the roots of Industrial go back a long way and it gets much harsher and more noisy and less musical than this, but NIN really brought Industrial to the mainstream and combined it with rock and pop influences; so many bands are influenced by them now
It's a concept album of a man succumbing to addiction and depression. Along with Prince's Purple Rain and Stevie Wonder's Songs in the Key of Life, I think this one of those albums that are perfect.
Looks like great concept albums often come from a single person involved in almost every lyrical and musical elements. "Histoires de Melody Nelson" by Serge Gainsbourg is in the same vein, and you can feel it even more if you understand the French lyrics.
Thank goodness Trent took accountability and went to rehab and is still making great music to this day. I would really recommend the album 'With Teeth'.
@@deadlyredly1i feel like A Warm Place could also represent a psychological thing called "pink clouds" which usually happens right after recovering from addiction for the first time when patients are filled with optimism, taking everything easy right before they get slammed down and relapse again usually leading into self-h4rm and a svicide attempt. So it makes sense to be right before The Eraser
@@lasernikixcex perfect explanation! Always the way I saw it, but couldn't have put into words. Also often suicidal people seem to "perk up" and it's due to the fact they have made the decision - and are genuinely happy to feel like they suddenly have control over something. So sad, but also so amazing that this album puts it in such a perfect package.
I was obsessed with this album in 2016; it was my first conscious full album experience where I saw such a cohesive work of music, and with such devastating power.
One of the friends who helped Trent come out of this darkness, who toured with them during this album as well was none other than David Bowie. Funny thing is that A Warm Place is an accidental copy of David Bowie's "Crystal Japan" (a song for an ad for gin in Japan)... They've talked about it in interviews back in the day :)
And "Tanz Der China Dolls" by the Legendary Pink Dots. Its been speculated it wasn't that accidental. Trent was the biggest Bowie fan. He likely heard it at some point. Then did A Warm Place unconsciously or even a bit consciously. His explanation that he was thinking that it was from somewhere, but found out only after the album was released was a bit suspect. He even admitted that it's the same. On that part though he is partly wrong. The notes could be considered different enough. Either way, Bowie is now given a writer's credit on it. So that ends any debates. Also interesting is that the Downward Spiral theme that recurrs throughout the album (like the piano in Closer) is also similar to another Bowie song, but backwards. So Bowie might have just inspired the main theme in the NIN album and so really the backbone of the musical concept.
This album can definitely be a tough listen, both in sound and subject matter. However it's really become one of my all time favorites, there's always something new for me to discover in it and it's such a powerful album. And yes, Trent is doing much better now! He was able to get clean and even has a family now. He's a really big inspiration to me. NIN has so much to choose from, The Fragile is great, albeit very long. Not The Actual Events is another amazing one that I find very underrated. I also hope you find the time for some more Elliott Smith as well! I'm glad you're always willing to listen to anything! I had a great time watching this :)
Its like so freaking terrifing like this is scarier then any horror movie soundtrack i ever heard even coil cant get this creppy they came close with backwards although honestly its just as terrifing for me no more no less
A massive part in understanding his album is understanding that most of the time when he's talking about a woman, it's a metaphor for his relationship with heroin. In Closer it's all good like "oh man I'm so fucked up rn ha ha", then in Reptile it's like "oh shit i'm really fucked up, this isn't fun anymore". Also, when he'll often talk about a part of himself in the 3rd person, so the "Ruiner" is actually himself making stupid decisions and ruining everything. There's a lot of duality and sincerity in this album, a lot of people might see it as exaggerated shock factor, but really it's just very honest and portrays depression and self loathing very accurately.
No, it's a double meaning - which means, it means both sides of the metaphor. I struggled thru heroin addiction, and I am a songwriter. I would never use a metaphor of violence against women to convey my struggles with addiction. Not because I'm above that (tho I am) - but just because it doesn't represent how I ever felt at all!!
@@christianenglish7467 I'm sorry but that's a really dumb interpretation, especially considering the broader concept of the album. Lyrics about problematic relationships with women are baked into pre-With Teeth NIN.
