Nine Inch Nails - 1990 - Head Like a Hole torrent

Cover:

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Artist:

Nine Inch Nails

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Album:

Head Like A Hole

Bio:

Nine Inch Nails was the most popular industrial group ever

and was largely responsible for bringing the music to a mass

audience. It isn't really accurate to call NIN a group; the

only official member is

singer/producer/multi-instrumentalist Trent Reznor, who

always remained solely responsible for NIN's musical

direction (he was, however, supported in concert by a

regular backing band). Unlike the vast majority of

industrial artists, Reznor wrote melodic, traditionally

structured songs where lyrics were a focal point. His pop

instincts not only made the harsh electronic beats of

industrial music easier to digest, but also put a human face

on a style that usually tried to sound as mechanical as

possible. While Ministry crossed over to heavy metal

audiences, NIN built up a large alternative rock fan base

right around the time of Nirvana's mainstream breakthrough.

As a result, Reznor became a genuine star and his

notoriously dark, brooding persona and provocateur instincts

made him a Jim Morrison-esque sex symbol for the '90s. A

long period of inactivity and writer's block followed, which

gave virtually every alternative metal band of the late '90s

a chance to rip off elements of NIN's sound. By the time

Reznor's five-year hiatus finally ended, he was still a

popular figure but his commercial momentum had slowed

somewhat.

Michael Trent Reznor was born May 17, 1965, in the small

town of Mercer, PA; he went by his middle name to avoid

confusion with his father Michael. At age five, Reznor's

parents divorced and he wound up being raised mostly by his

maternal grandparents; even so, Reznor stated repeatedly

that his childhood was mostly happy. He began playing the

piano at age five, studying classical music, and later

learned tenor sax and tuba in the school band; he also acted

in musicals and became an avid Kiss fan. Reznor spent a year

studying music and computers at Allegheny College, but

dropped out after a year to pursue music full-time; he soon

packed up and moved to Cleveland with high school friend

Chris Vrenna. Around the same time, he was discovering new

wave and assorted underground music; he was most fascinated

with early industrial, since it offered an edgy, aggressive

way to use electronic instruments. At age 19, he

successfully auditioned to join an AOR band called the

Innocent, which released one album, Livin' in the Streets

(Reznor's picture does appear on the jacket). He quit the

Innocent after just three months and subsequently gigged

with local bands; he also worked in a keyboard store and as

a janitor in the local Right Track recording studio.

Eventually, he became a studio engineer, teaching himself

various computer applications and working on his own

material during off hours. In 1987, Reznor appeared in the

Michael J. Fox/Joan Jett film Light of Day, where he played

keyboards with a trio dubbed the Problems during a bar

scene.

As Nine Inch Nails, Reznor began recording his own Ministry

and Skinny Puppy-influenced compositions in 1988, playing

all the instruments himself. At first, he simply hoped to

release a 12" single on a small European label, but when he

sent demo tapes to around ten American labels, nearly every

one offered him a deal. He wound up signing with TVT, which

released NIN's debut album, Pretty Hate Machine, in 1989

(after having rejected an initial effort called Industrial

Nation). Reznor quickly assembled a backing band and toured

with Skinny Puppy for a short time, but soon tired of

playing for strictly industrial artists. With a tighter

outfit featuring Chris Vrenna on drums and Richard Patrick

on guitar (plus several revolving-door keyboardists), he

consciously chose to open for alt-rock acts (including,

early on, the Jesus & Mary Chain and Peter Murphy), partly

for the challenge of winning over fans who might not have

liked industrial music. The strategy helped expand Nine Inch

Nails' fan base substantially; the single "Down in It" got

some airplay in dance clubs, reaching Billboard's dance and

modern rock charts, and MTV later picked up on the video for

the more rock-oriented "Head Like a Hole." In 1991, after

settling on keyboardist James Woolley, Nine Inch Nails

became part of the inaugural Lollapalooza tour, which

expanded their fan base by leaps and bounds. Pretty Hate

Machine's momentum kept building slowly and although it

never climbed higher than number 75, it spent over two years

on the album charts and eventually sold over a million

copies -- one of the first indie-label rock albums to do so.

TVT had a massive hit on their hands and to ensure that

Reznor would produce another one, they attempted to take

control of the follow-up's creative direction. Enraged by

the outside meddling, Reznor tried to secure a release from

his contract, leading to a vicious court battle. His only

recording outlets were side projects; in 1990, he co-wrote

and sang on "Suck," a track on Pigface's debut album, Gub,

and also sang on the Al Jourgensen-led 1000 Homo DJs cover

of Black Sabbath's "Supernaut." (TVT ordered Reznor's vocals

removed from the track, but Jourgensen actually just altered

them slightly and said he'd re-recorded it.) Eventually, he

was able to sign with Interscope, which helped him set up

his own label, the Cleveland-based Nothing imprint. Reznor

had been recording new material on the sly and in 1992,

Nothing released the EP Broken, as well as a concurrent

remix disc titled Fixed. Broken featured more (and heavier)

