APPETITE FOR DESTRUCTION

“TRENT NEVER GAVE A SHIT ABOUT DOING ANYTHING TO PLEASE THE FANS”
CHRIS VRENNA

NINE INCH NAILS

THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL

Nine Inch Nails’ debut album, 1989’s Pretty Hate Machine, was an angsty, electronic pop album coloured with grinding samples and sporadic guitar blasts that sounded like a head-on collision between Depeche Mode and Killing Joke. Released on TVT Records (which had previously put out discs of television theme songs), it was embraced by both the alt-rock and industrial dance communities and earned Nine Inch Nails a loyal following. Then, frontman Trent Reznor took an abrupt left turn. Frustrated by his label’s refusal to renegotiate his record deal, Nine Inch Nails wrote 1992 EP Broken – a faster, more aggressive slab heavily inspired by Ministry, Skinny Puppy and Joy Division. TVT president Steve Gottlieb struck a deal with Interscope head Jimmy Iovine, and Nine Inch Nails were transferred to a new imprint, Nothing.

With a new home and a vanity label on which to bring in new talent, the band started working on a followup. But Trent had no intention of making accessible synth-pop for is strange, unsettling and schizophrenic.