The Downward Spiral#DVD side

File:Adrian Belew (2006 - 02).jpg in 2006. Belew's approach to guitar parts on the album improved Reznor's confidence in the instrument.]]

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 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.{{sfn|Huxley|1997}}{{Cite magazine |last=Estlund |first=Kristina |date=November 1994 |title=Trent Speaks |url=http://www.theninhotline.net/archives/articles/rip1.shtml |magazine=Rip |access-date=August 24, 2017 |archive-date=June 17, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100617024723/http://www.theninhotline.net/archives/articles/rip1.shtml |url-status=live }}[http://www.ransomfellowship.org/articledetail.asp?AID=235&B=David%20John%20Seel,%20Jr.&TID=4 Nine Inch Nails: A Ransom Review] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111012212711/http://ransomfellowship.org/articledetail.asp?AID=235&B=David%20John%20Seel,%20Jr.&TID=4 |date=October 12, 2011 }} Last accessed December 14, 2022. 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 the antidepressant Prozac, but he declined to be medicated.{{sfn|Huxley|1997|p=96}}{{Cite magazine |url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/review/5930270/nine-inch-nails-the-downward-spiral-at-20-classic-track-by-track |title=Nine Inch Nails' 'The Downward Spiral' at 20: Classic Track-By-Track |last=Kerri Mason |date=August 24, 2017 |magazine=Billboard |access-date=August 24, 2017 |archive-date=September 23, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170923031720/http://www.billboard.com/articles/review/5930270/nine-inch-nails-the-downward-spiral-at-20-classic-track-by-track |url-status=live }}

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.{{Cite magazine |last=Carl Hammerschmidt |date=April 1994 |title=Down on the Spiral |url=http://www.theninhotline.net/archives/articles/xart49.shtml |magazine=Hot Metal Magazine |access-date=August 24, 2017 |archive-date=March 3, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303200257/http://www.theninhotline.net/archives/articles/xart49.shtml |url-status=dead }} Subsequently, he mainly worked with 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.{{sfn|Huxley|1997|pp=109–110}}{{cite magazine|url=http://www.theninhotline.net/archives/articles/machine.shtml|title=Machine Head|magazine=Guitar World|author=Alan Di Perna|date=April 1994|access-date=August 24, 2017|archive-date=July 1, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190701181335/http://www.theninhotline.net/archives/articles/machine.shtml|url-status=live}}

File:Sharon Tate Valley of the Dolls 1967 - Restoration.jpg {{Small|(pictured in 1967)}} was murdered,{{sfn|Huxley|1997|p=97}} and set up a recording studio that he named Le Pig,{{sfn|Huxley|1997|p=97}} where The Downward Spiral was recorded. The site was demolished shortly after the recording of the album.]]

Reznor searched for and moved to 10050 Cielo Drive in 1992 for recording Broken and The Downward Spiral,{{Cite magazine |last=Gina Morris |date=April 1994 |title=Who Really Is Trent Reznor? |url=http://www.theninhotline.net/archives/articles/xart5a.shtml |magazine=Select |access-date=August 24, 2017 |archive-date=November 18, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081118182839/http://www.theninhotline.net/archives/articles/xart5a.shtml |url-status=dead }} a decision made against his initial choice to record the album in New Orleans.{{Cite magazine |last=Ali |first=Lorraine |author-link=Lorraine Ali |date=March 18, 1994 |title=Helter Shelter: Making records where Manson murdered |url=https://ew.com/article/1994/03/18/making-records-where-manson-killed/ |magazine=Entertainment Weekly |publisher=Time Warner |issue=214 |page=100 |access-date=August 24, 2017 |archive-date=October 15, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171015202915/http://ew.com/article/1994/03/18/making-records-where-manson-killed/ |url-status=live }} 10050 Cielo Drive 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 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.{{sfn|Huxley|1997|pp=97–99}}

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.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KPOsu8JOHO8C|title=The A to X of Alternative Music|author=Steve Taylor|publisher=Continuum International Publishing Group|year=2004|page=165|isbn=0-8264-8217-1|access-date=August 24, 2017|archive-date=April 5, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170405183445/https://books.google.com/books?id=KPOsu8JOHO8C|url-status=live}} Belew's first visit to the studio involved playing 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.{{sfn|Huxley|1997|pp=106–108}} Belew praised Reznor for his "command of technology," and commented that the music of Nine Inch Nails made innovations "that are in [his] realm."{{Cite magazine|date=April 1994|title=Rusty Nails|url=https://www.theninhotline.com/archives/articles/manager/display_article.php?id=554|magazine=Guitar Player|access-date=August 24, 2017|archive-date=February 21, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200221150425/https://www.theninhotline.com/archives/articles/manager/display_article.php?id=554|url-status=live}} Vrenna and Perkins played drum parts recorded live in 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 the same with drum parts.{{sfn|Huxley|1997|p=109}} 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, which 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 the decades following the album's release. Other equipment and software Reznor used for recording the album included the Oberheim OB-Mx, Moog Minimoog, Sequential Circuits 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 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:

{{blockquote|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 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 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?{{cite magazine|magazine=Rolling Stone|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/david-lynch-and-trent-reznor-the-lost-boys-19970306|issue=755|date=March 6, 1997|page=36|first=Mikal|last=Gilmore|author-link=Mikal Gilmore|title=The Lost Boys|access-date=2017-08-24|df=mdy-all|archive-date=September 11, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170911190228/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/david-lynch-and-trent-reznor-the-lost-boys-19970306|url-status=live}} Trent Reznor's part of the interview article posted at {{cite web|url=http://www.lynchnet.com/lh/lhrs3.html|title=Trent Reznor Lost Highway Interview|access-date=December 25, 2007|work=lynchnet.com|archive-date=January 2, 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080102094103/http://www.lynchnet.com/lh/lhrs3.html|url-status=live}}}}

The British producer and engineer Flood, who previously engineered and co-produced Nine Inch Nails' debut album Pretty Hate Machine and Broken, was brought back to co-produce The Downward Spiral; although it would be his last collaboration with Nine Inch Nails due to creative differences. For instance, 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.{{cite magazine|magazine=Spin|volume=15|issue=9|date=September 1999|page=124|first=Eric|last=Weisbard|title=The 90 Greatest Albums of the '90s: 11 Nine Inch Nails The Downward Spiral|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bGjsvmNt8UgC&pg=PA124|access-date=August 24, 2017|archive-date=February 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204011352/https://books.google.com/books?id=bGjsvmNt8UgC&pg=PA124|url-status=live}} Also posted at {{cite web|url=http://www.theninhotline.net/archives/articles/xart89.shtml|title=Rank 11. Nine Inch Nails (Spin – Aug '99)|access-date=August 24, 2017|work=theninhotline.net|archive-date=February 23, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120223194910/http://www.theninhotline.net/archives/articles/xart89.shtml|url-status=live}} 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 the Record Plant and A&M Studios with Alan Moulder, who subsequently took on more extensive production duties for future album releases.{{sfn|Huxley|1997|p=119}}

