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Closer
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The Hand That Feeds
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Only
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Every Day Is Exactly The Same
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Hurt
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Just Like You Imagined
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Only
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Survivalism
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The Perfect Drug
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Right Where It Belongs
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With Teeth
The Fragile
Things Falling Apart
The Downward Spiral
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The Hand That Feeds
(Duration: 3:41)
Jun 22nd, 1:43pm
Closer
(Duration: 4:17)
Jul 15th, 5:25am
We're In This Together
(Duration: 6:18)
Jul 28th, 8:01am
Hurt
(Duration: 5:11)
Jul 28th, 8:44am
Only
(Duration: 4:27)
Jul 28th, 7:10pm
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Nine Inch Nails
Total Media Plays: 1,069,003
Become a Fan
Nine Inch Nails
were the most popular industrial group ever and were largely responsible for bringing the music to a mass audience. It isn't really accurate to call
NIN
a group; the only official member is singer/producer/multi-instrumentalist
Trent Reznor
, who always remained solely responsible for
NIN
's musical direction (he was, however, supported in concert by a regular backing band). Unlike the vast majority of industrial artists,
Reznor
wrote melodic, traditionally structured songs where lyrics were a focal point. His pop
instincts not only made the harsh electronic beats of industrial music easier to digest, but also put a human face on a style that usually tried to sound as mechanical as possible. While
Ministry
crossed over to heavy metal audiences,
NIN
built up a large alternative rock fan base right around the time of
Nirvana
's mainstream breakthrough. As a result,
Reznor
became a genuine star and his notoriously dark, brooding persona and provocateur instincts made him a
Jim Morrison
-esque sex symbol for the '90s. A long period of inactivity and writer's block followed, which gave virtually every alternative metal band of the late '90s a chance to rip off elements of
NIN
's sound. By the time
Reznor
's five-year hiatus finally ended, he was still a popular figure but his commercial momentum had slowed somewhat.
Michael Trent Reznor was born May 17, 1965, in the small town of Mercer, PA; he went by his middle name to avoid confusion with his father, Michael. At age five,
Reznor
's parents divorced and he wound up being raised mostly by his maternal grandparents; even so,
Reznor
stated repeatedly that his childhood was mostly happy. He began playing the piano at age five, studying classical music, and later learned tenor sax and tuba in the school band; he also acted in musicals and became an avid
Kiss
fan.
Reznor
spent a year studying music and computers at Allegheny College, but dropped out after a year to pursue music full-time; he soon packed up and moved to Cleveland with high school friend
Chris Vrenna
. Around the same time, he was discovering new wave and assorted underground music; he was most fascinated with early industrial, since it offered an edgy, aggressive way to use electronic instruments. At age 19, he successfully auditioned to join an AOR band called
the Innocent
, which released one album,
Livin' in the Streets
(
Reznor
's picture does appear on the jacket). He quit
the Innocent
after just three months and subsequently gigged with local bands; he also worked in a keyboard store and as a janitor in the local Right Track recording studio. Eventually, he became a studio engineer, teaching himself various computer applications and working on his own material during off hours. In 1987,
Reznor
appeared in the
Michael J. Fox
/
Joan Jett
film Light of Day, where he played keyboards with a trio dubbed the Problems during a bar scene.
As
Nine Inch Nails
,
Reznor
began recording his own
Ministry
- and
Skinny Puppy
-influenced compositions in 1988, playing all the instruments himself. At first, he simply hoped to release a 12" single on a small European label, but when he sent demo tapes to around ten American labels, nearly every one offered him a deal. He wound up signing with TVT, which released
NIN
's debut album,
Pretty Hate Machine
, in 1989 (after having rejected an initial effort called
Industrial Nation
).
Reznor
quickly assembled a backing band and toured with
Skinny Puppy
for a short time, but soon tired of playing for strictly industrial artists. With a tighter outfit featuring
Chris Vrenna
on drums and
Richard Patrick
on guitar (plus several revolving-door keyboardists), he consciously chose to open for alt-rock acts (including, early on,
the Jesus and Mary Chain
and
Peter Murphy
), partly for the challenge of winning over fans who might not have liked industrial music. The strategy helped expand
Nine Inch Nails
' fan base substantially; the single
"Down in It"
got some airplay in dance clubs, reaching Billboard's dance and modern rock charts, and MTV later picked up on the video for the more rock-oriented
"Head Like a Hole."
