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112-655: And All That Could Have Been is a double album by the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails , released on January 22, 2002, by Nothing and Interscope Records . The live album contains music recorded during the Fragility v2.0 US tour in 2000. Disc one is a live album of most of the band's normal set list of the time, while disc two contains a studio album titled Still , containing "deconstructed" versions of previous Nine Inch Nails songs and some new material. The double DVD set, sold separately, includes video recordings of

224-415: A Mac using Final Cut Pro and compiled it with DVD Studio Pro . Although Reznor originally hired a filming company, he changed his mind based on cost and his experience from The Downward Spiral tour, wanting to capture the shows from a more realistic point of view. This decision allowed the crew to review the shots each night on the tour bus so they could tell what to focus on during the next show. As

336-465: A Macintosh computer, using music editor programs on the computer to distort frequencies in guitar and bass parts as a form of sound design , and creating collages of sounds with Pro Tools . Reznor searched for and moved to 10050 Cielo Drive in 1992 for recording Broken and The Downward Spiral , a decision made against his initial choice to record the album in New Orleans . 10050 Cielo Drive

448-460: A "very dangerously self-destructive" yet humorous short song written for the album, "Just Do It", was not included in the final version, criticized by Flood who said that Reznor had "gone too far." Reznor completed the last song written for the album, "Big Man with a Gun", in late 1993. After the album's recording, Reznor moved out and the house was demolished shortly thereafter. The Downward Spiral entered its mixing and mastering processes, done at

560-854: A 45 RPM single . The Sunlandic Twins by Of Montreal features a third side officially called a "bonus EP ", essentially offering an alternate definition of an EP, a single 33 + 1 ⁄ 3  RPM side instead of a two-sided 45 RPM record. The 1992 Julian Cope album Jehovahkill contained three sides, or "phases", with a laser-etched fourth side which was unplayable, which also occurred with Norwegian band Motorpsycho 's vinyl releases of Motorpsycho presents The International Tussler Society and Heavy Metal Fruit , and Excepter 's 2014 album Familiar (the third side, with only one track, being shorter). Seattle band Alice in Chains released their first two EPs, Jar of Flies , and Sap on two vinyl discs in 1994, with three sides on vinyl, while

672-515: A ball gag. A radio edit that partially censored the song's explicit lyrics also received extensive airtime. The video has since been made part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City. "Piggy" uses "nothing can stop me now", a line that recurs in "Ruiner" and "Big Man with a Gun". The frantic drumming on the song's outro is Reznor's only attempt at performing drums on

784-678: A concept album featuring themes of abuse, isolation, and mental instability. Committere , an installation featuring artwork and sketches for The Downward Spiral , "Closer" and "March of the Pigs" by Russell Mills was displayed at the Glasgow School of Art . Mills explained the ideas and materials that made up the painting (titled "Wound") that was used for the album's cover art : I had been thinking about making works that dealt with layers, physically, materially and conceptually. I wanted to produce works that were about both exposure and revealing and at

896-561: A double LP, remained split across two units for both its cassette and CD reissues, with the tracks in a different order on the pair of cassettes to ensure equal tape length. Meanwhile, 1988's He's the DJ, I'm the Rapper by DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince was released on both vinyl and cassette. At 85 minutes, the vinyl record was released as a double album, making it the first double vinyl LP release by hip hop artists, while its single CD release

1008-414: A double album globally with All Eyez on Me , becoming his best selling album by the time he died in 1996. With regard to records , most double album sets are organized by manual sequencing, where the order of sides played are laid much as they are on a single LP; Side one and two are organized back-to-back on the first disc, as are three and four on the second disc and so on. However, some releases up to

1120-793: A double album in LP format to a single cassette tape . The same principles apply to the triple album , which comprises three units. Packages with more units than three are often referred to as a box set . The introduction of the long-play or LP record in 1948 allowed longer tracks or a greater number of tracks per record, with approximately 22 minutes of music per side, for a total of 44 minutes. Despite this, recordings of entire classical or operatic pieces were often too long for one LP disc, thus albums of two or more discs were made. As they were costly to make and sell, double albums and multi-record releases were largely limited to long works such as classical music and, later, to live recordings and compilations. One of

1232-471: A half albums) and one side of studio recordings. The vinyl reissues of two albums by The Tragically Hip , Trouble at the Henhouse and Music @ Work , are on two discs, but the fourth side is blank. In the 2010s and 2020s, as more digital era albums from the 1990s and 2000s were issued on vinyl, often for the first time, blank sides became more common and often included etchings into the fourth side, such as

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1344-431: A lust anthem due to its chorus, which included the line "I wanna fuck you like an animal". Reznor later stated: “It’s supernegative and superhateful. It’s “I am a piece of shit and I am declaring that and if you think you want me, here I am.” I didn't think it would become a frat-party anthem or a titty-dancer anthem.” The music video for "Closer" was directed by Mark Romanek and received frequent rotation on MTV, though

1456-403: A proposal for a Nine Inch Nails iPhone software application, citing objectionable content in the title track. Days later, Apple reversed the decision, but refused to explain its reasoning. All tracks are written by Trent Reznor Notes To mark the album's tenth anniversary, The Downward Spiral was re-released on November 23, 2004, in high-resolution SACD and DualDisc formats. Disc one of

1568-526: A reputable force in the 1990s music scene , with its sound being widely imitated, and the band receiving media attention and multiple honors. Trent Reznor , the band's sole official member at the time, had moved to 10050 Cielo Drive in Benedict Canyon, Los Angeles , the site of the murder of actress Sharon Tate by members of the Manson Family in 1969; it was transformed into a studio for recording

