| 1 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/nine_inch_nails_downward_spiral_album_cover_web_opimised_820.jpg]] |
| 2 | [[caption-width-right:350:''I now know the depths I reach are limitless.'']] |
| 3 | |
| 4 | ->"''You could have it all\ |
| 5 | My empire of dirt\ |
| 6 | I will let you down\ |
| 7 | I will make you hurt.''" |
| 8 | -->-- '''"Hurt"''' |
| 9 | |
| 10 | ''The Downward Spiral'' is the second studio album by American rock band Music/NineInchNails. Released through Nothing Records (in conjunction with TVT Records, Creator/InterscopeRecords, and Creator/AtlanticRecords) on March 8, 1994, it was the band's first full-length work following their shift from the dark, mechanical take on [[SynthPop synthpop]] and {{alternative dance}} heard on their debut album ''Music/PrettyHateMachine'' to the harsher, angrier {{industrial metal}} sound introduced on the ''Music/{{Broken|Album}}'' EP. |
| 11 | |
| 12 | The album was (in)famously recorded in a home studio that frontman Trent Reznor had built at 10050 Cielo Drive, dubbed by him as "Le Pig", where the UsefulNotes/CharlesManson "family" performed the Tate murders in 1969.[[note]]He ended up being the house's final resident, as he left at the end of 1993, taking only the front door to install at his new studio, and the house was demolished the year after.[[/note]] |
| 13 | |
| 14 | Built as a ConceptAlbum and heavily inspired by Music/DavidBowie's 1977 album ''Music/{{Low|DavidBowieAlbum}}'', Reznor wanted ''The Downward Spiral'' both to [[NewSoundAlbum distinguish its sound]] from ''Broken'' and tell the story of a psychologically wounded character [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope on a path towards]] [[MaddenIntoMisanthropy complete nihilism, misanthropy, and self-destruction]]. This character was [[AuthorAvatar based heavily on himself]], [[CreatorBreakdown as he was struggling with band conflicts, alcoholism, drug addiction and depression around the time he made the album]]. |
| 15 | |
| 16 | While working on the album, Reznor strived to focus on texture and space, avoiding explicit guitar or synthesizer use. He also strove to make certain parts of the album's story ambiguous, which has made it ripe for interpretation and analysis to this day. You can read one such interpretation [[Analysis/TheDownwardSpiral here]]. |
| 17 | |
| 18 | ''The Downward Spiral'' established Nine Inch Nails as a force in the 1990s music scene, its sounds heavily imitated and the album ultimately being seen as one of the most important musical works of the decade, although MoralGuardians did have quite a mouthful for some of the album's lyrics. |
| 19 | |
| 20 | While touring for the album, Reznor ended up befriending its lead inspiration, Music/DavidBowie, who just so happened to be promoting ''Music/{{Outside}}'', a RockOpera inspired by the industrial stylings of Nine Inch Nails. Bowie and Reznor combined their live shows together by making Nine Inch Nails' ''Dissonance'' tour the opening act for the American leg of Bowie's ''Outside'' tour, featuring Bowie and Reznor duetting on one-another's songs. Reznor would also provide remixes for Bowie's singles "The Hearts Filthy Lesson" and [[Music/{{Earthling}} "I'm Afraid of Americans"]], co-starring in the latter's music video. Reznor would later cite this friendship as an influence in his eventual sobriety and CreatorRecovery. |
| 21 | |
| 22 | In its year of release, the album had two singles, "March of the Pigs" and "Closer to God"[[note]]This single corresponds to the song known simply as "Closer", although it's the title of one of the remixes featured in it[[/note]], both of which feature a number of remixes and B-sides from the album. Just over a year after its initial release, ''The Downward Spiral'' received a remix album titled ''Further Down the Spiral'' that contains more remixes from Music/AphexTwin, Music/RickRubin, Music/JGThirlwell, and a good portion of Music/{{Coil}}, among other high-profile names. It's reportedly one of the best-selling remix albums of all time. |
| 23 | |
| 24 | Following the concert tours for ''The Downward Spiral'', a video album consisting of a set of two VHS tapes, titled ''Closure'', was released in 1997 to accompany it; the first tape (labelled "Part 1") features concert videos, while the second (Part 2) includes music videos connected by a number of transition clips. |
| 25 | |
| 26 | The album later received a 10th anniversary remaster in 2004, including a standard edition; a deluxe edition that features a bonus disc with demos, B-sides, remixes (including those from the singles and ''Further Down the Spiral'') and soundtracks that the band made for films; and a [=DualDisc=][[note]]A now-discontinued disc format that features a CD side and a DVD side.[[/note]] version with a stereo mix of the album on the DVD side, alongside music videos, a gallery of Russell Mills' artwork for the album and ''Closure'', and a timeline of the band's discography up to that point with playable track excerpts. This remaster is notorious for being one of the few albums to use the short-lived SACD format[[note]]Which was intended to succeed the standard CD format used for music albums with a better sound quality.[[/note]] on CD releases. |
