Nine Inch Nails started as the one-man musical project of Trent Reznor, a synth-pop fan in his 20s from Cleveland who played keyboards in a few local groups before starting one of the key bands of the ’90s.
With his debut album, Pretty Hate Machine, in 1989, Reznor set the standard by which he guided his career: the abrasiveness of industrial rock music laced with the hooky synth-pop he grew up on during the ’80s. Combined with confessional lyrics that covered everything from his drug use to personal despair, they forecasted the alternative rock scene just a few years later.
Reznor and Nine Inch Nails were primed for success when that revolution arrived. Their second album, 1994’s The Downward Spiral, is an essential record from the era and the band’s most popular and enduring work.
READ MORE: When Nine Inch Nails Got Dark on ‘The Downward Spiral’
That Top 10 hit was followed by records that surveyed similar paths, as you will see in the below list of Nine Inch Nails Albums Ranked. Even as he regularly released the band’s albums (eventually on his custom label), Reznor, with longtime collaborator Atticus Ross, has delved into soundtrack work, winning Academy Awards for his film scores, which expand on Nine Inch Nails’ haunting and often thorny musical landscapes.
Reznor’s restlessness as an artist – Nine Inch Nail’s discography isn’t limited to albums; there are EPs, remix projects and video game compositions in there, too – has taken his, and by extension Nine Inch Nails’, music to new territory over the decades. Disquieting industrial rock has given way to more placid and introspective music, and scarred personal ruminations turned toward more universal concerns. The entire catalog offers plenty of excitement along the way.
Nine Inch Nails Albums Ranked
Industrial rock powerhouse helped change the alternative landscape in the ’90s and has continued to move forward ever since.
Gallery Credit: Michael Gallucci
