Nine Inch Nails

Nine Inch Nails (NIN) was formed in 1988 and remains a vehicle for the talents of Trent Reznor, its founder. Reznor's brand of industrial rock is sometimes harsh, often uncompromising and is complemented by perverted, tortured imagery. Professionally he has often found himself at odds with the entertainment industry which has led to tumultuous relationships and ongoing legal wrangles.

While working as an engineer and janitor at Right Track Studios, Reznor recorded demos in spare studio time. It was an entirely solo effort and on the basis of those demos, he was signed to TVT Records. Many of those early demos appeared later as songs on the 1989 debut Pretty Hate Machine, which spent two years in the album charts and achieved platinum status.

The Broken EP was released in 1992 and won two Grammys. It was followed by a remix album Fixed later the same year.

Four times platinum selling The Downward Spiral was released in 1994 to critical acclaim and entered the Billboard chart at No.2. The singles were "March of the Pigs" and "Closer", and the video for "Closer", once edited to suit the sensibilities of conservative viewers, received heavy MTV play. The track "Hurt" also came from that album, although it was never released as a single; it would go on to enjoy renewed success when covered by Johnny Cash in 2002. A remix album, Further Down the Spiral, was released in 1995. This album marked NIN's sales high point.

It was five years before the next studio album, The Fragile (1999), and by the time it was released, anticipation was high. Unsurprisingly, it debuted at No.1, but a lack of promotion meant it didn't stay there long and Reznor ended up financing the tour himself. The remix album was called Things Falling Apart and was released in 2000.

With Teeth was released in 2005 and Year Zero followed two years later. Year Zero was succeeded by the remix album, Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D, also in 2007. Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D marked the end of Nine Inch Nails's contract with Interscope Records. Now a free agent, Nine Inch Nails released Ghosts I-IV, a 36-track instrumental compilation, under a Creative Commons license in March 2008. The first of the four parts, Ghosts I, is available free of charge from the website, and was also made available via bittorrent. Later in 2008, NIN surprised everyone with the release of another new album, The Slip, also available for free from the official website.