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 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.{{sfn|Huxley|1997|p=120}}{{cite web|url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/the-downward-spiral-mw0000110711|title=The Downward Spiral – Nine Inch Nails|website=AllMusic|access-date=April 27, 2004|last=Huey|first=Steve|archive-date=June 3, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120603195532/http://www.allmusic.com/album/the-downward-spiral-mw0000110711|url-status=live}} 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 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,{{cite book |title=Nine Inch Nails |last=Huxley |first=Martin |publisher=St. Martin's Press |year=2015 |isbn=9781250096548 |page=131}} dance, electronic,{{cite web |url=https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/19940415/1905542/nine-inch-nails----industrial-rock-of-trent-reznor-show-fascination-with-dark-side |title=Nine Inch Nails -- Industrial Rock Of Trent Reznor Show Fascination With Dark Side |work=The Seattle Times |last=MacDonald |first=Patrick |date=April 15, 1994 |access-date=December 22, 2017 |archive-date=December 22, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222220142/http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19940415&slug=1905542 |url-status=live }} heavy metal,{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/08/arts/recordings-view-a-noise-sculptor-reveals-an-ear-for-the-commercial.html |title=Recordings View – A Noise Sculptor Reveals An Ear for the Commercial |work=The New York Times |last=Pareles |first=Jon |date=May 8, 1994 |access-date=December 22, 2017 |archive-date=December 15, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171215211239/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/08/arts/recordings-view-a-noise-sculptor-reveals-an-ear-for-the-commercial.html |url-status=live }} and hard rock,{{cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/17/arts/review-rock-despondent-sentiment-with-aggression-added.html |title=Review/Rock; Despondent Sentiment With Aggression Added |work=The New York Times |last=Pareles |first=Jon |date=May 17, 1994 |access-date=December 22, 2017 |archive-date=December 22, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222163104/http://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/17/arts/review-rock-despondent-sentiment-with-aggression-added.html |url-status=live }} The Downward Spiral is considered an industrial rock,{{cite book |title=Marooned: The Next Generation of Desert Island Discs |last=Freeman |first=Phil |year=2007 |publisher=Da Capo Press |isbn=9780306814853 |page=[https://archive.org/details/maroonednextgene00free/page/306 306] |url=https://archive.org/details/maroonednextgene00free/page/306 }}{{cite book |title=1,000 Recordings to Hear Before You Die: A Listener's Life List |url=https://archive.org/details/1000recordingsto00moon_0 |url-access=registration |publisher=Workman Publishing |last=Moon |first=Tom |year=2008 |isbn=9780761149415 |page=[https://archive.org/details/1000recordingsto00moon_0/page/552 552]}}{{cite web |url=https://www.altpress.com/features/industrial-rock-classics-from-the-90s/ |title=10 Industrial-Rock Classics That Completely Defined the '90s |last=Pettigrew |first=Jason |date=July 28, 2020 |publisher=Alternative Press |access-date=July 30, 2020 |archive-date=July 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200728214104/https://www.altpress.com/features/industrial-rock-classics-from-the-90s/ |url-status=live }} alternative rock,{{cite web |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/joshua-ostroff/nine-inch-nails-best-band-90s_b_5600355.html |title=Nine Inch Nails Is The Best Band Of The 90s (And The 2000s, Too) |website=HuffPost |last=Ostroff |first=Joshua |date=August 1, 2014 |access-date=December 22, 2017 |archive-date=December 22, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171222162818/http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/joshua-ostroff/nine-inch-nails-best-band-90s_b_5600355.html |url-status=live }} industrial metal,{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/nine-inch-nails-mr-self-destruct-live-downward-spiral-804249/|title=Flashback: Nine Inch Nails Play a Roaring 'Mr. Self Destruct' in 1994|last=Shteamer|first=Hank|date=March 8, 2019|magazine=Rolling Stone|access-date=February 2, 2020|archive-date=February 2, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200202204336/https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-features/nine-inch-nails-mr-self-destruct-live-downward-spiral-804249/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.loudersound.com/features/1994-the-albums-that-changed-the-world|title=1994: The albums that changed the world|date=August 24, 2019|website=Metal Hammer|access-date=February 2, 2020|archive-date=December 3, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191203020608/https://www.loudersound.com/features/1994-the-albums-that-changed-the-world|url-status=live}} industrial,{{cite news |url=http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/nine-inch-nails-the-downward-spiral-deluxe-edition-to-include-b-sides-rarities-demos/ |title=Nine Inch Nails' 'The Downward Spiral – Deluxe Edition' To Include B-Sides, Rarities, Demos |website=Blabbermouth.net |date=November 18, 2004 |access-date=January 11, 2018 |archive-date=January 12, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180112042739/http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/nine-inch-nails-the-downward-spiral-deluxe-edition-to-include-b-sides-rarities-demos/ |url-status=live }} and art rock album.{{cite web|last= Pitchfork Staff |title= The 150 Best Albums of the 1990s |website= Pitchfork |date= September 28, 2022 |url= https://pitchfork.com/features/lists-and-guides/the-best-albums-of-the-1990s/|quote= But musically, NIN’s greatest work bypasses grunge in favor of subtle textures and mangled nods to the art-rock of Reznor’s youth.|accessdate= April 26, 2023}} 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 is carried over to The Downward Spiral, which includes innovative techniques such as expanded song structures and unconventional time signatures.{{sfn|Huxley|1997|pp=109–121}} The album features a wide range of textures and moods to illustrate the mental progress of the central protagonist.{{cite magazine|title=The Art of Darkness|last=Heath|first=Chris|author-link=Chris Heath|magazine=Details|publisher=Condé Nast Publications|date=April 1995}} Reznor's singing follows a similar pattern from beginning to end, frequently moving from whispers to screams.{{Cite web|url=http://www.theninhotline.net/archives/articles/manager/display_article.php?id=84|work=IGN|title=Nine Inch Nails – With Teeth|author=Spence D.|date=May 3, 2005|access-date=January 29, 2014|publisher=Ziff Davis|archive-date=February 2, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202115047/http://www.theninhotline.net/archives/articles/manager/display_article.php?id=84|url-status=live}} These techniques are all used in 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.{{Cite book|author=Reynolds, Tom|title=I Hate Myself and I Want to Die|page=227|isbn=978-1-86074-628-4|date=June 13, 2005|publisher=Sanctuary Publishing}}

