History Music / TheDownwardSpiral

** The crowd screaming in the background of "The Becoming" is taken from ''Film/RobotJox''. Meanwhile the muffled bridge vocals are a reversed sample of Harry Angel's crying line "I know who I am" from ''Film/AngelHeart''.

** The crowd screaming in the background of "The Becoming" is taken from ''Film/RobotJox''. Meanwhile the muffled bridge vocals are a reversed sample of.

** The crowd screaming in the background of "The Becoming" is taken from ''Film/RobotJox''.

* TextlessAlbumCover: Some versions of the album cover, like the one on Wiki/TheOtherWiki's page for the album.

The album later received a 10th anniversary remaster in 2004, including a standard edition; a deluxe edition that features a bonus disc with demos, b-sides, remixes (including those from the singles and ''Further Down the Spiral'') and soundtracks that the band made for films; and a [=DualDisc=][[note]]A now-discontinued disc format that features a CD side and a DVD side.[[/note]] version with a stereo mix of the album on the DVD side, alongside other features.

Following the concert tours for ''The Downward Spiral'', a video album consisting of a set of two VHS tapes, titled ''Closure'', was released to accompany it; the first tape (labelled "Part 1") features concert videos, while the second (Part 2) includes music videos connected by a number of transition clips.

In its year of release, the album had two singles, "March of the Pigs" and "Closer to God"[[note]]This single corresponds to the song known simply as "Closer", although it's the title of one of the remixes featured in it[[/note]], both of which feature a number of remixes and b-sides from the album. Just over a year after its initial release, ''The Downward Spiral'' received a remix album titled ''Further Down the Spiral'' that contains more remixes from Music/AphexTwin, Music/RickRubin, Music/JGThirlwell, and a good portion of Music/{{Coil}}, among other high-profile names. It's reportedly one of the best-selling remix albums of all time. Following the concert tours for the album, a video album consisting of a set of two VHS tapes, titled ''Closure'', was released; the first tape (labelled "Part 1") features concert videos, while the second (Part 2) includes music videos connected by a number of transition clips.

In its year of release, the album had two singles, "March of the Pigs" and "Closer to God"[[note]]This single corresponds to the song known simply as "Closer", although it's the title of one of the remixes featured in it[[/note]], both of which feature a number of remixes and b-sides from the album. Just over a year after its initial release, ''The Downward Spiral'' received a remix album titled ''Further Down the Spiral'' that contains more remixes from Music/AphexTwin, Music/RickRubin, Music/JGThirlwell, and a good portion of Music/{{Coil}}, among other high-profile names. It's reportedly one of the best-selling remix albums of all time.

The album later received a 10th anniversary remaster in 2004, including a standard edition; a deluxe edition that features a bonus disc with b-sides, remixes (including those from the singles and ''Further Down the Spiral'') and soundtracks that the band made for films; and a [=DualDisc=][[note]]A now-discontinued disc format that features a CD side and a DVD side.[[/note]] version with a stereo mix of the album on the DVD side, alongside other features.

[[folder:''Further Down the Spiral'']]
[[AC:US version]]
# "Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)" (4:02)[[note]]Remix of "Piggy".[[/note]]
# "The Art of Self Destruction, Part One" (5:41)[[note]]Remix of "Mr. Self Destruct".[[/note]]

[[AC:International version]]
[[/folder]]

Just over a year after its initial release, ''The Downward Spiral'' received a remix album titled ''Further Down the Spiral'' that contains remixes from Music/AphexTwin, Music/RickRubin, Music/JGThirlwell, and a good portion of Music/{{Coil}}, among other high-profile names. It's reportedly one of the best-selling remix albums of all time. The album later received a 10th anniversary remaster in 2004, including a standard edition; a deluxe edition that features a bonus disc with b-sides, remixes and soundtracks that the band made for films; and a [=DualDisc=][[note]]A now-discontinued disc format that features a CD side and a DVD side.[[/note]] version with a stereo mix of the album on the DVD side, alongside other features.

[[AC:Original Release]]

[[AC:B-Sides]]
# "A Violet Fluid" (1:05)[[note]]Originally found in the single for "March of the Pigs", later released for the bonus disc in the 10th anniversary deluxe edition.[[/note]]

Just over a year after its initial release, ''The Downward Spiral'' received a remix album titled ''Further Down the Spiral'' that contains remixes from Music/AphexTwin, Music/RickRubin, Music/JGThirlwell, and a good portion of Music/{{Coil}}, among other high-profile names. It's reportedly one of the best-selling remix albums of all time. The album later received a 10th anniversary remaster in 2004, including a standard edition; a deluxe edition that features a bonus discs with b-sides, remixes and soundtracks that the band made for films; and a [=DualDisc=][[note]]A now-discontinued disc format that features a CD side and a DVD side.[[/note]] version with a stereo mix of the album on the DVD side, alongside other features.

Just over a year after its initial release, ''The Downward Spiral'' received a remix album titled ''Further Down the Spiral'' that contains remixes from Music/AphexTwin, Music/RickRubin, Music/JGThirlwell, and a good portion of Music/{{Coil}}, among other high-profile names. It's reportedly one of the best-selling remix albums of all time. The album later received a 10th anniversary remaster in 2004, with both a standard edition and a deluxe edition that features a bonus discs with b-sides, remixes and soundtracks that the band made for films.

