Rank NIN Albums

[joplinpicasso]

A bit of opinionated, subjective narcissism here, but rank them anyway!

For me, it's settled on:

The Fragile
With Teeth
The Downward Spiral
Broken
Year Zero
Pretty Hate Machine
The Slip

I refrained from putting Ghosts I-IV or the soundtracks in there because the inclusion of vocals and lyrics as primary narrative on an album does make it slightly hard to compare, although I would say that, musically, Ghosts and the soundtracks are the best stuff he's ever written.

[spahn]

For what it's worth:

the downward spiral
the fragile
year zero
dragon tattoo
ghosts i-iv
the social network
broken
pretty hate machine
the slip
with teeth

[Wretchedest]

The Downward Spiral
The Fragile
Year Zero
Broken
Dragon Tattoo
Ghosts
Social Network
PHM
With Teeth
Slip


Honestly I don't know how the lack of lyrics automatically makes it not music... that seems really stupid to me. Vox are but one instrument, not the lynchpin of the whole operation.

[joplinpicasso]

Ha! When did I say 'not music'? I guess I meant to say, for me personally, it wouldn't be fair, because they would be numbers 1, 2, and 3! And I was just ranking the albums that have rock/pop/electronic songs in a verse-chorus-other section form. Do whatever you want!

[Wretchedest]

Fair enough.

[BRoswell]

The Downward Spiral/The Fragile
Ghosts I-IV
The Social Network
Year Zero
Broken
With Teeth
The Slip
Pretty Hate Machine

Dragon Tattoo will be ranked once I listen to it through again. At the moment I would say it might end up between Ghosts I-IV and The Social Network.

[Vertigo]

1. The Downward Spiral - The layering of sounds in this album is so dense, yet every song has a strong melodic core. Absolute masterpiece of composition. Furthermore, every song is just great. Every single one. While the album's concept doesn't resonate as strongly with me as The Fragile, Broken or With Teeth, song-by-song I don't think it has an equal among NIN or pretty much anything else.
2. Year Zero - Strongly conveyed concept, lots of seriously enjoyable electronic noise. My only problem with Year Zero is the samey way the tracks start: they mostly solo the rhythm for a few seconds (which continues unmodified throughout much of the song) before vocals enter. Other than that, I think it's a great sound and a great album.
3. Broken - Another brilliantly realised concept, with nihilism and sexuality referring to oppressive domination by the record label. Being born in the TDS era the layered production and inventive composition are top-notch, and the industrial metal style yields some scorching material. I think it starts to flag later on - I'm not fond of Gave Up or Suck - and it doesn't have one of Trent's typically perfect closing tracks, so it stays behind Year Zero, despite containing some of my favourite NIN songs.
4. The Fragile - This is actually my favourite period for NIN material - I absolutely adore the new songs on Still and Things Falling Apart, plus Deep, Perfect Drug and the menu music for And All That Could Have Been. But the album itself has never entirely clicked with me, which is why I always play it with the additional period material spliced into the playlist (at which point it does become an absolutely incredible experience, but we're rating the vanilla albums here). I find the blaring layered guitars rather grating, and they dominate the album to such a degree that the emotional tone to the story rarely sees the light of day. In my opinion.
5. The Slip - I've had a bit of a love/hate relationship with The Slip, but after making a few minor modifications I'm entirely happy with it. Love Letting You and The Four Of Us Are Dying.
6. With Teeth - Another love/hater... I think the album's narrative, and the themes it draws upon, are amazing. All the songs have at least the germ of brilliance, but with very few exceptions I think they fail to realise their full potential - partly because of the reliance on comparatively conventional-sounding guitars, but mostly because of the ridiculously prominent and heavy yet frequently unimaginative drumming.
7. Quake OST - Not the most dynamic collection of music, but it works so well as ambient music, and it's enormously evocative. Like Antichrist Superstar, it almost feels like a tangent of the Downward Spiral concept. Some of the later tracks are just plain boring, but that's made up for with a rare bit of genuine industrial (and a bloody awesome bit, too) as the opening track.
8. Pretty Hate Machine - Not enormously keen on this one... I like how accessible it is, and there are some great songs (I particularly love Sin). But the Purest Feeling collection seems to have far more soul in its simplistic composition than the finished album does - it's like the army of producers marched through and tore out its heart. It doesn't feel like a cohesive or emotive set of music to me. If I'm in an '80s mood, though, it's a fun listen.
9. Ghosts I-IV - None of the tracks are bad, but collectively I find Ghosts a bit hard to listen to, and I get seriously bored if I try listening to the whole collection in one setting. It's too invasive for true ambient listening, but not gripping or evocative enough for primary music (which in my opinion The Social Network OST is, and GWTDT just about gets away with despite the gargantuan length). It makes effective computer game background music, though, which is how I normally use it.