"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 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".{{cite web|url=https://www.popmatters.com/review/nineinchnails-downwarddeluxe/|title=Nine Inch Nails: The Downward Spiral [Deluxe Edition]|website=PopMatters|date=January 19, 2005|access-date=August 29, 2009|last=Limmer|first=Seth|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140418104310/http://www.popmatters.com/review/nineinchnails-downwarddeluxe/|archive-date=April 18, 2014|url-status=dead}} 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, a concept album featuring themes of abuse, isolation, and mental instability.{{cite magazine |author=Steffan Chirazi |date=March 26, 1994 |title=Techno Fear! |url=http://www.theninhotline.net/archives/articles/xart43.shtml |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151004013248/http://www.theninhotline.net/archives/articles/xart43.shtml |archive-date=October 4, 2015 |access-date=January 21, 2009 |magazine=Kerrang! |publisher=EMAP |pages=26, 28 |issue=487}}

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:

{{blockquote|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 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 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.{{Cite web |url=http://www.shedmatter.co.uk/russellmills/mills/installations/committere.html |title=Committere |last=Russell Mills |year=2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100503082254/http://www.shedmatter.co.uk/russellmills/mills/installations/committere.html |archive-date=May 3, 2010 |url-status=dead |access-date=2017-08-24 |df=mdy-all}}}}

"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.{{cite magazine|title=Nine Inch Nails Album & Song Chart History: Alternative Songs|magazine=Billboard|publisher=Prometheus Global Media|url={{BillboardURLbyName|artist=nine-inch nails|chart=Alternative Songs}}

| access-date = January 25, 2011}} "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 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.{{sfn|Huxley|1997|p=133}}

"Closer" features a heavily modified bass drum sample from the Iggy Pop song "Nightclubbing" from his album The Idiot.{{cite magazine|title=Trent Reznor|author=Greg Rule|magazine=Keyboard|date=April 1994|url=https://www.theninhotline.com/archives/articles/manager/display_article.php?id=548|access-date=February 26, 2020|archive-date=August 9, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200809105931/https://www.theninhotline.com/archives/articles/manager/display_article.php?id=548|url-status=live}} Lyrically, it is a meditation on self-hatred and obsession, but to Reznor's dismay, the song was widely misinterpreted as a lust anthem due to its chorus, which included the line "I wanna fuck you like an animal".{{sfn|Huxley|1997|p=179}} 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".{{sfn|Huxley|1997|p=179}}

The music video for "Closer" was directed by Mark Romanek and received frequent rotation on MTV, though the network heavily censored the original version, which they perceived to be too graphic.{{sfn|Huxley|1997|pp=133–134, 179}} 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 a ball gag.{{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}} A radio edit that partially censored the song's explicit lyrics also received extensive airtime.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep12/articles/classic-tracks-0912.htm|author=Richard Buskin|magazine=Sound on Sound|publisher=SOS Publications Group|title=Nine Inch Nails 'Closer' (Classic Tracks)|date=September 2012|access-date=April 17, 2014|archive-date=April 19, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140419030149/http://www.soundonsound.com/sos/sep12/articles/classic-tracks-0912.htm|url-status=live}} The video has since been made part of the permanent collection of the Museum of Modern Art in New York City.{{cite web|last=McCahill|first=Will|url=http://www.newser.com/story/69218/most-controversial-music-videos.html|title=Most Controversial Music Videos|work=Newser|publisher=Newser|date=September 12, 2009|access-date=March 29, 2014|archive-date=January 17, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140117211136/http://www.newser.com/story/69218/most-controversial-music-videos.html|url-status=live}}

"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 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", final track of The Downward Spiral song, includes references to self-harm and heroin addiction;{{cite web|last=Corner|first=Lewis|url=http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/singlesreviews/a355601/leona-lewis-hurt-ep-review.html|title=Leona Lewis: 'Hurt EP' review|work=Digital Spy|publisher=Hachette Filipacchi Médias|date=December 11, 2011|access-date=March 24, 2012|archive-date=March 14, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120314094514/http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/music/singlesreviews/a355601/leona-lewis-hurt-ep-review.html|url-status=live}} while other people claims that it describes the difficult process of finding a reason to live in spite of depression and pain and does not have much to do with the storyline of The Downward Spiral.{{sfn|Huxley|1997|p=104}}

{{See also|Self Destruct Tour}}

File:Trent Reznor Self-Destruct.jpg

The Nine Inch Nails live band embarked on 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 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.{{sfn|Huxley|1997|pp=145–148}}

The tour included a set at Woodstock '94 broadcast on pay-per-view and seen in as many as 24 million homes. Contrary to the widely-held belief that it was an attention-grabbing ploy, the band said that being covered in mud was a result of pre-concert backstage play. However, in 2024, backstage home video emerged on Youtube showing Reznor asking the stage manager to give them "5 minutes for mud" when discussing show timings for getting to the stage and debating whether to find a mud pit or bring some into the dressing room in a bucket.{{cite web |title=Give us 5 minutes for mud. NIN at Woodstock 94 right before their performance. |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fJMowK3OkWc |website=youtube.com |publisher=Kate Van Buren |language=en |format=video |date=March 7, 2024}} The mud made it difficult for Reznor to navigate the stage and saw mud from his hair entering his eyes while performing. Nine Inch Nails were widely proclaimed to have "stolen the show" from their popular contemporaries, mostly classic rock bands, and their fan base expanded.{{sfn|Huxley|1997|pp=151–153}}{{cite magazine|url=http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-16319994.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110811221008/http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1G1-16319994.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 11, 2011|title=Feedback muddy from Woodstock PPV|last=Umstead|first=Thomas R.|newspaper=Multichannel News|date=August 22, 1994|volume=15|issue=32|pages=3–4|access-date=August 23, 2017}}{{cite news|title=Band's Hot Image Rooted In Woodstock '94 Mud|url=http://www.theninhotline.net/archives/articles/detroit.shtml|last=Graff|first=Gary|newspaper=Detroit Free Press|date=August 28, 1994|access-date=August 23, 2017|archive-date=June 17, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100617021120/http://www.theninhotline.net/archives/articles/detroit.shtml|url-status=live}} The band received considerable mainstream success thereafter, performing with significantly higher production values and the addition of various theatrical visual elements.{{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|archive-date=May 11, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170511161204/http://www.theninhotline.net/archives/articles/xreview1.shtml|url-status=live}} Its performance of "Happiness in Slavery" from the Woodstock concert earned the group a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 1995.{{sfn|Huxley|1997}}{{cite web|url=https://www.grammy.com/grammys/awards/38th-annual-grammy-awards|title=38th Annual GRAMMY Awards (1995)|work=grammy.com|access-date=August 23, 2017|publisher=National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences|archive-date=March 21, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190321041230/https://www.grammy.com/grammys/awards/38th-annual-grammy-awards|url-status=live}} 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".{{cite magazine|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|access-date=August 23, 2017|url=http://www.theninhotline.net/archives/articles/xart199.shtml|title=Trent Reznor : The Entertainers|publisher=Time Warner|date=December 30, 1994|last=Hajari|first=Nisid|archive-date=June 17, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100617031740/http://www.theninhotline.net/archives/articles/xart199.shtml|url-status=live}} Despite this acclaim, Reznor attributed his dislike of the concert to its technical difficulties.{{sfn|Huxley|1997|pp=152–153}}

