A Classic Revamped

This CD sounds SO great in the 5.1 Digital Surround. All the different sounds and guitars and the drum machines makes you feel that you are right there as the recording is going on. Nice and LOUD the way it was made to listen to. Plus the Closer (5.1), March Of The Pigs and Hurt videos.....all awesome!

This is a classic worth buying for all the extras and the enhancements!!!!

Depression, agony, and other visions in Reznor's head.

In 1994, NIN released what was to become their most renouned album, arguably even moreso than 1999's "The Fragile". This record, of course, was "The Downward Spiral". A scathing, cynical, hateful opus of blasphemy, destruction and depression, Reznor screams, moans and (sometimes) sings beautifully through one of the most emotionally charged albums of all time.



Mr.Self Destruct opens the record in a fine fashion, right down to business. Not as guitar oriented as the tracks on "Broken", but the chorus is still carried by guitar fuzz. The beginning of this track is genius, very fitting for what is to come, with the incinuation of torture. The track ends with a purpsfully annoying sound, I cannot imagine what was going on in Reznor's head, but I can understand it's context as part of the album as a whole, since Mr.Self Destruct seems to be the mental breakdown (all in the first track, no less).



Piggy is next, and is more characteristic of the "Downward Spiral" as a whole, carried by a very simple bass/drum/synth line, it beings to open up a bit after the 1st chorus, and becomes much more complete. This album, by the way, deserves to be listened to on excellent speakers or headphones, as there are hundreds of little "blips" (as I shall entitle them...) in the background, and are not really necesary per se, but are enjoyable to see the effort put into this album. Piggy gradually comes to an insane close, the drums are all over the place and a higher piano (?) line closes the track. Simply beautiful.



Heresy is arguably the best track on the record, there is not much that can be written about it that would do it justice, it is simply an amazing, blasphemous, ironic song, carried by some excellent, heavy synth and guitar work. One of the angriest tracks on the album, while retaining all its beauty (just listen to the delightful Nietzsche-inspired chorus of "God is dead, and no one cares". At this point, all beauty goes out the window for March of the Pigs, easily the most aggressive and fast track on the record, this would not look out of place at all on "Broken". March of the Pigs takes the listener on an intense, 2 1/2 minute musical journey, complete with aggressive screaming, blissful singing and a dainty piano line to end the track.



Closer is, of course, much more familiar to everybody, so writing much about it would be mundane. Not my favourite track, but it seems to be the one that everybody recognizes, probably due to the infamous "I want to f**k you like an animal" chorus. Still though, Closer is far too simple of a track to carry the album the way that it proclaims to. Ruiner is much better, many incoherant parts here, as well of a much more synth driven song, it is truly scary how Reznor and Co. use the chorus as such a metaphor for power. It really has to be listened to in order to appreciate...even more so than anything else on the record. Ruinier presents itself as a mystery, obscure lyrical context and

a POWERFUL synth performance.



Following this is The Becoming, which, if this were a CD single for 14 dollars, I would still buy it, as long as this track were on it. The Becoming is probably the most complete song on the album, showcasing a few surprises and an excellent buildup into a totally unexpected climax. A tremendous track, the acoustic guitar in the middle of the song was completely arbitrary, but used to such a good effect that it instantly makes the song what it is. I Do Not Want This is not even close to being as good as the previous track, it featues a funky piano line as well as drum beat. This track suffers in the same way that Closer does, in that it is a little basic for the songs that sandwich it. However, the chorus here is killer: "Don't you tell me how I feel...". Very angry, indeed.



Big Man With a Gun sounds a lot like March of the Pigs II, minus a bit of aggression. An obvious metaphor for power, much like Ruiner, this song seems to be a bit of a culmination of the tracks before it on the album, before breaking through to the next series, beginning with A Warm Place. A Warm Place is a beautiful ambient track, and appears to be one of the only optimistic moments on the record (hence the title), it is another moment that must be experienced to believe the beauty.



