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'''The Downward Spiral''' (also known as '''Halo 8''') is an LP by Nine Inch Nails (NIN), 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 a maturation of Trent Reznor's pop music sensibility, and credit his ability to blend it with 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. It was ranked 25 in ''Spin's "100 Greatest Albums, 1985-2005". In 2001 ''Q'' magazine named ''The Downward Spiral'' as one of the 50 Heaviest Albums Of All Time.[1] Rolling Stone. Last accessed April 15, 2007.
Its final song, "Hurt", was covered by Johnny Cash shortly 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.
Concept
As a whole, ''The Downward Spiral'' is replete with Nietzschean concepts. 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, drug abuse and eventually violence as methods of escape. Without religion, the character has to define the meaning and ethos of his own life and fails. When he realizes how detached and apathetic he's become towards his life and how badly he's hurt the few people around him, he commits suicide. In the final song, Hurt, interpreted as either his soul speaking or as a suicide note, the character finally sees hope, but being dead, can only warn others not to follow his downward spiral. Reznor himself was, at the time, an alcoholic and drug addict (although he has announced that he has been sober since 2001). Trent Reznor himself has publicly stated he suffered from depression and is a sufferer of manic-depressive disorder.
Recording
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.
Reznor made a statement about working in the Tate house during a 1997 interview with Rolling Stone:
Adrian Belew makes a guest appearance, adding improvised guitar textures to the distorted sounds of "Mr. Self Destruct" and "The Becoming".[2]
Releases
★ TVT Records / Interscope Records / Atlantic Records 92346-2 - CD
★ TVT Records / Island Records CID 8012/522 126-2 - CD (European release)
★ TVT Records / Interscope Records INTD-92346 - CD Re-release
★ Interscope Records b0003739-36 - SACD
★ Interscope Records b0003762-82 - DVD-A
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''.
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 in regular CD stereo only.
This version is labeled 'halo eight DE'.
DualDisc
CD-compatible side
Contains the original album, digitally remastered. Playable on most regular CD players.
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''.
Track listing
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".
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
Track information
★ "Mr. Self Destruct" begins 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.[3]
★ The loop of screaming voices heard at the beginning of "The Becoming" is a sample from the movie ''Robot Jox'' (approx. 20 minutes in, after Achilles' machine crushes the spectators).
★ The looping female voice that appears on "Reptile" (approx. 5:06) is a sample from the movie ''Nekromantik'' (approx. 47:14 into the film).
★ The beginning creaking sounds from "Reptile" were sampled from the movie ''Leviathan'' when the under sea lab is about to collapse.
★ "A Warm Place" is based on the melody from David Bowie's 1980 single Crystal Japan.
★ The frantic drumming on the end of "Piggy" (where the line "nothing can stop me now" is being repeated) 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", Andy Kubiszewski on "The Downward Spiral" and Chris Vrenna on "Hurt"). He states that it was from him testing the mic setup in studio, but he liked the sound too much not to include it.[4]
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
★ Danny Lohner - Guitar
★ Alan Moulder - Mixing
★ Stephen Perkins - Drums
★ Brian Pollack - Engineer
★ Trent Reznor - Vocals, Guitar, Piano, Arranger, Producer
★ Chris Vrenna - Drums, Programming, Sampling
★ Russell Mills - Paintings
★ David Buckland - Photography
★ Gary Talpas - Package
★ Rob Sheridan - Package, additional photography (for 10th anniversary releases)
★ James Brown - 5.1 mix (for 10th anniversary releases)
★ Neal Ferrazzani - Assistance (for 10th anniversary releases)
★ Bob Ludwig - High-resolution mastering (for 10th anniversary releases)
Chart positions
Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1994 | The Billboard 200 | #2 |
| 2004 | The Billboard 200 (catalog) | #19 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1994 | "March of the Pigs" | Hot 100 | #59 |
| 1994 | "Closer" | 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 |
References
1. Q 50 Heaviest Albums Of All Time-A selection of lists from Q Magazine. Last accessed April 15, 2007.
2. Rusty nails, , , , Guitar Player, Archived at The NIN Hotline.
3. Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral Last accessed April 15, 2007.
4. Trent Reznor Greg Rule
External links
★ Official Nine Inch Nails 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
★ PluggedIn Review
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