[REPLICA]

1. The Fragile
The Downward Spiral
With Teeth
The Social Network
Year Zero
Pretty Hate Machine
The Slip
Broken
Ghosts I-IV

Listening to GWTDT right now. So far, it's pretty good.

[MAD]

1. The Fragile
2. Broken
3. Pretty Hate Machine
4. The Downward Spiral
5. With Teeth
6. Year Zero
7. Ghosts I-IV
8. The Slip

[joplinpicasso]

Vertigo, what modifications on The Slip do you speak of?

On blue moons, With Teeth sliiiightly edges out The Fragile for me as my favorite.

[piggy]

1. The Downward Spiral
2. The Fragile
3. Pretty Hate Machine
4. Broken
5. Ghosts I-IV
6. Year Zero
7. With Teeth
8. The Slip

[cheddamash]

1. The Fragile
2. With Teeth
3. The Downward Spiral
4. Year Zero
5. Pretty Hate Machine
6. The Slip
7. Ghosts I-IV
8. Broken

[Malechite]

Alright, I'll give in.

The Fragile
The Downward Spiral
Year Zero
Broken
Pretty Hate Machine
With Teeth
Ghosts
The Slip
TGWTDT and TSN are sort of outside of scope for me.

[somewhatdamaged]

Hmm...OK.

The Downward Spiral – Just an incredible album from start to finish. I listen to it all of the time and am still amazed by it.

Pretty Hate Machine – First listened to this album in 1991 when I was 10 years old. It was drastically different than anything I was listening to at the time. Harder than Depeche Mode and the collage of sounds surpassed any hair metal band of that time, it sounds dated today, but at the time it was revolutionary. Sadly, I don’t listen to it much anymore, but it’s definitely my second favorite, maybe because of nostalgia. Another thing I really love about this album, TR vocals and writting is very unique to this album. The passion is extremely apparent on this album.

The Fragile – At the time, never have I seen a package done so elaborately. First album, where I could finally get hyped about. I remember I just had gotten a computer with internet, 1999, and the first place I went to was nin.com., the second mtv.com (haha). MTV.com had a 30 second teaser of TDTWA, which is funny now, because if you listen to the first 30 seconds of TDTWA, it’s just noise and no song. I remember buying the album from CD Warehouse and going straight home and putting the CD in the stereo, playing it as loud as I could. The opening song blew me away. I must admit though,it took several years to appreciate the whole album. The B-sides from this era are the best.

Broken – This album was the hardest for me to get into. I would listen to PHM everyday and I think I had one of those mail-in CD subscriptions (the best way to steal CDs at the time) and this was mailed to my house. I popped it in, and was it was too much noise for me at the time. Not until TDS was released and digested was I able to go back and listen to Broken. I would like a re-master of Broken before a re-master of TF. Random memory: Playing Broken while playing Road Rash II on mute.

The Social Network – Great music I can listen to at work without offending anyone.

Year Zero – Good album, I don’t like every song off the album, but the ones I do, I REALLY like them. The Great Destroyer’s ending, mind-blowing.

The Slip – Very good album, I like most of the songs from this album. The only fault for me was that it seemed like leftover tracks from WT, YZ and Ghosts.

With Teeth – Again, probably the weakest album out of the bunch, but compared to all other albums out there, this is strong album. Probably, first album where I didn’t like every single song.

The Girl with Dragon Tattoo – Just started listening today.

Ghosts I-IV – When I first listened to this I was kinda bored by the first track, then the second track came on, bored again. Freaking finally, third track had some guts to it. I was alright, I am going to hear some Driver Down type songs. Well, that didn’t exactly happen, but I do like the album. Some songs took longer to like than others.

[gorast]

Hm.

I think my top album is The Fragile. It's not an album I can just pop in whenever - I have to commit to it, be in the right mindset for it. And that's when it really shows how fantastic it is. I'm the sort of person that likes really long albums that seem to go on forever, and The Fragile has that feel to it. You start out not really knowing where you're going to end, on the first listen at least. It's really a masterpiece.

After that I'd put Ghosts I-IV. Unlike The Fragile, I can listen to this whenever I want and still really enjoy the musicality of it; most of the tracks are pretty simple, yeah, but they're inventive, and that's what makes this album great.

I suppose it doesn't particularly count, but I always include Still right after Ghosts. I feel like Still is an album that gets overlooked by people who just look at the surface-level NIN. But it's a beautiful album. The arrangements of the old songs are very well done, and the new songs are some of the best of this era. Except for Gone, Still. But whatever.