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.{{cite news|url=http://archives.starbulletin.com/2007/09/14/features/story05.html|title=Reznor's edge cuts NIN's bleak outlook|last=Chun|first=Gary|newspaper=Honolulu Star-Bulletin|volume=12|issue=257|date=September 14, 2007|access-date=August 23, 2017|archive-date=August 22, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170822215342/http://archives.starbulletin.com/2007/09/14/features/story05.html|url-status=live}} 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 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.{{sfn|Huxley|1997|pp=215–220}} However, the crowds reportedly did not respond positively to the pairing due to their creative differences.{{cite news|url=http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DM&p_theme=dm&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0ED3D605D5D44A2F&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|title=Outside looking in|author=Christensen, Thor|newspaper=The Dallas Morning News|date=October 13, 1995|access-date=August 23, 2017|format=fee required|archive-date=March 3, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303215319/http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=DM&p_theme=dm&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0ED3D605D5D44A2F&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D&s_trackval=GooglePM|url-status=live}} Despite this, in a 2012 Rolling Stone readers' poll, the tour (pairing Nine Inch Nails with Bowie) was named one of the top 10 opening acts in rock history.{{cite magazine | url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/readers-poll-the-ten-best-opening-acts-in-rock-history-20120711/10-david-bowie-nine-inch-nails-1995-0977761 | title=Readers' Poll: The 10 Best Opening Acts in Rock History | date=11 July 2012 | access-date=4 November 2013 | magazine=Rolling Stone | archive-date=26 October 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131026003639/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/pictures/readers-poll-the-ten-best-opening-acts-in-rock-history-20120711/10-david-bowie-nine-inch-nails-1995-0977761 | url-status=live }}

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 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".{{cite magazine|title=Nailed! Trent's Posse Pound New York|first=Don|last=Kaye|magazine=Kerrang!|issue=615|publisher=Bauer Media Group|date=September 21, 1996|url=http://www.theninhotline.net/archives/articles/xreview6.shtml|access-date=August 23, 2017|archive-date=September 27, 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927202725/http://www.theninhotline.net/archives/articles/xreview6.shtml|url-status=dead}} 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 the act permanently to pursue a career in producing and to form Tweaker.{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1448942/20010918/tweaker.jhtml|title=Vrenna Leaves NIN Behind To Explore What's Uncertain|access-date=August 23, 2017|work=MTV News|date=September 18, 2001|last=Moss|first=Coret|archive-date=April 3, 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100403174917/http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1448942/20010918/tweaker.jhtml|url-status=dead}}{{cite magazine|last=Ramirez|first=Mike|title=Nothing is Temporary|magazine=Blue Divide Magazine|date=February 2001|volume=2|issue=1}}

{{Music ratings

| title = Contemporary professional reviews

| rev1 = Chicago Tribune

| rev1score = {{Rating|3|4}}{{cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1994/03/06/three-discs-worth-waiting-for/|title=Three Discs Worth Waiting For|newspaper=Chicago Tribune|date=March 6, 1994|access-date=February 24, 2016|last=Kot|first=Greg|author-link=Greg Kot|archive-date=July 9, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170709205501/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/1994-03-06/entertainment/9403060310_1_brutal-youth-pony-street-nine-inch-nails|url-status=live}}

| rev2 = Entertainment Weekly

| rev2score = B+{{cite magazine|url=https://www.ew.com/article/1994/03/18/downward-spiral|title=The Downward Spiral|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|issue=214|date=March 18, 1994|access-date=August 29, 2009|last=Sinclair|first=Tom|archive-date=July 15, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150715195029/http://www.ew.com/article/1994/03/18/downward-spiral|url-status=live}}

| rev3 = Kerrang!

| rev3score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{Cite magazine |last=Arnopp |first=Jason |author-link=Jason Arnopp |date=March 5, 1994 |title=Rekordz |magazine=Kerrang! |issue=484 |publisher=EMAP |page=45}}

| rev4 = Los Angeles Times

| rev4score = {{Rating|4|4}}{{cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-03-06-ca-30539-story.html|title=Nine Inch Nails, 'The Downward Spiral'; Nothing/TVT/Interscope|newspaper=Los Angeles Times|date=March 6, 1994|access-date=August 29, 2009|last=Hilburn|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Hilburn|archive-date=September 6, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090906184827/http://articles.latimes.com/1994-03-06/entertainment/ca-30539_1_downward-spiral|url-status=live}}

| rev5 = NME

| rev5score = 4/10{{cite magazine|url=https://www.nme.com/photos/25-seminal-albums-from-1994-and-what-nme-said-at-the-time-1422155|title=25 Seminal Albums From 1994 – And What NME Said At The Time|magazine=NME|date=January 29, 2014|access-date=July 8, 2015|last=Barker|first=Emily|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150709215720/http://www.nme.com/photos/25-seminal-albums-from-1994-and-what-nme-said-at-the-time/330128|archive-date=July 9, 2015|url-status=live}}

| rev6 = Rolling Stone

| rev6score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/the-downward-spiral-19970801|title=The Downward Spiral|magazine=Rolling Stone|issue=678|date=March 24, 1994|access-date=March 26, 2012|last=Gold|first=Jonathan|author-link=Jonathan Gold|page=92|archive-date=September 13, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170913035342/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/the-downward-spiral-19970801|url-status=live}}

| rev7 = USA Today

| rev7score = {{Rating|3|4}}{{cite news|title=Nine Inch Nails, The Downward Spiral|newspaper=USA Today|date=April 20, 1994|last=Gundersen|first=Edna|author-link=Edna Gundersen}}

}}

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 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 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.{{sfn|Huxley|1997|pp=100-101}}

Released on March 8, 1994, to instant success,{{sfn|Huxley|1997}} The Downward Spiral debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200, selling nearly 119,000 copies in its first week.{{cite magazine|last=Mayfield|first=Geoff|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NQgEAAAAMBAJ&q=Nine+Inch+Nails&pg=RA1-PA135|title=Between the Bullets: Warming Up|magazine=Billboard|volume=106|issue=13|page=135|date=March 26, 1994|issn=0006-2510|access-date=January 20, 2017|archive-date=February 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204011353/https://books.google.com/books?id=NQgEAAAAMBAJ&q=Nine+Inch+Nails&pg=RA1-PA135|url-status=live}} On October 28, 1998, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) certified 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 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 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.{{sfn|Huxley|1997|pp=129–130}} The album has since sold over four million copies worldwide.{{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 }}