| 27 | |
| 28 | The album's final track "Hurt" is the TropeNamer for WhatHaveIBecome, although ironically it doesn't fit the trope, since the only transformation here is metaphorical. |
| 29 | |
| 30 | Followed by ''[[Music/TheFragile1999 The Fragile]]''. |
| 31 | ---- |
| 32 | !!Tracklist: |
| 33 | |
| 34 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 35 | |
| 36 | [[folder:Original release]] |
| 37 | # "Mr. Self Destruct" (4:30) |
| 38 | # "Piggy" (4:24) |
| 39 | # "Heresy" (3:54) |
| 40 | # "March of the Pigs" (2:58) |
| 41 | # "Closer" (6:13) |
| 42 | # "Ruiner" (4:58) |
| 43 | # "The Becoming" (5:31) |
| 44 | # "I Do Not Want This" (5:41) |
| 45 | # "Big Man with a Gun" (1:36) |
| 46 | # "A Warm Place" (3:22) |
| 47 | # "Eraser" (4:54) |
| 48 | # "Reptile" (6:51) |
| 49 | # "The Downward Spiral" (3:57) |
| 50 | # "Hurt" (6:13) |
| 51 | [[/folder]] |
| 52 | |
| 53 | [[folder:"March of the Pigs" single]] |
| 54 | [[AC:US version]] |
| 55 | # "March of the Pigs" |
| 56 | # "Reptilian" (8:39)[[note]]Remix of "Reptile"[[/note]] |
| 57 | # "All the Pigs, All Lined Up"[[note]]Remix of "March of the Pigs"[[/note]] |
| 58 | # "A Violet Fluid" (1:05)[[note]]A B-side of the album[[/note]] |
| 59 | # "Underneath the Skin" (7:13)[[note]]Remix of "Reptile"[[/note]] |
| 60 | |
| 61 | [[AC:UK version]] |
| 62 | ''Disc 1:'' |
| 63 | # "March of the Pigs" (clean version) |
| 64 | # "All the Pigs, All Lined Up" |
| 65 | # "A Violet Fluid" |
| 66 | # "Big Man with a Gun" |
| 67 | |
| 68 | ''Disc 2:'' |
| 69 | # "March of the Pigs" (album version) |
| 70 | # "Underneath the Skin" |
| 71 | # "Reptilian" |
| 72 | [[/folder]] |
| 73 | |
| 74 | [[folder:"Closer to God" single]] |
| 75 | Note that the track listing is different between the US and UK releases (the tracklist featured here is the US one), but the songs remain the same otherwise. |
| 76 | # "Closer to God" (5:05)[[note]]Remix of "Closer".[[/note]] |
| 77 | # "Closer (Precursor)" (7:16)[[note]]Remix of "Closer".[[/note]] |
| 78 | # "Closer (Deviation)" (6:15)[[note]]Remix of "Closer".[[/note]] |
| 79 | # "Heresy (Blind)" (5:32)[[note]]Remix of "Heresy".[[/note]] |
| 80 | # "Memorabilia" (5:32)[[note]]Cover of the Music/SoftCell song of the same name.[[/note]] |
| 81 | # "Closer (Internal)" (4:15)[[note]]Remix of "Closer".[[/note]] |
| 82 | # "March of the Fuckheads" (4:43)[[note]]Remix of "March of the Pigs".[[/note]] |
| 83 | # "Closer (Further Away)" (5:45)[[note]]Remix of "Closer".[[/note]] |
| 84 | # "Closer" (6:26)[[note]]Slightly extended rendition of "Closer".[[/note]] |
| 85 | [[/folder]] |
| 86 | |
| 87 | [[folder:''Further Down the Spiral'']] |
| 88 | [[AC:US version]] |
| 89 | # "Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)" (4:02)[[note]]Remix of "Piggy".[[/note]] |
| 90 | # "The Art of Self Destruction, Part One" (5:41)[[note]]Remix of "Mr. Self Destruct".[[/note]] |
| 91 | # "Self Destruction, Part Two" (5:37)[[note]]Remix of "Mr. Self Destruct".[[/note]] |
| 92 | # "The Downward Spiral (The Bottom)" (7:28)[[note]]Remix of "The Downward Spiral".[[/note]] |
| 93 | # "Hurt (Quiet)" (5:08)[[note]]Remix of "Hurt".[[/note]] |
| 94 | # "Eraser (Denial; Realization)" (5:08)[[note]]Remix of "Eraser".[[/note]] |
| 95 | # "At the Heart of It All" (7:14)[[note]]An original track made entirely by Music/AphexTwin for the album.[[/note]] |
| 96 | # "Eraser (Polite)" (5:08)[[note]]Remix of "Eraser".[[/note]] |
| 97 | # "The Beauty of Being Numb" (5:06)[[note]]Remix of "Mr. Self Destruct" and "Eraser".[[/note]] |
| 98 | # "Self Destruction, Final" (9:52)[[note]]Remix of "Mr. Self Destruct".[[/note]] |
| 99 | # "Eraser (Erased, Over, Out)" (5:08)[[note]]Remix of "Eraser".[[/note]] |
| 100 | |
| 101 | [[AC:International version]] |
| 102 | # "Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)" |
| 103 | # "The Art of Self Destruction, Part One" |
| 104 | # "Self Destruction, Part Three" (3:28)[[note]]Remix of "Mr. Self Destruct".[[/note]] |
| 105 | # "Heresy (Version)" (5:19)[[note]]Remix of "Heresy".[[/note]] |
| 106 | # "The Downward Spiral (The Bottom)" |
| 107 | # "Hurt (Live)" (5:07)[[note]]Live version of "Hurt".[[/note]] |
| 108 | # "At the Heart of It All" |
| 109 | # "Ruiner (Version)" (5:19)[[note]]Remix of "Ruiner".[[/note]] |
| 110 | # "Eraser (Denial; Realization)" |
| 111 | # "Self Destruction, Final" (9:52) |
| 112 | # "Eraser (Erased, Over, Out)" (5:08) |
| 113 | [[/folder]] |
| 114 | |