After that comes With Teeth. This was the first album I really heard front-to-back, and its accessibility pushed me to explore the rest of the catalogue. I think the fact that there's no overarching theme to the album makes it nice to listen to, because you can mess with the tracklist in a way that you can't with some of the other works.

Year Zero is the next one on my list, because the concept was so...foreign to me. The overtness of the theme, the fierceness of the message in the album, was quite impressive to hear after hearing TDS and TF, which were so introspective, whereas YZ looks around at the world instead. The repetitiveness of the songs tends to get to me, though. Every song starts with a fucking drumbeat...

Fuck. What do I have left...

I don't really have much reason for the placement of the next few albums. I'm not terribly fond of how vicious and abrasive The Downward Spiral and Broken are for nearly the entirety of both. I like the variation that 's in the other albums.

Pretty Hate Machine feels sort of dated to me, but depending on the day I'll place it above TDS/Broken (which are pretty much joined at the hip for me.)

The Slip was good when I heard it, but the more I delved into the older work, the more I realized that it was fairly subpar, which is understandable considering how quickly it was put out. But still. Oh well.

With regards to TSN and TGWTDT, they'd probably fall between Ghosts and Still. TGWTDT would rank higher because it, in my opinion, is a greater work than TSN.

[ManBurning]

1. The Fragile
2. The Downward Spiral
3. With_Teeth
4. The Slip
5. Pretty Hate Machine
6. Broken
7. Year Zero
8. Ghosts I-IV

That was very hard...The first 3 are pretty much my top 3 albums, everything after is hard to rank. So my top 3 are The Fragile, TDS and W_T and then everything else is kind of on par with each other, expect Year Zero, I really don't care too much for that, and Ghosts is good for what it is, but I very rarely get an urge to randomly want to ghosts just lounging around.

I think it would have been easier to rank 15 songs or so then the albums...there is like 1-2 really amazing songs spread out on each album. Sunspots anyone?

*****EDIT*****
above was my original post made a hour ago, I don't want to modify it it any way to show you how an opinion can change after revisiting an album...

So I went back and listened to With_Teeth and I must say, it does NOT deserve a top 3 spot at all. In fact asside from Sunspots, I really didn't care to listen to much else. Getting Smaller and The Line begins to Blur are good as well, but I actually found myself dis-interested in most of the songs as I listened to them, and I just wanted to skip them. Funny was when I typed that message I got such an urge to listen to With_Teeth, but soon after throwing it on, it became quite clear that it didn't deserve the top 3 spot...

believe it or not, I would much rather listen to the Slip, and I know alot of people dislike that one for some reason, but I donno, I think it's a solid work of art, sme of his best work is on there (Demon Seed, Lights in the sky and Head down). So I think with_Teeth would move down not only 1 spot, but 2 spots right below Pretty Hate Machine, After listening to W_T I realzied how classic PHM is, dispite it sounding rather dated.

new order:

1. The Fragile
2. The Downward Spiral
3. The Slip
4. Pretty Hate Machine
5. With_Teeth
6. Broken
7. Year Zero
8. Ghosts I-IV

[reznovka]

1. pretty hate machine
2. The Downward Spiral
3. The Fragile
4. Year Zero
5. The Slip
6. broken
7. With_Teeth
8. Ghosts

Don´t ask me why...just my feeling..

[Vertigo]

Vertigo, what modifications on The Slip do you speak of?

-On 1,000,000 I cleaned up the "popping" muting noise at the end of each guitar riff and some of the gaps in the guitar (this took a long ass time); EQ tweak on the drum track to make it a bit punchier; shortened the silence before the finale; tinkered with the balance between the instruments.
-Discipline didn't really need tweaking but I used the multitrack version (which has an extended ending) and faded out each instrument at a different pace, letting the listener analyze the composition as the song winds down.
-For Echoplex I stripped the bass guitar from a lot of sections (trying to give it a lighter touch and more of a fragile, emotive tone) and messed with the opening drums to simulate the live intro to the song.
-Lights In The Sky I applied different subtle effects to each piano section, not enough to make it sound weird but enough to provide some dynamism to the track; also boosted the atmospheric effects later in the track to become a primary element of the song.
-Corona Radiata, just capped the bass booming at a couple of points in the first half of the song. This lets you comfortably listen to it at a higher volume.
-With Demon Seed I did the obligatory splicing with Ghosts 38, trying to make a more epic closing track. It works very well in my opinion - scatter the Ghosts material correctly and you have great instrumental tangents between verses, it almost feels like a NIN take on Jane's Addiction's Three Days. I didn't just add in sections though, it works best if you swap some 38 elements into DS's sections and vice versa (and some fiddling needs doing to make everything fit together properly).

