Editing Nine Inch Nails (section)

===''The Downward Spiral'' (1993–1997)===
{{See also|The Downward Spiral}}[[Image:Trent Reznor Self-Destruct.jpg|thumb|Reznor performing during the Self-Destruct tour, {{circa|1994–1995}}]]
Early ideas for ''The Downward Spiral'' arose after the [[Lollapalooza]] 1991 festival's concerts ended in September.{{sfn|Huxley|1997|p=95}} Reznor elaborated the album's themes into lyrics.<ref name="NIN Spin 1996"/>{{rp|42}} Despite initially choosing to record the album in [[New Orleans]],<ref name="Entertainment Weekly - The Downward Spiral">{{Cite news|last=Ali|first=Lorraine|url=https://ew.com/article/1994/03/18/making-records-where-manson-killed/|title=Helter Shelter: Making records where Manson murdered|date=March 18, 1994|newspaper=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|access-date=January 23, 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171015202915/http://ew.com/article/1994/03/18/making-records-where-manson-killed/|archive-date=October 15, 2017|issue=214|page=100|author-link=Lorraine Ali}}</ref> Reznor searched for and moved to 10050 Cielo Drive, in Los Angeles (known as the Manson Murder House)<ref>{{Cite web|last=Eggertsen|first=Chris|date=2018-06-06|title=The Manson murder house|url=https://la.curbed.com/2018/6/6/17153870/manson-sharon-tate-murder-house-cielo-drive|access-date=2021-04-22|website=Curbed LA|language=en}}</ref> renting it for $11,000 per month from July 4, 1992, the start of the making of both ''Broken'' and ''The Downward Spiral''.{{sfn|Huxley|1997|pp=95–99}}<ref name="Trent Reznor 1994 Select">{{cite web| url = http://www.theninhotline.net/archives/articles/xart5a.shtml| title = Who Really Is Trent Reznor?| work = Select Magazine| author = Morris, Gina| date = April 1994| access-date = January 21, 2009| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20081118182839/http://www.theninhotline.net/archives/articles/xart5a.shtml| archive-date = November 18, 2008}}</ref>

Nine Inch Nails' second studio album, ''[[The Downward Spiral]]'', entered the ''Billboard'' 200 at number two,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cleveland.com/kidsnewsday/content.ssf?/homegrown/index.ssf?/homegrown/more/reznor/timeline.html |title=Trent Reznor: Timeline |publisher=Cleveland.com |access-date=December 18, 2006 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071011112200/http://www.cleveland.com/kidsnewsday/content.ssf?%2Fhomegrown%2Findex.ssf%3F%2Fhomegrown%2Fmore%2Freznor%2Ftimeline.html |archive-date=October 11, 2007 }}</ref> and is the band's highest seller in the US, over four million copies, among five million worldwide.<ref name="RIAA.com">{{cite web|url=https://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH |publisher=[[Recording Industry Association of America]] |title=Gold and Platinum database |access-date=August 10, 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070626050454/http://www.riaa.com/goldandplatinumdata.php?table=SEARCH |archive-date=June 26, 2007 }}</ref> Influenced by [[Pink Floyd]] and by [[David Bowie]]'s music from the 1970s,<ref name="AMG" /> ''The Downward Spiral''<nowiki/>'s diverse textures and moods depict a protagonist's mental progress.<ref name = "Details">{{Cite magazine| title = The art of darkness| last = Heath| first = Chris| author-link = Chris Heath| magazine= [[Details (magazine)|Details]]| publisher = [[Condé Nast Publications]]| date=April 1995}}</ref> Flood co-produced several tracks, while [[Alan Moulder]] mixed most,{{sfn|Huxley|1997|p=106}} and later found more extensive production duties on future albums. Reznor invited Sean Beavan to work on ''The Downward Spiral''.<ref name="NIN Spin 1996" /> After contributing to remixes of Nine Inch Nails songs, such as "[[Closer (Nine Inch Nails song)|Closer]]", Beavan mixed and co-produced [[Marilyn Manson (band)|Marilyn Manson]]'s ''[[Antichrist Superstar]]'' in 1996.{{sfn|Huxley|1997|p=167}} ''The Downward Spiral'', like ''Broken'', was recorded at Le Pig Studios.{{sfn|Huxley|1997|p=97}} "[[March of the Pigs]]" and "[[Closer (Nine Inch Nails song)|Closer]]" were singles. Two other tracks, "[[Hurt (Nine Inch Nails song)|Hurt]]" and "[[Piggy (song)|Piggy]]", though not singles, were issued to radio. Also in 1994, the band released the promotional single "[[Burn (Nine Inch Nails song)|Burn]]", which Reznor produced, on the [[Natural Born Killers (soundtrack)|soundtrack]] of [[Oliver Stone]] film ''[[Natural Born Killers]]''.<ref>{{cite web |title=Natural Born Killers [Original Soundtrack] |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/natural-born-killers-original-soundtrack-mw0000118931 |website=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=October 19, 2019}}</ref> as well as a cover of the [[Joy Division]] song "Dead Souls" on the [[The Crow: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack|soundtrack]] to the film ''[[The Crow (1994 film)|The Crow]]'', which went to number 1 on the Billboard 200 album chart.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Crow [Original Soundtrack] |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-crow-original-soundtrack-mw0000110890 |website=[[AllMusic]] |access-date=6 August 2020}}</ref>