Prolly *the* seminal industrial rock album, and also a soundtrack for Trent Reznor’s own Downward Spiral. It’s crazy to think that an album so noisy, aggresive and sexual became as mainstream as it became. If you’d want to go down into the industrial rabbit hole a couple good albums to start with could be: Suicide - Suicide (a cold and mechanic synth punk classic) Throbbing Gristle - 20 Jazz Funk Greats (arguably the start of industrial with some haunting minimal synth tracks) Coil - Horse Rotorvator (fun, interesting and experimental industrial songs) Swans - Filth (probably the heaviest and nastiest album of the bunch) Big Black - Atomizer (more like filth than the rest, but a bit more digestible)
All great suggestions. It's personal preference, but I'd probably add some early SPK (first two albums), Einstuerzende Neubauten, Godflesh (heavily influenced by Swans) and maybe Skinny Puppy (Too Dark Park)
Don't sleep on Joanna Newsom's Ys! And Trent Reznor, who is NIN, co-scored the Disney film Soul a few years ago. He's doing fine. This album is from the point of view of a character, an exaggeration of where Trent was at at the time-an addict, depressed, sex-obsessed, etc.
There's a reason that "Closer" is considered one of Trent's masterpieces. It's still crazy to think about the fact that "Closer" was played on the radio FREQUENTLY in the 90's, and only one word was censored. Reptile is probably my favorite from this album. Trent is a musical genius. Even if the lyrics are strange, the production is always immaculate. NIN is like Radiohead in the sense the they have aged like fine wine. Some artist lose their touch a bit as they get older, but both bands just keep getting better. If you like the song A Warm Place, you should definitely check out The Fragile, and With Teeth. There are some really beautiful songs on beautiful songs on both albums.
Here’s a fun fact, in r/place (the original one in 2016) the NIN logo, Radiohead modified bear symbol and In Rainbows album cover were directly stacked on each other.
I want to add some context to the album. Basically first few tracks are setting up the exposition for the protagonist: his self-destructive tendencies, his loneliness, his nihilism and hatred for rеligion and sосiety as a whole. Closer is where we're starting the next chapter. It shоws the protagonist sеаrсhing for sехual validation as a сорing meсhаnism for his dерressiоn. In a wау using thаt other реrsоn аs a wау to make himself look more important than he actually is. It also shows protagonists mеssеd uр viеw of rеIigion as he sееs having control over someone as a way to get himself "closer to god". That theme of him putting "=" betwееn sех аnd godhood continues into Ruinеr as he contracts himself as he spews pure hаtrеd towards the idea of god, while also being jealous in a way, as he sees god as sort of the ultimate manliness "big strong hard and long". To create a stronger connection between gеnitаIs and religion it brings into the song the subject of men's circumcisions being a fuсked uр religious ritual of mutilating bаby boys' gеnitals, which apparently Americans still proudly practice to this day "What you gave to me? My perfect ring of scars" The song ends with protagonist slowly embracing the godhood, and saying "nothing can stop me now" as he rides this high of being invulnerable and unstoppable. Unfortunately for him the next chapter starts, which shows what's actually happening. It's not him gaining control but him losing it, turning his ideological crusade into a simple automated mechanical process of him going towards the end, and him trying to fight against it. In a way I see it as a cautionary tale about Hedonism and, in a way, Nihilism making a person lose their free will to their primal animalistic urges, but maybe I'm digging too deep into it. "I do not want this" is the last bit of the protagonist's struggle to maintain his sanity. It shows how he wants to get help but then violently pushes away anyone that tries to get closer to him and help "Don't you tell me how I feel. You don't know just how I feel" The song ends with the protagonist throwing away all his hatred towards his "idea of gоd" аs he himself wants to become an almighty omnipotent being just to find any meaning in his life. "Вig mаn with a gun" is a short glimрse into what happens аftеrwаrds, аs he triеs to hurt and аbusе еvеryone around him as a way to make up for his own issues. How he does it, is up for interpretation. The song abruptly ends and leads into a "warm place", as protagonist finally reflects on his actions and where they had lead him. What happens afterwards is that he understands that he can't go on like this anymore. "Eraser" shows exactly that as the protagonist starts begging to еnd his suffеring and save him from this living nightmare he trapped himself in. It took me some time to understand the place of "Reptile" on the album but eventually I realized that it's basically how the protagonist's perception of "Closer". What was once his only way to feel better, his only method of escapism now seems gross and repulsive to him. There's nothing that can make him feel better anymore, so there's only one thing he can do. "The Downward Spiral" Is pretty straight forward as the finale of The Downward Spiral. There's nothing in this world except for sadness, so he shооts himsеlf in a head while his Self-destructive tendencies aka Mr. Self-destruct are celebrating. "Hurt" is an epilogue and a 4th wall break in a way as both Protagonist and Trent Reznor through the protagonist reflect on the events of the album. "My sweetest friend" in this instance is the listener who was the only person following the protagonist on his journey. This is a warning to not make the same mistakes as him. He's just a character in an album. His fate is set in stone. You, on the other hand, can change. There's always a way and if you lose it, you may listen to an album again, as "I am still right here". At least that's the way I want to see it, as I went through most of what is being talked about on the album myself. The song ends with a sudden loud noise that slowly dissolves into an absolute nothingness, symbolising reality of a gunshоt
“Piggy” was a song about his former band mate (who was nicknamed Piggy, his real name was Richard Patrick) who left the band after disagreements with how money was split shortly after Pretty Hate Machine was released (I think) and went on to make the band Filter, leaving Trent on his own. Piggy is a song about Trent opening up to his feelings over the matter. And March of Pigs was a clear critique of consumerism and blind groupthink, and the effects of abandoning your own spirit and mind as a result of the former two reasons.
