Pretty Hate Machine | The Downward Spiral | The Fragile | With Teeth | Year Zero | Ghosts I-IV | The Slip | Hesitation Marks
- Creator Backlash: Trent Reznor was critical over the overseas pricing of the album over the thermo heat-sensitive CD face that allowed it to change color and reveal a website linked to the album's ARG, so much so that it (along with other factors) led to him cutting ties with Interscope Records out of frustration.
- Doing It for the Art: Trent went all out to make the album's ARG, from going to 42 Entertainment into making the very detailed websites to having Interscope put out flash drives containing vital MP3s of the album. He even noted he paid out of pocket for the thermo heat-sensitive CD cover when venting about the album's overpricing outside the states.
- Development Hell: The planned mini-series. Trent has spent years stating he wants to make a movie/mini-series on Year Zero but so far, nothing has come of it. Apparently HBO was interested as well, but unfortunately rejected the original plan. More info was provided by the NIN Wiki
, but so far, the plans have been on the way side. - Reality Subtext: The album's themes were of Trent's worry and concern over the rise of George W. Bush in government for the second time, even if he had been critical of Bush in the past. This makes much of Year Zero's near-future dystopia is rooted in satire of Bush-era America, particularly The War on Terror, the Christian Right, and a worst-case Global Warming scenario.
- What Could Have Been: Multiple things were gonna happen in the ARG, from fans getting arrested for real, a building exploding, to even The Presence itself appearing in real life, but couldn't happen, probably due to budget constraints, plus the legal issues that could come from getting fans arrested.
