The Downward Spiral (studio album)
by Nine Inch Nails

The Downward Spiral by Nine Inch Nails
Year: 1994
Overall rank: 148th   
Average Rating: 
83/100 (from 1,246 votes)
     
Accolades:
Award Top 10 albums of 1994 (6th)
Award Top 50 albums of the 1990s (32nd)
Award Top 200 albums of all time (148th)

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Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral [New Vinyl LP] Explicit
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NINE INCH NAILS DOWNWARD SPIRAL VINYL 2LP DEFINITIVE EDITON 180G NEW SEALED MINT
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The Downward Spiral by Nine Inch Nails (Record, 2017)
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Nine Inch Nails bestography

The Downward Spiral is ranked as the best album by Nine Inch Nails.

Nine Inch Nails album bestography « Higher ranked
-
This album (148th)
The Downward Spiral
Lower ranked (507th) »
Pretty Hate Machine

(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).

Upcoming concerts

Feb
05
Thu
20:00
Nine Inch Nails - Peel It Back Tour 2026
Smoothie King Center, New Orleans, United States. United States
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Feb
07
Sat
20:00
Nine Inch Nails - Peel It Back Tour 2026
VyStar Veterans Memorial Arena, Jacksonville, United States. United States
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Feb
10
Tue
20:00
Nine Inch Nails - Peel It Back Tour 2026
Spectrum Center, Charlotte, United States. United States
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The Downward Spiral track list

   The tracks on this album have an average rating of 86 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).

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Track
Rating/Comments
1.
Average Rating: 87 (270 votes)Comments: View 7
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2.
Average Rating: 87 (266 votes)Comments: View 4
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3.
Average Rating: 86 (253 votes)Comments: View 4
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4.
Track pick (880 - 294 votes)
Average Rating: 88 (294 votes)Comments: View 3
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5.
Track pick (910 - 409 votes)
Average Rating: 91 (409 votes)Comments: View 4
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6.
Average Rating: 87 (247 votes)Comments: View 4
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7.
Average Rating: 84 (217 votes)Comments: View 3
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8.
Average Rating: 82 (218 votes)Comments: View 3
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9.
Average Rating: 79 (208 votes)Comments: View 2
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10.
Average Rating: 86 (227 votes)Comments: View 4
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11.
Average Rating: 85 (217 votes)Comments: View 2
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12.
Average Rating: 87 (230 votes)Comments: View 2
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13.
Average Rating: 83 (224 votes)Comments: View 2
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14.
Track pick (920 - 418 votes)
Average Rating: 92 (418 votes)Comments: View 7
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Track pick (1000 - 100 votes) Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.

The Downward Spiral rankings

Rankings summary
Overall rank: 148th | 1990s rank: 32nd | 1994 rank: 6th

The Downward Spiral collection

The Downward Spiral ratings

Average Rating: 
83/100 (from 1,246 votes)
   Help Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AV
where:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.

Showing latest 5 ratings for this album. | Show all 1,246 ratings for this album.

Sort by
RatingDate updatedMemberAlbum ratingsAvg. album rating
 
85/100
 !
4 days ago Araldo   1,46980/100
 
95/100
 !
12/05/2025 04:04 Kingturtle   6,65072/100
 
60/100
 !
12/01/2025 02:58 Andras   20879/100
 
70/100
 !
11/20/2025 21:51 Exist-en-ciel   2,54170/100
 
85/100
 !
11/13/2025 00:15 NYAndreas   1,43243/100

Rating metrics: Help Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)

This album is rated in the top 1% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 82.5/100, a mean average of 81.3/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 82.6/100. The standard deviation for this album is 16.4.

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The Downward Spiral comments

Showing latest 10 comments | Show all 85 comments |
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Maximum Rated First | Longest Comments First
(Only showing comments with -2 votes or higher. You can alter this threshold from your profile page. Manage Profile)

Rating:  
40/100
From 12/20/2024 20:10 | #306593
Last track, Hurt, is an absolute gem. It's just a shame I had to listen to an hour of barely intelligible noise to get to that point. Thought I would like this album but it just didn't work for me. Far too much distortion on the guitar for me.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 10/26/2023 20:09 | #299642
For me listening to this album is very hard in every meaning of this word, instrumentals are harsh and lyrics are depressing, so while I'm not sure if I enjoyed it very much, I can clearly say that I appreciate how much effort they put in here to creat this album, especially with this creative production.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 04/10/2023 04:17 | #295905
Drugs.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | -1 votes (0 helpful | 1 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 04/01/2023 16:16 | #295679
A fantastic lyrical album that is let down by the music in my opinion. If the music was up to the same level as the lyrics then this would be amongst the greatest of all time but they don't achieve this with a lot of the songs falling a bit flat for me. The tracks just don't seem to have the energy or infectiousness that would make me come back that often and even though I have revisited this album a lot of times it is only because it gets such high praise. Most of the acclaim comes from the unique style of music and the lyrics as they are so full of depth and they have enough quality that they deserve and demand to be heard. I don't think I have heard anything that similar to the music on here either and that alone makes it an interesting and fun listen. They create a great atmosphere as well that suits the lyrical tone perfectly. Overall, this might not be my style of music or maybe this record hasn't clicked for me yet as I do think it is over rated but it is still a strong release.
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 02/19/2023 11:07 | #294205
Obra-prima
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
80/100
From 08/31/2022 03:49 | #289164
Solid album
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
85/100
From 06/29/2022 14:37 | #286792
Album Rating: 80.29
(1,124/14)

1.Mr. Self Destruct. 84
2.Piggy. 83
3.Heresy. 71
4.March Of The Pigs. 83
5.Closer. 97
6.Ruiner. 76
7.The Becoming. 73
8.I Do Not Want This. 79
9.Big Man With A Gun. 78
10.A Warm Place. 92
11.Eraser. 72
12.Reptile. 73
13.The Downward Spiral. 65
14.Hurt. 98
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
75/100
From 03/08/2022 06:18 | #282501
Beyond the border of my musical taste. I can live without this..
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
From 11/20/2021 10:01 | #276462
Está bien, es innovador,... Pero es para prestar atención. Es un disco que cuesta asimilar y al que hay que dar varias escuchas
Helpful?  (Log in to vote) | 0 votes (0 helpful | 0 unhelpful)
Rating:  
90/100
From 12/26/2020 10:17 | #263216
I like the music very much the first song is not so good but that is Industrial. I understand the Story of The Downward Spiral. It is the way of how a person goes to the bottom of life. And I can say I like Close and Hurt very much March of the Pigs and A Warm Place are also nice tracks.
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Best Albums of 1994
1. Grace by Jeff Buckley
2. Dummy by Portishead
3. Illmatic by Nas
4. Weezer (Blue Album) by Weezer
5. Definitely Maybe by Oasis
6. The Downward Spiral by Nine Inch Nails
7. MTV Unplugged In New York by Nirvana
8. Crooked Rain, Crooked Rain by Pavement
9. Superunknown by Soundgarden
10. Parklife by Blur
11. Dookie by Green Day
12. Ready To Die by The Notorious B.I.G.
13. Dog Man Star by Suede
14. The Holy Bible by Manic Street Preachers
15. Let Love In by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds
16. Bee Thousand by Guided By Voices
17. Jar Of Flies by Alice In Chains
18. The Division Bell by Pink Floyd
19. Purple by Stone Temple Pilots
20. Live Through This by Hole
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