| 115 | [[folder:10th anniversary deluxe edition bonus disc]] |
| 116 | # "Burn" (5:00)[[note]]Originally made for the soundtrack of ''Film/NaturalBornKillers''.[[/note]] |
| 117 | # "Closer (Precursor)" |
| 118 | # "Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)" |
| 119 | # "A Violet Fluid" |
| 120 | # "Dead Souls" (4:53)[[note]]Cover of the Music/JoyDivision song of the same name.[[/note]] |
| 121 | # "Hurt (Quiet)" |
| 122 | # "Closer to God" |
| 123 | # "All the Pigs, All Lined Up" |
| 124 | # "Memorabilia" |
| 125 | # "The Downward Spiral (The Bottom)" |
| 126 | # "Ruiner (Demo)"[[note]]Demo of "Ruiner".[[/note]] |
| 127 | # "Liar (Demo)"[[note]]Demo of "Reptile".[[/note]] |
| 128 | # "Heresy (Demo)"[[note]]Demo of "Heresy".[[/note]] |
| 129 | [[/folder]] |
| 130 | |
| 131 | !!Personnel: |
| 132 | * Trent Reznor: vocals, all instruments, drums |
| 133 | * Chris Vrenna: drums, sampling, programming |
| 134 | * Adrian Belew: texture generating guitar, ring mod guitar |
| 135 | * Danny Lohner: additional guitar |
| 136 | * Andy Kubiszewski, Chris Vrenna: drums |
| 137 | * Stephen Perkins: drum loops |
| 138 | * Charlie Clouser: programming |
| 139 | ---- |
| 140 | !!''I wanna trope you like an animal.'' |
| 141 | * ThirteenIsUnlucky: The TitleTrack is (literally) the 13th track of the album and also the part of the main protagonist's [[spoiler:[[DrivenToSuicide attempted suicide]]]]. |
| 142 | * AlasPoorVillain: By the time the album is over, [[spoiler:you can't help but feel sorry for the VillainProtagonist of the album. Despite all that he's done, he's come to realize the consequences for his actions far outweigh any pleasure he received from them.]] |
| 143 | * AmbiguousEnding: [[spoiler:Did the protagonist survive his suicide attempt?]] While "The Downward Spiral" states that [[spoiler:he literally shot himself in the head]], there have been cases of people surviving [[spoiler:such shots]] before. Plus, "Hurt" and the following NIN albums ''[[Music/TheFragile1999 The Fragile]]'' and ''Music/HesitationMarks'' are often interpreted as continuations of the album's story. |
| 144 | * AnimalMotifs: While pigs are the most prominent (i.e. "Piggy," "March of the Pigs," the reference to swine in "Heresy"), other examples include "Reptile," a reference to insects from the aforementioned song, flies and cattle in the rapped sections of "Ruiner," and references to bees (and their honey) in "Closer" and "Reptile." |
| 145 | * AntiVillain: The protagonist is a prime example of a Type 2 anti-villain. |
| 146 | * ArcWords: |
| 147 | ** "Nothing can stop me now", used throughout the album in contexts of self-empowerment, mania, self-aware descents into madness, or arguably a mix of the three. |
| 148 | ** The references to pigs and some sort of machine also qualify. |
| 149 | * BadassBoast: From "Ruiner": |
| 150 | -->''You didn't hurt me, nothing can hurt me, you didn't hurt me, nothing can stop me now...'' |
| 151 | * BeliefMakesYouStupid: |
| 152 | ** "Mr. Self Destruct": |
| 153 | --->''I speak religion's message clear (and I control you)\ |
| 154 | I am denial, guilt, and fear (and I control you)\ |
| 155 | I am the prayers of the naive (and I control you)\ |
| 156 | I am the lie that you believe (and I control you)'' |
| 157 | ** "Heresy": |
| 158 | --->''He dreamed a god up and called it Christianity\ |
| 159 | Your god is dead, and no one cares!\ |
| 160 | If there is a hell, I'll see you there!'' |
| 161 | * BlackComedy: |
| 162 | ** This is the furthest thing from a humorous album, but the cheerful instances of MoodWhiplash in "March of the Pigs" are somewhat funny due to how purely out of left field they are. |
| 163 | ** Despite being one of the most horrific tracks on the album, "Big Man with a Gun" was written first and foremost as a satire of toxic masculinity and misogyny in gangsta rap, and as it's deliberately mocking that mindset (as well as its extremely intense sound even for the album's standards, in the case of some listeners), it can make for some very, ''very'' dark amusement. |
| 164 | --->I AM A BIG MAN ([[YouKeepTellingYourselfThat YES I AM]]) AND I'VE GOT A BIG GUN |
| 165 | ** "GOD IS DEAD! AND NO ONE CARES!" from "Heresy". |
| 166 | * BookEnds: According to Trent, the album's first "section" is tracks 1-9, and the first and final tracks ("Mr. Self Destruct" and "Big Man with a Gun") of this section are connected; in "Big Man with a Gun", the protagonist becomes [[MoralEventHorizon fully corrupted and seemingly irredeemable]], the very same thing initially foreshadowed in "Mr. Self Destruct". Additionally, the songs are both at 200 BPM and have similar melodies. |
| 167 | * {{Bowdlerise}}: The "crown of shit" line in "Hurt" was changed in Music/JohnnyCash's cover of the song to "crown of thorns", nodding to Cash's devout Christianity. |
