LOS ANGELES (Interscope/UMe) - In 1994, a dark, brutal album turned music upside down and became a modern masterpiece. Now, in its 10th anniversary year, Nine Inch Nails' "The Downward Spiral," a landmark album in modern rock, in industrial music and in pop culture returns in a "Deluxe Edition" (Interscope/UMe), released November 23, 2004.
"The Downward
Spiral -
Deluxe Edition" is offered in two versions, each digitally remastered. Both packages also include a 28-page booklet filled with photos and graphics. The SACD Hybrid version (playable on all CD, DVD and SACD players) features Disc One with the original album in CD Audio, SACD
Stereo and SACD 5.1 Surround Sound, and Disc Two in CD Audio and SACD
Stereo with 10 b-sides, remixes and rarities and a trio of previously unreleased demos.
Disc Two includes "Burn" from the "Natural Born Killers" soundtrack; "Closer (Precursor)," "Closer To God" and "Memorabilia" from the "Closer To God" EP; "Piggy (Nothing Can Stop Me Now)," "Hurt (Quiet)" and "The Downward Spiral (The Bottom)" from the "Further Down The Spiral" remix album; "A Violet Fluid" and "All The Pigs, All Lined Up" from the "March Of The Pigs" single; "Dead Souls" from "The Crow" soundtrack, and previously unreleased demos for "Ruiner," "Liar" and "Heresy."
As presented on one of the first ever DualDiscs the original album is featured on both the CD side and the DVD side, with the latter also boasting DVD-Audio Advanced Resolution Stereo and Surround Sound(for playback on DVD-Audio capable players, Dolby Surround and Stereo (for playback on all DVD players) and DVD-Video presentations of music videos for "Closer" (in Surround Sound), "March Of The Pigs" and "Hurt" (live).
One of the most influential albums of the '90s, "The Downward Spiral" is Trent Reznor's industrial-cum-tragic opera view of the world. The second full-length album from his Nine Inch Nails - after 1989's breakthrough "Pretty Hate Machine" - "The Downward Spiral" was the highly ambitious concept album that propelled singer/producer/multi-instrumentalist Reznor to star status and brought industrial music to mainstream audiences.
Reznor states, "I'm very proud and excited to present The Downward Spiral in Surround Sound as well as a newly remastered stereo version. When the idea came up to remix The Downward Spiral in Surround Sound, I knew it would be an interesting and much more open approach. As I revisited the original sessions / master tapes, I was surprised at how well the tracks lent themselves to the Surround format. I think we have stayed true to the essence of the original but managed to utilize the surround format to truly expand the experience of The Downward Spiral. It is even more disturbing, if I do say so myself."
Recorded in a studio in the Los Angeles house where actress Sharon Tate was murdered by Charles Manson's gang, "The Downward Spiral" debuted at No 2 pop and went quadruple platinum, becoming the group's best-selling album and perhaps the bleakest multiplatinum album ever. The tracks "Closer" (with its provocative lyrics one of the year's most controversial and unlikely hits), "Hurt" and "Piggy" all charted Top 20 Modern Rock, with "March Of The Pigs" attaining a No 5 Dance ranking.
While having a huge impact on alternative metal bands of the decade, and being the most popular group in the industrial genre, Nine Inch Nails would not be heard from again until 1999's No 1-charting "The Fragile."
"The Downward Spiral," however, remains atop modern rock as its ultimate dark classic.
