done MANY scores for films to great success, like his Oscar for the Social Network.. Pure genius. My favorite musician

Siamese Dream is great! Looking forward to the reaction.

Big Man with aGun was commenting on Rap culture. Think about the lyrics

You guys should react to Pretty Hate Machine (1989) its their first album

Heresy was a very flagrant song. I expected EVERY church in the USA to trip about it, but they left it alone 🤔

lol, this was like watching Brad and Janet meet Frank N Furter

Also this is a concept album. Of an addict in a Downward spiral.

You guys missed the who;e point of Closer. It's about a man whose final, last resort against the encroaching darkness is sex, and his addiction to it. The whole album is about self destruction. It's as sexy as hell, but unhealthy as fuck

And now Trent composes music for Pixar movies:

3 things for yall: 1. This is not their masterpiece in my opinion, that title belongs to The Fragile, which you are now contractually obligated to listen to now. Demonic contract. 2. March Of The Pigs was infamous in old NIN shows as the "song that kills people". This song created the most hellish mosh pits to ever exist, which would give many, many people near-death experiences. 3. Trent Reznor and whoever was his keyboardist of the day were notorious for destroying equipment, there are countless videos of them curbstomping and smashing keyboards, which are also really fucking funny.

This album is so far ahead of its time!!! In 94 this was fucking mind blowing!!!

On a very dark note, you guys mentioned how “a murderer must have listened to this music”… Trent and Nine Inch Nails (in addition to other artists) got a lot of backlash from the media because one of the Columbine school shooters was a fan of the group. “Big Man with a Gun” specifically

Trent was sooo sad during the 90s, suffering from extreme depression and addiction. He did a great job of showing how fucked up he felt with the music he made. Trent felt so hopeless. He's doing a lot better now. Sobered up, started living a healthy lifestyle, and has a beautiful family.

The song Closer was very mainstream. It was played on the radio alot.

Despite it being long, you two should definitely react to The Fragile, that album is sort of like a sequel to The Downward Spiral, but sounds more cinematic and almost hopeful. You should do like a Part One then a Part Two since it is pretty long but it's honestly worth the listen. Probably one of their best sounding albums imo, although The Downward Spiral comes second for me.

My man on the left was going through an existential crisis for half this album. 😂 Give a chance little dude. It's good

They were making industrial music back in the 70’s - bands would use machinery, tape loops run through machines, power tools, weird synth tones, sliced up and rearranged tape, samples. By the time this came out they had computers to help, but nearly all of this was recorded live and then worked into the final product.

Funny you said something about soundtracks. :) Trent Reznor is Nine Inch Nails. He's won multiple Oscars for movie soundtracks on top of Grammys for NIN. Also, he's just fine, married with like a ton of kids.

As dark as it is, I relate to this album. 18-19 were some dark years lmao🤣

Great reaction! Flood also produced "Violator" by "Depeche Mode", which I highly recommend, I think you would like it. Trent Reznor took a huge inspiration from them.

Trent reznor actually made the main menu music for black ops 2 and has worked on many different movie sound tracks like bird box, mid90s, soul, the new teenage mutant ninja turtles movie that came out recently, and more

This album is a re-enactment in a way of the thoughts and feelings of an addict or someone similar during their descent down the spiral, a process that happens before the "rock bottom" people hit. Also, take the lyrics metaphorically rather then literally like the guy in the red did. Generation X loved metaphors especially descriptive and shocking ones. Visceral ones.

nice job boys. not too many days in high school without my nin shirt. anyways, dude on the left looks like he feels the need to go to confession or something after this. in high school Reptile was a love song with my gf lol

This was Jayden's episode frfr. 😅 Who knew he is actually the tuff one 💪😂 jkjk but you were right about Trent Reznor making movie soundtracks, he's done a lot after The Social Network (2010), which won an Oscar for Best Original Score. Dude is 60 now, and just vibing with a wife and 5 kids.

