History Trivia / NineInchNails

** TVT Records was rather upset with ''Pretty Hate Machine'' because Reznor refused to turn Nine Inch Nails into a second Music/DepecheMode. Steve Gottlieb, TVT's founder, then tried to sabotage the recording of ''Broken'' and Trent's move to Interscope.
*** Trent called out Gottlieb in the video for one of the EP's tracks, "Gave Up", in which the words "FUCK YOU STEVE" can be seen on a computer screen. Additionally, the liner notes of the EP contain a message most likely directed to Gottlieb that reads "no thanks: you know who you fucking are" followed by "the slave thinks he is released from bondage only to find a stronger set of chains."
*** In a way, it's like ''Broken'' was made as a result of this.
*** Reznor would get the last laugh in the end, though, as TVT lost the rights to NIN's work after defaulting on a loan, and eventually went bankrupt in 2008, two years before current owners Bicycle Music authorized a proper remastering of ''Pretty Hate Machine''. Reznor amusingly used the opportunity to give one final jab to Gottlieb and TVT via the reissue's liner notes (where, after the "thank you" section, there's a "fuck you" section with ''just'' him and the record label listed).
** Official release of ''Closure'' on DVD was barred for so long that Trent just released the .ISO files of the [=DVDs=] online himself.
** Trent wanted to launch remix.nin.com the same day of the ''[=Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D=]'' release, but had to be postponed because Universal didn't want to host it.

** Even though "The Perfect Drug" is a quite popular song, Trent himself wasn't too happy with it, as he just couldn't get the song's coda to sound the way he wanted it to. It took 21 years for him to perform it live.

* MultiDiscWork: ''The Fragile'', which has a [[IdiosyncraticEpisodeNaming "left" and "right" disc]] on its CD release (both being around 50 minutes long), two tapes on cassette, and three discs on vinyl.

** Trent went on record disowning most of ''Pretty Hate Machine'' a mere two years after its release, citing the extremely withdrawn and antisocial headspace he was in during its production making for "immature", "introverted, claustrophobic" music. Several songs he went on record as disliking were "Down in It" (as, to him, it was nothing more than a ripoff of Music/SkinnyPuppy's "Dig It") and "Kinda I Want To" (as it was difficult to write and went through multiple revisions). That said, Trent warmed back up to the album by the time he finally got to do a remaster, calling it an "old friend."

** Even though "The Perfect Drug" is a quite popular song, Trent himself wasn't too happy with it. It took 21 years for him to perform it live, as he just couldn't get the song's coda to sound the way he wanted it to.

*** Reznor would get the last laugh in the end, though, as TVT lost the rights to NIN's work after defaulting on a loan, and eventually went bankrupt in 2008, two years before current owners Bicycle Music authorized a proper remastering of ''Pretty Hate Machine''. Reznor amusingly used the opportunity to give one final TakeThat to Gottlieb and TVT via the reissue's liner notes.

** An excerpt of "Closer" is heard at the beginning of the Creator/{{Newgrounds}} flash game ''Kill Bubbles''.

** TVT Records was rather upset with ''Pretty Hate Machine'' because Reznor refused to be turned into a second Music/DepecheMode. Steve Gottlieb, TVT's founder, then tried to sabotage the recording of ''Broken'' and Trent's move to Interscope.

*** Reznor would get the last laugh in the end, though, as TVT lost the rights to NIN's work after defaulting on a loan, and TVT went bankrupt in 2008, two years before current owners Bicycle Music authorized a proper remastering of ''Pretty Hate Machine''. Reznor amusingly used the opportunity to give one final TakeThat to Gottlieb and TVT via the reissue's liner notes.

** Trent isn't fond of "Big Man With a Gun" (which is probably why he doesn't often play it live), nor is he fond of "Ruiner"; in a ''Guitar World'' interview released the month after ''The Downward Spiral'' was released, Trent admitted that "Ruiner" was the hardest song to write, and he still wasn't sure that he did it right.

** The original ''Film/SawI'' short film's opening title uses a sound effect from Music/NineInchNails' "Screaming Slave" (a remix of their song "Happiness in Slavery").[[note]]Charlie Clouser, the composer for the whole ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'' franchise including the short film, was a former touring member of the band, though it's unlikely that this is an allusion to him, since he wasn't involved in the remix at all (it came out about 2 years before he joined the band).[[/note]]

* ContentLeak: A low-quality bootleg recording of ''Music/YearZero'' was leaked to the internet almost 2 weeks before the album's official release date with a high quality leak occurring a few days later. In response, the album was made available on its official site before the official release.

** "Just Do It," which was left off ''Music/TheDownwardSpiral'' at the advice of producer Flood, who considered it too "up front" about the act of suicide. "The Beauty of the Drug" is another song that didn't make that album, and it's possible they weren't even recorded.