The music video for "Closer", directed by [[Mark Romanek]], was in MTV's frequent rotation, although the network, deeming it too graphic, heavily censored the original.{{sfn|Huxley|1997|pp=133–134}} 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 some type of machine, a diagram of a [[vulva]], Reznor wearing an [[Sadomasochism|S&M]] mask while swinging in shackles, and of him wearing a [[ball gag]].<ref name="Closer video">{{cite web| title = Nine Inch Nails: Closure (VHS)| publisher = DeepFocus.com| url = http://www.deep-focus.com/flicker/closure.html| access-date = August 26, 2007| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20070727035157/http://www.deep-focus.com/flicker/closure.html| archive-date = July 27, 2007}}</ref> A radio edit that partially mutes the song's explicit lyrics also received extensive airtime.<ref name="NIN Spin 1996" />{{rp|96}}

Contemporary critics generally praised ''The Downward Spiral'', now classed among the most important albums of the 1990s. In 2005, Spin ranked it 25th among the "100 Greatest Albums, 1985–2005".<ref name="Spin100">{{Cite magazine| title = 100 Greatest Albums, 1985–2005| journal = [[Spin (magazine)|Spin]]| issue = June 2005}}</ref> In 2003, ''Rolling Stone'' ranked it 200 among "[[Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time]]".<ref name="200great500">{{cite magazine| title = The RS 500 Greatest Albums of All Time| magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]| date = November 18, 2003| url = https://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/6599404/200_the_downward_spiral| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100417044227/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/6599404/200_the_downward_spiral| archive-date = April 17, 2010| url-status = dead| access-date = December 8, 2011}}</ref> ''[[Blender (magazine)|Blender]]'' named it the 80th ''Greatest American Album''. It was ranked No.&nbsp;488 in the book ''The Top 500 Heavy Metal Albums of All Time'' by [[Martin Popoff]]. In 2001 ''[[Q (magazine)|Q]]'' named ''The Downward Spiral'' as one of the ''50 Heaviest Albums of All Time'';<ref name="Q50Heav">{{cite web |url=http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/qlistspage2.html#50%20Heaviest |title=Q 50 Heaviest Albums Of All Time |work=Q |access-date=April 15, 2007 |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120204170954/http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/qlistspage2.html#50%20Heaviest |archive-date=February 4, 2012}}</ref> in 2010 the album was ranked No.&nbsp;102 on their ''250 Best Albums of Q's Lifetime (1986–2011)'' list.<ref>{{cite magazine|magazine=[[Q (magazine)|Q]]|date=December 2010|title=250 Best Albums of Q's Lifetime|publication-date=February 2011}}</ref> After ''The Downward Spiral''<nowiki>'s</nowiki> release, Reznor produced an accompanying [[remix album]] entitled ''[[Further Down the Spiral]]'', the only non-major Nine Inch Nails release to be certified [[RIAA certification|gold]] in the United States<ref name="RIAA.com" /> and [[List of best-selling remix albums|among the best-selling remix albums of all time]]. It contained contributions from [[Coil (band)|Coil]] with [[Danny Hyde]], electronic musician [[Aphex Twin]], producer [[Rick Rubin]], and [[Jane's Addiction]] guitarist [[Dave Navarro]], among others.{{sfn|Huxley|1997|p=206}}