Mucho thanks if anyone could be bothered to read through all that...

[ubermensch]

The Downward Spiral
The Fragile
Pretty Hate Machine
Broken
With_Teeth
Year Zero
The Slip
Ghosts

[Ryan]

Broken
Quake OST
The Fragile
The Downward Spiral
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo OST (see: Great Bird of Prey)
The Slip
Year Zero
Pretty Hate Machine
Ghosts I-IV
The Social Network OST
With Teeth

[reseen_lamenti]

1. The Fragile
2. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
3. The Downward Spiral
4. Purest Feeling
5. The Social Network
6. Still
7. Year Zero
8. Pretty Hate Machine
9. The Slip
10. Ghosts I-IV
11. With Teeth
12. Broken

[BenAkenobi]

i grouped them in order of personal significance
1 pretty hate machine / with teeth ............ these offer the most emotional songs
2 the fragile / the slip / year zero .............. these feature real wide range of sound
3 broken / the downward spiral ................. these bite and better kept in the dark
4 ghosts / various soundtracks ................. these are refreshing from time to time
5 and all that could have been (live / still) .. these just deserve to be mentioned

[Cyurus Razor]

Cool thread I had actually given this some thought months ago...

1. The Downward Spiral 10/5 Stars
2. The Fragile 7/5 Stars
3. Broken 5/5 Stars
4. The Slip 5/5 Stars
5. Pretty Hate Machine 5/5 Stars
6. Ghosts 5/5 Stars
7. Unreleased Remix Tracks Compilation (found online) 4.5/5 Stars
8. Fixed 4.5/5 Stars
9. Still 4.5/5 Stars
10. With Teeth 4.5/5 Stars
11. Quake Soundtrack 4/5 Stars
12. Year Zero 4/5 Stars

5/5 Stars = perfect album, could not be improved on significantly
6/5 Stars = all around best album of the year
7/5 Stars = best album in that category for that decade
8/5 Stars = best album in that genre in a generation
9/5 Stars = best album in that style period
10/5 Stars = best album ever made

[Trunkjob]

Main Albums
The Fragile
Ghosts I-IV
Still
Year Zero
The Downward Spiral
The Slip
With Teeth
Broken
Pretty Hate Machine

Remix Albums
Things Falling Apart
Fixed
Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D
Further Down the Spiral

[Highly Psychological]

1 - Without a Doubt - The Downward Spiral - This will be seen as a historical point in music in the future. Its ahead of its time. Its a stone cold masterpiece of late 20th century music. Trent will be seen in decades time as a electronic mozart figure along with Aphex Twin. If historians were to pick 50 masterpieces from the 20th century in a few hundred years time this would be one of them. Its like if Shakespeare made music, but used sounds instead of words, you can listen to it for years and years and hear it in different ways and marvel at the genius of it

2 - The Fragile - More commercial, the genius is still there, idea after idea, everything works, countless songs. Many people would die to come up with some of the stuff on that album, its dense atmospheric, easier to get into. There are more good songs on this album, despite not being on the same level as the downward Spiral, its still one of my favs and i adore it.

3 - Broken -Exhilarating, sexy, dirty, nasty, funky, hard, its a real good album for fucking. Its a shot of adrenaline, it makes you feel alive. Proper rock n roll. Makes everything else you hear after it sound like music for pussies, this is the real deal.

4 - Pretty Hate Machine - Sounds older than it acctually is - its like the entire 1980's encapsulated onto one record, if it had come out in England in 1984 it would have been one of the biggest selling albums of the decade and Trent would have been given the same stature as George Michael and Boy George, New Order, Depeche Mode the Petshop Boys, Morrissey etc. Its got all the angst of The Smiths, the Jesus and Mary chain, Joy Division with that wonderful 80's sound. I love every song on it, tracks like Something I can Never Have proved Trent had something very special.

5 - Year Zero - Flawed concept, but you cant argue with tracks like Vessell, My Violent Heart, In This Twilight, I think its like a more electronic than metal version of Broken, it does the same thing for me sometimes.

6 - With Teeth - I hated this when it came out and was majorly disappointed but it has grown on me over the years, i like its production now, very low key, the only band sounding NIN album. Love The Collector and Sunspots. However it has some of the worst NIN material on it too like he was going through the motions. You Know What You are is the worst track he has ever written. It just felt like not much after The fragile and a 6 year wait was expecting more, but anticipation always lets you down. I like it for what it is now. I love the words about Addiction. Its an album about addiction and its taken me a while to get it. But i love some of it now.