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.{{sfn|Huxley|1997}} The New York Times writer Jon Pareles' review of 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.{{cite news|newspaper=The New York Times|date=May 8, 1994|first=Jon|last=Pareles|author-link=Jon Pareles|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9904EFDC1130F93BA35756C0A962958260|title=A Noise Sculptor Reveals An Ear for the Commercial|access-date=November 26, 2007|archive-date=April 14, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110414165139/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9904EFDC1130F93BA35756C0A962958260|url-status=live}} Village Voice critic Robert Christgau gave it an "honorable mention" in his capsule review column and summed the record up as, "musically, Hieronymus Bosch as postindustrial atheist; lyrically, Transformers as kiddie porn."{{cite news|last=Christgau|first=Robert|date=February 21, 1995|url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv395-95.php|title=Consumer Guide|newspaper=The Village Voice|access-date=March 30, 2019|via=robertchristgau.com|archive-date=March 30, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190330192706/https://www.robertchristgau.com/xg/cg/cgv395-95.php|url-status=live}} 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, the album was ranked number 200 on Rolling Stone magazine's list of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time,{{cite web|url=http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-19691231/the-downward-spiral-nine-inch-nails-19691231|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110902012718/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-19691231/the-downward-spiral-nine-inch-nails-19691231|url-status=dead|archive-date=2011-09-02|title=Downward Spiral ranked no. 200|publisher=Rolling Stone|access-date=2 August 2021}} 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."{{cite magazine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-20120531/nine-inch-nails-the-downward-spiral-20120524|title=500 Greatest Albums of All Time|magazine=Rolling Stone|date=May 5, 2012|access-date=March 5, 2014|archive-date=March 8, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130308224218/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/lists/500-greatest-albums-of-all-time-20120531/nine-inch-nails-the-downward-spiral-20120524|url-status=live}} It moved up to 122 on the magazine's revised list in 2020.{{Cite magazine|date=2020-09-22|title=The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-lists/best-albums-of-all-time-1062063/|access-date=2021-03-30|magazine=Rolling Stone|language=en-US}} The album 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.{{cite journal|url=http://www.spin.com/spin25/125-best-albums-past-25-years#page=12|title=125 Best Albums of the Past 25 Years: Nine Inch Nails – The Downward Spiral|journal=Spin|author=Spin staff|year=2010|access-date=April 24, 2010|archive-date=June 8, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120608074102/http://www.spin.com/spin25/125-best-albums-past-25-years#page=12|url-status=live}} It was ranked number 488 in the book The Top 500 Heavy Metal Albums of All Time by heavy metal music critic Martin Popoff.{{cite book|author=Martin Popoff|title=The Top 500 Heavy Metal Albums of All Time|publisher=ECW Press|year=2004|isbn=1-55022-600-2}} In 2001, Q named The Downward Spiral as one of the 50 Heaviest Albums of All Time;{{cite magazine|url=http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/qlistspage2.html#50%20Heaviest|title=Q 50 Heaviest Albums of All Time|magazine=Q|author=Q staff|year=2001|access-date=April 15, 2007|archive-date=August 6, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120806025750/http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/qlistspage2.html#50%20Heaviest|url-status=usurped}} in 2010, the album was ranked number 102 on their 250 Best Albums of Q's Lifetime (1986–2011) list.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.rocklistmusic.co.uk/q1001_songs.htm#q250|title=Q Magazine 250 Best Albums of Q's Lifetime|magazine=Q|author=Q staff|year=2011|access-date=April 1, 2012|archive-date=June 28, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628075503/http://rocklistmusic.co.uk/q1001_songs.htm#q250|url-status=usurped}} The Downward Spiral was featured in Robert Dimery's book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.{{cite book|title=1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die|year=2005|editor-first=Robert|editor-last=Dimery|first=Joel|last=McIver|author-link=Joel McIver|edition=1st|publisher=Universe Publishing|isbn=978-0-7893-1371-3}} In May 2014, Loudwire placed The Downward Spiral at number two on its "10 Best Hard Rock Albums of 1994" list.{{cite web|url=http://loudwire.com/best-hard-rock-albums-1994/|title=10 Best Hard Rock Albums of 1994|date=May 20, 2014|work=Loudwire|access-date=May 21, 2014|archive-date=June 25, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140625085913/http://loudwire.com/best-hard-rock-albums-1994/|url-status=live}} In July 2014, Guitar World placed The Downward Spiral at number 43 in their "Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994" list.{{cite web|url=https://www.guitarworld.com/superunknown-50-iconic-albums-defined-1994 |title=Superunknown: 50 Iconic Albums That Defined 1994 |date=July 14, 2014 |work=GuitarWorld.com |access-date=July 14, 2014 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140715053900/http://www.guitarworld.com/superunknown-50-iconic-albums-defined-1994 |archive-date=July 15, 2014 }}

{{Music ratings

| title = Retrospective professional reviews

| rev1 = AllMusic

| rev1score = {{Rating|5|5}}

| rev2 = Blender

| rev2score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine|url=http://www.blender.com/guide/reviews.aspx?id=3162|title=Nine Inch Nails: The Downward Spiral|magazine=Blender|access-date=May 31, 2019|last=Vienet|first=Rene|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060619180634/http://www.blender.com/guide/reviews.aspx?id=3162|archive-date=June 19, 2006|url-status=dead}}

| rev3 = Christgau's Consumer Guide

| rev3score = {{Rating-Christgau|hm2}}{{cite book|chapter=CG Book '90s: N|chapter-url=https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=N&bk=90|access-date=March 30, 2019|via=robertchristgau.com|title=Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s|title-link=Christgau's Consumer Guide: Albums of the '90s|last=Christgau|first=Robert|author-link=Robert Christgau|publisher=St. Martin's Griffin|year=2000|isbn=0-312-24560-2|archive-date=June 11, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611074601/https://www.robertchristgau.com/get_chap.php?k=N&bk=90|url-status=live}}

| rev4 = Encyclopedia of Popular Music

| rev4score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{cite book|chapter=Nine Inch Nails|title=The Encyclopedia of Popular Music|title-link=Encyclopedia of Popular Music|last=Larkin|first=Colin|author-link=Colin Larkin|publisher=Omnibus Press|edition=5th concise|year=2011|isbn=978-0-85712-595-8}}

| rev5 = Kerrang!

| rev5score = {{Rating|5|5}}{{Cite magazine |last=Bryant |first=Tom |date=November 2011 |title=Nine Inch Nails: The Downward Spiral |journal=Kerrang!: 666 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die! |publisher=Bauer Media Group |page=80}}

| rev6 = Mojo

| rev6score = {{Rating|4|5}}{{cite magazine|title=Filigree & Shadows|magazine=Mojo|issue=188|date=July 2009|last=Prior|first=Clive|page=49}}

| rev7 = Pitchfork

| rev7score = 8.3/10{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/5802-the-downward-spiral-deluxe-edition/|title=Nine Inch Nails: The Downward Spiral [Deluxe Edition]|website=Pitchfork|date=November 28, 2004|access-date=August 29, 2009|last=Mitchum|first=Rob|archive-date=August 23, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090823115121/http://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/5802-the-downward-spiral-deluxe-edition/|url-status=live}}

| rev8 = PopMatters

| rev8score = 9/10

| rev9 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev9score = {{Rating|5|5}}

| rev10 = Spin Alternative Record Guide

| rev10score = 9/10{{cite book|chapter=Nine Inch Nails|last=Weisbard|first=Eric|title=Spin Alternative Record Guide|title-link=Spin Alternative Record Guide|editor1-last=Weisbard|editor1-first=Eric|editor2-last=Marks|editor2-first=Craig|publisher=Vintage Books|year=1995|isbn=0-679-75574-8|pages=270–271}}

