Take a man. A tormented and lonely man. Desperately, claustrophobically, imprisoned in the self-destructive vortex of his own mind, constantly clashing with his fears, his fixations, his ghosts. Fill this man with various psychotropic substances and lock him in a ghostly American villa, the scene of a bloody massacre some years ago, with his musical instruments and his computers.

If you add that this man is one of the most ingenious musicians to ever walk our soil, you have one of the best albums of the '90s (but perhaps that's an understatement). Never again has the genius of Trent Reznor reached the heights he achieved with "The Downward Spiral"; a totally schizoid album that perfectly paints distorted and perverse madness on razor-sharp sound canvases. The opening act of the album is "Mr. Self Destruct", starting with an incredibly effective sample of a man being tortured (or torturing himself?), then launching into a ferociously intense verse, continuing with a lethal chorus, and calming down with a hypnotic and truly unsettling break; Reznor's feeble and wicked voice whispering "you let me do this to you... I am an exit". After the delirious guitar fabric that closes the opener, there's "Piggy", a mid-tempo revolving around a simple but highly effective bass line, ending in a percussive noise-stamped flourish. It is followed by the blasphemous invective of Heresy, an angry piece that echoes and dresses in a decidedly heavier version certain synth-pop of the 80s influence, in which Trent rails against God, screaming his abandonment of faith. The anger continues to flow into the next track "March Of The Pigs”.

But it is when the stereo reaches track number 5 that the album takes its first truly unstoppable surge: if the idea of sex had to be conveyed in its rawest and most physical sense in a song, Trent Reznor succeeded perfectly. Closer is not simply a song: it is the fiery embrace of two lovers, it is irresistible lust in the atmosphere, it is intercourse, desperate coitus. An intensely physical connection, unstoppable. The frantic union of two inseparable bodies. The joy of purely physical orgasm, celestial (I wanna fuck you like an animal/ I wanna feel you from the inside... You get me closer to God). Musically, the piece stands on a very funky bass synth, heavily supported by rock-solid keyboard walls and distorted progressions. It evolves into an explosive crescendo, reaching a finale that truly sounds like the sonic resolution of an orgasmic explosion. "Ruiner", with its steady tempo, introduces us to another gem of the album, "The Becoming", a sort of manifesto of a split personality: it perfectly sets furious thrashy parts (complete with screams) against relaxed acoustic moments. The man is in crisis. His awareness is driving him to madness.

Madness, now uncontrollable, explodes in "I Do Not Want This" (don't you tell me how I feel, you don't know just how I feel), in the brief "Big man with a gun", and then unexpectedly fades into "A Warm Place", an ambient ballad with a vaguely Bowie-like flavor. From there, the statement of intent of "Eraser", where the man in the grip of his self-destruction expresses himself mechanically, and accepts the inevitability of his contorted fate. (need you... fuck you... use you, but above all, kill me, kill me, kill me). Another anthem to the dirtiest and most visceral lust is "Reptile", where our Trent looks at his love as a disease and his beloved as the germ that triggers the pathology. Accompanied by a sinuous background, a bass that truly slinks like a reptile. And crawling, we find pure resignation and blind pain. "He couldn't believe how easy it was, he put the gun into his face... bang". After the fires of passion, of anger; after the storm of uncontrolled and unhealthy emotions... resignation. Solitude. Self-abandonment. All at the bottom of the "Downward spiral". The nothingness of self increases as you spiral downward. Further and further down. The last breath is exhaled with that authentic gem that is "Hurt". A delicate acoustic ballad that closes the album and conveys everything that this man can have inside.

Hurting oneself to live. Hurting oneself to survive. Pain is life. Life is pain, when love has taken everything from us.

Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos

01   Mr. Self Destruct (04:30)

I am the voice inside your head (and I control you)
I am the lover in your bed (and I control you)
I am the sex that you provide (and I control you)
I am the hate you try to hide (and I control you)

I take you where you want to go
I give you all you need to know
I drag you down, I use you up
Mister self destruct

I speak religions message clear (and I control you)
I am denial, guilt and fear (and I control you)
I am the prayers of the naive (and I control you)
I am the lie that you believe (and I control you)

I take you where you want to go
I give you all you need to know
I drag you down, I use you up
Mister self destruct

You let me do this to you (I am an exit)
You let me do this to you (I am an exit)
You let me do this to you (I am an exit)
You let me do this to you (I am an exit)
You let me do this to you (I am an exit)
You let me do this to you (I am an exit)
You let me do this to you (I am an exit)
You let me do this to you (I am an exit)

I am the needle in your vein
I am the high you can't sustain
I am the pusher, I'm a whore
I am the need in you for more

I am the bullet in the gun (and I control you)
I am the truth from which you run (and I control you)
I am the silencing machine (and I control you)
I am the end of all your dreams (and I control you)

I take you where you want to go
I give you all you need to know
I drag you down I use you up
Mister self destruct

I take you where you want to go
I give you all you need to know
I drag you down I use you up
Mister self destruct

02   Piggy (04:24)

Hey, pig, yeah, you
Hey, pig, piggy, pig, pig, pig, all of my fears came true
Black and blue and broken bones, you left me here, I'm all alone
My little piggy needed something new

Nothing can stop me now 'cause I don't care anymore
Nothing can stop me now 'cause I don't care
Nothing can stop me now 'cause I don't care anymore
Nothing can stop me now 'cause I just don't care

Hey pig, nothing's turning out the way I planned
Hey mother-fucking pig, there's a lot of things I hoped you could help me understand
What am I supposed to do? I lost my shit because of you

Nothing can stop me now 'cause I don't care anymore
Nothing can stop me now 'cause I don't care
Nothing can stop me now 'cause I don't care anymore
Nothing can stop me now 'cause I just don't care

Nothing can stop me now
Nothing can stop me now
Nothing can stop me now
Nothing can stop me
Nothing can stop me now
Nothing can stop me now
Nothing can stop me now
Nothing can stop me
Nothing can stop me now
Nothing can stop me now
Nothing can stop me now
Nothing can stop me
Nothing can stop me now
Nothing can stop me now
Nothing can stop me now
Nothing can stop

03   Heresy (03:54)

He sewed his eyes shut because he was afraid to see
He tries to tell me what I put inside of me
He's got the answers to ease my curiosity
He dreamed a God up and called it Christianity

Your God is dead and no one cares
If there is a hell I will see you there

He flexed his muscles to keep his flock of sheep in line
He made a virus that would kill off all the swine
His perfect kingdom of killing, suffering and pain
Demands devotion atrocities done in his name

Your God is dead and no one cares
If there is a hell I will see you there
Your God is dead and no one cares
If there is a hell I will see you there

Your God is dead and no one cares
If there is a hell I will see you there
Your God is dead and no one cares
(Drowning in his own hypocrisy)
If there is a hell I will see you there
(Burning with your God in humility)

04   March of the Pigs (02:58)

Step right up!
March!
Push!
Crawl right up on your knees
Please!
Greed!
Feed! (no time to hesitate)
I want a little bit
I want a piece of it
I think he's losing it
I want to watch it come down
Don't like the look of it
Don't like the taste of it
Don't like the smell of it
I want to watch it come down

All the pigs are all lined up
I give you all that you want
Take the skin and peel it back
Now doesn't that make you feel better?

Shove it up inside!
Surprise!
Lies!
Stains like the blood on your teeth
Bite!
Chew!
Suck! (away the tender parts)
I want to break it up
I want to smash it up
I want to fuck it up
I want to watch it come down
Maybe afraid of it
Let's discredit it
Let's pick away at it
I want to watch it come down

All the pigs are all lined up
I give you all that you want
Take the skin and peel it back
Now doesn't that make you feel better?
The pigs have won tonight
Now they can all sleep soundly
And everything is all right

05   Closer (06:13)

You let me violate you
You let me desecrate you
You let me penetrate you
You let me complicate you

