On Big Man With A Gun Nine Inch Nails presented the negative side of guns in America — gross and grotesque, violent and vulgar — another painful reality which some of its citizens prefer not to see. As the narrative voice behind The Downward Spiral album Trent Reznor is forever torn between running away and confronting the issue head-on.
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[Breaking The Spiral] – Netflix Documentary Reveals How Trent Reznor wrote ‘Hurt’ and The Downward Spiral Broke Into The Mainstream
Reznor had his doubts about Hurt, conscious that even though it is not explicitly about suicide, perhaps a death revisited, it might still allow people to wallow in its mood long enough to fantasise about their own passing. Even though Hurt perhaps offers a glimpse of hope, it remains mired in realisation perhaps too late, and this distanced perspective can become appealing if it is allowed to be romanticised into the idea of being ‘in a better place’.
[RUINER] – REZNOR LEARNS TO LIVE THE LIE
So much of The Downward Spiral deals with things falling apart. Across the album we witness the narrator’s decline in slow-motion, powerless to stop the downward trend. As he loses control the songs become darker in tone but also more broken and diffracted in style and substance, this kaleidoscopic effect presenting the various aspects ofContinue reading “[RUINER] – REZNOR LEARNS TO LIVE THE LIE”
Nin-spirational Music Books
A list of some of my favourite writing about music, books that inspire and make you think differently about music which provided both inspiration and research for my book Into The Never: Nine Inch Nails And The Creation Of The Downward Spiral. If you’d like to see more of the research material used in theContinue reading “Nin-spirational Music Books”
WATCH – Nine Inch Nails – Mini HBO Documentary
In this short film a range of musicians pay tribute to Nine Inch Nails as part of their Rock and Roll Hall of Fame induction.