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I think that’s the first I’ve heard The Downward Spiral described as too commercial. You don’t think Pretty Hate Machine is filled with anger and confusion? I

I think that’s the first I’ve heard The Downward Spiral described as too commercial. You don’t think Pretty Hate Machine is filled with anger and confusion? I think if you were to look within, you’d find you were the right age to be receptive to the earlier albums, and by ‘94 you’d grown out of the level of angst.

erikerikson 2y ago
In '94 my angst was still accelerating. You're right that PHM contained expressions of anger and confusion. It just felt more whole than TDS. RE commercial success [0]: > Nine Inch Nails' second studio album, The Downward Spiral, entered the Billboard 200 at number two,[57] and is the band's highest seller in the US, over four million copies, among five million worldwide.[58] [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_Inch_Nails https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_Inch_Nails
- relaxing 2y ago
  The album sold because he found a way to say “fuck you like an animal” and get it played on the radio. It has to be the least commercial-sounding record to chart that high by far.
  - erikerikson 2y ago
    Yes, sex and violence sell.
  - prairiedogg 2y ago
    The best way I ever heard this sentiment phrased was "the most radio friendly single on the album had the refrain 'I want to fuck you like an animal'".
  - borgdefenser 2y ago
    You also can't separate the song from the music video. It is a really catchy song, really cool video that got a ton of MTV air time, really interesting electronic music and he found a way to say “fuck you like an animal”. I was never a big NIN fan but I remember instantly loving that music video the first time I seen it on MTV.
borgdefenser 2y ago
I think it just depends how into industrial music a person is/was. Reznor's genius to me was in taking industrial music and making it catchy, radio friendly and basically pop. Completely commercial compared to anything I can think of in industrial music from the time on back. Completely filled with confusion and anger though compared to say Whitney Houston from the time.

erikerikson 2y ago

In '94 my angst was still accelerating. You're right that PHM contained expressions of anger and confusion. It just felt more whole than TDS. RE commercial success [0]: > Nine Inch Nails' second studio album, The Downward Spiral, entered the Billboard 200 at number two,[57] and is the band's highest seller in the US, over four million copies, among five million worldwide.[58] [0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_Inch_Nails https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_Inch_Nails

relaxing 2y ago
The album sold because he found a way to say “fuck you like an animal” and get it played on the radio. It has to be the least commercial-sounding record to chart that high by far.
- erikerikson 2y ago
  Yes, sex and violence sell.
- prairiedogg 2y ago
  The best way I ever heard this sentiment phrased was "the most radio friendly single on the album had the refrain 'I want to fuck you like an animal'".
- borgdefenser 2y ago
  You also can't separate the song from the music video. It is a really catchy song, really cool video that got a ton of MTV air time, really interesting electronic music and he found a way to say “fuck you like an animal”. I was never a big NIN fan but I remember instantly loving that music video the first time I seen it on MTV.

borgdefenser 2y ago

I think it just depends how into industrial music a person is/was. Reznor's genius to me was in taking industrial music and making it catchy, radio friendly and basically pop. Completely commercial compared to anything I can think of in industrial music from the time on back. Completely filled with confusion and anger though compared to say Whitney Houston from the time.