 "NIN at their best" | 2008-09-06 |
| - Reviewed By User: A883L2YXRUUSJ |
| The original 1994 release was the first time I heard NIN, and was completely blown away. My dad and I were instantly hooked on this CD. This is NIN at their best. I have been a fan ever since and have considered this CD as their best. |
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| "I can't believe my ears..." | 2008-06-19 |
| - Reviewed By User: AGZYVPSH3CHEP |
...Wow. I really don't know where to even begin.
All I can say, is that this album was made for Super Audio CD (SACD) - Trent and his crew really brought this album to life.
Here's my setup:
Denon DVD-2910 (DVD Audio-Video/Super Audio CD player)
Onkyo A/V Receiver TX-SR800 with 5.1 surround sound (with two center speakers)
...and I'm listening to this album at a fairly loud volume as I type this.
This is my first SACD purchase and I couldn't be happier with my decision to buy it. The Downward Spiral was (for me) a 90's classic; the album is jam-packed with so much raw energy and emotion. In fact, there were many times I felt my speakers couldn't handle all the sound, and because of this I often thought that the music never sounded like it should. I often thought that Reznor simply put way too much into each song (samples, loops, random noises..etc.) because you couldn't always hear everything that was going on, making you feel slightly disappointed.
That was then, and this is now. And boy how times have changed, the SACD version of The Downward Spiral is not only mind-blowing in sound quality, but it simply makes sense to re-create such a complex album in high definition. The multichannel digital re-mastering of each individual song brings an entire new sound to the same old songs you know and love, making it practically impossible for you (the listener) to NOT hear anything new. It is very clear that Reznor and his crew have done A LOT of work on these songs, assigning channels to all the different sounds, drones, bass-lines, guitar riffs, drums, vocals that were previously forced to be spread across only 2-channels (left and right). I kid you not, these songs all sound incredibly different from the originals, but ironically they sound the way you always thought they should sound: audible. For example, did you know there was a repeating bass-line at the end of eraser? One that shook your entire house? I think not. The same goes for Reznor's voice; you can actually hear him loud and clear on every song.
In summary, if you own (or have access to) a Super Audio CD player and a 5.1 surround sound setup, this is one album that will not disappoint, period. The audio is loud, sharp, in-your-face, and all-around-you, what else more could you want from Nine Inch Nails?
If you don't own a SACD player, you will still hear a definite improvement of sound from the original recording. All hybrid SACD's (including this one) come with a standard CD layer designed for playback in a standard CD player and have been re-mastered in stereo and Dolby Pro-Logic surround sound, something that the original recording was not.
Fantastic job to all who was involved in the high definition re-production of this album.
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| "The soundtrack for Lucas' THX" | 2007-12-03 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2EJ24TCTP1DPV |
| As everyone else has pointed out this a great album and an absolute NIN classic, but what no one else has mentioned is that this cd was written as a soundtrack for George Lucas' film THX 1138. Start the cd as you see "Directed by George Lucas" go off the screen and sit back and enjoy the film and c.d with a new perspective. The c.d ends short of the film and that's when you pop in either of the further downward spirals to finish of the film in two different ways. |
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| "Nine Inch Nails Best Album" | 2007-09-13 |
| - Reviewed By User: A1BTGJJHI2KSEH |
| I didn't believe that a cd could make me feel the power of the agressive, but the downward spyral is a fistful of steel in your mouth!!! |
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| "The most important album yet made." | 2007-07-04 |
| - Reviewed By gabgolly2 |
| No other artist from the 1990's took it's fanbase into further exploits and deeply passionate industrial soundscape than NIN. Trent Reznor, creator, vaocalist, and essential figure of NIN is primarily responsible for this five star work of timeless art. Now, years later, the digitally remastered version along with added bonuses is available in full surround sound. Nothing new or remixed, just the same great album made louder for your zune or ipod thingy. Buy this!!! It's the best album ever made! |
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 "Not a masterpiece, and Reznor himself has outgrown it." | 2007-04-16 |
| - Reviewed By angrymofo |
Seems like a good time to re-evaluate NIN's 1994 breakthrough The Downward Spiral. It's been reissued with digital remastering and a bonus disc of remixes, and Trent Reznor has a new and very different album coming out. And with time, it's become easier to separate the musical accomplishments of The Downward Spiral from the dark, emotional subject matter and the cultural impact it had in its time.