After ''The Downward Spiral''<nowiki/>'s 1994 release, the live band supported it by embarking on the [[Self Destruct Tour]]. The stage set-up featured dirty curtains, rising and lowering for visuals shown during songs such as "Hurt". The tour debuted the band's grungy, messy image as the members appeared in ragged attire slathered in [[corn starch]]. Performances were violent and chaotic, band members often injuring themselves by attacking each other, diving into the crowd, and destroying their instruments to close.{{sfn|Huxley|1997|pp=147, 154, 161}} The widest mainstream audience was a mud-soaked performance at [[Woodstock '94]], and seen by [[Pay-Per-View]] in up to 24&nbsp;million homes.{{sfn|Huxley|1997|pp=151–153}}<ref>{{Cite magazine| url = http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-16319994.html| title = Feedback muddy from Woodstock PPV| author = Umstead, R. Thomas| magazine = [[Multichannel News]]| date = August 22, 1994| volume = 15| issue = 32| pages = 3–4| url-status = dead| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110811221008/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-16319994.html| archive-date = August 11, 2011|access-date = November 20, 2007}}</ref> Enjoying mainstream success thereafter, Nine Inch Nails then performed amid greater production values, adding theatrical visual elements. Supporting acts on tour included [[The Jim Rose Circus Sideshow|the Jim Rose Circus]] and Marilyn Manson.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=The Pit: Nine Inch Nails|url=http://www.theninhotline.net/archives/articles/xreview1.shtml|magazine=Guitar School|date=May 1995|access-date=October 15, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170511161204/http://www.theninhotline.net/archives/articles/xreview1.shtml|archive-date=May 11, 2017}}</ref> Released in 1997, the ''Closure'' video documented highlights from the tour, including full live videos of "Eraser", "Hurt" and a [[Long take|one-take]] "March of the Pigs" clip directed by Peter Christoperson.<ref name="AMG Closure">{{Cite web |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/closure-video-mw0000913873 |title=Closure [Video] – Nine Inch Nails |last=Prato |first=Greg |website=[[AllMusic]] |publisher=All Media Network |access-date=January 23, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171016230121/https://www.allmusic.com/album/closure-video-mw0000913873 |archive-date=October 16, 2017 }}</ref> In 1997 Reznor also produced the [[Lost Highway (soundtrack)|soundtrack]] to the [[David Lynch]] film ''[[Lost Highway (film)|Lost Highway]]'', which featured one new Nine Inch Nails song, "[[The Perfect Drug]]".<ref>{{cite web |title=Lost Highway [Original Motion Picture Soundtrack] |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/lost-highway-original-motion-picture-soundtrack-mw0000082314 |website=AllMusic |access-date=October 19, 2019}}</ref> Around this time, Reznor's studio perfectionism,<ref>{{cite web|last1=Kloze|first1=Peter|title=Year Zero: Trent Reznor looks outside himself|url=http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2008/01/nin-j26.html|publisher=[[World Socialist Web Site]]|access-date=February 3, 2015|date=January 26, 2008|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150208194322/http://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2008/01/nin-j26.html|archive-date=February 8, 2015}}</ref> struggles with addiction, and bouts of [[writer's block]] prolonged the production of ''[[The Fragile]]''.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Schafer|first1=Joseph|title=Trent Reznor Albums From Worst To Best|url=https://www.stereogum.com/1467231/trent-reznor-albums-from-worst-to-best/list/attachment/thefragile/|website=[[Stereogum]]|date=September 10, 2013|access-date=February 3, 2015|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150203204525/http://www.stereogum.com/1467231/trent-reznor-albums-from-worst-to-best/list/attachment/thefragile/|archive-date=February 3, 2015}}</ref>