}}

The immediate success of The Downward Spiral established Nine Inch Nails as 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 a sex icon.{{sfn|Huxley|1997|pp=165–180}} Nine Inch Nails received several honors, including Grammy Award nominations for Best Alternative Performance for The Downward Spiral and Best Rock Song for "Hurt".{{sfn|Huxley|1997|p=207}} 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.{{cite magazine|magazine=Rolling Stone|issue=763|date=June 26, 1997|first=Jon|last=Wiederhorn|title=Generation Swine|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/generation-swine-19970626|access-date=March 8, 2014|archive-date=April 17, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140417003546/http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/generation-swine-19970626|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.stereogum.com/1668716/the-downward-spiral-turns-20/franchises/the-anniversary|title=The Downward Spiral turns 20|author=Tom Breihan|work=Stereogum|date=March 7, 2014|access-date=March 27, 2014|archive-date=March 11, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140311055054/http://www.stereogum.com/1668716/the-downward-spiral-turns-20/franchises/the-anniversary|url-status=live}}

Reznor interpreted The Downward Spiral as an extension of himself that "became 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,{{Cite magazine|title=Trent Reznor|url=http://www.theninhotline.net/archives/articles/ap_97d_a.shtml|magazine=Alternative Press|date=January 1998|issue=114|access-date=December 5, 2017|archive-date=December 7, 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131207092125/http://www.theninhotline.net/archives/articles/ap_97d_a.shtml|url-status=dead}} struggles with addiction, and bouts of writer's block prolonged the production of The Fragile, and Reznor completed rehabilitation from drugs in 2001.{{Cite magazine|title=To Hell and back|url=http://theninhotline.net/archives/articles/manager/display_article.php?id=21|issue=1050|author=Chick, Steve|magazine=Kerrang!|date=March 30, 2005|access-date=December 5, 2017|archive-date=December 15, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215182238/http://theninhotline.net/archives/articles/manager/display_article.php?id=21|url-status=live}}{{cite magazine|title=Trent Reznor Bites Back|url=http://theninhotline.net/archives/articles/manager/display_article.php?id=138|last=Gargano|first=Paul|magazine=Metal Edge|date=July 2005|access-date=December 5, 2017|archive-date=March 13, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160313030843/http://www.theninhotline.net/archives/articles/manager/display_article.php?id=138|url-status=live}}

One year after The Downward Spiral’s release, 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.{{sfn|Huxley|1997|pp=207–208}} The album peaked at number 23 on the Billboard 200 and received mixed reviews.{{cite web |last=Erlewine |first=Stephen Thomas |author-link=Stephen Thomas Erlewine |url=https://www.allmusic.com/album/further-down-the-spiral-mw0000177651 |title=Further Down the Spiral – Nine Inch Nails |work=AllMusic |access-date=April 26, 2018 |archive-date=June 23, 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180623112918/https://www.allmusic.com/album/further-down-the-spiral-mw0000177651 |url-status=live }} Recoiled, a remix EP of "Gave Up", "Closer", "The Downward Spiral", and "Eraser" by Coil, was released on February 24, 2014, via British record label Cold Spring.{{cite magazine|url=http://exclaim.ca/News/rare_nine_inch_nails_remixes_appear_unearthed_on_coil_ep|title=Rare Nine Inch Nails Remixes Unearthed on Coil EP|magazine=Exclaim!|date=December 6, 2013|access-date=January 17, 2014|author=Hughes, Josiah|archive-date=February 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210204011411/https://exclaim.ca/music/article/rare_nine_inch_nails_remixes_appear_unearthed_on_coil_ep|url-status=live}}

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."{{cite book|chapter=Nine Inch Nails|last=Randall|first=Mac|title=The New Rolling Stone Album Guide|title-link=The Rolling Stone Album Guide|editor1-last=Brackett|editor1-first=Nathan|editor2-last=Hoard|editor2-first=Christian|publisher=Fireside Books|location=London|edition=4th|year=2004|isbn=0-7432-0169-8|pages=[https://archive.org/details/newrollingstonea00brac/page/587 587–588]}} Writing for Entertainment Weekly, Kyle Anderson remembered watching 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.{{cite magazine|url=http://music-mix.ew.com/2014/03/07/nine-inch-nails-the-downward-spiral-20th-anniversary/|author=Kyle Anderson|title=Nine Inch Nails' 'The Downward Spiral': 20 years of filth and fury|magazine=Entertainment Weekly|publisher=Time Warner|date=March 7, 2014|access-date=March 9, 2014|archive-date=March 8, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140308201040/http://music-mix.ew.com/2014/03/07/nine-inch-nails-the-downward-spiral-20th-anniversary/|url-status=live}} 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.{{cite book|author1=Robert Dimery|author2=Michael Lydon|title=1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die: Revised and Updated Edition|date=March 23, 2010|publisher=Universe|isbn=978-0-7893-2074-2}} 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 the best-produced album of the 1990s.{{cite web |last1=Stylus Magazine |title=I Love 1994 |url=http://stylusmagazine.com/articles/weekly_article/i-love-1994.htm |website=Stylus Magazine |access-date=September 11, 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100205062411/http://stylusmagazine.com/articles/weekly_article/i-love-1994.htm#nin |archive-date=February 5, 2010 |date=July 21, 2004}}

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 the meeting, Tucker and Bennett demanded that Fuchs recite lyrics from "Big Man with a Gun".{{cite magazine|author=Larry Leibstein with Thomas Rosenstiel|title=The Right Takes a Media Giant to Political Task|url=http://www.newsweek.com/right-takes-media-giant-political-task-183552|magazine=Newsweek|date=June 12, 1995|page=30|access-date=September 1, 2018|archive-date=September 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180902011939/https://www.newsweek.com/right-takes-media-giant-political-task-183552|url-status=live}} Interscope had previously been blamed for releasing gangsta rap albums by rappers such as Dr. Dre, 2Pac 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 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".{{cite magazine|magazine=Spin|volume=11|issue=11|date=February 1996|page=34|first=Eric|last=Weisbard|title=Sympathy for the Devil|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=td2yO_T3DPEC&pg=PA34|access-date=November 4, 2011|archive-date=December 22, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191222153547/https://books.google.com/books?id=td2yO_T3DPEC&pg=PA34|url-status=live}} Also posted at {{cite journal|title=Sympathy for the Devil|url=http://www.theninhotline.net/archives/articles/xint8a.shtml|website=theninhotline.net|access-date=August 20, 2011|archive-date=September 28, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928015236/http://www.theninhotline.net/archives/articles/xint8a.shtml|url-status=live}}{{sfn|Huxley|1997|pp=208–210}} Robert Bork also repeatedly referenced "Big Man with a Gun" in his book Slouching Toward Gomorrah as evidence of a supposed cultural decline.{{CN|date=April 2025}}