I recommend "with Teeth" and "Pretty Hate Machine" as they're MUCH more accessible albums by comparison. TDS is definitely a better album if you're in that personal headspace. Found TDS a week after my mom passed. Needless to say its fit me ever since. Spiral is also meant to be a story piece listened in full. Glad you experienced the masterpiece as it was intended.
one of my favorite album experiences of all time. i also love how genuine the reaction is and how they’re not played up for views. highly highly recommend his next album, the fragile. i’m my opinion, i think it’s the better of the two. however both of them are interchangeable w a lot of people
I think this album is NIN's masterpiece, but an argument can be made for the follow-up album The Fragile, although that is a double-album and some consider it a bit bloated. I definitely recommend it if you want more of this kind of NIN, alternatively if you want some NIN that sounds very different then I'd recommend their debut album Pretty Hate Machine (80s, bit more pop-friendly and danceable) or Year Zero (difficult to describe, honestly).
Glad you got around to doing this one. As a troubled teen this album was on heavy rotation and scared the shit out of my parents lol. This is personally my favorite of his music although he went on to do a lot more stuff. Glad to see that recommending things over and over again pay off eventually! Sick as fuck in bed with Covid and this really lifted my spirits! Recommendations Oneohtrix Point Never - R Plus Seven Sonic Youth - Daydream Nation Lil Ugly Mane - Volcanic Bird Enemy and the Voiced Concern David Bowie - Blackstar
My favorite album. You get used to the darkness the more you listen (for better or worse). You should definitely check out his album, 'The Fragile' for some of the best production ever put to tape.
Masterpiece. The A Warm Place/Eraser/Reptile trio is so particularly fucking good. Great reaction, man. I hope you react to The Fragile at some point. Really long, but even better (and probably more palatable if this was a bit much for you, overall), in my opinion. My favorite album of all time from my favorite artist of all time.
I'm personally not big on NIN but I can appreciate what they did with this record - another noise rock record you should 1000% check out is You're Living All Over Me by Dinosaur Jr if you haven't already heard it
dude! this album is one of my top 10. love the production, the songwriting, the lyrics, everything about it is perfection to me. you dropped this in a very bad day for me, so watching you have a similar experience to my first time listening to it was like therapy, ty bro. love yr reactions, been here since the first videos. kudos from brazil, mate ✨️
Closer is about sex addiction. Each verse is describing the hell the person in question is going through ending with the chorus of just wanting to fuck to feel better for a moment, only for the emptiness creeps back in after.