| 168 | * BungledSuicide: According to some interpretations of the album's ending, [[spoiler:the protagonist doesn't die from his suicide attempt but still injures himself in the process]], taking "Hurt" as an indication for this. |
| 169 | * CarefulWithThatAxe: |
| 170 | ** "Eraser" ends with Reznor screaming "KILL ME" over and over until it dissolves into the noisy background. |
| 171 | ** The ending of "Big Man with a Gun" has Reznor outright ''screeching'' "ME AND MY FUCKING GUN" over and over. |
| 172 | ** The TitleTrack has muffled sounds of Reznor screaming so loudly that it almost drowns out the Machine's talking. |
| 173 | * CreepyMonotone: The Machine, as portrayed by Trent with a chillingly subdued and flat-speaking tone. |
| 174 | * CyberneticsEatYourSoul: In a symbolic sense; the protagonist's gradual dissociation throughout the album is personified as him losing his humanity to the Machine. "The Becoming" most explicitly details this and even likens his loss of feeling to his body being replaced by machinery. |
| 175 | * DarkerAndEdgier: Easily the darkest album, lyrically and sonically, that the band had put out at the time, if ever. |
| 176 | * DoubleEntendre: "Big Man with a Gun" is rife with these, considering its view of the "gun" in question shuffles between an actual gun (insinuating a killing spree) and a penis (insinuating a {{rape|AsDrama}}). Throw in some double meanings on words such as "shoot"[[note]]meaning either the pulling of a trigger on a gun or ejaculation[[/note]], and you have a song that could genuinely go either way. |
| 177 | * DownerEnding: |
| 178 | ** Whether or not you believe that [[spoiler:the protagonist killed himself]], the album's ending still has the protagonist at the bottom of the spiral after his disconnection from everything, including himself. The only light at the end of the tunnel that the album provides is in retrospect, as the protagonist [[WhatHaveIBecome realizes the errors of his ways]] in "Hurt" but states that it's too late to start over. |
| 179 | ** Without referencing the album's concept, the conclusion with "Hurt" is an eligible example, as the song is told from the perspective of someone lamenting the emptiness of their life and stating that they will leave no legacy behind. |
| 180 | * DrivenToSuicide: |
| 181 | ** Maybe. Seems to be played straight with [[spoiler:the protagonist]] in the title track, but the album's ending is especially open to interpretation. "Hurt" is sometimes also seen as being [[spoiler:essentially the character's dying moments]], or as outside of the story arc altogether. |
| 182 | ** There was a CutSong from the album titled "Just Do It", which is particularly upfront and unapologetically blunt about suicide (the only known lyrics are "Just do it / nobody cares at all"). Producer Flood convinced Trent to leave it off due to it being ''too'' grim, and it's possible that it wasn't even recorded at all. |
| 183 | * DroneOfDread: |
| 184 | ** The sustained, gurgling bass synth in "Reptile". |
| 185 | ** The watery, droning noise in the TitleTrack. |
| 186 | * DrugsAreBad: |
| 187 | ** From "Mr. Self Destruct": |
| 188 | ---> ''I am the needle in your vein'' |
| 189 | ** Also, from "Hurt": |
| 190 | ---> ''The needle tears a hole,\ |
| 191 | the old familiar sting.'' |
| 192 | * EchoingAcoustics: In the second half of the chorus of "Hurt", a distant duplicate of Trent's vocals panned to the side begins singing one quarter-bar before the main vocals. |
| 193 | * TheElevenOClockNumber: "Reptile" acts as this, being the moment where the protagonist fully realizes he's hit rock bottom as the only solace he can find is within the toxic connection he shares with a prostitute. It's the final track we hear before [[spoiler:his suicide attempt]]. |
| 194 | * EpicRocking: "Closer", "Reptile", and "Hurt" |
| 195 | * FadingIntoTheNextSong: |
| 196 | ** "The Becoming" crossfades into "I Do Not Want This", which in turn segues into "Big Man with a Gun". |
| 197 | ** "A Warm Place" ends with the blowing sounds that open "Eraser". |
| 198 | ** The TitleTrack ends with the white noise heard throughout "Hurt". |
| 199 | ** Some of the songs on the original version actually have bits from the previous song at the very, very start. "Piggy" has a bit of "Mr. Self Destruct", and "A Warm Place" has a [[JumpScare very loud and abrupt]] bit from "Big Man with a Gun". These were fixed on the remaster. |
| 200 | * FateWorseThanDeath: Heavily implied to be the case for the protagonist's entire existence. At the end of "Eraser" you can faintly hear him screaming [[spoiler:"[[AndIMustScream Help me]]"]]. |
| 201 | * GodIsDead: "Heresy" and "Ruiner". In the former, the protagonist rants against Christianity and religion as a whole, and in the latter, he kills God himself. |
| 202 | -->''Your god is dead, and no one cares!''\ |
| 203 | ''If there is a hell, I'll see you there!'' |
