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Review of Nine Inch Nails' "The Downward Spiral"

© Nick Bendel

The Downward Spiral (1994) is the third album from the fascinating group Nine Inch Nails. Or should that be fascinating artist. One man hero Trent Reznor is responsible for the writing, arrangement and performance of all the songs on this album, although he does have support when playing on the road.

The main thing to appreciate about the Nine Inch Nails sound is that it is very aggressive. Harsh and loud are also accurate descriptions. This is a formula that can be extremely difficult to get right. So often many similar minded bands see their musical vehemence as an excuse for self-indulgent songwriting in the name of 'art'. What is important to remember, though, is that this heavy approach to music is not an end in itself. The goal should always be melodic music, however it may be packaged.

The Downward Spiral sees a combination of these two approaches. With the second of these Reznor comes across as a very gifted musician. There are quite a few examples of this. 'Piggy' is somewhat more subdued than the songs around it, though still with the same feel. With its persistent beat and Reznor's vocals it has a strangely hypnotic quality to it. 'Closer', on the other hand, has a violent feel to it both lyrically (the song begins: "You let me violate you, you let me desecrate you/You let me penetrate you, you let me complicate you") and with the piercing beat and the vicious way Reznor sings and delivers the chorus.

These are both excellent songs. 'Closer', especially, seems to be the type of song Nine Inch Nails is aiming for and it is good because it combines both aggression and melody. Unfortunately, however, there are many songs that only include the first of these attributes. Here the obvious examples are, amongst others, 'I Do Not Want This', 'Big Man With a Gun', 'Eraser' and 'Reptile'. The best way to describe them is an incoherent collection of loud noises. Writing a song like 'Closer' takes skill, but there is nothing skilful about any of these tracks.

The creative and uncreative sit uneasily beside eachother on The Downward Spiral. Because of this it's difficult to really enjoy this album though there are many occasions when you really want to. Reznor demonstrates a melodic sensibility on quite a few songs, but this good work is undone by- put simply- some bad music.

RATING: 5/10