Nine Inch Nails may be laying low for the moment with no word on new content and supposedly no future concerts, but the sound is still strong and can keep me tapping my foot no matter how many times I’ve heard it before.

I’ve been listening to Nine Inch Nails since 1997, when they quickly became my favorite band and have stayed there ever since. Their sound was different from anything I’d ever heard and quickly brought me into the fold as a fan of industrial music. When I say industrial, I don’t mean corporate music, I mean music that incorporates a lot of sounds that when brought together make music. 

The front man for the band, Trent Reznor, has quite a streak of anti-corporatism, especially against his former record label. His feelings about corporatism in America are summed up quite well in the themed album “Year Zero,” which takes place in a dystopian American society influenced in horrible ways by George W. Bush.

Political messages aren’t everything Nine Inch Nails is about though. Prior albums have had songs that deal with issues like suicide, losing loved ones and various other issues. The most famous song by Nine Inch Nails is without a doubt “Hurt,” a song that was covered by the late Johnny Cash and accompanied by a music video that was frankly tear jerking. 

Song meanings are not given away freely; they’re left open to interpretation, like the previously mentioned “Hurt” having one interpretation of someone who’s committed suicide, and another interpretation of someone who finds meaning in living. The whole album “The Downward Spiral,” which “Hurt” premiered on, seems to be a theme of the life of someone who has slipped into the titular focus.

I personally interpret the album as someone who ends their own life, but as their life is slowly draining away they realize things weren’t so bad and if they had another chance that they wouldn’t change a thing about it. While the subject matter may be dark, it’s kind of uplifting and makes the listener really think, especially the ending. I know several times in my life when I’ve been feeling down, listening to this made me feel better about my own life.  

All in all, if you’re looking to get into Nine Inch Nails, there’s a lot of material. There are eight full albums and many remix albums. If you’re into an ‘80s kind of sound, I’d definitely recommend “Pretty Hate Machine” and “Broken.” “The Downward Spiral” is easily the most popular as it went quadruple platinum and definitely has a ‘90s sound to it. “Ghosts I-IV” is an interesting creation it’s a totally improvised instrumental album made in 10 weeks by Trent Reznor and friends he invited over for the project. He just wanted them to play whatever came to mind and the result was a beautiful and eerie album aptly named “Ghosts.” It’s a great album to listen to on a rainy day just relaxing in a room with the lights off. 

If you want to get yourself pumped up, I’d recommend listening to “Year Zero,” as the whole album has the feeling of “Fight, fight, and fight some more!” One great example of Reznor’s fighting spirit was at a concert in Australia where he urged fans to protest high album prices by stealing his music and sharing it with friends.

Overall I think there’s something for everyone in Nine Inch Nail’s discography, and I find Trent Reznor to be a great composer among a sea of auto-tuned crap and generic pop sounds.