1680-458: A reputable force in the 1990s. The band's image and musical style became so recognizable that a Gatorade commercial featured a remix of " Down in It " without their involvement. Reznor felt uncomfortable with the media hype and success the band earned, received false reports of his death, depression, and was falsely reported to have had a relationship with serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer , and was depicted as

1792-501: A result, the video is dark and smoky rather than polished, the cameras are sometimes shaky and there are no sweeping crane shots . There are two different versions of the DVD set: one with a 5.1 Dolby Digital surround soundtrack and the other with a 5.1 DTS surround soundtrack. Releasing them separately allowed the picture quality to remain optimal on both versions. The DTS version does not allow on-the-fly alternate angle switching , but all

1904-407: A satire of the gangsta rap genre as a whole and was originally about madness. Reznor conceded The Downward Spiral could be "harmful, through implying and subliminally suggesting things", whereas hardcore hip hop could be "cartoonish". Robert Bork also repeatedly referenced "Big Man with a Gun" in his book Slouching Toward Gomorrah as evidence of a supposed cultural decline. Another form of

2016-558: A sesquialbum (i.e. one and a half records). Johnny Winter released what would be the first three-sided rock album, Second Winter , on two 12-inch discs, with the flip side of the second disc being blank. A 1976 live concert recording by Keith Jarrett and his quartet, released as Eyes of the Heart by ECM Records in 1979, Joe Jackson 's 1986 release Big World , and Pavement 's Wowee Zowee are other examples of this. In 1975, jazz artist Rahsaan Roland Kirk released The Case of

2128-453: A sex icon. Nine Inch Nails received several honors, including Grammy Award nominations for Best Alternative Performance for The Downward Spiral and Best Rock Song for "Hurt". After the release of The Downward Spiral , many bands such as Gravity Kills , Stabbing Westward , Filter , and Mötley Crüe made albums that imitated the sound of Nine Inch Nails. Reznor interpreted The Downward Spiral as an extension of himself that "became

2240-513: A single-disc edit exists omitting the 19 minute track, "Old Dreams Waiting To Be Realized"). Swallow the Sun 's 2015 album Songs from the North I, II & III is divided into Gloom , Beauty and Despair . In total, each disc contains no more than 8 tracks and no less than 40 minutes. In April 2021, Eric Church released a triple album set, Heart & Soul . Each album Heart , & , and Soul ,

2352-411: A subsidiary of Interscope . Simultaneously, he began fleshing out the concept for The Downward Spiral , focusing on the life and death of a misanthropic man who rebels against humanity, and kills God before attempting suicide. Reznor frequently struggled with drug addiction and depression, and the themes of the album gradually allegorized his living situation. His peers at some point recommended him

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2464-508: A symbol of his own depression. On May 4, 1999, a hearing on the marketing and distribution practices of violent content to minors by the television, music, film, and video game industries was conducted before the United States Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation . The committee heard testimony from cultural observers, professors, and mental health professionals, that included conservative William Bennett and

2576-486: A triple album, composed of discs titled "Everywhere", "Nowhere", and "Down Here". Joanna Newsom 's 2010 album Have One on Me is a triple album; due to the unusual length of the songs, there are only six tracks on each disc. Escalator over the Hill , Carla Bley 's jazz opera (lyrics by Paul Haines ), was originally released in 1971 as a triple album in a box which also contained a booklet with lyrics, photos and profiles of

2688-574: A triple platinum certification from the Canadian Recording Industry Association (CRIA) for shipping 200,000 copies in Canada. A group of early listeners of the album viewed it as "commercial suicide", but Reznor did not make it for profit as his goal was to slightly broaden Nine Inch Nails' scope. Reznor felt that the finished product he delivered to Interscope was complete and faithful to his vision and thought its commercial potential

2800-564: A week later by the Mothers of Invention 's debut album Freak Out! , which was released on June 27, 1966. In the years following, original double albums from pop and rock artists became more common, and were often released at the height of the artists' careers. Notable examples include Jimi Hendrix 's Electric Ladyland from October 1968, The Beatles ' eponymous 1968 album , Elton John 's Goodbye Yellow Brick Road from 1973, and Led Zeppelin 's Physical Graffiti from 1975. Additionally,

2912-575: Is allowed to be heard. Reznor realized that he was in the most fortunate situation he imagined when the album was recorded with a normal budget, "cool" equipment, and a studio to work at. Released on March 8, 1994, to instant success, The Downward Spiral debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 , selling nearly 119,000 copies in its first week. On October 28, 1998, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified

3024-476: Is also the name under which Reznor has published music since the beginning of his songwriting career. Reznor later allowed "Leaving Hope" to be used in a public service announcement for Hurricane Katrina disaster relief . Videos for the performances of " Something I Can Never Have ", "Gone, Still" (with Jerome Dillon), and "The Becoming" (with Dillon and Danny Lohner) were published on the official NIN website . The band also performed an intimate acoustic set at

3136-410: Is carried over to The Downward Spiral , which includes innovative techniques such as expanded song structures and unconventional time signatures. The album features a wide range of textures and moods to illustrate the mental progress of the central protagonist. Reznor's singing follows a similar pattern from beginning to end, frequently moving from whispers to screams. These techniques are all used in

