Born Michael Trent Reznor, this all-around genius grew up in small-town Pennsylvania. He rejected his upbringing and was immensely trained as a classic pianist.
He wished to bring
electronic music into the mainstream, but instead of what had been done with it in the past, he wanted to give it feeling and danger. He succeeded, if naively, with his first release under the name "
Nine Inch Nails", Pretty Hate Machine in 1989.
He proved he could outdo himself with an 8-song EP stopgap "Broken" between his first release and his next. "Broken" was a solid expression of passion and fury. One of his best moments.
He followed up with "Fixed", an EP with remixes of "Broken" Songs.
In 1994, Trent broke into the mainstream with the titanic success of "The Downward Spiral". It contained his most commercially famous songs, the infamous "Closer" and "Hurt", which was later
beautifully covered by
Johnny Cash. "The Downward Spiral" was spun off with several remix EPs, including the extremely popular "Further Down the Spiral" and the dreaded by parents "Closer to God".
Trent and NIN (
Nine Inch Nails) spent a terribly long time touring "The Downward Spiral" and afterwards, Trent had no idea what to do. This allegedly led to alcohol and coaine abuse. He got into rehab and was soon producing the LONG-AWAITED "The Fragile". When it finally came out in 1999, it was met with
extreme love by most fans but with loathing by critics who said he was "losing his touch". He effectively said "FUCK YOU" to these people with the huge success of "The Fragile".
Trent fell again into the downward spiral of alcohol addiction after a full two tours of "The Fragile". He got his shit together long enough to make "With Teeth", his newest album, set to release on May 3rd, 2005.
Trent Reznor's music has saved my life several times. I owe my life to "The Fragile", which I listened to whenever I felt like I couldn't go on.
Trent is a prodigy in music, as he can play and he writes ALL the parts for ALL the instruments. He records all his music and mixes. No live studio recordings.
The only thing he has trouble playing is the drumkit, which he can just bust out insane rhythms on a drum synth.
www.nin.com