* SleeperHit: ''Pretty Hate Machine'' really only took off about a year after its release. Even then, it only peaked at number 75 on the Billboard chart. It took until 1992 to go gold and 1995 to hit platinum.

** Trent went on record disowning most of ''Pretty Hate Machine'' a mere two years after its release, citing the extremely withdrawn and antisocial headspace he was in during its production making for "immature", "introverted, claustrophobic" music. For one, he claimed retrospectively that "Down in It" was nothing more than a rip-off of Music/SkinnyPuppy's "Dig It". "Kinda I Want To" is another song Trent hates, as it was difficult to write and went through multiple revisions (the ''Purest Feeling'' and ''Pretty Hate Machine'' versions have barely anything in common other than the lyrics), and hasn't been played live since the earliest NIN shows. That said, Trent warmed back up to the album by the time he finally got to do a remaster, calling it an "old friend."
** Trent's actually not a fan of the band's now iconic Woodstock performance, considering it one of the band's worst. The myriad amounts of technical problems throughout the performance (most famously Trent's keyboard breaking down halfway into "Happiness in Slavery") probably had something to do with this.

** In a 2005 interview with ''Spin'', Trent Reznor commented about his opinion on ''The Fragile'', nowadays considered one of Nine Inch Nails' best works. He associated the album with [[CreatorBreakdown his mental condition in the late 1990s]] and criticized its lack of lyrics. Reznor believed that he made it out fear of whatever happened to him at the time, filling it with "an unimaginable amount of effort" while unable to think.
** Even though "The Perfect Drug" is a quite popular song, Trent himself isn't too happy with it. It took 21 years for him to perform it live, as he just couldn't get the song's coda to sound the way he wanted it to.
** Trent [[https://www.revolvermag.com/music/nine-inch-nails-9-things-we-learned-our-visit-trent-reznors-studio went on record]] with ''Revolver'' a year after the release of ''Film/BirdBox'', which he and Atticus Ross scored, stating that the initial process of making the score was overwhelmingly negative for them. He cited difficulties with the film's producers and specifically singled out its editor for mixing the music too low. It would take [[https://store.nin.com/collections/music/products/birdbox-box-set a thorough extension of the score]], released almost a year after the original with an extra 13 tracks included, before their work on the film was comfortably integrated into their discography.

* CreatorBreakdown: ''The Downward Spiral'' was made during a period where Trent was suffering a downward spiral of his own, induced by depression and drug abuse. Even when the album was released to mass acclaim, Trent was still unhappy due to disillusionment with his newfound fame. It would up bleeding into the sessions for ''The Fragile,'' and in fact, he admitted he was contemplating suicide while writing "La Mer."
* CreatorRecovery: ''With Teeth'' could be considered this for [[OneManBand Trent Reznor]], who admitted in an interview around the time of the album's release that he was "pretty happy." Reinforcing this is the fact that Trent surprised many fans by returning from his hiatus [[HeroicBuild quite ripped]], and that he would end up getting married (to Mariqueen Maandig, with whom he now creates music in Music/HowToDestroyAngels) four years later.

** "Just Do It," which was left off ''Music/TheDownwardSpiral'' at the advice of producer Flood, who considered it too "up front" about the act of suicide. "The Beauty Of The Drug" is another song that didn't make that album, and it's possible they weren't even recorded.

* ApprovalOfGod: Several examples of Trent being the God in question:
** After Music/JohnnyCash covered "Hurt" in 2002, Trent had nothing but gushing to offer, claiming that the song "[wasn't his] anymore."
** Shortly after Music/LilNasX's "Old Town Road", which samples "34 Ghosts IV", began gaining traction online, his manager reached out to Trent in hopes of clearing the sample. Trent approved, calling the song "undeniably hooky" and wanting Lil Nas X and co. to own the spotlight so much that he refrained from publicly discussing it at length and even turned down an offer to cameo in the music video.
* BlackSheepHit: "Closer" is a less aggressive song compared to the loud, industrial madness on most of the rest of ''The Downward Spiral'', but has become the band's biggest hit and probably the poster child of the industrial rock genre.
* ChartDisplacement: The band only scored two top 40 hits, "The Day the World Went Away" (boosted by huge first-week sales of its CD single) and "The Hand That Feeds" (which is also the first of five straight Alternative chart-toppers). "Closer" barely missed it at #41!
* ContentLeak: A low quality bootleg recording of ''Year Zero'' was leaked to the internet almost 2 weeks before the album's official release date with a high quality leak occurring a few days later. In response, the album was made available on its official site before the official release.

* ApprovalOfGod:
** After Music/JohnnyCash covered "Hurt" in 2002, Trent Reznor had nothing but gushing to offer, claiming that the song "[wasn't his] anymore."