7-8 Ghost and The Slip. Both felt rushed, not a fan of either some moment on ghosts i love. But the slip left me cold.
Im glad Trent is making another record and the slip was not the last one.

[theimage13]

1) All of them.
2) Just about any other CD I own from any other artist.

[Big Fat Matt]

i may give reasoning later, but im just listing right now for posterity

The Fragile
The Downward Spiral
Year Zero
With Teeth
The Slip
Ghosts
Pretty Hate Machine
Broken

[Harry Seaward]

The Downward Spiral
Year Zero
The Fragile
Ghosts I-IV
Pretty Hate Machine
With Teeth
The Slip
Broken

Haters gonna hate.

[allegro]

The Downward Spiral
The Downward Spiral
The Downward Spiral
The Downward Spiral
Broken
The Downward Spiral
The Downward Spiral
The Downward Spiral

[carpenoctem]

The Dragon Tattoo and Social Network soundtracks should be excluded from the list - this is a list to rank Nine Inch Nails, not Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. Probably a small detail but they're really not the same things. Those soundtracks are part of his continued experiments in straying away from the Nails persona, so they shouldn't be lumped in with that persona.

That being said, from the bottom on up: THE SLIP, while not terrible, is rather lackluster; the proof is in the pudding when it comes to this one, and I never listen to it, nor do I (hardly) ever have the desire to. (I did feel a slight curiosity to revisit Echoplex and Discipline today, oddly enough. I curbed it.) PRETTY HATE MACHINE has its moments (and the remaster sounds great), but it's very different from the kind of sound that he solidified in the 90s and there's only brief hints at the kind of brilliance he would later show. Head Like A Hole is still one of the meanest songs of his career though, and songs like Kinda I Want To showcase the dancier, funkier side of Nails. THE FRAGILE has its place here at the bottom half of my list because double albums are hard to pull off and I don't think he was quite able to; though beautiful and complex at every turn, this monster is rarely any fun to listen to. It sounds overblown and overcooked, and is an example of double albums that quickly ran out of ideas by the second disc (Complication, I'm Looking Forward..., Where Is Everybody?, The Marilyn Manson Song, Underneath It All). On the other hand, its moments are great - Somewhat Damaged has probably the best progression of any song I've heard from Nine Inch Nails or anyone else, Ripe (With Decay) is a haunting, unsettling and very memorable way to end an album of this magnitude, and Into the Void is amazing. GHOSTS I-IV is probably only above The Fragile because I've listened to it more, but while there's stuff that could be considered filler or fluff to many fans, I love the loose, experimental feel of the album and its refusal to be deliberate or calculated. It also came at a great time for me as a fan and in Reznor's hot streak back in 2007-08. An instrumental album is, I think, what all of us wanted at some point or another from him, and it was always unreasonable to expect all 36 tracks to be on par with A Warm Place. I love the strong undercurrent of piano (still probably his best expressive instrument), and how cerebral and elemental it can be. A great use of sound effects and samples, too, and who would've guessed he could pull of a straight-up banjo instrumental song without succumbing to ridiculousness? BROKEN is next; sometimes I think it's too short and other times I think it's just right. It's so volcanic, so furious and unhinged; he tempered most of that aggression with softer elements like piano or atmospheric synth, but this is the one album where he lets it all go without worrying about what anyone thinks, and it's great to listen to this when you're in that kind of mood. It's fun, cathartic, and incredibly rewarding, although only appropriate for certain moods. YEAR ZERO is next because for a late career move, it wasn't desperate or out of character - it was a brilliant change up, something that didn't sound like anything else out there (and still doesn't), and extremely dense and layered. The ARG was fun but ultimately went on too long, though at least you didn't have to follow it to appreciate the music, it just enriched it. I love how he gave in completely to his artificial computerized sound here; anything organic here is processed heavily until everything is cold, harsh, and mechanical. THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL is a close contender for first place mostly because I know I should choose it for first place, and with good reason: it's a masterpiece, every part of it necessary to the whole, each song building on its neighbors and constructing a journey and telling a story. It still sounds like it could've been released yesterday, and the more I listen to it the more I can hardly believe it was released in 1994; I have to wonder if anything released today is going to sound as relevant in 2026. Another perfect blend of aggression, despair, and vulnerability in equal measure, sometimes drowned in noise and sometimes deathly quiet, but mixed in such a way as to hear every bone-chilling detail in all its many layers. There are so many good songs here it's hard to pick and even harder to take out of context, though most people would point to Closer, the only Nails song most people remember these days - and yet, while being overplayed, Closer hasn't lost its charm or its bite, and is still a great testament to the Nine Inch Nails aesthetic. But the most important album to me was the one I came to first, and probably is one of the lesser liked albums... WITH TEETH. It will always be my favorite because it was my first. I love its simplicity: hard-hitting live drums, stadium-sized guitar riffs, epic piano chords, and minimal electronic touches to remind you that you're still listening to Nails. I love the lyrics: typically introspective, though in a more mature, world-weary, calmly accepting way that shed a new light on Reznor's music and personality, a perfect snapshot of who he was at the time. While some songs might not be very memorable by earlier standards (You Know What You Are?, The Collector, Love Is Not Enough), it all sounds great when played together in its proper sequence, and Reznor's ability to write catchy pop songs really crystallized here without sounding like a betrayal of his artistic integrity (The Hand That Feeds, Only). It has some kinkier moments, like the dark pulse of Sunspots or the propulsive grit of the title track, to keep things interesting. And it has, hands down, the most stone cold killer closing song of any album I've ever heard. Right Where It Belongs gives me chills every time - apart from being a good melody and a well-written song, he whispers "You keep looking, but you can't find the woods / While you're hiding in the trees" like a man coming to a sudden, bittersweet realization about his entire life, and when the crowd noises kick in they serve only to isolate him further into the ambiguity of his future. It's killer. I can listen to the whole album front to back in any place, at any time, while doing a million things at once or nothing at all, with the kind of complex love usually only reserved for an actual friend: unique to that specific album as opposed to any other album, always changing yet staying the same, constantly finding little idiosyncrasies that set it apart. It's the best.

