A SELECTED HISTORY
Founded 1988.
Pretty Hate Machine released November 1989.
Written, arranged and produced by Trent Reznor.
Head Like A Hole, Down In It, Sin released as singles/videos.
NIN on stage during the inaugural Lollapalooza tour in 1991
Broken EP released September 1992. Happiness In Slavery, Wish released as singles/videos. Initial pressings feature bonus disc of Physical (You're So) and Suck.
Fixed companion EP follows in November 1992, featuring remixes by J.G. Thirlwell, Coil, Butch Vig and Reznor himself.
The Downward Spiral released March 1994. March Of The Pigs, Closer, Hurt released as singles/videos.
Further Down The Spiral is released in 1995, featuring reinterpretations by Aphex Twin, Rick Rubin, Coil, and others.
NIN on stage at Woodstock 1994
Trent Reznor announces October 8, 2007 on NIN.com that Nine Inch Nails has fulfilled all contractual commitments to Interscope and is now "a totally free agent, free of any recording contract with any label."
Despite Universal Music's initial refusal to host it, the official NIN interactive fan remix site remix.NIN.com launched November 27, 2007. Within a week, 84,000 user profiles created, 43,000 multi-track files downloaded, 900 remixes uploaded and 670,000 remix files played.
Trent Reznor enlists Atticus Ross and Alan Moulder with help from Alessandro Cortini, Adrian Belew and Brian Viglione to create spontaneous, impulsive soundtracks to daydreams with no agenda or release date, only a self-imposed 10-week time limit.
Ghosts I-IV released 6:00 p.m. PST March 2, 2008 via NIN.com: four volume collection of 36 untitled instrumental tracks, nearly two hours of music, recorded over that 10-week period. Rob Sheridan collaborates with Artist in Residence (A+R) to create accompanying visual and physical aesthetic.
The end result is a wildly varied body of work released in its entirety with no label-imposed limitations--musical, physical or otherwise.
The original motion picture soundtrack to Oliver Stone's Natural Born Killers released August 1994. Produced by Trent Reznor, it features NIN's "Burn," recorded specifically for the soundtrack.
NIN's Self-Destruct tour in support of The Downward Spiral is documented on the Closure full-length video, a collection also including the unedited Mark Romanek-directed "Closer" and the rarely seen "Happiness In Slavery" clip.
The Fragile double album released September 1999. Starfuckers, Inc., The Day The World Went Away, We're In This Together, Into The Void released as singles/videos.
Things Falling Apart remix record released November 2000.
The Fragility tour documented on the live CD and DVD And All That Could Have Been, released January 2002. The limited deluxe edition of the live CD includes extra disc Still, an album of largely acoustic performances of earlier NIN materials as well as four previously unreleased compositions.
With Teeth released May 2005, preceded by The Hand That Feeds video March 25 premiere on NIN.com and April release of source files for The Hand That Feeds, allowing fans to remix the tracks. Source files also released for second single Only, in a wider variety of formats. David Fincher-directed video for Only consists primarily of computer generated imagery.
Every Day Is Exactly The Same released April 2006 as title track of record featuring remixes of With Teeth singles by DFA, El-P, others.
Live: With Teeth tour documented on Beside You In Time, released February 2007, first music DVD released simultaneously on DVD, HD-DVD and Blu-Ray. Also features The Hand That Feeds and Only videos.
Year Zero alternate reality game (ARG) unveiled February 2007. Within a week, a fan discovers hidden message in a NIN t-shirt leading them to the game's first website www.iamtryingtobelieve.com, a USB flash drive found in a bathroom stall at a Lisbon NIN concert containing an MP3 file of the song My Violent Heart containing ID3 tags leading fans to www.anotherversionofthetruth.com, and a second USB drive found in a venue reveals a hidden phone number that is answered by a wiretap recording of a murder. Conceived by Trent Reznor and assisted in execution by 42 Entertainment, the ARG progresses through the release of Year Zero and beyond, featuring no less than 29 websites (including www.uswiretap.com, www.artisresistance.com, www.hollywoodinmemoriam.org, www.solutionsbackwardsinitiative.net/pilgrims, www.securebroadcastinformatics.com, www.judsonogram.net, www.themailstromcom, www.thepriceoftreason.net and dozens more), hidden messages within NIN merchandise, recordings and barcodes, hotlines, flier and postering campaigns, and even resistance cell "meetings" organized via calls made to pre-paid cell phones distributed to participants.
Survivalism video "leaked" to the Internet via flash drives placed throughout venues at NIN March 2007 UK shows, contains clues leading to three more ARG websites.
Year Zero released April 17, 2007. The following day ARG participants are transported to an Open Source Resistance meeting in downtown Los Angeles that begins with a speech from ARG character Neil Czerno and culminates in a NIN live performance interrupted by the appearance of riot police.
Fans create http://www.ninwiki.com/ detailing all aspects of Year Zero and the ARG. Within two months, the ARG amasses 2.5 million cumulative site visits, 7.5 cumulative page views and 2 million phone calls.
Capital G released as single. Capital G, My Violent Heart, Me, I'm Not source files released via NIN.com.
NIN concludes touring for 2007 in September, having played first ever shows in China, Korea, Russia and Israel.
Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D released November 2007, featuring reworkings by Saul Williams, Pirate Robot Midget, Ladytron, the Faint, Fennesz, among others, as well as separate DVD-ROM containing all tracks in multi-track format.
The original motion picture soundtrack to David Lynch's Lost Highway released February 1997. Produced by Trent Reznor, it features NIN's "The Perfect Drug," exclusive to the soundtrack and released as a video/single.
In a burst of creativity, a new NIN album entitled The Slip, is written and recorded in a matter of weeks. On May 5, 2008, just days after mastering, the new album is posted as a free digital release to nin.com alongside a simple message: "Thank you for your continued and loyal support over the years - this one's on me" - TR. (In less than a year, The Slip exceeds 1.8M downloads)
July 2008 NIN launches the Lights In The Sky Tour and debuts a new band lineup. Alongside Reznor are Robin Finck (guitar) and Justin Meldal-Johnsen (bass) as well returning members Alessandro Cortini (keyboards) and Josh Freese (drums). The tour receives rave reviews and critical acclaim for it’s ground breaking production technology.
"Nine Inch Nails' sets have always incorporated breathtaking set design and the Lights in the Sky show is their most elaborate visual spectacle yet...NIN put on a show that's not to be missed." - SPIN Magazine
January 2009
New NIN lineup to tour 2009. At the end of The Lights In The Sky Tour, Trent announces his plans to “deconstruct everything” and begin touring as a four piece. “We’re going to do things from scratch”. Trent is joined by Ilan Rubin (drums) and returning members Robin Finck (guitar) and Justin Meldal-Johnsen (bass) to make up the NIN quartet.