You guys were talking about how he needed to do horror film soundtracks, well he did have a song in the credits of a film called Cabin in the Woods. It's a song called Last, and it's from Broken, which is the EP he did before Downward Spiral. He and his collaborator Atticus Ross have done a number of soundtracks like, The Social Network, Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, and the Pixar movie Soul, which they won a Grammy for. Definitely take a deep dive into his career, it's epic. He's probably one of the most talented and prolific musicians of our time.

Danny Lohner, NIN bassist/keyboard player 94-2002, went on to produce the first Underworld soundtrack under the name Renholder. Charlie Clouser, NIN engineer/keyboard player from the late 90s to early 2000's, produces all the soundtracks for the SAW movies. Trent Reznor composes and produces some of the top movie soundtracks of last decade with his engineer Atticus Ross.

I agree with most of the comments here: The Fragile, the album after this one, is essentially an attempt of recuperating from going into this downward spiral, yet failed to realize that the fragility of your psyche and mental state has been damaged so much that you cannot escape that mental anguish. Make that the next reaction NIN reaction bois. Subscribed.

Guys, we have to make them listen to Rust In Peace

The most influential Industrial band, and arguably the definitive (other than NIN) is Skinny Puppy. Nivek Ogre and Kevin Compton aka 'CEvin Key' they were the main influence for Trent Reznor and sounded literally decades ahead of their time. Their most acclaimed albums are 'VivisectVI' (1988) and 'Too Dark Park' (1990) definitely worth checking out

Not sure it's been mentioned, but the drum segment at the end of 'Piggy' is the only live recording of Trent playing drums. He threw it in as a place holder, then never got around to recording a proper drummer. The duo fell in love with it, just left it in the recording.

Congratulations on making it through the experience that is “The Downard Spiral”. Oh and “Hurt” is nine inch nails originally and Johny cash did a remix to it later on

2am on the dance floor of some bar in any city in the 90's...this was the shiznit and in the strip clubs it was a standard

hurt was released by nin in 1994 then was covered by johnny cash in 2002 so nails made it

This is actually the 3rd NIN album, behind Pretty Hate Machine and Broken. (4th if you count Fixed, which is a remix version of broken). Those first two are great and my favorites. Trent is currently a HUGE writer of hollywood soundtracks, winning many awards.

Guys a lot of stuff he says in the lyrics isn’t literal. For example “take the skin and peel it back” on march of the pigs isn’t meant to be taken literally lol. Or like big man with a gun, he’s mocking a specific type of person. This album is philosophical and metaphorical in a lot of ways, and you won’t completely understand it until you look at it in that perspective.

I always thought Mr self destruct was the personification of something you are unable to resist even though you know it will only lead to a negative outcome. In the song he tells you what Mr self destruct is, the need in you for more, the drugs in your vein, the bullet in the gun, the truth you can't accept the inevitable end of everything because you can't stop yourself.

The downward spiral is a masterpiece. I was 14 when it came out. I’m totally normal and happy. I wasn’t at all an angsty teen. But I’m not afraid to explore the darker side of life. And NIN is as dark as it gets but it’s also beautiful. It’s art, and good art isn’t afraid to explore the dark side of our minds / bodies / souls As a musician it was hugely influential.

1. The album is cathartic. Actually helps people cope with anger and depression. 2. None of these sings are about what you think they're about. It's very metaphorical. 3. NIN wrote Hurt. Cash covered it as the last song he ever recorded. Also, in an interview, Reznor says he didn't know it was the Tate house until after recording was underway.😊

Grew up Catholic Church. My aunts and uncles were protesting this album.. like literally protesting it with signs and shit. My parents still let us buy the album and crank it in our rooms. Props to them.

Actually Heresy is a cover of DJ Nietzsche released in 1888. It was quite polarizing at the time.

