12th Feb: A new policy is being put in place for TRS threads: Make your case that the name/page is broken in the Opening Post, or the thread will be nuked immediately. See Everything You Wanted To Know About Changing Names for what "Make your case" means.
5th Feb: Echo Chamber Season 1 blooper reel on Youtube here
Nine Inch Nails is an Industrial Metal band who have been rolling around the musical scene since 1989, releasing music videos which have ranged from politically subversive to the sort of video which answers the question 'What if Hostel had been a set for music videos?'They're somewhat unusual in that it's essentially one man, Trent Reznor, who's done all of it. Most members have come and gone, occasionally contributing to albums but mostly staying for the live shows. As of 2009, Reznor's decided to retire from touring, though he's going to continue to release albums under the Nine Inch Nails name.The music is surprisingly varied, from ear-destroying screaming guitar-death on Broken to beautiful, mellow piano pieces on Still; but most of it falls squarely under True Art Is Angsty.In contrast to his highly brutal Industrial Metal output, Reznor in person is more of a Mean Character, Nice Actor, being very active in his community and generally a pretty nice guy. Also in the same vein, he was friends with Tori Amos - he even sang backing vocals on one of her songs (the past tense is Courtney Love's fault).More recently, though, Reznor has taken a break from new Nine Inch Nails work and instead focuses on a project with his wife, Mariqueen Maandig, called How To Destroy Angels, as well as on film soundtracks (see below).There have been eight major albums as of January 2010.
Pretty Hate Machine (1989) - Nine Inch Nails' debut, at points showing the way towards the Industrial Metal that they'd popularise and at other points sounding like evil Depeche Mode.
Broken (1992 EP) - this is where Reznor definitely adopted harsh Industrial Metal, updating his electronics, putting the guitars in the forefront and employing a more abrasive production.
Further Down the Spiral (1995) - the remix album of the above.
The Fragile (1999) - a double album (and possibly another Concept Album, albeit one with a less tightly structured narrative than The Downward Spiral) beloved by fans. Famously debuted at #1 on the Billboard charts, then dropped to #16 the next week, the only album ever to have dropped that low from #1.
Things Falling Apart (2000) - remix album
And All That Could Have Been (2002) - live album recorded during the Fragility 2.0 tour.
Still (2002) - acoustic, stripped-down companion piece to the above, including alternate versions of older songs as well as some new and thoroughly depressing tracks)
With Teeth (2005)
Year Zero (2007) - a futuristic-dystopia-type Concept Album; accompanied by an extensive ARG)
Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D (Year Zero Remixed) (2007) - after the clever names for the other remix albums, something of a let down, though it is a clever reference to the hackers and digital 1337-folk that discovered the Year Zero sites.
Ghosts I-IV (2008) - contains 36 instrumental tracks on four discs.. Notable for being obtainable in about twenty different ways, and all the tracks not having proper names and being called by names such as '2 Ghosts I' and '22 Ghosts III'
The Slip (2008) - released completely for free on the website as a "thank you" to fans. Theories exist among fans that this is another Concept Album, following the aftermath of Year Zero.
Broken Movie (1993) - essentially one long extended music video for the Broken EP, made to look (very convincingly) like a Snuff Film. Never got released, though a handful of VHS tapes exist, and torrents were released by Trent in late 2006. Directed by the late Peter Christopherson.
Closure (1997) - two-disk VHS/DVD set, one tape/disk chronicles the chaotic Self Destruct tour of '95-'96, the other is a collection of music videos that had been released thus far. (The DVD version got caught in red tape, so Trent got fed up and released torrents of that as well.)
And All That Could Have Been (2002) - included with the "deluxe" album of the same name, it's the live concert DVD of the 2000 Fragility 2.0 tour, and is littered with Easter Eggs.
Beside You In Time (2007) - live concert DVD of the 2005-2006 Live: With Teeth tour.
Reznor also provided the soundtrack to Quake and had tracks recorded for Doom 3, though they didn't make it into the final game. The tracks are still in the game files, however.And Reznor, along with Atticus Ross, composed the score for The Social Network, for which the duo won an Oscar for Best Original Music Score. Reznor and Ross have teamed up yet again for the soundtrack to 2011's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.
Spit Trail Kiss: "Deep", though it's technically a spit trail lick.
Take That: "Starfuckers, Inc."`The song itself is a huge 'take that!' at celebrities and fame in general, and Word Of God admits it had a lot to do with Marilyn Manson in particular. Manson realized this and made a video out of it, which took more specific shots at Pamela Anderson, Fred Durst, Gene Simmons, and Trent himself, among others. Oh, and it also portrayed a fat, uglyCourtney Love.
Ascended Fanboy: Trent is a hugeRoger Waters fan, which only made it all the more amusingly tragic during a 2003 Guitar World interview that paired them up; Trent fell all over himself declaring how much he loved and respected Waters' solo work, only for Waters to apologetically state that he'd never heard any of NIN's music. Trent actually took it surprisingly well. It became a Running Gag on The Meathead Perspective.
Badass Beard: Has been known to sport one on occasion and had a nice one at the Oscars
Canon Discontinuity: Any release without a Halo number. Most of these were forced by the record company. Reznor is very open about how he feels about that.
Also, Word Of God is that The Fragile is a loose concept album about depression.