On the plus side, the music on The Downward Spiral is more varied than anyone ever gave Reznor credit for. Everybody copied the loud angry parts (Rammstein stole the riff for "Du Hast" right from the end of "Eraser"), but Reznor could also occasionally pause and reflect, as in the ambient instrumental "A Warm Place," and he also put all kinds of sudden changes and about-faces even into the heavy songs. The loud/soft dynamic gets abused a lot in this album, starting with the opening track, where the loud guitars abruptly give way to an extremely quiet interlude after the second chorus. But occasionally there's a bit more subtlety than that. In "The Becoming" for instance, an angry chorus suddenly turns into a rhythm on an acoustic guitar with multi-tracked chanting in the background, and then Reznor's voice comes back in and quickly gets distorted even more than before.
Occasionally, Reznor dipped into other electronic styles. "Piggy" could pass for a song by Tricky, with a vaguely jazzy rhythm produced to sound claustrophobic and dangerous. "Closer" is built on a tight house beat, and "Heresy" is KMFDM-style techno, with sound effects similar to those in "Lust" and guitars like in "Juke Joint Jezebel," and a screaming chorus not unlike what Sascha K always does. "The Downward Spiral" is a queasily off-key near-instrumental with all kind of spooky noises mixed into the ambience, much like what Aphex Twin did on occasion. The production doesn't sound dated at all. Musically, this album is a great improvement over Pretty Hate Machine.
Nonetheless, all these examples are exceptions to the rule, and do not really represent the vast majority of the album, which is more than one hour long. In the second half, the music begins to sound flat. The beats are loud and aggressive, and yet somewhat awkward. Except for "Heresy" and "Closer," these songs don't have the sense of propulsive energy and motion that one finds in really good electronic music (even in industrial music, like KMFDM's "Naive"). After "Closer," a lot of The Downward Spiral consists of grinding, hook-less sludge. Even Reznor's vocals, which are arranged into catchy rhythms in the first half, become more formless in the second half. The rhythms slacken, and it often feels like he's just screaming irregularly over a loud but senseless pile of noise. Maybe each individual song isn't bad, but it's a bit tiresome to listen to the whole album from beginning to end.
The other big drawback of the album is that, even though the music can be detailed and sophisticated, Reznor's vocal delivery has no subtlety whatsoever. He has only two settings -- almost inaudible whispering, and unhinged screaming -- and he goes back and forth between them over and over with very little variation. This really takes a lot out of the shifts in the music, and it often prevents the lyrics from making any impression whatsoever. The worst offender is probably "I Do Not Want This." First Trent screams, "Don't you tell me how I feel!" The louder he screams this line, the more it sounds like a seventh-grader's temper tantrum. Furthermore, the "I want to know everything / I want to be everywhere" bit at the end of that same song could only have an emotional impact if it were made to sound desperate and longing. But Reznor just screams these lines, making them sound petulant and boring.
Similarly, the chorus in "Heresy" might have been impressive if he had delivered it with a confident, En-Esch-like swagger (like in "Die Now, Live Later"), but instead he screams it yet again. Upon hearing it, one can't help but notice what an easy target Reznor chose. Even in 1994, there was nothing controversial about "Heresy." It was certain to offend the usual people and invite some finger-wagging from the usual talking heads, but Reznor was never in any danger of becoming a pariah or losing his record contract over this song. On the contrary, there's even something safe about the way this album depicts only personal emotions, which may be directed at some abstract entity but never at any specific event. In that sense, his latest album Year Zero takes more risks.
