The Downward Spiral

Closer is so cool sounding also if you got offended by this album go back to your cocomelon you little crybaby’s 👶

THIS music rocks actually I love it it’s very great personality and great voice! I love this and I use this is my edits music so I live it :D

A personal favorite.

In 1994, when this album came out, being “damaged goods” was an appealing concept. Now, in the 2020s, this concept album about an assaulter who deflects blame for his actions commits suicide to escape the consequences comes off as ham-fisted, narcissistic teenage poetry, like it always was. The only reason it is thought of in the terms that it is is because of the music, which never fails to sound every bit as excruciating as a washing machine trying to French kiss a lightbulb. Many say that Trent Reznor is a great singer because his voice is “human.” It isn’t. Kate Bush is a singer with a “human” voice; Trent Reznor shines and screams his way into the hearts of teens every bit as perverted and self-centered as he is because, like this album’s protagonist, they want to be able to commit horrible actions and never face the consequences. It’s 2020. It’s time to let this despicable album be lost to the septic tank of history. Spend your money elsewhere.

Spectacular album. Closer is one of my favorite songs.

Contrary to whatever the Laney review says, this is a great album.

The album I happen to drop acid on for the time.

This album can be interpreted in many ways, obviously the album is not for everyone. It’s pretty hard in terms of sound and it’ll scare some off. If you’re a fan of alt metal, then you’ll enjoy this if you give it a couple of listens. It may not be appealing to a couple at first. Once I gave it a couple listens all the way through, it became my favorite album ever.

For the life of me, I cannot figure out what happened in the 90s that made so many bands, whose styles were more like plain alternative rock than industrial, label themselves as such. I say this at the risk of not sounding like a true industrial fan (cue the memes). I’ve tried listening to the bands related to NIN to see if they sound any more industrial, such as Stabbing Westward, but it’s more of the same alternative rock. Certain industrial rock bands, like Chemlab, actually sound more industrial than NIN, but I think they were more inspired by bands like 1000 Homo DJs or Ministry than NIN. I am aware that NIN was heavily inspired by Skinny Puppy to the point of blatantly copying them in their debut album. I do like some of the songs on this album, like “Closer” and “Reptile”, but the rest sound like your run-of-the-mill edge, and not in a sophisticated way. The two tracks I mentioned are more conceptually mature and actually sound industrial. (I like the Kling-klang thing, okay?) One of the previous reviewers said that “there was nothing like it before it came out”... I disagree. NIN was not the first to do anything like this, and if I’m being honest, they were not even good at it, either. Normally, if a band becomes famous, they either innovated something new or they at least made a genre 1000x better. But that was not the case with NIN. Notice that NIN’s brand of industrial rock did not last past the 90s, because it all just morphed into plain alternative.

❤️