IVC’s April Vinyl: Nine Inch Nails ‘The Downward Spiral’

For the sixth Interscope Vinyl Collective release, we are announcing Nine Inch Nails' The Downward Spiral!

Thirty years after its release, Nine Inch Nails’ second full-length album remains one of the most brutal and emotionally wrenching albums ever recorded. A crushing concept album about self-destruction and total loss of control, Reznor augmented the synth-heavy industrial rock of Pretty Hate Machine (see “Mr. Self Destruct,” “Closer” on The Downward Spiral) with quieter, personal songs channeling his anguish into discomforting beauty (He once said writing “Hurt” tapped into “the deepest emotions I have ever had.”)

Over 14 tracks, gorgeous melodies (“Piggy”) collide with near-violent soundscapes (“March of the Pigs”) in what Rolling Stone called “a harrowing, deeply affecting story of one man’s descent into his own abject soul.” “Downward Spiral felt like I had an unending bottomless pit of rage and self-loathing inside me and I had to somehow challenge something or I’d explode,” Reznor said in recent years. The Downward Spiral turned Reznor into an unlikely, reluctant rock superstar who would record some of the genre’s most influential and powerful albums. But for sheer emotion, this is the magnum opus.

This limited edition 2LP features a gatefold jacket, printed sleeves, 180G black vinyl, limited edition lithograph insert, and a 12-page vinyl booklet.

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