My favorite album turns 21 tomorrow. The Downward Spiral by Nine Inch Nails came out March 8, 1994. I was pregnant at the time, the closest I'd get to procreating in this lifetime, but things went poorly and on May 5th I gave birth to a preemie who only lived an hour. This album got me through both sides of that experience. I played it so much I actually wore out a CD of it. Trent Reznor went on to enjoy a fantastic career and a solid marriage to the beautiful Mariqueen Mandig Reznor, and they have several kids. His newer music isn't as angsty as this album, which was recorded in the house where Sharon Tate was murdered during Trent's heavy drug abuse period. The last song on it, Hurt, which has made many tears leak from my eyes, got appropriated by the legendary Johnny Cash, who made it his own in a hit single released shortly before he died. Today I bought the new Lady Gaga album, which might have been deliberately released on Downward Spiral day; she's citing '90s NIN as a specific influence. And a few months ago I saw my favorite K-Pop artist, Taemin, do a performance dressed in a Downward Spiral t-shirt (his band, SHINee, sampled '90s NIN song Burn in their hit single Don't Call Me). Some of these songs are still on my everyday playlist, and are likely to stay there.
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