Continuity Nod: "Only" is basically this to "Down in It": the latter is halo 1 while the former is halo 20, the vocal delivery is very similar, and "Only" even refers to a lyric from "Down in It":
Just then a tiny little dot / Caught my eye it was just about too small to see / But I watched it way too long / It was pulling me down - "Down in It"
Well, the tiniest little dot caught my eye / And it turned out to be a scab / And I had this funny feeling / Like I just knew it's something bad - "Only"
Taking Word Of God into account, "Adrift and at Peace" is the conclusion to "[1] La Mer".
Cut Song: Most notably, "Just Do It", which was left off The Downward Spiral at the advice of producer Flood, who considered it too "up front" about the act of suicide.
Everything Is an Instrument: Trent has been exploring and exploiting the ways computers and samples can be used to make music from the beginning.
Especially in the Ghosts series, which included, for instance, a chain laid across a cookie sheet.
Exceptions: according to Trent, The Fragile is mostly guitars with a lot of the textural sounds being from instruments that he didn't know how to play properly.
Heterosexual Life Partners: From about 1985 until 1997, Trent had this kind of relationship with Chris Vrenna.
This friendship spanned earlier than that; they became friends as teenagers, owing to the fact that they grew up within fifty miles (90 km) of one another (Vrenna is originally from Erie, Pennsylvania; Reznor is from a town called Mercer, about forty minutes south).
Lately, he seems to be developing this type of relationship with Atticus Ross.
'I Am' Song: "Mr. Self Destruct", "Big Man with a Gun."
Important Haircut: Trent cut his trademark long, messy hair sometime after getting over his addiction problems and recording With Teeth. He's had a buzz cut ever since.
Incredibly Lame Pun: This gem from "The Only Time": My moral standing is lying down (geddit?).
Industrial: Songs like "Heresy" and "The Becoming" off of The Downward Spiral show that Trent still (back then, at least) could make genuine Industrial music.
Intentionally Awkward Title: Despite various apocryphal origin stories, Trent's basic story on how he came to "Nine Inch Nails" as the band name is simple: it sounded cool and abbreviated easily.
Lyrical Dissonance: "Everyday is Exactly the Same" is one of NIN's softer and, quite frankly, more "mainstream" songs. It's also one of the most depressing.
From "The Becoming": "It won't give up, it wants me dead, and goddamn this voice inside my head". Also counts as High Octane Nightmare Fuel.
Also, "Piggy" (and about half the songs on The Downward Spiral, really) and "Into the Void"... And more. Trent's very fond of this trope.
Minimalistic Cover Art: Pretty Hate Machine, Broken, The Downward Spiral... ah hell, every one of their albums has this.
Mondegreen: In one interview Trent Reznor wanted to drive home the point that in "Head Like a Hole" he is saying "God/money" and not "Got money?", and in "Down in It", he is saying "I was up above it" and not "Eyes of a puppet."
There's a photo out there of one of guitarist Aaron North's setlists on the With_Teeth tour, that reads "Down In It, aka Eyes Of A Puppet", along with a few other jokes.
Mood Dissonance: "The Becoming" contrasts ominous industrial sounds and lyrics about dehumanization with surprisingly low-key vocals.
Song-to-song transition example: on The Downward Spiral, the noisy and hyper-aggressive "Big Man with a Gun" is followed by the calm ambient soundscapes of "A Warm Place," which is then followed by the slow-burning aggression of "Eraser."
Which is then followed by the pulsing, ripping sound of "Reptile."
Quite frankly, Trent has many songs that seem like this unless you're following the continuity of the album they're in. "Meet Your Master" is a good example of this. Alternatively, you might not realize that songs like "Happiness in Slavery" or "Head Like a Hole" are actually about record labels unless you actually know about Trent's history with them. There's also "Sin," which sounds like a song about D/s, which really isn't helped by the ridiculously fetishistic Music Video...which is a lot like mostoftheir videos. So really, it's more like Obligatory Bondage Music Video...
Piss Take Rap: The weird, hybrid sing-rapping Trent does in "Down In It".
Record Producer: Trent's personally produced every single NIN album, with help from various others at some points, like Adrian Sherwood and John Fryer (Pretty Hate Machine), Flood (Broken, The Downward Spiral) and Alan Moulder (The Fragile, With Teeth). All the NIN albums since Year Zero have been credited to Reznor, Moulder and Atticus Ross.
Recurring Riff: There's a descending melodic line that appears in several songs on The Downward Spiral, albeit in different keys.
"La Mer" and "Into the Void" both share basslines, though on "La Mer", it's not the main riff.
Religion Rant Song: "Heresy" and "Ruiner" from The Downward Spiral, "Terrible Lie" from Broken, and judging by Word Of God, "Capital G" from Year Zero as well.
Sampling: Not only from the obligatory old horror and sci-fi movies, but also occasionally from other artists. Pretty Hate Machine's liner notes thanked Prince, Public Enemy and Jane's Addiction among others because Trent sampled them. "Big Man with a Gun" from The Downward Spiral begins with a sample of what is apparently a porn star having an orgasm, heavily processed so as to be unrecognizable. The album booklet gives the sample the Non-indicative Name of "Steakhouse".
An expansive list can be found here. The most unusual samples on the list include Saddam Hussein's trial verdict and a YouTube video of BioShock cosplay.
Yoko Oh No: Trent getting married and having a kid pretty much blew up some fangirls (and boys, as seen here. Fans blame his wife for him ending NIN as a touring project (indefinitely, though) despite the fact that he's expressed interest in trying something new years before even meeting Mariqueen, and create off the wall theories like "they're both on drugs!" among other things. Just go on YouTube and check out one of the songs in their band How to Destroy Angels and read the comments. It gets pretty ridiculous.
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