I've memorized the entire album...😂

5:15 - "This is crazy!" ... this is just track one lol Reznor rented the Sharon Tate house to use as home for Nothing Studios but apparently didn't know it was THAT house until after he moved in. Marilyn Manson apparently lost his shit with excitement when he found out he'd be recording his next album there. Trent later apologized to Sharon Tate's sister for using that house to help promote the album admiting it was in bad taste. It took a while for it to sink in with him that people were murdered there... Reznor and drummer Chris Vrenna lived in that house throughout the recording process and claimed the house was haunted. They had a number of weird incidents including Trent's dog Maisie frequently waking up and barking randomly at night at the walls. The sound of someone being beaten at the start of the album is a sample from the movie THX 1138 by George Lucas. The drums at the end of Piggy was a spontaneously thing Trent played to test the microphone setup in the studio and recorded it. It was meant as filler but he kept it cuz it sounded cool. Trent is known for writing songs AT People, meaning that when he's pissed he'll write a song about you. The song Piggy is actually a poem written about Filter front man Richard Patrick (the brother of T-1000 actor Robert Patrick) who was Trent's live guitarist and suddenly quit to form Filter during pre-production for this album. Trent was pretty pissed that his friend left the band, but it was mostly because he/his manager was paying him next to nothing. They buried the hatchet after they both got sober, their wives and kids are friends apparently. March of the Pigs is possibly about rabid fans and other fake people around him that started to turn on him and take advantage of him when he became famous. Reznor frequently changes the members of his live band. The Spiral tour is considered the bands definitive line up including Reznor, Chris Vrenna (drums), James Wolley (keyboards), Robin Finck (guitar), and Danny Lohner (bass, keyboards). This was the version of the band that played Woodstock '94. This version of the band also included Charlie Clouser as a keyboard tech/portable studio guy who would later replace Wolley, and Billy Howerdell as a Guitar tech (seen in the woodstock '94 footage) who would later become the guitarist and lead for the band A Perfect Circle. Once Trent and Chris Vrenna (his drummer) finished most of the work on Closer Vrenna went to go crash and left Trent to write the lyrics. When he woke up he listened the track and was pissed "You took the most dancible track we've ever written and ruined it by putting I wanna Fuck you like an animal in the middle of it" Trent joked "Yeah but it will be funny" Closer turned into the biggest single NIN ever released. The drum beat for Closer includes a sample of the song Nightclubbing by Iggy Pop, which Trent later covered with Bauhaus frontman Peter Murphy. Big Man with a Gun features a strange sample called 'steakhouse' in the liner notes and is credited to Tommy Lee of Motley Crue. Former bassist/keyboarder Danny Lohner is a friend of Tommy Lee's and claims that Lee showed up at the Sharon Tate house for Lohner's birthday with a couple of strippers and they recorded one of them having an orgasm on the track. Reptile features a ton of movie samples including the Peter Weller horror movie Leviathan. Vrenna would stay up late watching VHS movies and record random samples for Trent to check out and potentially use. Trent is often referred to as a one-man band but he has collaborated with a ton of people in the studio. Vrenna is responsible for much of the sound of Downward Spiral including much of the drums, drum machines, and samples. Vrenna went on to be a prolific producer and studio guy working with the likes of Billy Corgan, Courtney Love, Marilyn Manson, and U2 among others. Reznor has commented that he both loves and hates Johnny Cash's version of Hurt because even he considers Cash's version to be the definitive version of the song now. Reznor was honored by the cover but admitted disappointment that people will always remember Cash's version instead of his. Glad you guys enjoyed it, it's an amazing album.

This is the original Hurt that Johnny Cash later covered. There is a lot of aggressive stuff in NIN music, but there is a lot of beauty, experimentation, innovation, and uniqueness too. Trent Reznor has had some side projects, including other bands, video game music, and original film scores. He's done film scores for movies like Gone Girl, TMNT, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Bones and All, Challengers, The Social Network, and Soul, and won Oscars for the last two together with his now frequent collaborator, Atticus Ross.

47:31 "A little bit of hope, a light at the end of the tunnel here." "I mean, he f*cking killed himself..." Best laugh in a while

The first time I listened to this album it ruined my day lol. Now it's one of my favorite albums. Yes, murderers have listened to this album. The columbine shooters were big fans. They completely misunderstood it though. This album is a warning against the mindset of nihilism and self destruction that leads people to that place. It's a story. It's not promoting any of the things it discusses.

Wake up honey, new jaybud drop

Day 2 of asking for Nonagon Infinity by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard

One of the most critically acclaimed albums of the time. NIN are responsible for influencing so many artists and Trent is one of the most gifted musicians/producers/composers there is today.