In 1991, after settling on keyboardist
James Woolley
,
Nine Inch Nails
became part of the inaugural Lollapalooza tour, which expanded their fan base by leaps and bounds.
Pretty Hate Machine
's momentum kept building slowly, and although it never climbed higher than number 75, it spent over two years on the album charts and eventually sold over a million copies -- one of the first indie-label rock albums to do so.
TVT had a massive hit on their hands, and to ensure that
Reznor
would produce another one, they attempted to take control of the follow-up's creative direction. Enraged by the outside meddling,
Reznor
tried to secure a release from his contract, leading to a vicious court battle. His only recording outlets were side projects; in 1990, he co-wrote and sang on
"Suck,"
a track on
Pigface
's debut album,
Gub
, and also sang on the
Al Jourgensen
-led
1000 Homo DJs
cover of
Black Sabbath
's
"Supernaut."
(TVT ordered
Reznor
's vocals removed from the track, but
Jourgensen
actually just altered them slightly and said he'd re-recorded it.) Eventually, he was able to sign with Interscope, which helped him set up his own label, the Cleveland-based Nothing imprint.
Reznor
had been recording new material on the sly, and in 1992 Nothing released the EP
Broken
as well as a concurrent remix disc titled
Fixed
.
Broken
featured more (and heavier) guitars than
Pretty Hate Machine
, partly in response to
NIN
's live sound and partly as a sonic evocation of
Reznor
's boiling frustration in the wake of the legal wars; it also featured two bonus cuts, a version of
"Suck"
and the
Adam Ant
cover
"(You're So) Physical,"
a nod to
Reznor
's new wave roots. Despite many reviews characterizing the EP as a harrowing, difficult listen,
Broken
-- supported by
NIN
's now-considerable fan base -- debuted in the Top Ten and the first single/video,
"Wish,"
won a Grammy for Best Heavy Metal Performance.
Reznor
enhanced his reputation as a provocateur with a widely banned clip for
"Happiness in Slavery,"
which depicted S&M performance artist Bob Flanagan being torn apart by a machine; there was also a long-form clip for
Broken
that was never released commercially due to its graphic content (a torture victim is dismembered while viewing
NIN
videos).
Reznor
moved to Los Angeles to craft the second full-length
NIN
album, assembling a studio in the house where actress Sharon Tate was murdered by
Charles Manson
's associates.
The Downward Spiral
was a highly ambitious work, a concept album indebted to progressive rock that featured the most detailed, layered studio craft of any
NIN
release yet. Hugely anticipated, the album debuted at number two and became one of the bleakest multi-platinum albums ever.
Richard Patrick
had departed the touring band to form
Filter
, and
Reznor
revamped the group with drummer
Vrenna
, keyboardist
Woolley
, guitarist
Robin Finck
, and bassist
Danny Lohner
.
NIN
caused a sensation at that summer's 25th-anniversary Woodstock concert, performing a ferocious set after horsing around and covering themselves in mud just before hitting the stage. Meanwhile, MTV had put an edited version of the video for
"Closer"
in heavy rotation and
NIN
scored one of the year's unlikeliest hits: a song whose chorus began "I want to f*ck you like an animal," which helped make
Reznor
one of alternative rock's biggest sex symbols. The subdued ballad
"Hurt"
gained some further airplay, even though it lacked the titillating shock value of
"Closer."
Later in the year,
Reznor
assembled the soundtrack of
Oliver Stone
's controversial Natural Born Killers, editing the songs together to create an innovative collage; he also guested on
"Past the Mission,"
a track on
Tori Amos
' second album,
Under the Pink
. In 1995, with new keyboardist
Charlie Clouser
,
Nine Inch Nails
hit the road with
David Bowie
, whose late-'70s albums (along with
Pink Floyd
) had been a major influence on
The Downward Spiral
. He also contributed a cover of
Joy Division
's
"Dead Souls"
to the soundtrack of The Crow and issued the remix album
Further Down the Spiral
, which nearly reached the Top 20 (a testament to his popularity).