** A recurring in-universe band in ''ComicBook/JohnnyTheHomicidalManiac'' is Nine Inch Heels, likely a stand-in for Nine Inch Nails.
** The original ''Film/SawI'' short film's opening title uses a sound effect from Music/NineInchNails' "Screaming Slave" (a remix of their song "Happiness in Slavery").[[note]]Charlie Clouser, the composer for the whole ''Franchise/{{Saw}}'' franchise including the short film, was a former touring member of the band, though it's unlikely that this is an allusion to him since he wasn't involved in the remix at all (it came out about 2 years before he joined the band).[[/note]]

** The recurring boss Reznor in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' is named in his honour. Creator/{{Nintendo}} has a long habit of naming recurring bosses in the ''Mario'' franchise for famous musicians.
** Kaneshiro in ''VideoGame/Persona5'', more specifically his Shadow boss form (that being a giant mechanical piggybank) has an attack called "March of The Piggy".

* WhyFandomCantHaveNiceThings: Various nasty and overly-personal comments are the reason Trent isn't as active on Website/{{Twitter}} these days. Mostly, he posts news updates now. He even [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded this]] in a now deleted Tweet.

** "The Warning" was cut from ''With Teeth''. It's not confirmed as to whether it's the same "The Warning" that wound up on ''Year Zero.'' Also cut from ''With Teeth'' are "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg76mSSzErs Non-Entity]]" and "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWdn9QYN4ag Not So Pretty Now.]]"

* CutSong: "Just Do It," which was left off ''Music/TheDownwardSpiral'' at the advice of producer Creator/{{Flood}}, who considered it too "up front" about the act of suicide. "The Beauty Of The Drug" is another song that didn't make that album, and it's possible they weren't even recorded.
** "The Warning" was cut from ''With Teeth.'' It's not confirmed as to whether it's the same "The Warning" that wound up on ''Year Zero.'' Also cut from ''With Teeth'' - "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg76mSSzErs Non-Entity]]" and "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWdn9QYN4ag Not So Pretty Now.]]"

** Trent originally wanted ''With Teeth'' to be a concept album called ''Bleedthrough'', but he ended up scrapping the idea after complaining that some people saw the title aspect as a "tampon commercial".

** Reznor had considered doing quite a bit to promote ''Year Zero'', including blowing up a building, arresting actual fans, and even staging an appearance of the Presence in real life. Of course, these never happened for various reasons. [[http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/134vgv/i_am_trent_reznor_of_nine_inch_nails_and_how_to/c70u7fm?context=3]]
** Trent originally wanted ''With Teeth'' to be a concept album called ''Bleedthrough'', but unfortunately he ended up scrapping the idea, complaining some people saw the title aspect as a "tampon commercial".
** There were two songs that never ended up/even recorded for ''The Downward Spiral'', both called "The Beauty of the Drug" and "Just Do It". The latter gets special mention due to the straightforward mention of suicide with the lyric "[[DrivenToSuicide Just do it. Nobody cares at all.]]" Producer Flood ''did not like this'' and insisted to Trent to not use either song and have been scrapped since, but nobody knows if Trent ever really recorded them.

* TheWikiRule: [[http://www.ninwiki.com/Main_Page Yup.]]

** Reznor had considered doing quite a bit to promote ''Year Zero'', including blowing up a building, arresting actual fans, and even staging an appearance of [[spoiler: the Presence]] in real life. Of course, these never happened for various reasons. [[http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/134vgv/i_am_trent_reznor_of_nine_inch_nails_and_how_to/c70u7fm?context=3]]

*** Arguably this was a response to a mild (particularly by Nine Inch Nails' standards; see above) case of ExecutiveMeddling, as streaming sites like Spotify tend to ignore EP releases. Of course, some people will find that a more reasonable justification than others will.
* TropeNamer: HappinessInSlavery

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* ReferencedBy: The recurring boss Reznor in ''VideoGame/SuperMarioWorld'' is named in his honour. Creator/{{Nintendo}} has a long habit of naming recurring bosses in the ''Mario'' franchise for famous musicians.
** Kaneshiro in ''VideoGame/Persona5'', more specifically his Shadow boss form (that being a giant mechanical piggybank) has an attack called "March of The Piggy"

!!Tropes named after [=NIN=] songs:
* HappinessInSlavery

!!Tropes headed with quotes from [=NIN=] songs:
* HappinessInSlavery (obviously)
* IAmBecomingSong
* WhatHaveIBecome

** Trent [[https://www.revolvermag.com/music/nine-inch-nails-9-things-we-learned-our-visit-trent-reznors-studio went on record]] with ''Revolver'' a year after the release of ''Film/BirdBox'', which he and Atticus Ross scored, stating that the initial process of making the score was overwhelmingly negative for them. He cited difficulties with the film's producers and specifically singled out its editor for mixing the music too low. It would take [[https://store.nin.com/collections/music/products/birdbox-box-set a thorough extension of the soundtrack]], released almost a year after the original with an extra 13 tracks included, before their work on the film was comfortably integrated into their discography.