| 204 | * GoingPostal: A possible interpretation for "Big Man with a Gun" (see DoubleEntendre above). |
| 205 | * HeroicSelfDeprecation: As the album goes on, the protagonist becomes increasingly untrustworthy for himself being the embodiment of all the things he doesn't like. |
| 206 | * HopeSpot: "A Warm Place" acts as a moment of clarity for the protagonist following whatever horrific act he committed in "Big Man with a Gun", and possibly hints that he will turn things around...but we find that the damage he's done is truly irreversible as the song segues into "Eraser", which is where [[FromBadToWorse the Machine finally consumes the protagonist]]. |
| 207 | * IAmSong: "Mr. Self Destruct" and "Big Man with a Gun" are both songs with the protagonist basking quite amorously in his depraved character. |
| 208 | * IAmBecomingSong: Naturally, "The Becoming", centered around the beginning of the protagonist's identity being consumed by the Machine. |
| 209 | * TheImmodestOrgasm: "Big Man with a Gun" begins with a distorted, warbling female scream of pleasure. |
| 210 | * {{Instrumental}}: "A Warm Place". Technically subverted, as you can very, ''very'' dimly hear a voice saying something around the start of the song[[note]]A popular guess is "The best part of life is knowing you put it together", but it was never confirmed[[/note]]. |
| 211 | * IntercourseWithYou: Very, ''very'' dark examples, as per the tone of the album. |
| 212 | ** It is widely rumored that in "Closer", the protagonist feels closer to God by doing this through helpless victims to escape his former life. Reznor denied that "Closer" was about sex in interviews and instead suggested it to be an AntiLoveSong. |
| 213 | ** In "Reptile", he is to have someone else who feels nothing at all emotionally, but sexually tortures him instead. |
| 214 | * IsntItIronic: All of the sex-based songs on the album, some of them undeniably sensual in sound, contain lyrics detailing how the sex in question is achieving an incredibly toxic goal for the protagonist, and ultimately amounts to another step down the spiral for him. Especially egregious is how "Closer", in essence a dark {{deconstruction}} of SexForSolace, has a [[MisaimedFandom legacy of being one of the sexiest songs ever made]]. |
| 215 | * JumpScare: |
| 216 | ** When "March of the Pigs" rather suddenly continues playing after a prolonged period of silence. |
| 217 | ** On the original album, "A Warm Place" has a very loud split-second of audio leftover from "Big Man with a Gun" (the previous track) at the very start of the song. This was fixed on later editions. |
| 218 | ** The [[LastNoteNightmare ending]] of "Hurt"; most of the song is generally miles calmer and slower than the tracks preceding it (while still undeniably bleak in tone and atmosphere). However, once Trent gets to the final line ("I would find a way"), a set of ''loud'' guitar notes blares in suddenly. |
| 219 | * LastNoteNightmare: |
| 220 | ** "Mr. Self Destruct" ends with a bunch of overlapped guitar tracks playing different melodies at once, creating dissonant noise. |
| 221 | ** The original version of "A Warm Place" inverts this trope if you play the song on repeat (see JumpScare above), but the song also plays this trope straight with its ending moments. Not only does its melody shift into a darker key, but it also concludes with the uneasy blowing sounds that start "Eraser", tainting the otherwise calm atmosphere. |
| 222 | ** The TitleTrack ends with a harsh, distorted cymbal noise that fades into "Hurt". |
| 223 | ** "Hurt" ends with a sudden blast of guitar noise that nearly drowns out the final line and then carries out for over a minute before fading into the background. |
| 224 | * {{Leitmotif}}: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Y0N1jrUH3g&t=0s A particular chromatic melody]], often called the "''Downward Spiral'' motif", recurs throughout the album, appearing in "Piggy", "Heresy", "Closer", and the TitleTrack. "A Warm Place" also uses it, but inverted. |
| 225 | * LighterAndSofter: "A Warm Place" and "Hurt"--at least, until the [[LastNoteNightmare endings]]. |
| 226 | * MadnessMantra: Used frequently throughout. |
| 227 | ** "Mr. Self Destruct": "You let me do this to you (I am the exit)". Said a total of 8 times. |
| 228 | ** The outro of "Ruiner" has "you didn't hurt me, nothing can stop me now" repeated, although it's clear that the protagonist is just lying to himself. |
| 229 | ** At the end of "The Becoming": "it won't give up, it wants me dead, goddamn this noise inside my head" is shrieked over and over again. |
| 230 | ** "I Do Not Want This" has three: "I do not want this", "Don't you tell me how I feel", and "I want to know everything/I want to be everywhere/I want to fuck everyone in the world/I want to do something that matters". |
