The Downward Spiral

The Downward Spiral
Studio album by Nine Inch Nails
Publication (s)	March 8, 1994
Label (s)	TVT Records , Nothing Records
Format (s)	CD, LP
Genre (s)	Industrial rock
Title (number)	14th
running time	65 min 02 s
occupation	Singing , keyboard , programming: Trent Reznor Additional sampling, sound design: Chris Vrenna
production	Trent Reznor , Flood
Studio (s)	Le Pig, Beverly Hills ; The Record Plant, A&M Studios Los Angeles
chronology Fixed (1992) The Downward Spiral Further Down the Spiral (1995)
Single releases February 25, 1994 March of the Pigs May 30, 1994 Closer

Chart positions Explanation of the data

Albums

The Downward Spiral   UK 9 03/19/1994 (4 weeks)   US 2 09/04/1994 (122 weeks)

Singles

March of the Pigs   UK 45 04/09/1994 (3 weeks)   US 59 03/19/1994 (3 weeks) Closer   UK 25th 06/18/1994 (3 weeks)   US 41 10/15/1994 (22 weeks)

The Downward Spiral (also known as Halo 8) is an album by Nine Inch Nails from 1994. It is officially the band's eighth release; However, after Pretty Hate Machine and Broken it is only the third release of new songs, the next, completely new album is called The Fragile .

This album made the band known to a wide audience; especially after the controversial video for Closer by director Mark Romanek was released . Johnny Cash covered the song Hurt for his 2002 album The Man Comes Around ; Mark Romanek also created the video for this.

With Further Down the Spiral (Halo 10) a remix EP was released a year later.

concept

The Downward Spiral is a concept album about the decline of a person ( Mr. Self Destruct , Ruiner ) into suicidal depression ( Eraser , The Downward Spiral ). According to Trent Reznor, it is about efforts to escape the control of religion ( Heresy ) and society ( March of the Pigs ); the means to achieve this goal are sex ( Piggy , Closer ) and violence ( Big Man With a Gun ). The music magazine Rolling Stone described the album as "existential fear that is expressed through rock music". Was added The Downward Spiral in the studio Le Pig in Beverly Hills , which was housed in the house where Sharon Tate by members of the Manson Family was killed. Trent Reznor made contradicting statements as to whether he was aware of this fact at the time.

Many titles are difficult to interpret. Big Man With a Gun is about a violent trip, it could be a rape . The following A Warm Place , into which Big Man With a Gun merges non-stop, is completely instrumental, but probably represents a key point in which the protagonist realizes his mistakes, similar to Stop on Pink Floyd's The Wall - but too late, like himself in Eraser it turns out that the human side has finally lost and his inner voice is now beginning to drive him to suicide (the text seems to refer in the first half to the course of a relationship and in the second to a path, his life to end). Then he finally manages to reach the abyss in Reptile , to understand his emotional damage caused by a prostitute and to commit suicide on the title track - or at least to try.

Track list

1. Mr Self Destruct - 4:30
2. Piggy - 4:24
3. Heresy - 3:54
4. March of the Pigs - 2:58
5. Closer - 6:13
6. Ruiner - 4:58
7. The Becoming - 5:31
8. I Do Not Want This - 5:41
9. Big Man With a Gun - 1:36
10. A Warm Place - 3:22
11. Eraser - 4:54
12. Reptiles - 6:51
13. The Downward Spiral - 3:57
14. Hurt - 6:14

In the Japanese version, the Joy Division - cover version Dead Souls is inserted between tracks 9 and 10 .

Republication

The Downward Spiral (Deluxe Edition)
Studio album by Nine Inch Nails
Publication (s)	November 23, 2004 (US) February 7, 2005 (Europe)
Label (s)	Interscope Records
Format (s)	CD, SACD
Genre (s)	Industrial rock
Title (number)	14 (Disc 1) 13 (Disc 2)
running time	65 min 02 s (disc 1) 70 min 45 s (disc 2)
occupation	for disc 1 s. The Downward Spiral
production	Trent Reznor , Rick Rubin , Danny Hyde, Chris Vrenna
Studio (s)	different studios
chronology The Fragile (1999) The Downward Spiral (Deluxe Edition) With Teeth (2005)

On the occasion of the tenth anniversary of its first release, The Downward Spiral was digitally remastered and re-released on November 23, 2004, first in the USA, then in Europe in early 2005. It has been released in two versions: as a double SACD Set (Deluxe Edition) and as a DualDisc .

Deluxe Edition

This edition consists of 2 CDs , both are double-layered. Disc 1 contains the original album, digitally remastered , in SACD 5.1 surround sound and SACD stereo in one layer (only playable in SACD players) and normal CD stereo in the other layer. Disc 2 contains bonus tracks in SACD stereo and normal CD stereo.

Disc 1: (same title as original version)

Disc 2:

1. Burn : from the Natural Born Killers Soundtrack - 5:00
2. Closer (Precursor) : "Closer to God" remix by Coil , Danny Hyde - 7:16
3. Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now) : Remix by Rick Rubin , from Further Down the Spiral - 4:03
4. A Violet Fluid : March of the Pigs, B-Side - 1:04
5. Dead Souls : from the soundtrack to The Crow , original by Joy Division - 4:53
6. Hurt (Quiet) : Remix by Trent Reznor , from Further Down the Spiral - 5:08
7. Closer to God : Closer to God remix by Trent Reznor , Sean Beavan, Brian Pollack - 5:06
8. All the Pigs, All Lined Up : March of the Pigs, B-Side - 7:26
9. Memorabilia : "Closer to God", B-side, original by Soft Cell - 7:22
10. The Downward Spiral (The Bottom) : Remix by John Balance , Peter Christopherson , Drew McDowall, Danny Hyde, from Further Down the Spiral - 7:32
11. Ruiner (demo) - 4:51
12. Liar (Reptile Demo) - 6:57
13. Heresy (demo) - 4:00

DualDisc

The DualDisc can be played on both sides. There is an audio CD side and a DVD side.

Audio CD side: Contains the original album, digitally remastered.

DVD side:

• 5.1 surround and stereo version of the original tracks, digitally remastered
• Downward Spiral Artwork (is played during music playback on DVD-A players; as a slideshow on normal DVD-Video players)
• Music videos
  • Closer (in 5.1 surround and stereo)
  • March of the Pigs (Stereo)
  • Hurt (stereo)
• Discography, includes one-minute excerpts from every album track since Broken

literature

• Randi rice field: The Downward Spiral . In: This Is the Sound: The Best of Alternative Rock . Simon and Schuster, 1996, ISBN 978-0-689-80670-4 , pp. 105-107 .

Web links

• Official NIN.com special TDS page  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )
• Review from laut.de, 5 out of 5 stars
• The Downward Spiral at Allmusic (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Charts UK Charts US
2. ↑ ^{a b} Randi Reisfeld: The Downward Spiral . In: This Is the Sound: The Best of Alternative Rock . Simon and Schuster, 1996, ISBN 978-0-689-80670-4 , pp. 105 .
3. ↑ Christopher Knowles: The Secret History of Rock 'n' Roll . Cleis Press, 2010, ISBN 978-1-57344-564-1 , pp. 186 .