Nine Inch Nails
Nine Inch Nails (abbreviated as NIN) is an American
industrial rock band, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its
main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only
official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its
direction. NIN's music straddles a wide range of genres, while retaining a
characteristic sound using electronic instruments and processing. After
recording a new album, Reznor usually assembles a live band to perform with him;
this live component is a separate entity from Nine Inch Nails in the recording
studio. On stage, NIN often employs spectacular visual elements to accompany its
performances, which frequently culminate with the band destroying their
instruments.
Underground music audiences warmly received Nine Inch Nails in its early years.
The band produced several highly influential records in the 1990s that achieved
widespread popularity: many Nine Inch Nails songs became radio hits, two NIN
recordings won Grammy Awards, and the band has sold over twenty million albums
worldwide, with 10.5 million sales certified in the United States alone. In
2004, Rolling Stone placed Nine Inch Nails at 94 on their list of the 100
greatest rock artists of all time. In spite of this acclaim, the band has had
several feuds with the corporate side of the recording industry. Trent Reznor
announced in 2007 that Nine Inch Nails would proceed independently of record
labels.
In the past, NIN released major studio albums infrequently; remixes and live
albums bridged these gaps in the band's catalog. Reznor cites his personal
issues as the cause of these delays, and his songs often confront dark
explorations of the self. The most recent Nine Inch Nails album, Year Zero, is
an exception to the usually introspective nature of Reznor's songwriting and the
long gestation between major releases.