And here begins the weird trio, Eraser, Reptile and the title track. Eraser opens with a strange blowing sound, into heavy electronic drums, a higher piano/synth line. Unlike The Becoming, the buildup is not as good, and the climax is definitely not as inviting, although the ending of the acoustic part where the distortion is turned back on was a nice surprise. Reptile is the longest track on the record, bordering on the 7-minute mark. A very slow build-up here (once again), the little synth line at the beginning is recognizable...but from where? This continues for the first minute of the album, before we are greeted with some sort of industrial equipment as part of the beat. Nobody will ever call Reznor uncreative. Reptile is a decent track compared to the rest of the record, but nothing special. The optimistic (relatively speaking) chorus is a nice addition as well, before...The Downward Sprial. This is probably the most depressing piece of music ever written, hands down. The negative emotion put forth on this track is beyond words, and chronicles the culmination of the downfall of the character in the record. The guitar is muffled...screams of pain, with Reznor's whispering. This is far too much for anybody.



Finally, Hurt. The choice track for NIN-fanboys everywhere, Hurt is the most beautiful song on the album, that would not be argued. Although basic, Reznor crams a ridiculous amount of emotion into 5 minutes, before the ultimate climax of an album, and its gradual comedown. Some of NIN's best lyrics are found here...and that ending. Yes, he definitely got it right this time.



A timeless classic, if you don't own this album, you should.

good stuff

A few years ago i got into nine inch nails.later i sort of stopped listening to music.but then i was in a car and took this with me and listened to it for one more time.and its great.everybody read what they needed to know.i think this is overall an alltime classic.but its not for everyone.old people who only like classic rock (60s,70s), STAY AWAY. this is for those who want something different.also try out the fragile,and if you really need to,try pretty hate machine (that one,i dont like very much).all the songs are good.it has a lot of swearing and offensive lyrics against religion.it also sometimes could create obscene images in your mind (big man with a gun,closer)but its good.ruiner has a really good guitar solo in the middle.not sure who plays it.overral,just give it a try

Groovy

If you like Pink Floyd's stuff, hard rock/metal and music that means something, you'll probably like this band. In my opinion they have no bad songs on any album, well i don't know about the Remix albums/singles. He is hard but not death/math metal hard - with every song nothing but double bass (machine gun sound) drum and deep single note vocals. He gets really lite in a few songs which i think is cool, but some people don't like.



I would compare NIN to Tool, Marilyn Manson in heaviness and probably System of a Down's and Marilyn Manson's lite stuff on NIN's liter side.

Not a huge fan of industrial, but

This was a pretty good cd. Trent Reznor is an absolute genius/psychopath, and a complete perfectionist, and I admire the fact that he rights, performs, records, and mixes all of NIN's albums, almost exclusively by himself. Brilliant. And the videos were prettty cool, as well as the interactive discography section. The video for Closer reminds me of a Darren Aronofsky film (the part with the beating heart will remind you of a certain scene involving a heart in Aronofsky's movie "Pi", also great, and a film fans of NIN will invariably love)Anyways, check it out. Its only $1 more than the regular version of TDS, but if you already have the 1994 version, i wouldn't necessarily rush out and re-buy this one.

The ultimate version.

The Dolby Digital 5.1 version of TDS is just astounding. On our (expensive) home theater setup this CD sounded almost brand new. I have been listening to the old version of this CD since about 1997 on many different systems, computer, automobile and home stereo alike. But...when I picked this up and plopped it into our DVD player it almost brought me to tears.



The clarity, the warmth, the brilliant surround mixing (not a slew of gimmicky rear channel effects, but masterfully blended) and the high quality resampling shone through like I never thought possible. Here was a CD I had spent nearly half my life listening to, I had always held this above the other 24+ NIN CDs I had, I memorized every song, noise and lyric...yet this release took it to a level of near-transcendence. Where once there was mushy high frequency, now there was noticeable instrumentation and clarity. Where once there was mediocre bass (on March of the Pigs especially) there was richness, a snap to it - ahh.



I can't stop loving this re-release of the most impactful, favorite CD of my life. Where once my love for it was being drowned by other bands and genres, this CD brought me back to an almost brand new masterpiece. I can't stop praising the DUAL-DISC version...the deluxe edition - waste of money for any fan, or anyone just interested in the CD. Plus, it's SACD.



This is the way this CD was meant to be heard, this is what I had always wanted to hear, and the execution - utterly flawless. Time for me to stop gushing.