{{Quote box |quoted=true |bgcolor=#FFFFF0 |salign=center|quote=Another form of 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.|source=Dylan Klebold from one of his journals two years before the shooting.|align=right|width=33%}}

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 a symbol of his own depression.{{cite news |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/columbine-myths-and-truth/article785290/ |title=Columbine: myths and truth |date=May 8, 2009 |work=The Globe and Mail |access-date=January 11, 2018 |last=Moore |first=Oliver |archive-date=August 29, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190829055707/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/columbine-myths-and-truth/article785290/ |url-status=live }} 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.{{cite web|last=O'Connor|first=Christopher|url=http://www.mtv.com/news/513971/senators-criticize-marilyn-manson-nine-inch-nails-at-hearing/|title=Senators Criticize Marilyn Manson, Nine Inch Nails At Hearing|work=MTV News|date=June 4, 1999|access-date=May 3, 2011|archive-date=June 1, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160601143816/http://www.mtv.com/news/513971/senators-criticize-marilyn-manson-nine-inch-nails-at-hearing/|url-status=dead}} The committee heard testimony from cultural observers, professors, and mental health professionals, that included conservative William Bennett and 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.{{cite web|last=Tapper |first=Jake |url=http://www.salon.com/news/politics/feature/2000/08/29/hollywood/index.html |title=Hollywood on trial |work=Salon |publisher=Salon Media Group |date=August 29, 2000 |access-date=May 4, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110622113003/http://www.salon.com/news/politics/feature/2000/08/29/hollywood/index.html |archive-date=June 22, 2011 }}

In 2009, Apple rejected a proposal for a Nine Inch Nails iPhone software application, citing objectionable content in the title track.{{cite web|url=https://pitchfork.com/news/35275-nine-inch-nails-iphone-app-update-approved-by-apple-unchanged/|title=Nine Inch Nails iPhone App Update Approved by Apple, Unchanged|date=7 May 2009|access-date=24 January 2025|website=Pitchfork}} Days later, Apple reversed the decision, but refused to explain its reasoning;{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8039779.stm|title=Reznor takes a byte out of Apple|work=BBC News|date=May 8, 2009|access-date=May 13, 2009|archive-date=May 11, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090511121246/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8039779.stm|url-status=live}} however, they noted that the app has "objectionable content". In response to this action, Reznor tweeted "The NIN iPhone app is unchanged, the 'issues' seem to have been resolved".{{cite tweet|user=trent_reznor|author=Trent Reznor|author-link=Trent Reznor|date=7 May 2009|access-date=24 January 2025|title=The NIN iPhone app is unchanged, the "issues" seem to have been resolved.|number=1729055398|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090516071100/http://twitter.com/trent_reznor/status/1729055398|archive-date=16 May 2009}}

{{Track listing

| all_writing = Trent Reznor

| title1 = Mr. Self Destruct

| length1 = 4:31

| title2 = Piggy

| length2 = 4:24

| title3 = Heresy

| length3 = 3:54

| title4 = March of the Pigs

| length4 = 2:59

| title5 = Closer

| length5 = 6:14

| title6 = Ruiner

| length6 = 4:58

| title7 = The Becoming

| length7 = 5:31

| title8 = I Do Not Want This

| length8 = 5:41

| title9 = Big Man with a Gun

| length9 = 1:36

| title10 = A Warm Place

| length10 = 3:22

| title11 = Eraser

| length11 = 4:53

| title12 = Reptile

| length12 = 6:52

| title13 = The Downward Spiral

| length13 = 3:58

| title14 = Hurt

| length14 = 6:16

| total_length = 65:02

}}

Notes

• The opening sounds of "Mr. Self Destruct" are a sample from the film THX 1138 in which a man is being beaten by a prison guard.{{cite journal|url=http://thequietus.com/articles/14684-nin-nine-inch-nails-downward-spiral-review|author=Val Siebert|title=Two Way Alchemy: Nine Inch Nails' The Downward Spiral Revisited|journal=The Quietus|date=March 10, 2014|access-date=March 29, 2014}}
• The sample of screams that plays throughout "The Becoming" is from the film Robot Jox, when a giant robot falls on a crowd of spectators.{{cite web|last=Kushner|first=Nick|title=Films, Samples and Influences|url=http://www.nachtkabarett.com/NIN/Samples|work=The Nachtkabarett|access-date=March 29, 2014|archive-date=March 12, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140312044125/http://www.nachtkabarett.com/NIN/Samples|url-status=live}}
• The sample at the beginning of "Big Man with a Gun" comes from a studio-altered recording of a porn star having an orgasm. According to the album booklet, this "sample" is titled "Steakhouse" and is credited to Tommy Lee.{{cite AV media notes|title=The Downward Spiral|type=CD liner notes|others=Nine Inch Nails|publisher=Interscope Records|year=1994|page=28|id=92346-2}} The drumbeat is the same as on 'Stinking Drunk' by Big Black from their 1986 Atomizer LP.
• Japanese pressings of the album contain a cover of Joy Division's song "Dead Souls", originally included on the soundtrack to the film The Crow. The track is placed in between "Big Man with a Gun" and "A Warm Place".{{sfn|Huxley|1997|p=191}}{{cite web|url=http://www.hmv.co.jp/en/artist_Nine-Inch-Nails_000000000032326/item_The-Downward_956818|title=The Downward : Nine Inch Nails|publisher=HMV Japan|access-date=January 20, 2016|archive-date=January 31, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170131201136/http://www.hmv.co.jp/en/artist_Nine-Inch-Nails_000000000032326/item_The-Downward_956818|url-status=live}}
• The break in "Reptile" contains an audio sample (starting at 5:06) of a woman falling down a hill from the 1974 film The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.{{cite web|url=http://www.fuse.tv/2014/03/nine-inch-nails-the-downward-spiral-facts|author=Samantha Vincenty|title=13 things you didn't know about Nine Inch Nails' 'The Downward Spiral'|work=Fuse|date=March 7, 2014|access-date=April 17, 2014|archive-date=April 19, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140419012552/http://www.fuse.tv/2014/03/nine-inch-nails-the-downward-spiral-facts|url-status=live}}
• The first Australian pressing has track length errors. Affected tracks do not play at their beginnings when selected individually ("Big Man with a Gun" has the beginning of "A Warm Place" tacked on, likewise all the songs up to "Hurt" start 41 seconds earlier than they should. "Hurt" itself has 44 seconds of silence on the end as a result); however, the disc plays and flows correctly as a whole.{{cite web|title=Halo Eight – Australian First Pressing CD5|url=http://www.nincollector.com/archive/releases/halo_08/08_aus_cd_firstpressing.htm|publisher=NIN Collector|access-date=October 17, 2011|archive-date=May 16, 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120516133259/http://www.nincollector.com/archive/releases/halo_08/08_aus_cd_firstpressing.htm|url-status=usurped}}