3248-474: Is pressed at 11:19 on Disc 2, the "Beneath The Surface" menu appears, which allows access to the aforementioned easter eggs as well as promo spots for The Fragile (0:30) and its remix album Things Falling Apart (1:02). Also contains an unlisted mix of "The New Flesh" and "Pinion" that serves as an introduction before "Terrible Lie". The DVD version comes on two discs, splitting the concert between "Complication" and "Suck". Double album Depending on

3360-467: Is referred to as the "Tate House" since Sharon Tate was murdered by members of the Manson Family in 1969; Reznor named the studio "Le Pig" after the message that was scrawled on the front door with Tate's blood by her murderers, and stayed there with Malm for 18 months. He called his first night in 10050 Cielo Drive "terrifying" because he already knew it and read books related to the incident. Reznor chose

3472-513: Is the second studio album by the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails , released on March 8, 1994, by Nothing Records in the United States and Island Records in Europe. It is a concept album detailing the self-destruction of a man from the beginning of his misanthropic "downward spiral" to his suicidal breaking point. The album was a commercial success and established Nine Inch Nails as

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3584-563: The Broken EP (1992) and subsequently The Downward Spiral . The album features elements of industrial rock, techno , metal and ambient soundscapes, in contrast to the band's synth-pop -influenced debut album Pretty Hate Machine (1989). Reznor was strongly influenced by David Bowie 's Low and Pink Floyd 's The Wall for their themes of introspection and dissociation, and their focus on texture and space. The Downward Spiral has been regarded by music critics and audiences as one of

3696-642: The Chicago Recording Company during the Fragility 2.0 tour, which is available online and on bootleg CD, as The CRC Sessions ; it includes arrangements of "Something I Can Never Have" and "The Day the World Went Away" that prefigure their Still recordings, as well as two versions of "Hurt" and full band performances of "The Fragile", "Even Deeper", and "The Big Come Down". Nine Inch Nails' studio musician, Keith Hillebrandt, had filled in on keyboards for

3808-538: The DTS version. Disc 2 includes a photo gallery and an audio commentary by Bill Viola discussing his video effects for "La Mer", "The Great Below" and "The Mark Has Been Made". The NinetyNine commercial (0:30) can be viewed by highlight "Main Menu" in the supplemental content menu, then pressing LEFT, UP, then ENTER. A performance of "Reptile" (6:24) can be found by pressing UP then ENTER during "Suck" at 1:06. A performance of " The Day

3920-475: The Dissonance Tour , which included 26 separate performances with co-headliner David Bowie on his Outside Tour . Nine Inch Nails was the opening act for the tour, and its set transitioned into Bowie's set with joint performances of both bands' songs. However, the crowds reportedly did not respond positively to the pairing due to their creative differences. Despite this, in a 2012 Rolling Stone readers' poll,

4032-473: The Record Plant and A&M Studios with Alan Moulder , who subsequently took on more extensive production duties for future album releases. Numerous layers of metaphors are present throughout The Downward Spiral , leaving it open to wide interpretation. The album relays nihilism and is defined by a prominent theme of self-abuse and self-control . It is a semi-autobiographical concept album, in which

4144-449: The 1968 Reprise Records release, Electric Ladyland , by The Jimi Hendrix Experience which was still sold in automatic sequence well into the late 1980s. Other common examples include Frampton Comes Alive! by Peter Frampton , Songs in the Key of Life by Stevie Wonder , Tommy and Quadrophenia by The Who , and Bad Girls by Donna Summer . There are only a few examples of

4256-400: The 1970s are optimized for automatic sequencing. On a double album, this would have had sides one and four on one disc and sides two and three on the other. This sequencing, used previously in multi-disc albums in the 78rpm era, let the listener play through the entire double album and only need to flip over the records once, compared to manual sequencing where the listener would have to change

4368-509: The 3 Sided Dream in Audio Color which apparently had only three sides, but on closer inspection, there were a small number of grooves pressed on side four with a few short "hidden" conversation snippets; the CD reissue includes all of them. In 1982, Todd Rundgren and his band released the self-titled album Utopia featuring one full LP of 10 songs, and a second 12-inch disc with five bonus tracks,

4480-534: The 80-minute CD limit, and a number of popular studio albums were released as double albums on these formats at this time, such as the Smashing Pumpkins ' Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness (1995) and Michael Jackson 's HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I (1995) which sold over 20 million copies (40 million units) worldwide. The following year, Tupac Shakur became the first rapper to sell

4592-661: The Archbishop of Denver , Reverend Charles J. Chaput . Participants criticized the album, Nine Inch Nails' label-mate Marilyn Manson , and the 1999 film The Matrix for their alleged contribution to the environment that made incidents like Columbine possible. The committee requested that the Federal Trade Commission and the United States Department of Justice investigate the entertainment industry's marketing practices to minors. In 2009, Apple rejected

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4704-562: The Downward Spiral  ... deeper & deeper it goes. to cuddle w. her, to be one w. her, to love; just laying there. I need a gun. This is a weird entry ... I should feel happy, but shit brought me down. Before the Columbine High School massacre , perpetrator Dylan Klebold referenced lyrics from Nine Inch Nails songs multiple times in his journal. Klebold heavily identified with the protagonist of The Downward Spiral as

4816-511: The NIN website, four of the songs were "recorded live in a deconstructed fashion." Instruments include piano , acoustic guitar , electric piano , or other "real" instruments backed by computer-generated synth textures. Reznor said that "Adrift and at Peace" is the conclusion of "La Mer" from The Fragile . Some of the tracks off Still are evolutions of rejected themes that were originally written for Mark Romanek 's One Hour Photo . "Leaving Hope"