The album came out when I was 16. I never heard anything like that before and I still love it today. Reznor got 2 Oscars for best Music in "the social network" and the the Pixar film "Soul". You should check the NIN live performace from the 1994 Woodstock festival. I think you will loke that

Trent Reznor said he wrote Heresy partially in response to conservative Christians who in the 90's were extremely homophobic about the HIV/AIDS epidemic saying that gay people deserved it and that it was God punishing them for their "sin". In an interview, he said, "What gets me mad is the way the right wing has used the ‘convenience’ of this epidemic in helping to promote their own agenda.”

I wish I could give you a 2 hour intro to insdustrial. Skinny Puppy, Nitzer Ebb, A Split Second are just some of the greats of the genre. But the main message I want to tell you is that this is not the ideal intro to NiN, if you want to hear the best albumin my opinion is Pretty Hate Machine. That’s a truly amazing album.

This was THE album when I was a teenager, and still to this day gets regular plays in the car. Edit: All of the 'Pig' references are there because 'Pigs' was left wrriten in blood at the scene off the murders on the walls or door.

Trent did the score for the movie Gone Girl so you guys nailed it!

What makes this album beautiful is how much Trent Reznor has changed you can actually hear from his interview with Rick Rubin on how ashamed he his of this album: kzfaq.info/get/bejne/oZmjntSqsdeon3U.htmlsi=iSK4KTsNJmhC3rAk

Hey, I just wanted to say that since you guys liked Nirvana you should definitely check out the first two Weezer albums. The first one is fairly light and fun, and the second one, Pinkerton, is much darker but also much more musically involved and interesting. Don’t be thrown off by their meme status, they rocked in the 90’s.

Still one of my favorite albums. If you guys want crazier, listen to Songs About F*cking by Big Black. RIP Albini

It’s worth reading the lyrics while listening. Some videos of NIN I’d recommend: - Wish -The Perfect Drug -Deep -Only -I’m Afraid of Americans -Gave Up And the cover of hurt that was done by Johnny Cash.

No need to repent or be afraid of Santa Claus

All of this bands records are very different. I think you’d love The Fragile albums. Yes Trent has a family. A wife. Children. He is one of the most respected musicians in history. Even Time magazine wrote about him and called him a modern day Mozart.

watching jack be so uncomfortable is so funny

Super enjoyed watching the reaction! I've been a Nine Inch Nails fan since the 90's. I'd have to say that this is my top favorite album by the band but I've got two runner ups that are mighty impressive as well. They'd be their debut album Pretty Hate Machine as well as The Fragile. Pretty Hate Machine is similar to this in that it has a number of intense songs that are fast moving and driving but The Fragile on the other hand is a double album that has a run time of one hour and forty five minutes. That album has many more songs on it and a good amount of them are more chill than a lot of this album. If either of you are open to further exploring Nine Inch Nails I'd love to see/hear your thoughts on either one of those albums. :)

I think you guys need to look for the metaphors more. A lot of the stuff in here that you think is super dark is more about emotional pain. And Trent doesn't write songs about hating women... that I'm aware of. The pigs are the terrible people in the world that use others for their own wants and hurt the world... I think. Again, metaphorical. Not actual pigs.

44:43 Exactly left guy. Just apply that logic to the whole album.

40:36 funny how you say that cause Trent becoming so popular after this album released was exactly what caused his own downward spiral for a while, he was actually a pretty normal guy all considered (his words) before the tour he did a bit after this album released lmao

I listened to this album in the car with my parents when I was 12 😂 Closer was just a regular radio song (though censored)

Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross have worked together on multiple movie scores during the latter half of NIN's career. The Social Network might have been the first.

Reptile has always been my favorite.

The reaction, lol. NIN has some of the best live productions. I've been fortunate to see Trent and Co. twice. You guys should definitely check out some of the live concert here on KZfaq, such as 'Nine Inch Nails - The Line Begins To Blur 1080p HD (from BYIT)' or 'Nine Inch Nails - Eraser 720p HD (Fixed camera angle, from BYIT).'