Using money from
The Downward Spiral
,
Reznor
built a state-of-the-art studio in New Orleans in a building that had once been a funeral home. While pondering his next move in the wake of his sudden stardom, he produced Nothing signee
Marilyn Manson
's second album,
Antichrist Superstar
, which did indeed make him a superstar. In 1997, longtime friend
Vrenna
had a falling out with
Reznor
and eventually was replaced by
Jerome Dillon
;
Reznor
's maternal grandmother also passed away that year and his friendship with
Manson
soon deteriorated. Even so, he produced another movie soundtrack, for
David Lynch
's Lost Highway, and contributed the new single
"The Perfect Drug,"
which flitted unpredictably between several different rhythm tracks. Though
"The Perfect Drug"
kept him in the public eye for a time,
Reznor
was still unsure what kind of statement would be an appropriate follow-up to
The Downward Spiral
; that uncertainty resulted in a severe case of writer's block. In the meantime,
NIN
were proving vastly influential on a new crop of bands; major labels signed up industrial metal outfits like
Filter
and
Stabbing Westward
, and an assortment of alternative metal bands started grafting industrial production flourishes onto their music;
Guns N' Roses
lead singer
Axl Rose
even fired the rest of his band and holed up in a studio to pursue a more
NIN
-influenced direction.
Nine Inch Nails
finally returned in 1999 with the double-CD opus
The Fragile
. It debuted at number one with massive first-week sales, but slipped down the charts rather quickly afterward, perhaps because the musical climate had changed a great deal over the past five years. The remix album
Things Falling Apart
followed a year later, as did an extensive world tour. An album of live performances culled from the tour,
And All That Could Have Been
, was released in early 2002.
Reznor
was largely quiet during the next three years, finally re-emerging in 2005 with another chart-topper,
With Teeth
. Touring continued into 2006, where
NIN
spent the spring and summer on the road with various support acts including
Saul Williams
,
Bauhaus
,
TV on the Radio
, and
Peaches
. The EP
Every Day Is Exactly the Same
appeared in April 2006; it contained the title track and five various remixes (all originally from
With Teeth
). Touring America followed, and then late in the year
Reznor
was back in the studio working on the next album. In early 2007 the band resumed touring, this time in Europe. A viral marketing campaign began when USB key chains that contained new songs were found in the restrooms during
NIN
shows. These key chains also contained a noisy audio file that, when run through a spectrum analyzer, drew an audio wave in the shape of a phone number. The phone numbers were answering machines filled with conspiracy theories, there were fake websites strewn across the net, and busy Internet forums and wikis appeared to theorize about and document it all. The big payoff appeared in April when the dystopian concept album
Year Zero
arrived. A year later
Reznor
began experimenting with different methods of distribution when he made the
Saul Williams
album
The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of Niggy Tardust
available as a digital download.
Reznor
had helped produce the album and had planned to release it on his Nothing imprint but as his distaste for the major label system increased, so did the possibilities of digital distribution. He completely broke free from the system when he left Interscope and released the entirely instrumental album
Ghosts I-IV
on his own in 2008, making it available in both digital download and CD formats. The album's release also marked the end of his Interscope distributed Nothing label and the beginning of a new imprint, Null Corporation. ~ Steve Huey, All Music Guide
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Listeners
Upcoming Shows
Friday, August 22, 2008
Venue:
Quicken Loans Arena
Location: Cleveland, OH
more info
Saturday, August 23, 2008
Venue:
The Palace
Location: Auburn Hills, MI
more info
Monday, August 25, 2008
Venue:
SeaGate Convention Center
Location: Toledo, OH
more info
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Venue:
IZOD Center (formerly Continental Airlines Arena)
Location: East Rutherford, NJ
more info
Friday, August 29, 2008
Venue:
Wachovia Center
Location: Philadelphia, PA
more info
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