Help me
I broke apart my insides
Help me
I've got no soul to sell
Help me
The only thing that works for me
Help me get away from myself

I want to fuck you like an animal
I want to feel you from the inside
I want to fuck you like an animal
My whole existence is flawed
You get me closer to god

You can have my isolation
You can have the hate that it brings
You can have my absence of faith
You can have my everything

Help me
Tear down my reason
Help me
It's your sex I can smell
Help me
You make me perfect
Help me become somebody else

I want to fuck you like an animal
I want to feel you from the inside
I want to fuck you like an animal
My whole existence is flawed
You get me closer to god

Through every forest
Above the trees
Within my stomach
Scraped off my knees
I drink the honey
Inside your hive
You are the reason
I stay alive

06   Ruiner (04:58)

You had all of them on your side,
Didn't you, didn't you?
You believed in all your lies,
Didn't you, didn't you?

The Ruiner's got a lot to prove;
He's got nothing to lose-
And now he made you believe
The Ruiner is your only friend
And he's the living end
To the cattle he deceives.
Raping of the innocent;
You know the Ruiner ruins everything he sees.
Now the only pure thing left in my fucking world
Is wearing your disease.

How'd you get so big?
How'd you get so strong?
How'd it get so hard?
How'd it get so long?

You had to give them all a sign,
Didn't you, didn't you?
You had to covet what was mine,
Didn't you, didn't you?

The ruiner's a collector,
He's an infecter;
Serving his shit to his flies.
Maybe there will come a day
When those that You keep blind
Will suddenly realize.
Maybe it's a part of me
You took it to a place
I hoped it would never go...
And maybe that fucked me up
Much more than you'll ever know!

How'd you get so big?
How'd you get so strong?
How'd you get so hard?
How'd it get so long?

And what you gave to me,
My perfect ring of scars,
You know I can see
What you really are.

You didn't hurt me;
Nothing can hurt me.
You didn't hurt me;
Nothing can stop me now.

07   The Becoming (05:31)

I beat my machine..
It's a part of me,
It's inside of me.
I'm stuck in this dream,
It's changing me... I am becoming.
The me that you know, he had some second thoughts.
He's covered with scabs, he is broken and sore.
The me that you know, he doesn't come around much.
That part of me... isn't here anymore.

All pain disappears,
It's the nature of...
Of my circuitry.
Drowns out all I hear,
There's no escape from this,
My new consciousness.
The me that you know, he used to have feelings,
But the blood has stopped pumping and he is left to decay.
The me that you know is now made up of wires,
And even when i'm right with you i'm so far away...

I can try to get away.. but i've strapped myself in.
I can try to scratch away.. the sound in my ears.
I can see it killing away.. all of my bad parts.
I don't want to listen.. but it's all too clear.

Hiding..
Backwards inside of me.
I feel... so unafraid.
Annie, hold a little tighter..
I might..
Might just slip away!

It won't give up, it wants me dead.
Goddamn this noise inside my head...

08   I Do Not Want This (05:41)

i'm losing ground
you know how this world can beat you down
i'm made of clay
i fear i'm the only one who thinks this way
i'm always falling down the same hill
bamboo puncturing this skin
and nothing comes bleeding out of me just like a waterfall i'm drowning in
2 feet below the surface i can still make out your wavy face
and if i could just reach you maybe i could leave this place
i do not want this [4x]
don't you tell me how i feel [3x]
you don't know just how i feel

i stay inside my bed
i have lived so many lives all in my head
don't tell me that you care
there really isn't anything, is there?
you would know, wouldn't you?
you extend your hand to those who suffer
to those who know what it really feels like
to those who've had a taste
like that means something
and oh so sick i am
and maybe i don't have a choice
and maybe that is all i have
and maybe this is a cry for help
i do not want this [4x]
don't you tell me how i feel [3x]
you don't know just how i feel

i want to know everything
i want to be everywhere
i want to fuck everyone in the world
i want to do something that matters