| 231 | ** The repeated screams of "me and my fucking gun" at the end of "Big Man With a Gun". |
| 232 | ** "Eraser" ends with Trent repeatedly shouting "[[MercyKill Kill me!]]" The same thing is heard in "Erased, Over, Out" from the remix album. |
| 233 | * MisogynySong: "Big Man with a Gun" and "Closer" are both [[StealthParody stealth parodies]] of these particular types of song, which unfortunately got [[MisaimedFandom severely misinterpreted]]. |
| 234 | * MoodWhiplash: |
| 235 | ** Across the whole album: |
| 236 | *** The hard, mechanical opening of "Mr. Self Destruct" is followed by the slow and softer "Piggy". |
| 237 | *** The violent snap in sanity heard in "Big Man with a Gun" is followed by the calming instrumental "A Warm Place", which is in turn followed by the torturing cries of "Eraser". |
| 238 | ** The threatening, pulsating chorus of "March of the Pigs" is abruptly stopped by some rather lively piano with Trent singing jovially over it to the effect that it's the closest the album gets to sounding like a jingle. |
| 239 | * MyGodWhatHaveIDone: |
| 240 | ** "A Warm Place" is a rare audio-only example following the (possibly sexually) violent power trip of "Big Man with a Gun", as it represents the place of respite that the protagonist's mind retreats to following the events. |
| 241 | ** The final track, "Hurt" also counts as this, though it's mainly of the WhatHaveIBecome variant. |
| 242 | * NoEnding: "Ruiner" ends abruptly (mid-phrase, no less; as Trent is saying "nothing can stop me now", the last word before the song cuts is "stop"), as does "Big Man with a Gun". |
| 243 | * NoNameGiven: The protagonist has no official name, only giving himself the nickname "Mr. Self Destruct" in the opening song. |
| 244 | * NothingIsScarier: |
| 245 | ** We never get an exact idea of who, what and where the narrator is, only his general thought process. Because of this, we never learn specifically what he does in "Big Man with a Gun", but the violent ramblings and samples of pornography imply something [[InterplayOfSexAndViolence horrific]]. |
| 246 | ** The first "doesn't it make you feel better?" piano section of "March of the Pigs" is followed by a good portion of silence before the song [[JumpScare suddenly]] continues. |
| 247 | ** "A Warm Place" manages to be soothing yet unnerving at the same time for this exact reason. |
| 248 | * OneManSong: "Mr. Self Destruct" and "Big Man With A Gun". |
| 249 | * TheOner: The single-shot PerformanceVideo of "March of the Pigs", reportedly the only take out of a dozen that "did not suck." |
| 250 | * OneWordTitle: "Piggy", "Heresy", "Closer", "Ruiner", "Eraser", "Reptile" and "Hurt". |
| 251 | * PerformanceVideo: "March of the Pigs" was given one, notably shot [[TheOner in one take]]. |
| 252 | * PoliticallyIncorrectVillain: "Big Man With A Gun" demonstrates the protagonist to be quite a misogynist. |
| 253 | * PrecisionFStrike: |
| 254 | ** "March of the Pigs": "I wanna break it up / I wanna smash it up / I wanna fuck it up." |
| 255 | ** "Closer" gives us one of the most iconic lines in music history: "I wanna fuck you like an animal." |
| 256 | ** "I Do Not Want This": "I want to know everything / I want to be everywhere / I want to fuck everyone in the world." |
| 257 | ** "The Downward Spiral": "Problems do have solutions, you know / A lifetime of fucking things up fixed / In one determined flash." |
| 258 | ** "Hurt" has "I wear this crown of shit", which was changed into "I wear this crown of thorns" in the Music/JohnnyCash cover, referencing Cash's Christianity. |
| 259 | * PrettyLittleHeadshots: [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-Zagged]] in the TitleTrack, where the [[DrivenToSuicide protagonist attempts to off himself by shooting himself in the head.]] The wound is described as being small, but gushes a large amount of blood: |
| 260 | -->''So much blood for such a tiny little hole'' |
| 261 | * RageAgainstTheHeavens: "Heresy" and "Ruiner" have the protagonist violently disillusioning himself from God -- the former, especially. |
| 262 | * RapeAsDrama: A common interpretation of "Big Man with a Gun", with the Freudian overtones of the titular gun in question. |
| 263 | * RayOfHopeEnding: The very last passage of "Hurt" could be understood as one, if you don't take it as the protagonist meaning that he'll just manage to ruin his life and others'. Some who see ''[[Music/TheFragile1999 The Fragile]]'' as a continuation of the album may interpret this as taking place directly before ''The Fragile'' begins. |
| 264 | -->''If I could start again''\ |
| 265 | ''A million miles away''\ |
| 266 | ''I would keep myself''\ |
| 267 | ''I would find a way.'' |
| 268 | * RecordProducer: Trent Reznor and Mark "Flood" Ellis. |