4928-531: The Nights of Nothing showcase as "tight, brash and dramatic", but was disappointed at the lack of new material. On the second of the three nights, Richard Patrick was briefly reunited with the band and contributed guitar to a performance of " Head Like a Hole ". After the Self Destruct tour, Chris Vrenna, who had been a member of the live band since 1988 and frequent contributor to Nine Inch Nails studio recordings, left

5040-555: The Pigs", "Hurt" and an uncensored video of "Closer". There is also an interactive discography and an image gallery. High resolution 24-bit/48 kHz 5.1 Surround sound and stereo versions of The Downward Spiral can be played on a DVD-Audio player, allowing the user a similar high fidelity experience as the SACD layer of the Deluxe Edition. The DualDisc release does not contain the additional B-sides and demo tracks. Credits adapted from

5152-536: The Self Destruct tour in support of The Downward Spiral . Chris Vrenna and James Woolley performed drums and keyboards respectively, Robin Finck replaced Richard Patrick on guitar and the bassist Danny Lohner was added to the line-up. The stage set-up consisted of dirty curtains which would be pulled down and up for visuals shown during songs such as "Hurt". The back of the stage was littered with darker and standing lights, along with very few actual ones. The tour debuted

5264-572: The Tate house to calibrate his engineering skills and the band bought a large console and two Studer machines as resources, a move that he believed was cheaper than renting. Reznor collaborated with the Jane's Addiction and Porno for Pyros drummer Stephen Perkins , the progressive rock guitarist Adrian Belew , and the Nine Inch Nails drummer Chris Vrenna . Belew's first visit to the studio involved playing

5376-500: The World Went Away " (6:36) featuring clips from a scrapped music video can be viewed by pressing LEFT, RIGHT, DOWN, UP, ENTER at 16:10. If ENTER is pressed at 24:15 during "Starfuckers, Inc.", then a video plays in which Marilyn Manson appears on stage to sing the end of that song, followed by a performance of " The Beautiful People " by Nine Inch Nails and Manson at the Madison Square Garden . If "7" (or "6" on some versions)

5488-448: The absent Clouser at the session. All tracks are written by Trent Reznor , except where noted The DVD version, produced by Trent Reznor and directed by Rob Sheridan , comprises video footage from the 2000 Fragility 2.0 tour. Sheridan and other members of the band's crew filmed the tour using consumer DV cameras, and the DVD was then put together internally at Reznor's New Orleans studio, where Sheridan and Reznor edited it on

5600-487: The act permanently to pursue a career in producing and to form Tweaker . The Downward Spiral ' s release date was delayed at various times to slow down Reznor's intended pace of the album's recording. The first delay caused the process of setting up Le Pig to take longer than he expected, and its release was postponed again as he was educating himself different ways to write songs that did not resemble those on Broken and Pretty Hate Machine . He considered delivering

5712-544: The addition of various theatrical visual elements. Its performance of " Happiness in Slavery " from the Woodstock concert earned the group a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 1995. Entertainment Weekly commented about the band's Woodstock '94 performance: "Reznor unstrings rock to its horrifying, melodramatic core—an experience as draining as it is exhilarating". Despite this acclaim, Reznor attributed his dislike of

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5824-529: The additional performances found via the hidden easter eggs on the DTS version are included in DTS 5.1 surround; on the Dolby version they are in Dolby 2.0 stereo only. Other than this, both sets are identical. This video was also released on one VHS tape. The menus were designed to appear uniquely upon each viewing. The DVD package includes a clear, plastic slip with a message from Reznor. Video artist Bill Viola created

5936-461: The album found the music to be highly abrasive. Pareles asserted that unlike other electro-industrial groups like Ministry and Nitzer Ebb , "Reznor writes full-fledged tunes" with stronger use of melodies than riffs. He noticed criticisms of Nine Inch Nails from industrial purists for popularizing the genre and the album's transgression. Village Voice critic Robert Christgau gave it an "honorable mention" in his capsule review column and summed

6048-444: The album include all the parts in one disc. When albums exceed the triple album format they are generally referred to as box sets. Normally, albums consisting of four or more discs are compilations or live recordings, such as In a Word: Yes (1969–) and Chicago at Carnegie Hall , respectively. Studio albums with more than three discs are very rare. Notable examples include: The Downward Spiral The Downward Spiral

6160-643: The album quadruple platinum, and by December 2011, it had sold 3.7 million copies in the United States. The album peaked at number nine on the UK Albums Chart , and on July 22, 2013, it was certified gold by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI), denoting shipments in excess of 100,000 copies in the United Kingdom. It reached number 13 on the Canadian RPM albums chart and received

6272-485: The album to Interscope in early 1993, only to experience a writer's block as he was unable to produce any satisfactory material. Interscope grew impatient and concerned with this progress, but Reznor was not forced by their demands of expediency despite crediting the label for giving him creative freedom. He told the producer Rick Rubin that his motivation for creating the album was to get it finished, thus Rubin responded that Reznor might not do so until he makes music that

6384-593: The album was ranked number 102 on their 250 Best Albums of Q's Lifetime (1986–2011) list. The Downward Spiral was featured in Robert Dimery's book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die . In May 2014, Loudwire placed The Downward Spiral at number two on its "10 Best Hard Rock Albums of 1994" list. In July 2014, Guitar World placed The Downward Spiral at number 43 in their "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994" list. The immediate success of The Downward Spiral established Nine Inch Nails as