guitars than Pretty Hate Machine, partly in response to

NIN's live sound and partly as a sonic evocation of Reznor's

boiling frustration in the wake of the legal wars; it also

featured two bonus cuts, a version of "Suck" and the Adam

Ant cover "(You're So) Physical," a nod to Reznor's new wave

roots. Despite many reviews characterizing the EP as a

harrowing, difficult listen, Broken -- supported by NIN's

now-considerable fan base -- debuted in the Top Ten and the

first single/video, "Wish," won a Grammy for Best Heavy

Metal Performance. Reznor enhanced his reputation as a

provocateur with a widely banned clip for "Happiness in

Slavery," which depicted S&M performance artist Bob Flanagan

being torn apart by a machine; there was also a long-form

clip for Broken that was never released commercially due to

its graphic content (a torture victim is dismembered while

viewing NIN videos).

Reznor moved to Los Angeles to craft the second full-length

NIN album, assembling a studio in the house where actress

Sharon Tate was murdered by Charles Manson's associates. The

Downward Spiral was a highly ambitious work, a concept album

indebted to progressive rock that featured the most

detailed, layered studiocraft of any NIN album yet. Hugely

anticipated, the album debuted at number two and became one

of the bleakest multi-platinum albums ever. Richard Patrick

had departed the touring band to form Filter and Reznor

revamped the group with drummer Vrenna, keyboardist Woolley,

guitarist Robin Finck, and bassist Danny Lohner. NIN caused

a sensation at that summer's 25th-anniversary Woodstock

concert, performing a ferocious set after horsing around and

covering themselves in mud just before hitting the stage.

Meanwhile, MTV had put an edited version of the video for

"Closer" in heavy rotation and NIN scored one of the year's

unlikeliest hits: a song whose chorus began "I want to f*ck

you like an animal," which helped make Reznor one of

alternative rock's biggest sex symbols. The subdued ballad

"Hurt" gained some further airplay, even though it lacked

the titillating shock value of "Closer." Later in the year,

Reznor assembled the soundtrack of Oliver Stone's

controversial Natural Born Killers, editing the songs

together to create an innovative collage; he also guested on

"Past the Mission," a track on Tori Amos' second album Under

the Pink. In 1995, with new keyboardist Charlie Clouser,

Nine Inch Nails hit the road with David Bowie, whose

late-'70s albums (along with Pink Floyd) had been a major

influence on The Downward Spiral. He also contributed a

cover of Joy Division's "Dead Souls" to the soundtrack of

The Crow and issued the remix album Further Down the Spiral,

which nearly reached the Top 20 (a testament to his

popularity).

Using money from The Downward Spiral, Reznor built a

state-of-the-art studio in New Orleans in a building that

had once been a funeral home. While pondering his next move

in the wake of his sudden stardom, he produced Nothing

signee Marilyn Manson's second album, Antichrist Superstar,

which did indeed make him a superstar. In 1997, longtime

friend Vrenna had a falling out with Reznor and eventually

was replaced by Jerome Dillon; Reznor's maternal grandmother

also passed away that year and his friendship with Manson

soon deteriorated. Even so, he produced another movie

soundtrack for David Lynch's Lost Highway, and contributed

the new single "The Perfect Drug," which flitted

unpredictably between several different rhythm tracks.

Though "The Perfect Drug" kept him in the public eye for a

time, Reznor was still unsure what kind of statement would

be an appropriate follow-up to The Downward Spiral; that

uncertainty resulted in a severe case of writer's block. In

the meantime, NIN was proving vastly influential on a new

crop of bands; major labels signed up industrial metal

outfits like Filter and Stabbing Westward, and an assortment

of alternative metal bands started grafting industrial

production flourishes onto their music; Guns N' Roses lead

singer Axl Rose even fired the rest of his band and holed up

in a studio to pursue a more NIN-influenced direction.

Nine Inch Nails finally returned in 1999 with the double-CD

opus The Fragile. It debuted at number one, with massive

first-week sales, but slipped down the charts rather quickly

afterwards, perhaps because the musical climate had changed

a great deal over the past five years. The remix album

Things Falling Apart followed a year later, as did an

extensive world tour. An album of live performances culled

from the tour, And All That Could Have Been, was released in

early 2002. Reznor was largely quiet during the next three

years, until re-emerging in 2005 with another chart-topper,

With Teeth. Touring continued into 2006, where NIN spent the

spring and summer on the road with various support acts

including Saul Williams, Bauhaus, TV on the Radio, and

Peaches. The EP, Every Day is Exactly the Same, appeared in

April 2006; it contained the title track and five various

remixes (all originally from With Teeth).

Tracks:

1. Head Like A Hole (Slate)
2. Head Like a Hole (Clay)
3. Terrible Lie (Sympathetic Mix)
4. Head Like A Hole (Copper)
5. You Know Who You Are
6. Head Lika A Ho