Whoosh, done. If you've read this far, you're cool. :D

[ubermensch]

I agree that the sundtracks should not be included in this as they are not "NIN." Also, I dont understand how some can rank all the pre-with teeth stuff towards the bottom, especially TDS. Too abrasive/too much despair? THIS IS WHAT REZNOR IS KNOWN FOR. I dont get it.

[Mantis]

The Fragile
The Downward Spiral
Broken
Still
Year Zero
Ghosts I-IV
Pretty Hate Machine
With Teeth
The Slip

[peter]

I always wonder, if like a lot of nin fans were asked this question, like 1000s, which album would eventually by first: The Downward Spiral or The Fragile.

[spahn]

I agree that the sundtracks should not be included in this as they are not "NIN." Also, I dont understand how some can rank all the pre-with teeth stuff towards the bottom, especially TDS. Too abrasive/too much despair? THIS IS WHAT REZNOR IS KNOWN FOR. I dont get it.

that seems to be the case with all new nin fans who were first exposed to nine inch nails with the with teeth album.

[carpenoctem]

that seems to be the case with all new nin fans who were first exposed to nine inch nails with the with teeth album.

I'm about half and half, and it has nothing to do with abrasiveness or despair. I like those things in his music. But yeah I'm a 2005-present fan, so I wouldn't be surprised if I think very differently from those who waited six years for The Fragile.

[iamanexit]

The Downward Spiral
The Fragile
Things Falling Apart
And All That Could Have Been/Still
Year Zero
Broken
Pretty Hate Machine
With Teeth
(Everything else, in no order)
The Slip

I haven't given TGWTDT or TSN enough of a listen to include them.

[Patrick_Nicholas]

The Downward Spiral
Year Zero
The Fragile
Pretty Hate Machine
Broken
Ghosts
The Slip
With Teeth

[dzaver]

The Fragile
Downward Spiral
Pretty hate machine
The Slip
Broken
Ghosts
Year Zero
With Teeth

[kevinbeetle]

The Downward Spiral
The Fragile
With Teeth
Pretty Hate Machine
Year Zero
Broken
The Slip
Ghosts

[icklekitty]

Year Zero
The Fragile
The Downward Spiral
Ghosts
Pretty Hate Machine
Broken
With Teeth



The Slip

[Space Suicide]

Just strictly NIN.

The Downward Spiral
Broken
Year Zero
The Fragile
[With_Teeth]
Pretty Hate Machine
The Slip
Ghosts I-IV

-

Further Down the Spiral
Things Falling Apart
Fixed
Y3ARZ3R0R3M1X3D

[Dissonance]

The Downward Spiral (over last 2-3 yrs, finally stuck out clearly. used to go back and forth)
The Fragile
Year Zero
Further Down the Spiral (yes like it more than some albums)
Broken
Pretty Hate Machine
The Slip
Ghosts




With Teeth

[ManBurning]

I don't understand, what's with all the hate on "The Slip"?

[joplinpicasso]

Is it just me, or do two instrumental back-to-back seem a bit weird on a vocal album? I also wish "1,000,000" were a tad more original. Other than that, it's a solid album. Probably a 3.5/5 for me, just because most other NIN is stellar (obviously).

