Nine Inch Nails and the Underground Pop: From Pretty Hate Machine to The Fragile

Nine Inch Nails, led by Trent Reznor and established in 1989, made waves with their debut album Pretty Hate Machine, which drew inspiration from bands such as Depeche Mode, Skinny Puppy, and Ministry. The 1992 EP Broken significantly influenced the industrial music scene. Their 1994 concept album, The Downward Spiral, recorded at the infamous 10050 Cielo Drive, delves into themes of self-destruction and nihilism. This work caught the eye of David Bowie, who collaborated with NIN in 1995, and filmmaker David Lynch, who featured their music in Lost Highway (1997) and Twin Peaks: The Return (2017). After battling depression and addiction for five years, Reznor released The Fragile in 1999, a double album inspired by Pink Floyd's The Wall. He later partnered with Atticus Ross for film scores, including those for The Social Network (2010) and The Vietnam War (2017).