6496-409: The album was ranked number 200 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time , then was re-ranked 201 in a 2012 revised list. The Rolling Stone staff wrote: "Holing up in the one-time home of Manson-family victim Sharon Tate, Trent Reznor made an overpowering meditation on NIN's central theme: control." It moved up to 122 on the magazine's revised list in 2020. The album

6608-509: The album's deluxe edition re-release is nearly identical to the original version; track anomalies such as sounds from previous tracks creeping up on start of tracks are fixed, and it includes a stereo and multi-channel SACD layer. The second bonus disc is a collection of remixes and B-sides and also includes a stereo SACD layer in addition to the Redbook CD layer. The last three tracks on the bonus disc are previously unreleased demo recordings from

6720-658: The album's theme of angst had already been used by grunge bands like Nirvana , and that Nine Inch Nails' depiction was more generalized. Using elements of genres such as techno , dance, electronic , heavy metal , and hard rock , The Downward Spiral is considered an industrial rock , alternative rock , industrial metal , industrial , and art rock album. Reznor regularly uses noise and distortion in his song arrangements that do not follow verse–chorus form , and incorporates dissonance with chromatic melody or harmony (or both). The treatment of metal guitars in Broken

6832-447: The antidepressant Prozac , but he declined to be medicated. Reznor wanted the album's sound to diverge from the abrasion of Broken , emphasizing mood, texture, restraint and subtlety, although he was unsure about its musical direction. He decided to utilize "full range" sound, focusing on texture and space, and avoiding conventional usage of guitars or synthesizers with a recognizable sound palette. Subsequently, he mainly worked with

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6944-539: The band released an accompanying remix album titled Further Down the Spiral . It features contributions from Coil with Danny Hyde , J. G. Thirlwell , electronic musician Aphex Twin , producer Rick Rubin, and Jane's Addiction guitarist Dave Navarro . The album peaked at number 23 on the Billboard 200 and received mixed reviews. Recoiled , a remix EP of " Gave Up ", "Closer", "The Downward Spiral", and "Eraser" by Coil,

7056-464: The band's grungy and messy image in which they would come out in ragged clothes slathered in corn starch. The concerts were violent and chaotic, with band members often injuring themselves. They would frequently destroy their instruments at the end of concerts, attack each other, and stage-dive into the crowd. The tour included a set at Woodstock '94 broadcast on pay-per-view and seen in as many as 24 million homes. The band being covered in mud

7168-494: The best-produced album of the 1990s. The Downward Spiral ' s emphasis on transgressive themes drew criticism from American social conservatives . Senator Bob Dole , then the head of the Republican Party , sharply denounced Time Warner , the former owner of Interscope's former parent company Warner Music Group , after a meeting between Michael J. Fuchs (head of WMG), William Bennett , and C. Delores Tucker . During

7280-581: The concert to its technical difficulties. The main leg of the tour featured Marilyn Manson as the supporting act, who featured the bassist Jeordie White (then playing under the pseudonym "Twiggy Ramirez"); White later played bass with Nine Inch Nails from 2005 to 2007. After another tour leg supporting the remix album Further Down the Spiral , Nine Inch Nails contributed to the Alternative Nation Festival in Australia and subsequently embarked on

7392-444: The cover of the album. It is made of plaster, acrylics, oils, rusted metals, insects, moths, blood (mine), wax, varnishes, and surgical bandaging on a wooden panel. "March of the Pigs" and "Closer" were released as singles; two other songs, "Hurt" and "Piggy", were issued to radio without a commercial single release. "March of the Pigs" has an unusual meter , alternating three bars of 7/8 time with one of 8/8. The song's music video

7504-403: The decades following the album's release. Other equipments and software Reznor used for recording the album include Oberheim OB-Mx, Minimoog , Prophet VS keyboard, Eventide H3000 Harmonizer, Pro Tools and various Jackson and Gibson guitars. In December 1993, Reznor was confronted by Patti Tate, who asked if he was exploiting Sharon Tate's death in the house. Reznor responded that he

7616-402: The first live double albums, and one of the earliest double albums featuring non-classical music, was The Famous 1938 Carnegie Hall Jazz Concert by Benny Goodman , a concert recording released in 1950 on Columbia Records . Studio recordings of operas have been released as double, triple, quadruple and quintuple albums since the 1950s. As record costs reduced over time and greater thought

7728-609: The first successful triple albums (or triple records ) were Woodstock: Music from the Original Soundtrack and More , released August 15, 1970, and George Harrison 's All Things Must Pass , released November 27, 1970. A triple album may be live, such as The Band 's The Last Waltz (1978) and Led Zeppelin 's How the West Was Won (2003); or a compilation of an artist's work, such as Stevie Wonder 's retrospective anthology Looking Back . Yes 's live album Yessongs

7840-408: The first time, the whole thing kind of slapped me in the face. I said, 'No, it's just sort of my own interest in American folklore. I'm in this place where a weird part of history occurred.' I guess it never really struck me before, but it did then. She lost her sister from a senseless, ignorant situation that I don't want to support. When she was talking to me, I realized for the first time, 'What if it

7952-640: The fourth side contained a laser etching of the Alice in Chains logo. The vinyl pressing of the My Chemical Romance album The Black Parade also has three sides worth of content, with side four being a laser etching of a portion of the limited edition album art. Genesis' Three Sides Live , Kiss' Alive II , Donna Summer's Live and More , and the Moody Blues' Caught Live Plus 5 are examples of double albums with three sides of live recordings (i.e. one and

