I have been waiting to see if Nine Inch Nails made it on 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. I did not expect to see The Downward Spiral first on the list. Did the writers of the book listen to Pretty Hate Machine? I remember it was my favourite album at the time. I saw NIN in concert. The album’s concept is the downward spiral of a man until he commits suicide. I thought this was my story. I thought the genius behind NIN, Trent Reznor, could read my thoughts. I felt he knew how I felt.
Warning: This album has explicit lyrics. 🙂
My favourite songs from 1994 were and still are “Closer“, “Hurt“, “Mr. Self Destruct”, “I Do Not Want This” and “Eraser”. I must state here that I prefer Reznor’s version of “Hurt” over Johnny Cash‘s cover. I think he version sucks. I feel the hurt in the original version.
While I agree this is a great album, I think I prefer Pretty Hate Machine. This album seems a bit angier musical, perhaps that was some of co-producer’s Flood influence. I like the quiet moments on the album because I hope to reach those moments in my life. 8.5/10.
an ocean roars 