| 269 | * RecurringRiff: The famous "''Downward Spiral'' motif", which appears in "Piggy", "Heresy", "Closer", and "The Downward Spiral", as well as a certain version of "Eraser" only played on the Dissonance Tour. |
| 270 | * ReligionRantSong: "Heresy" and "Ruiner". |
| 271 | * {{Retraux}}: The music video for "Closer" was built around the image of a depraved 19th century scientist's laboratory, something reflected not only in the set design, but also the use of "slightly out of date" film stock to give the visuals a grainy, vintage appearance. The TV edit goes a step further, replacing more objectionable shots with "scene missing" cards and censoring instances of the word "fuck" by making the footage itself stutter, giving the impression that the music video was reconstructed from degraded surviving clips. |
| 272 | * {{Sampling}}: |
| 273 | ** From the original songs: |
| 274 | *** "Mr. Self Destruct" begins with a sampled clip from ''Film/THX1138'', that of a man being beaten, which increases in tempo until it matches the song proper. |
| 275 | *** "March of the Pigs" includes screaming taken from ''Film/{{Sorcerer}}'' and ''Film/ExorcistIITheHeretic''. |
| 276 | *** The kick drum sound of "Closer" is a sample of the song "Nightclubbing" from Music/IggyPop's album ''Music/TheIdiot'', which was produced by Music/DavidBowie. Music/RoxyMusic's "Take a Chance with Me" is also sampled at the end of the song. |
| 277 | *** "Ruiner"'s intro section features pitched-up elephant sounds from the opening sequence of ''Elephant Man'', while its bridge samples screaming from ''Parents''. Meanwhile, the song's drums are taken from Music/ArtOfNoise's "Beat Box". |
| 278 | *** The crowd screaming in the background of "The Becoming" is taken from ''Film/RobotJox''. Meanwhile, the muffled vocals in the acoustic sections are a reversed sample of Harry Angel's line "I know who I am" from ''Film/AngelHeart''. |
| 279 | *** The porn star sample on "Big Man with a Gun", which is distorted and processed to the point of being unrecognizable. The liner notes call this sample "Steakhouse". |
| 280 | *** "Reptile" takes its opening machinery sounds from ''Film/Leviathan1989'', and the looping female voice in the bridge is from ''Film/TheTexasChainsawMassacre1974''. |
| 281 | *** The TitleTrack's watery noise in the intro is from ''Film/{{Alien}}''[='=]s opening credits, while the build-up guitar riff's 'ambience' is from "Twins", a song on the soundtrack of ''Film/DeadRingers''. |
| 282 | ** From the remixes: |
| 283 | *** Two of "Mr. Self Destruct"'s remixes, "Self Destruction, Part Two" and "Self Destruction, Final", sample Music/DavidBowie's own song "Time". |
| 284 | *** The "Closer" remix "Closer (Deviation)" from the "Closer to God" single adds samples from Music/{{Can}}'s "Pinch" and Music/BrianEno and Music/DavidByrne's "Mountain of Needles". |
| 285 | *** "Eraser (Denial; Realization)" features a slowed-down speech from the film adaptation of ''Literature/AtPlayInTheFieldsOfTheLord''. |
| 286 | *** "The Downward Spiral (The Bottom)" features an excerpt of Music/{{Coil}}'s "First Dark Ride". |
| 287 | * {{Sadist}}: PlayedForDrama, as the protagonist has an extreme obsession with inflicting pain on others in order to make up for their own personal insecurities and fears, as demonstrated in "Closer". |
| 288 | * SanitySlippageSong: '''The whole album.''' |
| 289 | * SensoryAbuse: The vocals and instrumentation are often distorted to the point of harshness. Specific moments include: |
| 290 | ** The end of "Mr. Self Destruct", composed of different guitar loops stacked on top of each other to create a dissonant wall of noise. |
| 291 | ** [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] in the TitleTrack, in order to sound like it's rotting and disintegrating to mirror the protagonist's rapidly declining mental state. |
| 292 | * SexForSolace: Deconstructed, and ruthlessly so at that; "Closer" shows how unhealthy this mindset is, and just how demented a person like the protagonist would have to be, emotionally, to adopt it. |
| 293 | * SinisterSwine: Pigs are used as an AnimalMotif within the bleak storyline that the album follows. The songs with the most prominent references are "Piggy", "Heresy" (which uses "swine" as a word), and "March of the Pigs". |
| 294 | * SlowlySlippingIntoEvil: The first two thirds of the album involve the protagonist becoming a villain due to various bad things happening to him, starting with various addictions ("Mr. Self-Destruct"), then losing his girlfriend[[note]]The most accepted interpretation is that she broke up or cheated on him, though some others consider the cause to be her death or something else.[[/note]] ("Piggy") and finally some sort of mental illness ("The Becoming"). By "Big Man with a Gun", he's become a SerialRapist or mass murderer. |
