Nine Inch Nails - Downward Spiral CD

Since their inception in the metal heartland and rock stronghold of Cleveland, OH, Trent Reznor's Nine Inch Nails have been pioneers in their field. Broadly categorized in the early days as an industrial rock band they've stuck to first principles while shifting their focus with each successive album and achieved a level of success based on a fanatical following that makes a mockery of any idea they were ever cut out to be a cult act. NIN's sales have exceeded 11 million in the U.S. alone and over 30 million worldwide.

It was second album The Downward Spiral (1994) that proved NIN's couldn't be confined. Detailing the life of a man entering his own downward spiral and influenced by the likes of David Bowie and Pink Floyd, Reznor established the sound as a provocative force with hit tracks "Hurt" and "Closer." Still working with Flood, Reznor embraced old and new technology and presented a distinguished character within both. Neither a Luddite nor a straightforward futurist the album did create shockwaves thanks to deliberately nihilistic pieces like "Heresy," "March of the Pigs" and "Big Man With A Gun" but the benefits of hindsight have been to reveal the recording's naked honesty rather than any deliberate attempt to be confrontational.