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 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 the original album.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/66210/nin-revisits-the-downward-spiral|author=Billboard staff|title=NIN Revisits The Downward Spiral|magazine=Billboard|publisher=Prometheus Global Media|date=November 2004|access-date=November 14, 2013|archive-date=October 3, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141003150214/http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/66210/nin-revisits-the-downward-spiral|url-status=live}}{{AllMusic|author=Steve Huey|class=album|id=r717657|label=The Downward Spiral (Deluxe Edition)|access-date=March 29, 2014}}

{{Track listing

| all_writing = Trent Reznor, except "Dead Souls" by Joy Division and "Memorabilia" by Soft Cell

| headline = Bonus disc

| title1 = Burn

| note1 = from Natural Born Killers

| length1 = 4:58

| title2 = Closer (Precursor)

| note2 = from "Closer to God"

| length2 = 7:17

| title3 = Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)

| note3 = from Further Down the Spiral

| length3 = 4:02

| title4 = A Violet Fluid

| note4 = from "March of the Pigs"

| length4 = 1:04

| title5 = Dead Souls

| note5 = from The Crow or Japanese Edition

| length5 = 4:54

| title6 = Hurt (Quiet)

| note6 = from Further Down the Spiral, US version

| length6 = 5:09

| title7 = Closer to God

| note7 = from "Closer to God"

| length7 = 5:06

| title8 = All the Pigs, All Lined Up

| note8 = from "March of the Pigs"

| length8 = 7:26

| title9 = Memorabilia

| note9 = from "Closer to God"

| length9 = 7:21

| title10 = The Downward Spiral (The Bottom)

| note10 = from Further Down the Spiral

| length10 = 7:33

| title11 = Ruiner

|note11=Demo

| length11 = 4:51

| title12 = Liar

|note12=Reptile Demo

| length12 = 6:56

| title13 = Heresy

|note13=Demo

| length13 = 4:01

| total_length = 70:38

}}

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 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.{{cite web|title=Halo Eight – DualDisc Edition|url=http://www.nincollector.com/archive/releases/halo_08/08dvda_d_cd.htm|publisher=NIN Collector|access-date=February 3, 2011|archive-date=July 20, 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110720021147/http://www.nincollector.com/archive/releases/halo_08/08dvda_d_cd.htm|url-status=usurped}}

Credits adapted from the liner notes of The Downward Spiral.

{{div col}}

• Trent Reznor – vocals, all instruments except where noted, arranger, producer (all tracks), mixing (track 14)
• Mark "Flood" Ellis – producer (tracks 1, 2, 5–7, 10–12), hi-hat (track 5), ARP 2600 synthesizer (track 7), drum treatments (track 8)
• Chris Vrenna – drums (track 14), programming, additional sampling, sound design, additional drums (on "Burn"), additional engineering
• Adrian Belew – texture generating guitar (track 1), ring mod guitar (track 7)
• Danny Lohner – additional guitar (track 9)
• Andy Kubiszewski – drums (track 13)
• Stephen Perkins – drum performance (track 8)
• Charlie Clouser – programming, continuity
• Alan Moulder – mixing engineer (tracks 1–8, 10–13), additional engineering
• John Aguto – additional engineering
• Brian Pollack – additional engineering
• Sean Beavan – mixing engineer (track 9), additional engineering
• Bill Kennedy – mixing engineer (track 9), additional engineering
• Tom Baker – mastering
• Bob Ludwig – high-resolution mastering (reissue)
• James Brown – 5.1 mix (reissue)
• Neal Ferrazzani – assistance (reissue)
• Russell Mills – paintings
• David Buckland – photography
• Gary Talpas – package
• Rob Sheridan – package, additional photography (reissue)

{{div col end}}

{{col-begin}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-2}}

{{col-end}}

{{Certification Table Top}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Australia|artist=Nine Inch Nails|title=The Downward Spiral|award=Gold|type=album|relyear=1994|certyear=1995|access-date=14 December 2021}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=Canada|artist=Nine Inch Nails|title=The Downward Spiral|award=Platinum|number=3|type=album|relyear=1994|date=September 18, 1997|access-date=January 20, 2017|refname="CRIA"}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United Kingdom|artist=Nine Inch Nails|title=The Downward Spiral|award=Gold|type=album|id=6896-2237-2|relyear=1994|certyear=2013|date=July 22, 2013|access-date=January 20, 2017|refname="BPI"}}

{{Certification Table Entry|region=United States|artist=Nine Inch Nails|title=The Downward Spiral|award=Platinum|number=4|type=album|relyear=1994|date=October 28, 1998|access-date=January 20, 2017|salesamount=4,000,000|salesref={{cite web|last=Halperin|first=Shirley|url=https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/trent-reznor-girl-dragon-tattoo-oscar-grammy-272957|title=Trent Reznor on Relating to 'Girl With the Dragon Tattoo' Darkness; Why Grammys are 'Rigged and Cheap'|work=The Hollywood Reporter|date=December 14, 2011|access-date=January 20, 2017|archive-date=January 3, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170103171843/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/trent-reznor-girl-dragon-tattoo-oscar-grammy-272957|url-status=live}}|refname="RIAA"}}

{{Certification Table Bottom|nosales=yes}}

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book|last=Huxley|first=Martin|title=Nine Inch Nails: Self Destruct|date=September 1997|publisher=St. Martin's Press|isbn=0-312-15612-X|via=the Internet Archive|url=https://archive.org/details/nineinchnailssel00huxl}}
• {{cite book|last=Steiner|first=Adam|title=Into The Never: Nine Inch Nails and The Creation of the Downward Spiral|date=March 1, 2020|publisher=Backbeat|isbn=978-1617137310}}

• [http://www.absolutepunk.net/showthread.php?t=806532 Album review] — By AbsolutePunk
• [http://www.theninhotline.net/archives/articles/xrevw11.shtml Album review] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303192203/http://www.theninhotline.net/archives/articles/xrevw11.shtml |date=March 3, 2016 }} — By Alternative Press

{{Nine Inch Nails}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Downward Spiral, The}}

Category:1994 albums

Category:Albums produced by Flood (producer)

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Category:Interscope Records albums

Category:Nine Inch Nails albums

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Category:Albums with cover art by Russell Mills (artist)

Category:Albums recorded in a home studio

Category:Albums recorded at Henson Recording Studios