I recently gave With Teeth another run-through, and found myself singing and grooving to every.single.song. It sometimes feels like his best album so far. Say what you will about the drumming, but there are so many experimental moments to relish: the layers of "All The Love In The World", the void of "Beside You In Time", etc.

[BenAkenobi]

the major drawback of the slip is in not having a closing ballad. i expanded it with not so pretty now and non-entity as a remedy

[theruiner]

The Downward Spiral
Pretty Hate Machine
Broken
With Teeth
The Fragile
Year Zero








The Slip

[joplinpicasso]

Nah, PHM doesn't have a closing ballad, it's in the middle; likewise with The Slip. Always thought that was cool.

[imail724]

The Fragile/The Downward Spiral
Year Zero
With Teeth
Broken
The Slip
Pretty Hate Machine

..I think. I'm positive about TF, TDS and YZ, the rest can be interchangeable.

[Ripe(withdecay)]

So since I'm new here, I'll start on this topic.

The Fragile
The Downward Spiral
With Teeth
Pretty Hate Machine
Broken
Year Zero
Ghosts I-IV
The Slip

[Hidingintrees]

This is a tough one, but here goes nothing.

1. It's tied between The Downward Spiral and The Fragile. It depends on the day. The Downward Spiral is deep, it makes you feel so personally attached to Trent and really understand what he's going through, not to mention it sounds amazing. The Fragile in my opinion sounds better, but the general plot is harder to follow, which makes it harder to really relate to. But both are probably in the top 10 best albums ever made.

2. With Teeth. It's great when you understand the incentive for why he wrote each song, and try to understand them as not a story but isolated event's in Trent's life, which makes it great. I love how the tracks like "Only" and "Right where it belongs" can stand alone, but also help the other tracks.

3. Year Zero. I love the concept, but I like the other albums because they insinuate feelings for Trent, while this one is a largely political focus, making it less satisfying. Although it is a great album, and most of the tracks are great.

4. Still. I can't listen to this album and not feel strong emotions boil inside me. It's so beautiful, and serene as well. One of Trent's best works.

5. Ghost. It's amazing, with each track sounding different and very creative. Great listen.

6. The slip. I like about half of the tracks off this album. He did have some work that wasn't really that great. Still a good album though, better than most of the stuff out there.

7. Pretty Hate Machine. I like most of the tracks on this, with the worst being "Sanctified". Oh my I can't stand that song. But it's a very good album if you take that and a few other's out.

8. Broken. Never liked this album, don't like the sound of it, or his voice. It doesen't relate to me at all like The Downward Spiral did. I can't believe some people on there said they were joined at hip. For me there even more different than Demi Lavato and Chris Barnes.

[DVYDRNS]

⬆⬆⬆ I like this guy.

[Indefinite_Cure]

1. The Downward Spiral
2. The Fragile
3. Year Zero

3,5. Still

4. With Teeth
5. Pretty Hate Machine
6. The Slip
7. Broken
8. Ghosts I-IV

[downward]

1. Broken -
2. Downward Spiral
3 Year Zero
4 The Fragile
5 The Slip
6 With Teeth
7 Pretty Hate Machine
8 Ghosts


Been a fan since 91 and I like the harder edge of NIN thus Broken being my favorite

downward

[Shnoorum]

My god I'm finding it hard to rank them. I tend to shift between them all quite alot so I guess it really depends on my mood. If I had to pick my favourite I'd probably be swinging towards With Teeth or The Fragile. It's such a diverse discography, it's too hard to compare them when you're a big fan of every album.

[Senateguard33]

The Fragile
The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
The Downward Spiral
Pretty Hate Machine
Ghosts I-IV
The Social Network
Year Zero
With Teeth
Still
Quake
Broken
The Slip

[thevoid99]

1. The Downward Spiral
2. Broken
3. The Fragile
4. Year Zero
5. Pretty Hate Machine
6. Still
7. Ghosts I-IV
8. The Slip
9. With Teeth

[wizfan]

1. Year Zero - His most focused and realized album, plus it proved the concept album is still vital.
2. The Downward Spiral - It can affect you like few albums can.
3. The Fragile - Musically it's better at times than TDS and YZ, but I'll rank it here as it is. The deluxe edition may convince me to rank it higher, as we'll hear it as it was originally intended.
4. Ghosts I-IV - Whether you pick a random track or listen to it all, it never ceases to impress you with its inventiveness.
5. Pretty Hate Machine - A landmark of its time; some tracks haven't aged well, though.
6. Broken - Same, but it holds up a bit better than PHM as far as its sound goes. When it hits hard, it's still effective.
7. The Slip - Most NIN fans hate this, but I always saw it as a gift to us all. Trent wrote and produced it in a few weeks just to give us some fun.
8. With Teeth - Mind you, I still love that it saved Trent as a musician, and his fears are evident in the lyrics, but it's still a weak album. Trent said that it sounds "cautious" to him now, and I agree. However, if it hadn't been for With Teeth, Trent could have abandoned music completely. So, thank you, With Teeth.
9. Still - I usually don't count it as a studio album, which is why it's so low on my list. Nevertheless, And All That Could Have Been is one of my top 10 NIN songs.