yooo the people want more Ween 🙏🙏 and if you dont want to, you should definitely check Erykah Badu's Mama's Gun literally listened to it like 2 days ago and its a neo soul masterpiece dude
Never could get into NIN but I love what Trent did on the show Watchmen on HBO…dude kills the soundtrack. Really looking forward to the Strawberry Jam review if it happens…I don’t say this lightly, SJ changed the trajectory of my life in the best of ways. Good stuff bro 🍻
I don’t thing downward spiral is a good start for nine inch nails, this album is intense and very harsh to untrained listeners. Do pretty hate machine or with teeth or even the fragile cause if this is all you hear of nin while it’s amazing it isn’t a good start
Give yourself credit for really listening to this album. I was impressed by the things you picked up that most people gloss over or can’t “hear”. You noted the becoming a “machine” was 100% on point. He’s basically handing control over to his destruction personality because he’s too scared to face his issues. (IMO). Personally, I think it’s the main reason he keeps spiraling. He blames everyone else (especially women and religion) for his mental state. He never accepts that he has to make the decision to get better. Reznor was struggling with heroin addiction when this was written. It was his way of trying to face his darkest moments. Where many people would think that writing/making the album would make hime worse, it helped him. He’s said it was cathartic. The reason why this is one of my favorite albums is that it’s always been comforting to me. I struggled with depression for 39 of my 40 years. Between avoidance and misdiagnosis, I swung in and out of it for years. Big Man With A Gun does an amazing job of showing the false confidence that accumulates by lying to yourself about your issues. And then there’s the crash. An alternative theory on the meaning for the album is that it’s a narrative that represents the entirety the period of time of his addiction. The theory I find most interesting is that the main character doesn’t actually die. That Hurt is about finally taking responsibility and then choosing to get better. The last 4 lines of Hurt could be interpreted as a way to show that he’s finally realized he has to choose to get better. And that it’s not too late, despite how bad things have gotten. There’s other lyrics that could support that theory. Like “I’m stuck in this dream” might be him being so drugged out most of the time that it doesn’t even feel like he’s present. Again, kudos to you for giving this a chance. I think it’s one of the most meaningful albums ever made. Keep up the good work man!
The Broken EP from the same era is similar in tone. The follow up album to this called The Fragile turns the atmosphere up with soundscapes and instrumentals. Well worth checking out. I think someone else mentioned it but their set at Woodstock 94 is one of the greatest concerts of the 90s. Would love to see a reaction to that too
Nothing in this album is to he taken literally. There is a much deeper context behind the entire album. It's not called The Downward Spiral because he was happy.
I see you haven't revisited NIN since this album. I get it. This album is A LOT. Trent was in a dark place. I'd highly suggest giving "The Fragile" a chance at some point. It's a double disc, but break it up into multiple videos. It's different than this, and worth it.
Weird introduction to NIN, to be honest. I'd have suggested going back to at least "Broken", but starting with "Pretty Hate Machine" would have been better. This album was amazing to me when it came out, but I had the foundation of the other albums to build upon...
if you like the drums, then check out Ilan Rubin Drum Cam live performance of March of the Pigs/Piggy. he plays the chopped up and sampled drum parts from the record flawlessly and hits as hard as Thor hisself. 🤯!
Have you heard much industrial music before? NIN are generally considered to be the poster-boys for that genre. And yea if you wanna get more into the meaning, basically the whole album is a linear story about a guy going mad and then shooting himself.
I saw another comment mention it, but Year Zero would be a great second album to check out from NIN. It came out about 15 years after The Downward Spiral, after Trent got clean. It's another concept album, but it will offer a different experience both musically and thematically. Leading up to the album's release, there was a whole Alternate Reality Game where NIN would leave hidden thumb drives for people to find with audio from the album, play secret shows, mysterious websites, etc. They built a whole narrative, and the concept for the album almost became a show on HBO but the talks never got off the ground. A non-NIN album that you should absolutely check out, also mentioned in another comment, is Blackstar from David Bowie. It was his final album, released days before he died. It felt planned, but it wasn't really. Still, a perfect exit for one of the best artists of the 20th century.
You should react to "Volcanic Bird Enemy and the Voiced Concern" by Lil Ugly Mane. BRO I'm sure you would love this, really underrated album blending hip-hop, psychedelia, trip hop etc should be right up your alley!!
Today The Downward spiral feels just as angry, visceral and bleak as it did decades ago. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, but maybe its somewhere in between.
I recommend listening to “The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads” by Lift To Experience. Severely underrated band and the album is just beautiful. the ironic album cover makes it better
“nah these lyrics are weird idk why i like this” yeah real also thank you nine inch nails vocalist Trent Reznor for both the gay awakening and goth awakening
I'm one of the biggest NIN fans in the world, if you loved this album, please check out Grand Folly - The Noble Rot. Your mind will be blown just as much as mine was on first listen
you should definitely check out Antichrist Superstar by Marilyn Manson. Trent, the guy who produced downward spiral and head of NIN, produced Antichrist Superstar as well.
I think the character in the song Hurt kills themselves at the end. The combination of the lyrics "Start again (start over) ... a million miles away (a different place than the one the character is in) ... I would find a way" along with the loud, distorted sound and this song being the ending of the album makes me believe that's the intended meaning.