09   Big Man With a Gun (01:36)

I am a big man
(yes I am)
And I got a big gun
Got me a big old dick and I
I like to have fun
Held against your forehead
Well, I'll make you suck it
Maybe I'll put a hole in your head
You know, just for the fuck of it

Well, I can reduce you if I want
I can devour
I'm hard as fucking steel
I've got the power
I'm every inch a man and I'll show you somehow
Me and my fucking gun
Nothing can stop me now

Shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot
I'm gonna cum all over you
Shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot
I'm gonna cum all over you
Shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot
I'm gonna cum all over you
Shoot shoot shoot shoot shoot
I'm gonna cum all over you

Me and my fucking gun
Me and my fucking gun
Me and my fucking gun
Me and my fucking gun (my fucking gun)
Me and my fucking gun (my fucking gun)
Me and my fucking gun (my fucking gun)
Me and my fucking gun (my fucking gun)
Me and my fucking gun (my fucking gun)

10   A Warm Place (03:22)

The best thing about life is knowing you put it together (x6)

11   Eraser (04:53)

Need you
Dream you
Find you
Taste you
Fuck you
Use you
Scar you
Break you

Lose me
Hate me
Smash me
Erase me
Kill me

12   Reptile (06:52)

She spreads herself wide open to let the insects in
She leaves a trail of honey to show me where she's been
She has the blood of reptile just underneath her skin
Seeds from a thousand others drip down from within

Oh my beautiful liar
Oh my precious whore
My disease my infection
I am so impure oh

Devils speak of the way in which she'll manifest
Angels bleed from the tainted touch of my caress
Need to contaminate to alleviate this loneliness
I now know the depths I reach are limitless

Oh my beautiful liar
Oh my precious whore
My disease my infection
I am so impure oh

Oh
Oh my beautiful liar
Oh my precious whore
My disease my infection
I am so impure
Oh my beautiful liar no
Oh my precious whore no, oooh, oh,
My disease my infection no
I am so impure no, ah no, ah no, ah no

13   The Downward Spiral (03:56)

He couldn't believe how easy it was
He put the gun into his face
Bang!
(so much blood for such a tiny little hole)

Problems do have solutions
A lifetime of fucking things up fixed in one determined flash

Everything's blue
In this world
The deepest shade of mushroom blue
All fuzzy
Spilling out of my head

14   Hurt (06:14)

I hurt myself today
To see if I still feel
I focus on the pain
The only thing that's real
The needle tears a hole
The old familiar sting
I try to kill it all away
But I remember everything

What have I become
My sweetest friend?
Everyone I know
Goes away in the end

You could have it all
My empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt

I wear this crown of shit
Upon my liar's chair
Full of broken thoughts
I cannot repair
Beneath the stains of time
The feelings disappear
You are someone else
I am still right here

What have I become
My sweetest friend?
Everyone I know
Goes away in the end
You could have it all
My empire of dirt
I will let you down
I will make you hurt
If I could start again
A million miles away
I would keep myself
I would find a way

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Other reviews

By Vic Sorriso1

 Self-destruction hides in what you most desire because it is what holds true power over you.

 "Hurt" transcends personal pain and becomes an indictment of all modern society as an "empire of dirt."


By CycoCiccio

 Trash of this nature, where technology is posed as genius, noise as sound, and personal neurosis as inspiration.

 This monstrosity of disjointed cacophonies... struggling to listen to the whole thing again.


By alCOOL

 I hear a reverberation in the hole where my head should be, a blow, like a hammer breaking my eardrums, and a voice that doesn’t belong to me… it is PAIN.

 Making a “normal review” of “The Downward Spiral” would have been like enjoying a plate of pasta using a pitchfork.


By Uomodimerda

 It was calling me, offering me knowledge, pain, violence, the end.

 Listen to this album only if you are in the mood to indulge in many, many mental jerks until you become blind to any emotion.


By zioMaynard

 Trent Reznor’s mind has been infected by a particular disease called nihilism.

 Society is descending into a Downward Spiral, destined for self-destruction, which will conclude with the extinction of man.