''The Downward Spiral'', released in March 8, 1994, is the second studio album by American rock band Music/NineInchNails, and the band's first full work following their shift from a dark, mechanical take on [[SynthPop synthpop]] and {{alternative dance}} (the debut ''Pretty Hate Machine'') to a harsher, angrier {{industrial metal}} sound (the ''Broken'' EP).

Built as a ConceptAlbum and heavily inspired by Music/DavidBowie's 1977 album ''Music/{{Low|DavidBowieAlbum}}'', Reznor wanted ''The Downward Spiral'' both to [[NewSoundAlbum distinguish its sound]] from ''Broken'' and tell the story of a psychologically wounded character [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope on a path towards]] [[MaddenIntoMisanthropy complete nihilism, misanthropy, and self-destruction]]. This character was [[AuthorAvatar based heavily on himself]], [[CreatorBreakdown as he was struggling with band conflicts, alcoholism, drug addiction, and depression around the time he made the album]].

** Whether or not you believe that [[spoiler:the protagonist killed himself]], the album's ending still has the protagonist at the bottom of the spiral after his disconnection from everything including himself. The only light at the end of the tunnel that the album provides is in retrospect, as the protagonist [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone realizes the errors of his ways]] in "Hurt" but states that it's too late to start over.

* SlowlySlippingIntoEvil: The first two thirds of the album involve the protagonist becoming a villain due to various bad things happening to him, starting with various addictions ("Mr. Self-Destruct"), then losing his girlfriend[[note]]The most accepted interpretation is that she broke up with him, though some others consider the cause to be her death or something else.[[/note]] ("Piggy") and finally some sort of mental illness ("The Becoming"). By "Big Man with a Gun", he's become a SerialRapist or mass murderer.

* SlowlySlippingIntoEvil: The first two thirds of the album involve the protagonist becoming a villain due to various bad things happening to him, starting with various addictions ("Mr. Self-Destruct"), then losing his girlfriend ("Piggy") and finally some sort of mental illness ("The Becoming"). By "Big Man with a Gun", he's become a SerialRapist or mass murderer.

** We never get an exact idea of who, what and where the narrator is, only his general thought process. Because of this, we never learn specifically what he does in "Big Man With A Gun", but the violent ramblings and samples of pornography imply something [[InterplayOfSexAndViolence horrific]].

** Whether or not you believe that [[spoiler:the protagonist killed himself]], the album's conclusion still has the protagonist at the bottom of the spiral after his disconnection from everything including himself. The only light at the end of the tunnel that the album provides is in retrospect, as the protagonist [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone realizes the errors of his ways]] in "Hurt" but states that it's too late to start over.
** Without referencing the album's concept, the album's conclusion with "Hurt" is an eligible example, as the song is told from the perspective of someone lamenting the emptiness of their life and acknowledging that they will leave no legacy behind.

* SlowlySlippingIntoEvil: The first two thirds of the album involve the protagonist becoming a villain due to various bad things happening to him, starting with various addictions ("Mister Self-Destruct"), then his girlfriend breaking up with him ("Piggy") and finally some sort of mental illness ("The Becoming"). By "Big Man with a Gun", he's become a SerialRapist or mass murderer.

* TextlessAlbumCover: Some versions of the album cover, like the one on Wiki/TheOtherWiki's page for this album.

* SexForSolace: Deconstructed, and ruthlessly so at that; "Closer" shows how unhealthy this mindset is, and just how demented a person would have to be, emotionally, to adopt it.

* SlowlySlippingIntoEvil: The first 2/3 of the album is about the protagonist becoming a villain due to various bad things happening to him, starting with various addictions ("Mister Self-Destruct"), his girlfriend breaking up with him ("Piggy") and some kind of mental illness ("The Becoming"). By "Big Man With A Gun", he's become some kind of SerialRapist or mass murderer/

* SociopathicHero: The protagonist of the album is characterized by a total disregard for the well-being of others, and even his own, eventually culminating in what might have been a mass shooting or a rape. [[spoiler:Although towards the end, just how much of a sociopath he really is is called into question, [[VillainousBSOD when he begins to develop a conscience and feel regret for his actions]], leading to a suicide attempt that — [[AmbiguousEnding assuming he survived]] — only results in him shamefully coming to believe that [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption the sole purpose in his life is to hurt others]].]]

** "Mr. Self Destruct" ends with a bunch of guitars playing different melodies at once, creating dissonant noise.

** The TitleTrack ends with a harsh, distorted cymbal noise that fades into "[[DownerEnding Hurt]]".

* ArcWords: "Nothing can stop me now", used throughout the album in contexts of self-empowerment, mania, self-aware descents into madness, or arguably a mix of the three.

* SensoryAbuse: The vocals and instrumentation are often distorted to the point of harshness.
** Also, the end of "Mr. Self Destruct", composed of different guitar loops stacked on top of each other to create a dissonant wall of noise.

*** The violent snap in sanity heard in "Big Man With A Gun" is followed by the calming instrumental "A Warm Place", which is in turn followed by the torturing cries of "Eraser".

** "Mr. Self Destruct"
---> ''I speak religion's message clear (and I control you)\\

** "Heresy"
---> ''He dreamed a god up and called it Christianity\\
Your god is dead and no one cares\\
If there is a hell, I'll see you there''

* GodIsDead: "Heresy" and "Ruiner". In the former, he rants against Christianity and religion as a whole, and in the latter, [[spoiler:he kills God himself]].
-->''Your god is dead and no one cares!''\\