| 295 | * SociopathicHero: The protagonist of the album is characterized by a total disregard for the well-being of others, and even his own, eventually culminating in what might have been a mass shooting or a rape. [[spoiler:Although towards the end, just how much of a sociopath he really is is called into question, [[VillainousBSOD when he begins to develop a conscience and feel regret for his actions]], leading to a suicide attempt that — [[AmbiguousEnding assuming he survived]] — only results in him shamefully coming to believe that [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption the sole purpose in his life is to hurt others]].]] |
| 296 | * SpecialGuest: Music/KingCrimson frontman Adrian Belew plays guitar parts throughout the album; Trent Reznor credited Belew's work with restoring his sense of confidence in the instrument as a tool for artistic and emotional expression. |
| 297 | * SplitPersonalityTakeover: This happens to the protagonist between "The Becoming" and "I Do Not Want This", during which the Machine takes over his mind, culminating in him going on a rampage in "Big Man with a Gun". |
| 298 | -->''The me that you know, he doesn't come around much\ |
| 299 | [[ThatManIsDead That part of me isn't here anymore]]'' |
| 300 | * SpokenWordInMusic: Whenever Trent assumes the role of the Machine, he speaks quasi-seductively and so softly that his words are almost drowned out by the music. This occurs in "I Do Not Want This" and the TitleTrack. |
| 301 | * SubduedSection: "Mr. Self Destruct", "March of the Pigs", "Heresy", "Ruiner", "I Do Not Want This", "Eraser", and "Reptile" all have this dynamic. |
| 302 | * TakeThat: |
| 303 | ** Reznor has said that "Big Man With a Gun" was written to make fun of "the whole [[MisogynySong misogynistic]] GangstaRap bullshit". |
| 304 | ** "Heresy" contains mocking references to [[HeteronormativeCrusader right-wing Christians who blamed HIV/AIDS on people's alleged sexual immorality]], an attitude which Reznor found to be utterly reprehensible. |
| 305 | * TemptingFate: "Nothing can stop me now", basically whenever it's used, but especially in "Piggy" and "Ruiner". In the latter, the phrase is cut off after "stop" and the next song, "The Becoming", begins. |
| 306 | * TextlessAlbumCover: Some versions of the album cover, like the one on Website/TheOtherWiki's page for the album. |
| 307 | * ThatManIsDead: In "The Becoming", the narrator phrases his loss of the ability to feel like a dissociation from the person he used to be. |
| 308 | -->''The me that you know, he had some second thoughts\ |
| 309 | He's covered with scabs, he is broken and sore\ |
| 310 | The me that you know, he doesn't come around much\ |
| 311 | That part of me isn't here anymore.'' |
| 312 | * TitleTrack: "The Downward Spiral," though [[NonAppearingTitle the title isn't mentioned in the lyrics themselves]]. |
| 313 | * UncommonTime: |
| 314 | ** "March of the Pigs" has three bars of 7/8 time and one bar of 8/8 time (except in the normal-time chorus). |
| 315 | ** Most of "The Becoming" has a bar of 7/4 followed by a bar of 6/4, and its bridge is in 6/8. |
| 316 | * VillainousBSOD: After the protagonist's SanitySlippage is complete and he commits whatever horrible act he did in "Big Man With a Gun", [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone he begins to realize that his depravity has reached its peak]] and makes one last attempt to find some solace in his miserable existence. [[spoiler:He ultimately fails in doing so, [[DrivenToSuicide and shoots himself]]. Assuming he survived, he's now gone past the DespairEventHorizon, as best demonstrated in "Hurt".]] |
| 317 | * VillainProtagonist: The album's main character, who is named "Mr. Self Destruct" in the opening track. |
| 318 | --> ''I take you where you want to go'' |
| 319 | --> ''I give you all you need to know'' |
| 320 | --> ''I drag you down, I use you up'' |
| 321 | --> ''Mr. Self-destruct'' |
| 322 | * WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Despite his moral reprehensibility and delusions of grandeur, the protagonist clearly has a lot of deep-seated mental issues, and by the end, he becomes pitiful in his regret-fueled despair. |
| 323 | * {{Yandere}}: |
| 324 | ** The protagonist of the album is a male example of this trope, as demonstrated in "Mr. Self Destruct" and "Closer". |
| 325 | ** "Reptile" has a female example. |
| 326 | * YouKeepTellingYourselfThat: |
| 327 | ** In "Big Man With A Gun", the protagonist has to reassure himself that he's a "big man" before he does something unspeakable. |
| 328 | ** The ArcWords are also an example: "Nothing can stop me now." [[spoiler:By the end, the protagonist makes an attempt on his own life. If he didn't succeed, then he was left broken.]] |
| 329 | ---- |
| 330 | ->''The pigs have won tonight.\ |
| 331 | Now they can all sleep soundly,\ |
| 332 | and everything is alright.'' |
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