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==Concept and Interpretations==
There are numerous layers of metaphors that are present throughout the album, which leaves it open to wide interpretation. As a whole, ''The Downward Spiral'' is defined by Nietzschean concepts and a prominent theme of existentialism. It is a concept album in which the overarching plot follows the protagonist moving through his own "Downward Spiraldownward spiral", dealing with religion, dehumanization, violence, disease, society, drugs, sex, and finally suicide. Reznor has stated that the character is a representation of himself:
<blockquote>...it was during that tour ([[Self Destruct Tour|Self Destruct]]) that problems started to arise. Prior to that I would have considered myself pretty normal. With the Downward Spiral, I can remember where I was in my head, what I was thinking, and I can remember writing that record, and the mindset. This record that was about an extension of me, became the truth fulfilling itself.</blockquote>
Most fans seem to agree that "Closer" (noted for its "I want to fuck you like an animal" lyric) has meaning deeper than its surface lyrics (note the desperate dependency expressed by the final line, "you are the reason I stay alive."). The narrator was not exactly modeled after Reznor's previous life, though he would later go through his own sort of "downward spiral" during the [[Fragility ]] tour, battling issues such as drug abuse.
==Writings on the album==
==Recurring themes and styles==
* The ending keyboard melody of "Closer" is repeated in the climax of "The Downward Spiral" and the chorus of "Heresy." A similar piano melody is played at the end of "Piggy."This recurring melody is a descending tetrachord pattern and, in music theory, would be an example of a lament bass.
* The lyric "[[Nothing Can Stop Me Now|nothing can stop me now]]" appears in "Piggy," "Ruiner" and "Big Man With A Gun." The same phrase would recur on later albums in "[[La Mer]]," "[[We're In This Together (song)|We're In This Together]]" and "[[Sunspots]]."
* Quite a few of the songs end by [[Recurring lyrics|repeating the same line or set of lines]]: "Piggy," "Ruiner," "I Do Not Want This," "Big Man With A Gun" and "Eraser." These deviate from the traditional chorus-chorus ending in that these lyrics are introduced near the end, and they are not sung, but rather whispered or yelled.
===10th Anniversary===
To mark the album's tenth anniversary, ''The Downward Spiral'' was re-released on November 23, 2004 in two new formats:
* As a 2-CD "Deluxe Edition" (labeled [[Halo numbers|Halo 8 DE]]). The first disc is an [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SACD SACD]/CD hybrid featuring the album in high-resolution stereo and 5.1 surround sound. The second disc is a SACD/CD hybrid that features various remixes, b-sides, demos, and other non-album tracks that were available around the time of the original release, in high-resolution stereo.* As a [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DualDisc DualDisc] (labeled Halo 8 DVD-A). The CD side features a digitally remastered version of the album. The DVD side includes high-resolution stereo and 5.1 surround sound versions of the album as well as playable on DVD-Audio players, and Dolby Digital stereo and 5.1 surround sound versions playable on standard DVD players. It also includes music videos for "Closer" (director's cut), "March Of The Pigs" , and "Hurt" (live). Also included is a gallery of artwork from ''The Downward Spiral'' era (though many photos of ''[[Closure]]'' artwork are also included) and a discography.
The [[nin.com]] subsite [[tds.nin.com]] was set up to promote the re-release.
<blockquote>Trent Reznor and NIN art director [[John Crawford]] set out to make the “definitive editions” of all the main NIN releases on vinyl. Reznor: "We want to present the catalog as it was intended to be, with no compromises. That means a careful remastering of the audio from the original sources, a careful and painstaking recreation of the artwork, pristine materials, some surprises and an insane attention to detail that you probably won’t notice… but it matters to us. No extra bullshit and gimmicks – the “real” records in their truest form available at a reasonable price."</blockquote>
This edition of the vinyl comes with a digital download card and a booklet containing photos and an essay about the album, written by John Doran. It also remedies the issue of retained song transitions that were split across sides.
==Touring==
==Live==
All of these songs have been played live. Obviously, they were featured during the Self-Destruct Tour, though "Heresy" was played only once during the warm-up shows in 1994 and disappeared from live shows until 2007.
On the [[Performance 2007]] tour, ''The Downward Spiral'' era songs received more frequent play time. A particularly extreme example is the [[2007/02/15]] show in Madrid, Spain, when ten tracks from the ''The Downward Spiral'' were performed, the first seven of which were performed in their exact order on the album.
During the band's [[2009/08/23 New York, NY|Webster Hall]] performance on August 23, 2009, the band opened the show by performing the album in its entirety which included the live debut of "A Warm Place" and the first performance of "Big Man With a Gun" in over 15 years. The same thing happened at the [[2009/09/02 Los Angeles, CA|Hollywood Palladium]] show.
==Tributes==
The entire album was covered by YouTube musician ixi as ''[[The Downward Spiral: Reimagined for Piano]]''.[https://iximusix.bandcamp.com/album/the-downward-spiral-reimagined-for-piano]
==Artwork==
[[Image:Wound.jpg|thumb|"Wound", the basis for the artworkalbum cover]]
[[Image:TDSinnercover.jpg|thumb|''The Downward Spiral'' inner cover art]]
[[Image:Semaphoreofwings.jpg|thumb|"The Semaphore of Wings", the basis for the booklet images]]On his website[httphttps://web.archive.org/web/20160304080842/https://www.russellmills.com/mills/installations/committere.html], [[Russell Mills]] explained the ideas and materials used for the paintings that became the album cover and the inner cover/j-card insert.
About "Wound" (used for the album cover):
The piece I made focuses on teeth and their associative potential. A row of teeth is embedded in flows of salt crystals. Salt corrodes all but gold and glass; it is destructive as well as preservative.</blockquote>
The booklet contains closeup photos of a piece entitled "The Semaphore of Wings", which was made with plaster, acrylics, oils, wax, earth, blood, insects, wires, and feathers on a wooden panel.[https://www.russellmills.com/art-1990s/] The typeface used on the album is DINEngschrift in lowercase (the same typeface was used on ''[[Hesitation Marks]]'' and in all caps on ''[[The Perfect Drug (halo)|The Perfect Drug]]''.) The artwork was re-photographed by [[Rob Sheridan]] for the 2004 reissue. Reflecting on the experience in 2019, he stated:
<blockquote>I was beyond honored to remaster and reimagine the packaging for ''The Downward Spiral''’s 10th anniversary deluxe edition in 2004. For the re-release, I wanted to take new photographs of the original Russell Mills art. Over the years, the artwork had changed: Textures darkened, twigs sagged, teeth fell out. Recapturing the art in its aged state became a perfect visual metaphor for something old becoming new again.</blockquote>
*Assistance: [[Chris Vrenna]], Maise
*Engineering (2004): [[Alan Moulder]]
*Additional engineering: Sean Beavan, Chris Vrenna, Alan Moulder, Bill Kennedy, [[Brian Pollack]], John Aguto
*Additional sampling and sound design: Chris Vrenna
*Studios: [[Le Pig ]] of Beverly Hills, The Record Plant, A&M Studios
*Continuity: Trent Reznor, Chris Vrenna, [[Charlie Clouser]]
*Mastering (1994): Tom Baker at Futuredisc<br>