NineInchNails

Written, arranged, and performed by Trent Reznor, Nine Inch Nails' first album Pretty Hate Machine debuted in 1989. It marked Reznor's first collaboration with Adrian Sherwood (who produced the lead single "Down in It" in London, England without having met Reznor face-to-face)[12] and Mark "Flood" Ellis. Flood's production would appear on each major Nine Inch Nails release until 1994, and Sherwood has done remixes for the band as recently as 2000. Reznor and his co-producers expanded upon the Right Track Studio demos by adding singles "Head Like a Hole" and "Sin". Rolling Stone's Michael Azerrad described the album as "industrial-strength noise over a pop framework" and "harrowing but catchy music";[18] Reznor proclaimed this combination "a sincere statement" of "what was in [his] head at the time".[19] After spending 113 weeks on the Billboard 200,[20] Pretty Hate Machine became one of the first independently released records to attain platinum certification.[1] MTV aired videos for "Down in It" and "Head Like a Hole", but an explicit video for "Sin" was only released on the 1997 home video Closure.

In 1990, NIN began the Pretty Hate Machine Tour Series, in which they toured North America as an opening act for alternative rock artists such as Peter Murphy and The Jesus and Mary Chain.[1] At some point, Reznor began smashing his equipment while on stage; Rockbeat interviewer Mike Gitter attributed NIN's early success in front of rock oriented audiences to this aggressive attitude.[21] Nine Inch Nails then embarked on a world tour that continued through the first Lollapalooza festival in 1991. After a poor European reception opening for Guns N' Roses, NIN returned to America amid pressure from TVT to produce a follow-up to Pretty Hate Machine. In response, Reznor secretly began recording under various pseudonyms to avoid record company interference.

In 1992 Nine Inch Nails released Broken, an EP featuring six songs and two bonus tracks. In the liner notes, Reznor credited the 1991 Nine Inch Nails touring band as an influence on the EP's sound. Reznor characterized Broken as a guitar-based "blast of destruction", and as "a lot harder [...] than Pretty Hate Machine".[14] Songs from Broken have earned NIN its only two Grammy Awards: a performance of the EP's first single "Happiness in Slavery" from Woodstock '94,[23] and the second single "Wish".[23]

Peter Christopherson of the bands Coil and Throbbing Gristle directed a performance video for "Wish",[24] but the EP's most infamous video accompanied "Happiness in Slavery". The video was almost universally banned for its graphic depiction of performance artist Bob Flanagan disrobing lying on a machine that pleasures, tortures, then kills him.[25] A third video for "Pinion", partially incorporated into MTV's Alternative Nation opening sequence, showed a toilet that apparently flushes into the mouth of a person in bondage.[26] Reznor and Christopherson compiled these three clips along with footage for "Help Me I Am In Hell" and "Gave Up" into a longform music video also called Broken. It depicts the murder of a young man who is kidnapped and tortured while forced to watch the videos. This footage was never officially released, but instead appeared covertly among tape trading circles.[25]

A separate performance video for "Gave Up" featuring Richard Patrick and Marilyn Manson was filmed at 10050 Cielo Drive (then renamed "Le Pig studios" by Reznor), site of the Tate murders;[1] a live recording of "Wish" was also filmed, and both videos appeared on the Closure video compilation in 1997.[27] Broken was followed by the remix EP Fixed in late 1992. Rather than tour in support of the new material, Reznor began living and recording full-time at Le Pig, working on a follow-up free of restrictions from his record label.

he Downward Spiral (1994-1999)

An image from the music video for "Closer"Nine Inch Nails' second full-length album, The Downward Spiral, entered the Billboard 200 in 1994 at number two,[28] and remains the highest-selling NIN release in the United States.[29] Influenced by late-1970s rock albums Low and The Wall, by David Bowie and Pink Floyd respectively, The Downward Spiral features a wide range of textures and moods to illustrate the mental progress of a central character.[30] Flood once again co-produced several tracks on the album, though it proved to be his last collaboration with Nine Inch Nails. Longtime Flood-collaborator Alan Moulder mixed most of The Downward Spiral and subsequently took on more extensive production duties for future NIN releases.

"The Downward Spiral" was recorded at Le Pig Studios,Beverly Hills - built by Reznor in the house where Charles Manson's "family" killed Sharon Tate, wife of noted film director Roman Polanski.

The album spawned two singles, "March of the Pigs" and "Closer", along with "Hurt" and "Piggy" which were issued to radio without a commercial single release. The music video for "Closer" was directed by Mark Romanek and received frequent rotation on MTV, though the network made extensive edits to the original version, which they perceived to be too graphic.[31] A radio edit that partially mutes the song's explicit lyrics also received extensive airtime.[3] The Closure video documented highlights from NIN's Self Destruct tour, including full live videos of "Eraser", "Hurt" and a one-take "March of the Pigs" clip made for MTV.

The Downward Spiral features guest performances by Stephen Perkins (of Jane's Addiction and Porno For Pyros) and Tommy Lee of Mötley Crüe

Critical response to The Downward Spiral has generally been favorable: in 2005 the album was ranked 25th in Spin's list of the "100 Greatest Albums, 1985-2005",[32] and in 2003 Rolling Stone ranked the album number 200 on their "500 greatest albums of all time" list.[33] After The Downward Spiral's release, Reznor produced an accompanying remix album entitled Further Down the Spiral, the only non-major NIN release to be certified gold in the United States.[29] It featured contributions from electronic musician Aphex Twin, producer Rick Rubin, and former Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro, among others.