8064-479: The guitar parts in "Mr. Self-Destruct", and he was told to play freely, think on reacting to melodies, concentrate on rhythm, and use noise. This approach improved Reznor's confidence in the instrument: he found it to be more expressive than the keyboard due to the interface. Belew praised Reznor for his "command of technology," and commented that the music of Nine Inch Nails made innovations "that are in [his] realm." Vrenna and Perkins played drum parts recorded live in

8176-639: The latter being heavily censored. A remix album titled Further Down the Spiral was released in 1995. Reznor conceived of The Downward Spiral after Nine Inch Nails' run in the lineup of the Lollapalooza festival tour, feeling increasingly alienated and disinterested. The band's concerts were known for their radical onstage dynamic in which members acted aggressively, injured themselves, destroyed instruments , and polluted stages. Reznor had begun to feud with TVT Records , resulting in him co-founding Nothing Records with his then-manager John Malm, Jr. as

8288-553: The latter half of the 1970s, as technology advanced, the Philips corporation's compact cassette tape began to supersede LPs as the dominant pre-recorded music format. The tapes allowed for a much longer 30 to 45 minutes per side, for a total of 60 to 90 minutes total, doubling the length available for music storage. In 1982, Philips introduced the compact disc , with a continuous length of 74 minutes (later developed to have 80 minutes). Artists could put far more on one unit, rarely exceeding

8400-434: The media used, some releases were double albums in one format and single albums in another. For example, a gramophone record (vinyl LP) consisting of two discs of less than 80 minutes in total could be fit onto a single standard-length compact disc (CD). Other times, track order could vary between two different media by rearranging the tracks in one medium, or a more efficient use of space could be made; for example, reducing

8512-411: The meeting, Tucker and Bennett demanded that Fuchs recite lyrics from "Big Man with a Gun". Interscope had previously been blamed for releasing gangsta rap albums by rappers such as Dr. Dre , Tupac Shakur and Snoop Dogg that were deemed objectionable. Reznor called Tucker (who erroneously referred to Nine Inch Nails as a gangsta rap act) "such a fucking idiot", and claimed that the song was actually

8624-410: The most important albums of the 1990s, and was praised for its abrasive and eclectic nature and dark themes, although it was sensationalized by social conservatives for some of its lyrics. The album spawned two lead singles, " March of the Pigs " and " Closer ", in addition to the promotional singles " Piggy " and " Hurt ". The lead singles were accompanied by music videos, with the former shot twice and

8736-408: The multi-screen magnified imagery for "La Mer", "The Great Below", and "The Mark Has Been Made". The DVD version has a number of bonus features and hidden easter eggs . In disc 1, there are alternate stationary camera angles for "La Mer", "The Great Below" and "The Mark Has Been Made". A stationary angle version for "Gave Up" is found by hitting ENTER at 26:58, or from the supplemental content menu on

8848-603: The music video of "Closer" on MTV as an adolescent and expressed that the album changed his perception of popular music from that of songs heard on the radio to albums with cover art. Stereogum ' s Tom Breihan remains favorable toward the album since influenced youth culture, with teenagers wearing ripped fish nets on their arms. The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die . Adrien Begrand of Stylus Magazine considers The Downward Spiral to be an "over-the-top masterpiece" that ranks alongside My Bloody Valentine 's Loveless (1991) as

8960-514: The musicians. The Great Concert of Charles Mingus by Charles Mingus was recorded in 1964 and released in 1971. The Weeknd's compilation album Trilogy was released as a triple album in 2012, comprising his critically acclaimed 2011 mixtapes House of Balloons , Thursday , and Echoes of Silence . The Knife 's 2013 album Shaking the Habitual is spread across three LPs and two CDs, being an hour and forty minutes in length. (Although

9072-435: The network heavily censored the original version, which they perceived to be too graphic. The video shows events in a laboratory dealing with religion, sexuality, animal cruelty, politics, and terror; controversial imagery included a nude bald woman with a crucifix mask, a monkey tied to a cross, a pig's head spinning on a machine, a diagram of a vulva, Reznor wearing an S&M mask while swinging in shackles, and of him wearing

9184-483: The original album. All tracks are written by Trent Reznor , except "Dead Souls" by Joy Division and "Memorabilia" by Soft Cell DualDisc (Halo 8 DVD-A) The DualDisc edition of The Downward Spiral contains the same CD content on Side A as the Deluxe Edition, with a DVD-Audio layer on Side B. When played on DVD-Video players a Dolby Digital 5.1 multi-channel or Dolby Digital 2.0 stereo mix of The Downward Spiral can be selected, along with videos of "March of

9296-503: The overarching plot follows the protagonist's descent into madness in his own inner solipsistic world through a metaphorical "downward spiral", dealing with religion, dehumanization, violence, disease, society, drugs, sex, and finally, suicide. Reznor described the concept as consisting of "someone who sheds everything around them to a potential nothingness, but through career, religion, relationship, belief and so on." Media journalists like The New York Times writer Jon Pareles noted

9408-505: The record up as, "musically, Hieronymus Bosch as postindustrial atheist; lyrically, Transformers as kiddie porn." Jonathan Gold , writing for Rolling Stone , likened the album to cyberpunk fiction. Entertainment Weekly reviewer Tom Sinclair commented: "Reznor's pet topics (sex, power, S&M, hatred, transcendence) are all here, wrapped in hooks that hit your psyche with the force of a blowtorch." The Downward Spiral has been listed on several publications' best album lists. In 2003,

