TRENT REZNOR

TRENT REZNOR

Trent Reznor is an artist, songwriter, musician and producer and the mastermind behind Nine Inch Nails. Influenced by artists such as David Bowie, Peter Murphy, Robert Smith and many others, Trent put his talents and creativity to use and reached critical success in 1989 with the Nine Inch Nails album Pretty Hate Machine. Following the success of the debut album, Broken was released and won a Grammy in 1993 for the song “Wish”. Reznor set up a studio in the house that the Charles Manson Murders took place and recorded The Downward Spiral. The album remains the highest selling Nine Inch Nails album to date and is probably my favorite album of all time. In 1999 The Fragile was released. It was a double album that experimented deeper into theatrical industrial music. Six years passed before the next Nine Inch Nails album due to personal issues that Trent was facing. When With Teeth released, it was a new beginning for Nine Inch Nails and with the immediate follow up Year Zero, Trent took electronic industrial music to a whole new level. The main themes to the albums were dealing with government corruption, religion and the apocalypse. Trent then released The Slip and Ghosts I-IV independently on his own label. Reznor has not only gained much success with his creations of Nine Inch Nails but also with producing and scoring film. He teamed up with Atticus Ross and scored The Social Network and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. He has worked with and produced many bands such as Marilyn Manson, How to Destroy Angels, David Bowie, Saul Williams, etc. All of these artists have been influenced by Trents work as well. One great example is David Bowie, the albums Outside and Earthling are heavily influenced by Trent Reznor.

Trent Reznor has a huge impact on electronic music. Bands such as Linkin Park and Purity Ring really branched off of what Trent was doing in the late 80’s and early 90’s. Trent also continues to grow and get more experimental with his electronics. The album Hesitation Marks is a prime example. As a listener and industry professional, I am blown away by the works of Trent Reznor. He has influenced and inspired me in so many ways since I was a child and continues to impress me with his innovations to this day. I admire that he is pretty much a one-man band and creates and produces most of the music by himself on his albums and then hires a band to play live shows with him. I will conclude with stating, if you have not been to a live show of Nine Inch Nails, do so. I have seen them in concert eleven times and every tour gets better and better.

"Trent Reznor: Timeline". Cleveland.com. Retrieved 2006-12-18.

Ali, Lorraine (1994-03-18). Making Records – Where Manson Murdered Helter Shelter. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2007-11-11.