The Self Destruct tour in support of the album reached its widest mainstream audience with a mud-drenched performance at Woodstock '94 that was broadcast on Pay-Per-View and seen in as many as 24 million homes.[34] Nine Inch Nails received considerable mainstream success thereafter, performing with significantly higher production values and adding theatrical visual elements to the live show.[35] Around this time, Reznor's studio perfectionism,[36] struggles with addiction, and bouts of writer's block prolonged the production of a follow-up record.[37]

In 1997 Reznor produced the soundtrack to the David Lynch film Lost Highway. The release spawned the single "The Perfect Drug", the video for which was again directed by Mark Romanek. A tenth anniversary deluxe reissue of The Downward Spiral was released in 2004.[38]

A further six years elapsed before Nine Inch Nails' fourth full-length album, With Teeth, was released in 2005, though it was leaked prior to its official release date. The album was written and recorded following Reznor's battle with alcoholism and substance abuse.[47] Like The Fragile, With Teeth debuted on top of the Billboard 200.[3] The album's package art lacks typical liner notes; instead it simply lists the names of songs and co-producers, and the URL for an online PDF poster with lyrics and full credits.[48] The entire album was made available in streaming audio on the band's official MySpace page in advance of its release date.[49] Critical reception of the album was generally favorable:[50] Rolling Stone's Rob Sheffield described the album as "vintage Nine Inch Nails".[51]

A promotional video for the song "The Hand That Feeds" premiered on NIN's website in March 2005, rather than the traditional music channels. Reznor also released the source files for the song in GarageBand format a month later, allowing fans to remix the song.[52] Reznor similarly released files for the album's second single "Only" in a wider range of formats, including Pro Tools and ACID Pro. David Fincher directed a video for "Only" using primarily computer-generated imagery. The third single, "Every Day Is Exactly the Same", was released in April 2006, but a planned music video was reportedly scrapped in the post-production stage.[53] The song topped Billboard's 2006 year-end Hot Dance Singles Sales and Hot Digital Songs charts.[54]

Nine Inch Nails launched a North American arena tour in autumn 2005, supported by Queens of the Stone Age, Autolux and Death from Above 1979.[55] Another opening act on this tour, hip-hop artist Saul Williams, performed on stage with Nine Inch Nails at the Voodoo Music Experience festival during a headlining appearance in hurricane-stricken New Orleans, Reznor's former home.[56] To conclude the With Teeth era of the band, NIN completed a tour of North American amphitheaters in the summer of 2006, joined by Bauhaus, TV on the Radio, and Peaches.[1] In late 2006, the official NIN website announced that a tour documentary entitled Beside You in Time would be released in three formats: DVD, HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc.

In February 2008, Reznor posted a news update on the Nine Inch Nails website entitled "2 weeks." On March 2, Ghosts I-IV, a 36-track instrumental album, became available via the band's official website. Ghosts I-IV continued Reznor's experimentation with digital distribution, as the album was released online before physical copies were available. Like Saul Williams' The Inevitable Rise and Liberation of NiggyTardust! (which Reznor produced),[68] the album is available in a number of different formats and forms, including a free download of the first volume, a $5 digital download, a $10 double CD set, a $75 deluxe edition set, and a $300 Ultra-Deluxe limited edition package, which sold out all 2500 copies (grossing $750,000) in three days.[69]

The album was created over a 10-week period and contributors included Atticus Ross, Alan Moulder, Alessandro Cortini, Adrian Belew, and Brian Viglione.[70] Reznor described the 36-track collection as a "soundtrack for daydreams", and that it is "the result of working from a very visual perspective - dressing imagined locations and scenarios with sound and texture".[71] The album is licensed under a Creative Commons[68] Attribution Non-Commercial Share Alike license.[72] Nine Inch Nails also sponsored a user-based film festival through its YouTube page, with the music of Ghosts at its center.[73] Reznor has also stated that "more volumes of Ghosts are likely to appear in the future."[74]

Similar to the announcement that ultimately led to the release of Ghosts I-IV, a post on the band's website in April 2008 read "2 weeks!"[75] Before any further announcements were made, American radio stations received a single entitled "Discipline".[75] The stations were allowed to provide their listeners with online links to the song, available at NIN's website for free download along with the multitrack files for remixing.[76] [77]

On May 5, 2008, Nine Inch Nails released The Slip via their website without any advertisement or promotion.[78] The album was made available for download free of charge, protected under the Creative Commons attribution Non-commercial Share-alike license. Since it was first made available, The Slip has seen individual downloads surpassing 1.4 million.[79] The Slip has since seen physical release on both CD as a Limited Edition set of 250,000 (of which Reznor has been photographed owning copies 1 and 250,000) with the album on CD and live renditions of five songs from the The Slip recorded during rehearsals for the upcoming tour on DVD, and a non-Limited Edition vinyl release.

Since the release of Ghosts I-IV and The Slip, a 25-date tour was announced in several North American cities,[80] and was later expanded to include several more North American dates as well as dates in South America. Cortini and Freese returned as members from the previous tour, while Robin Finck rejoined the band. The lineup was initially to include Rich Fownes,[81] but before any scheduled performances it was revealed that Justin Meldal-Johnsen would instead be contributing on bass guitar.[82] The tour has been widely acclaimed for its light performances and its wide setlist, usually including songs from Ghosts I-IV in a special "unplugged" set.

In late 2008, it was announced that Josh Freese and Alessandro Coritini would be leaving the live band,[83][84]and that the band will become a four-piece, with Lostprophets drummer Ilan Rubin replacing Freese. Reznor later hinted that any shows in 2009 may be "the last shows for the foreseeable future."

On January 7, 2009, Reznor offered HD-quality footage from three shows as a download of over 400 GB via bitTorrent.[85] The raw, unedited footage was filmed with multiple consumer HDV cameras during the Victoria, Portland, and Sacramento dates of the tour.