9520-632: The record, and one of the few "live" drum performances on the album. He had stated that the recording was from him testing the microphone setup in studio, but he liked the sound too much not to include it. It was released as a promotional single in December 1994 and reached the Top 20 on the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart. Released in 1995, "Hurt" includes references to self-harm and heroin addiction . The Nine Inch Nails live band embarked on

9632-427: The reissues of Earthling by David Bowie (previously released on 1LP in 1997), Alice by Tom Waits and soundtrack albums such as The Crow and School of Rock . Some performers have released two or more distinct but related albums simultaneously (or near-simultaneously) which could be seen together as a double album. Moby Grape 's Wow/Grape Jam (released in 1968) is an example. Others include: Among

9744-470: The rise of progressive rock at the time, which often involves complex and long tracks akin to classical music, and concept albums often made a second disc necessary. Notable examples include Yes 's 4-track Tales From Topographic Oceans from 1973 and Genesis 's The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway from 1974. The best-selling double album of all time is Pink Floyd 's The Wall , from 1979 with over 30 million copies (60 million units) sold worldwide. In

9856-424: The runtime available on a cassette tape or CD, and double albums became uncommon. The extra space also allowed many earlier double albums to be reissued on a single disc: Blonde on Blonde , for instance, was reissued on a single cassette and a single CD. Despite the greater length, there were some issues with the length and track order of albums, both reissues and new releases. The Beatles , originally released as

9968-447: The same dealt with closure and covering. Given the nature of the lyrics and the power of the music I was working with, I felt justified in attempting to make works that alluded to the apparently contradictory imagery of pain and healing. I wanted to make beautiful surfaces that partially revealed the visceral rawness of open wounds beneath. The mixed media work 'Wound' was the first piece I tackled in this vein (no pun intended) and it became

10080-581: The same lineup on each side. The Monty Python album Matching Tie and Handkerchief was originally issued with two concentric grooves with different programs on the second side, but this was done for comedic rather than practical reasons. The 2019 vinyl issue of Monty Python Sings (again) comprises two discs, with the flip side of the second disc featuring exclusive Monty Python 50th Anniversary artwork. The Stranglers , Elvis Costello and The Clash (amongst other 1970s/80s acts) would sometimes release early pressings of their albums with extra material on

10192-541: The same with drum parts. Digidesign 's TurboSynth and Zoom 9030 effects unit were used extensively to process guitar tracks, often in conjunction with a Marshall JMP-1 preamp ; Zoom 9030 was also used to distort vocals. Acoustic drums in various settings, as well as Roland 's TR-808 and R-70 drum machines were sampled through multiple Akai S1000s and a Kurzweil K2000 . Additionally, Vrenna had compiled various movie samples on Digital Audio Tapes for Reznor to sample, which were gradually identified by fans in

10304-456: The show was really, really good when we were doing it" while producing the DVD, he later wrote that "I can't watch it at all. I was sick for most of that tour and I really don't think it was Nine Inch Nails at its best." There are two retail versions of the CD set: a 'deluxe' limited edition, packaged in a gray cloth case that contains both the Live and Still CDs together in a fold-out digipak , and

10416-465: The side or record three times. The use of automatic sequencing gradually declined during the 1970s as automatic record changers fell out of favor. High quality manual turntables became more affordable and are often preferred because they cause less record wear. After a company decided on manual or automatic sequence, production of that title generally stayed in the same configuration indefinitely. Notable examples of albums using automatic sequence include

10528-476: The song "Hurt", which features a highly dissonant tritone played on guitar during the verses, a B5#11, emphasized when Reznor sings the eleventh note on the word "I" every time the B/E# dyad is played. "Mr. Self Destruct", a song about a powerful person, follows a build-up sampled from the 1971 film THX 1138 with an "industrial roar" and is accompanied by an audio loop of a pinion rotating. "The Becoming" expresses

10640-423: The songs performed on the CD, as well as additional song performances and footage from the tour. Trent Reznor said that work on this release would serve as a transition between the tour and the next album. He spent most of a year producing it in a manner similar to his studio production, with the songs flowing into each other. The release was delayed from late 2001 to January 2002. Although Reznor said "I thought

10752-496: The standard edition that contains only the Live disc in a single digipak. The Still disc is also available separately, originally via mail order from the official Nine Inch Nails website. The Live disc is a "loud" recording of performances from the Fragility 2.0 tour. Without introduction, it begins immediately with "Terrible Lie". The songs are arranged differently from their studio versions. Still contains subdued renditions of older songs and five new songs. According to

10864-559: The state of being dead and the protagonist's transformation into a non-human organism. "Closer" concludes with a chromatic piano motif : The melody is introduced during the second verse of "Piggy" on organ, then reappears in power chords at drop D tuning throughout the chorus of "Heresy", and recurs for the final time on "The Downward Spiral". The album was chiefly inspired by David Bowie's Low , an experimental rock album which Reznor related to on songwriting, mood, and structures, as well as progressive rock group Pink Floyd's The Wall ,

10976-464: The studio; the tracks were rendered into looped samples. Reznor took a similar approach to recording guitar parts: he would tape 20- to 25-minute-long sessions of himself playing guitars on a hard disc recorder with the Studio Vision sequencer. Reznor frequently sampled excerpts from his guitar session tracks and processed them to sporadic and expressive points to convey the album's themes, also doing