Reznor does a better job on "Hurt," but even at his most vulnerable he's lacking in dramatic restraint. Johnny Cash got more out of this song by emoting less. And Reznor himself became a much better singer later on. On Year Zero, his vocal performances are far superior to what he displays on The Downward Spiral. These days he sounds much more confident, relies much less on screaming, and writes about something other than his own emotions. In some sense, The Downward Spiral finds him at his weakest. His angry snarling was effective on Pretty Hate Machine, because he was singing from the point of view of a disillusioned, but fairly ordinary young man who has to go to work every day and wants to make out with pretty girls. But on this album, he's attempting to recast himself as a suffering poet and artist rather than as an ordinary man, and it's really not all that convincing. Even though this kind of narcissism appeals to angry teenagers.
So, there you have it. This was a creative and even unconventional album when it came out. However, it has severe limitations, mostly thematic rather than musical. Reznor himself doesn't make music like this anymore, and it's probably for the better. |
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| "Down The Spiral Forever (Let's Clear A Few Things Up)" | 2007-04-04 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3BE3INL34DTY9 |
If I could give this album 7 stars I would. The Downward Spiral is the best album of 1994 and definitely top ten of the 90s. The album which charts the journey of a man's sanity and insanity came out during a time in music when every genre was mostly fragmented and this work of art helped meld elements like post-industrial techno beats and hard and noise rock. I just want to clear something up a reviewer said about one of the tracks about this album. The reviewer said something in reference to "big man with a gun" with its "anti-gun toting lyrics" The song is actually a satire about rap music that Reznor wrote in the midst of gangsta rap which was huge in 1994. The song is all about the state of hip-hop then and even now. That being said, I'll continue with my synopsis of this album.
The best place to listen to the album is on your headphones connected to a home stereo during an electrical storm. |
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| "I own the DualDisc and the SACD, which one is better?" | 2006-12-08 |
| - Reviewed By dobyblue |
Well I'll get straight to the point. The SACD version of the album is noticeably better than the 24/48 mix on the DualDisc's DVD-Audio portion.
I will say that whether you're listening to the Dolby Digital 5.1, the 24/48 5.1 or the SACD 5.1, you're in for a treat. Trent Reznor and James Brown have really done an amazing job with this surround mix. The last minute of closer where a razor sounding blast comes 360 degress around your head will just make you smile.
If you're listening with your eyes closed you'll swear the room is moving around you.
The best news that I was so pleased to discover is that the second disc is SACD stereo! I never knew this before. Getting all the great remixes as well as such sweet tracks as Joy Division's Memorabilia and Dead Souls and NIN's Burn in SACD stereo is worth the price alone.
Great disc, looking forward to The Fragile - I hope it receives the same treatment as this disc did.
Please Trent get Pretty Hate Machine back and give us a Deluxe SACD edition as well. It's too good to miss. |
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| "I speak religion's message clear ... and I control you!" | 2006-10-28 |
| - Reviewed By x_the_hierophant |
What can I say about one of the best cds ever released that hasn't already been said? Being Nine Inch Nail's most popular album (due in part to the popularity of the track entitled "closer") I can only say that if you have not experienced this album, and are reading reviews for some insight then stop here and go ahead and buy this cd. If you are new to NIN, then be sure to give it several listens. Reznor's music is somewhat complex and can overwhelm someone not used his music. Give it some time, and you will begin to hear the multi-layered depth and rhythms and I promise you will be hooked. This album is a fast-paced nihilistic slam against the senses that will leave you begging for more. In addition to the music, the lyrics are bold and daringly controversial (the track "Heresy" comes to mind with lyrics like "God is dead, and no one cares, If there is a hell, I'll see you there") As a fan who loves all of Reznor's releases I would recommend anyone new to Nine Inch Nails to start with this release. While his earlier and later releases include elements that are every bit as good as the music you will find here, there is something about this album that is special and makes it stand out among the rest.
Also, as a side note about this release, the second cd makes the extra expense worth it. Not only has the music been remastered, but there is a 13 track cd available only on this release that includes rare tracks, demos, and other songs previously only available on movie soundtracks. I sold my original cd and bought this release, and have no regreats. This is the definitly the version to buy. |
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| "Whee! Down the spiral again!" | 2006-03-24 |
| - Reviewed By Anonymous |
This was a great CD before, and if you didn't own it in 1994 [I was born that year], then you should get the DX edition
this has a brand new cd full of 13 songs
and the original cd has been remixed to 5.1 surround sound, buy it! |
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