This is a very aggressive set of music. What an intro to NIN and into this genera of industrial music. Trent's later work has less of a lyric shock value and vocal rage to it as his career progresses. I think that was his point, shock and explore the extreme state frame of mind and blast it from all sides without a filter. I strongly advise you to explore his other recordings. There is an evolution as the years pass.
This album is a masterpiece. You discover more and more layers with each listen. The story on this concept album is bleak and dark, but has beautiful moments. Just a master craft in music and production.
A common thread I see in a lot of younger Gen-Z reactors is almost a hyper-literalism in dealing with lyrics. Two immediate examples here are on "This is Why" and "Closer". The use of "God is dead" in the former is more an expression of feeling hopeless and abandoned than any sort of statement of fact or opinion. In the latter, Trent uses the juxtaposition of what is normally something that brings people closer to instead be a means of escape and removal. What is described is, in intentionally irony, the furthest thing from being "Closer." Especially the best music is rarely about the text but the feeling. A good example of this is Brian Eno, who often intentionally chose his lyrics for feel and sound over meaning.
such literal interpretations are not a new thing.. to use closer as an example actually, when it came out it was widely considered a sex anthem, got play in strip clubs & whatnot, & it's definitely still got that reputation. not that i blame anyone for thinking of it like that i mean, it is sexy as fuck even beyond the lyrics, but that is a shallow interpretation of the song as a whole. obviously, there's a lot more going on there. totally agree with your general point that people should be less literal with lyrics on the whole though,, not everything's a "story" in the traditional sense. & a lot of them really require the music in order to fully make their point or have their proper effect.
@@submandave1125 bjork gets fairly literal and blunt, but ebbs in and out of that and a very metaphor heavy allegorical style. and sometimes just nonsense lol. & often it's hard to tell the difference which is a big part of her lyrical identity imo. it's all confusion and being overwhelmed and very arrogantly sure of some things and totally baffled by others. im sure someone going into that with a very literal mind would probably find themselves more confused than if the whole thing was abstract, lol. so you're def right eno ive only really heard his ambient stuff so i cant really comment.. you've made me curious though !
@@resiseven7407 Specifically, you're looking for "Here Come the Warm Jets," "Taking Tiger Mountain (By Strategy)," "Another Green World," and "Before and After Science." The latter two have hints at his future ambient work, but a good portion of his lyrical process consciously employed the concept of word poetry (with an explicit nod to Kurt Schwitters's Ursonate), where individual words were chosen less for meaning than for its inherent sound or emotional tenor.
Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile would make for a fascinating reaction. Take the layers and sounds of The Downward Spiral and multiply them times 10. Add more experimentation, more melody, more variety, and more pop. Not necessarily a better album or complete work, but an amazing album.
It's so funny hearing a Gen X' er react to this. _"I thought God was dead...? Now you're contradicting!"_ And... _"Yea, I don't fμ¢|< with the ®apey vibes of closer"_ Or.... _"feels like he's about to commit something in the becoming. Don't do that!!"_ _________________________ Yeah, while I always enjoyed this raw exposé of a fμ¢k'† up mind... I dont relate to it! No , I don't rekate to the rap¡ness of closer, & bug man with a gun... or the schoo| sh00†er-ness of the becoming... or the serial killerness of...um... I forget - most of them! Or the murderousness of ...again i forget... → most of them!! The dude is not someone to pedastalize, that's for sure... But I do relate to hurt. That's the money track for me... I related to the fragile double album more, I think ... Cos I just dont wrestle with sadistic/murderous psycho-sexual urges, thank you very much! Sorry if you do!
This album is incredibly uneasy, haunting, and at times beautiful. It's definitely a trip and will put you into a funk if you listen to enough of it. If you like concept albums and appreciate the artistry of Trent Reznor , then react to Year Zero. It's just as unique and haunting, but in a very different way.
id love to see you react to NIN's album called year zero, its also a concept album, but instead of depression, its about basically a political end of the world scenario.
You cannot talk about the song closer or any other song of this album in a vacuum. It is a concept album. It's a downward spiral talking about addictions, vices, etc
Lol, Trent Reznor is definitely doing just fine after this album. He's gone on to win Academy Awards for his composing work. I think to really appreciate this music you had to live in the time it came out in a way. For people that grew up in the 80s and 90s he's a legend and musical genius.