11088-402: The tour (pairing Nine Inch Nails with Bowie) was named one of the top 10 opening acts in rock history. The tour concluded with "Nights of Nothing", a three-night showcase of performances from Nothing Records bands Marilyn Manson, Prick , Meat Beat Manifesto , and Pop Will Eat Itself , which ended with an 80-minute set from Nine Inch Nails. Kerrang! described the Nine Inch Nails set during

11200-530: The truth fulfilling itself," as he experienced personal and social issues presented in the album after its release. He had already struggled with social anxiety disorder and depression and started his abuse of narcotics including cocaine while he went on an alcohol binge. Around this time, his studio perfectionism, struggles with addiction, and bouts of writer's block prolonged the production of The Fragile , and Reznor completed rehabilitation from drugs in 2001. One year after The Downward Spiral ’s release,

11312-561: Was a result of pre-concert backstage play, contrary to the belief that it was an attention-grabbing ploy, thus making it difficult for Reznor to navigate the stage: Reznor pushed Lohner into the mud pit as the concert began and saw mud from his hair entering his eyes while performing. Nine Inch Nails was widely proclaimed to have "stolen the show" from its popular contemporaries, mostly classic rock bands, and its fan base expanded. The band received considerable mainstream success thereafter, performing with significantly higher production values and

11424-475: Was directed by Peter Christopherson and was shot twice; the first version scrapped due to Reznor's involvement, and the released second version being a live performance. "Closer" features a heavily modified bass drum sample from the Iggy Pop song " Nightclubbing " from his album The Idiot . Lyrically, it is a meditation on self-hatred and obsession, but to Reznor's dismay, the song was widely misinterpreted as

11536-476: Was given to the album as an artistic piece, double albums became more common. One of the first examples consisting of new studio recordings is 1956's Ella Fitzgerald Sings the Cole Porter Song Book . Bob Dylan 's Blonde on Blonde , released on June 20, 1966, is widely considered to be one of the first double albums in popular music with complete original recordings by the artist. It was followed just

11648-429: Was interested in the house as her death happened there. He later made a statement about this encounter during a 1997 interview with Rolling Stone : While I was working on [The] Downward Spiral , I was living in the house where Sharon Tate was killed. Then one day I met her sister [Patti Tate]. It was a random thing, just a brief encounter. And she said: 'Are you exploiting my sister's death by living in her house?' For

11760-439: Was limited, but after its release he was surprised by the success and received questions about a follow-up single with a music video to be shown on MTV. The album has since sold over four million copies worldwide. Many music critics and audiences praised The Downward Spiral for its abrasive, eclectic nature and dark themes and commented on the concept of a destruction of a man. The New York Times writer Jon Pareles' review of

11872-546: Was made a triple album owing to its inclusion of many of the band's longer compositions. With the longer time available on compact disc, many albums that spanned three vinyl discs are able to fit on two compact discs (an example being Nine Inch Nails ' The Fragile ). Triple albums are released across genres, including punk with The Clash 's Sandinista! ; alternative rock with Pearl Jam 's 11/6/00 – Seattle, Washington ; and mainstream pop with Prince 's Emancipation . Frank Sinatra 's Trilogy: Past Present Future

11984-405: Was my sister?' I thought, 'Fuck Charlie Manson .' I went home and cried that night. It made me see there's another side to things, you know? The British producer and engineer Flood, known for engineering and producing U2 and Depeche Mode albums, was employed as co-producer on The Downward Spiral ; it became his last collaboration with Nine Inch Nails due to creative differences. For instance,

12096-445: Was originally released as a three LP set in 1980. Compact disc pressings of the album combine the triple vinyl set onto two CDs, with "Past" and "Present" taking up the first disc. The first triple hip-hop album was American Hunger by New York City rap artist MF Grimm which was released in 2006. It contains 20 songs on each disc. American hip hop artist Lupe Fiasco 's canceled third studio album release LupEND would have been

12208-541: Was placed 10th on Spin ' s 125 Best Albums of the Past 25 Years list; the Spin staff quoted Ann Powers' review that appreciated its bleak, aggressive style. It was ranked number 488 in the book The Top 500 Heavy Metal Albums of All Time by heavy metal music critic Martin Popoff . In 2001, Q named The Downward Spiral as one of the 50 Heaviest Albums of All Time ; in 2010,

12320-509: Was released on February 24, 2014, via British record label Cold Spring . Retrospective reviews regard The Downward Spiral as one of the most important albums of the 1990s and Reznor's greatest work. The 2004 edition of The New Rolling Stone Album Guide gave the album five out of five stars and called it "a powerful statement, and one of the landmark albums of the Nineties." Writing for Entertainment Weekly , Kyle Anderson remembered watching

12432-400: Was released separately, with & being a vinyl -exclusive release. Christina Aguilera 's Spanish-language ninth studio album, Aguilera (2022), was separated into three parts: La Fuerza , La Tormenta , and La Luz . Each part received its own independent release as a separate project, before being included as separate discs in the album's digital version. Physical versions of

12544-649: Was truncated by 13 minutes. Other albums originally issued as double LPs, such as Fleetwood Mac 's Tusk (1979), Prince 's 1999 (1982), and The Minutemen 's Double Nickels on the Dime (1984) were likewise shortened for their 74-minute CD release, though both were later reissued in their entirety when 80-minute CDs were available. While not as common since the advent of these formats, particularly for studio albums, double albums continued to be released, particularly for live recordings, classical music, soundtracks, compilations, reissues of double-LP albums that still exceeded

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