[BenAkenobi]

i need to stay away from this topic. you're nice folks for the most part, but when you're making a wise face and talk about With Teeth in such condescending manner, i want to reach out and slap your faces :D

http://www.echoingthesound.org/community/dbtech/thanks/images/dislikes.png BenAkenobi (http://www.echoingthesound.org/community/members/122-BenAkenobi) facepalmed this post

[simonn]

The Fragile
The Downward Spiral
With Teeth
Year Zero
The Slip
Broken
Ghosts
Pretty Hate Machine

[PhoenixML]

Oh this is going to be good. NIN is my favorite band. Became a fan during the gap between Fragile and With Teeth. Discovered them from a friend who lend me The Fragile and The Downward Spiral. I wasn't hooked then. But I eventually bought my own copy of The Fragile, they seemed a like a good band where I could at least own one album! I don't remember why I bought the DVD And All That Could Have Been, I really don't remember why, but HOT DAMN!!!! Now I was hooked!! And then With Teeth news started to come in and the anticipation started to grow!

1. With Teeth
Oh yeah! I went there! It's not NIN's most crucial album, but it's my favorite one. It's the most accessible one. A lot of great tracks that can stand on their own, which is ironic since I always believe that what makes NIN so strong is the whole package.

1. The Fragile
Or The Downward Spiral. Seriously it's all good. The Fragile is a big long, a few "weaker" songs, but it's a double album, LOTS OF SONGS!

1. The Downward Spiral
They are all number one really. I love all of it.

4. Year Zero

5. The Slip
I like The Slip. It's not the best, but it's ok.

6. Ghosts I-IV

7. Broken
I don't like the production. I like the live versions though.

8. Pretty Hate Machine
It's the ONLY NIN album where I hate songs. I enjoy 3 of them, the rest I can't really dig.

[bobbie solo]

oh Ghosts over Broken and PHM? ok buddy. must be young or got into NIN late.

[sheepdean]

I put Broken at the bottom and Ghosts second - some of us really do prefer the more ambient side of NIN to rargh rargh rargh pigs

[WorzelG]

OK this is hard
The Fragile
Year Zero
Downward Spiral
With Teeth
Pretty Hate Machine
The Slip
Broken
Ghosts

[Warped_Savant]

I put Broken at the bottom and Ghosts second - some of us really do prefer the more ambient side of NIN to rargh rargh rargh pigs
I'm with you. His ambient stuff is great. That's probably why I haven't listed a ranking of NIN albums... the problem I always come across is that it really depends on my mood and constantly changes.

[danzo_rezno]

:)

1.The Fragile
2.The Downward Spiral
3.Year Zero
4.Pretty Hate Machine
5.Broken
6.With Teeth
7.The Slip
8.Ghosts

[theSplinter04]

i know you guys will hate me for this. guess i'm just more into his ambient stuff.

The Fragile
Year Zero
TDS
Ghosts/Still
WT
Broken
The Slip
PHM

[Deepvoid]

I have been avoiding this thread for a while now. Guess it's time now.. For the record, I got into NIN when TDS was released so i have no choice but to put this album on top.

1- The Downward Spiral
2- The Fragile
3- Pretty Hate Machine
4- Year Zero
5- Broken
6- Ghosts/Still
7- With Teeth
8- The Slip

[Arcspiral]

I've been avoiding doing an album ranking for NIN for ages, but I finally decided to do it. If you wanna check it out on my blog, I go into detail about why I dig each release, have some pictures of my collection, all sorts of etc. etc. It's kind of a long read if you don't really give a shit about NIN.

You can see that here: http://gutterbubbles.blogspot.com/2013/01/nine-inch-nails-album-ranking.html

For those of you that don't really give a damn, here's the abridged version :D

1. The Fragile
2. The Downward Spiral
3. With Teeth
4. Broken
5. Year Zero
6. Pretty Hate Machine
7. The Slip
8. Ghosts I-IV

Hope you enjoy the read!

[sleepless]

1. The Fragile
2. Broken
3. The Downward Spiral
4. Pretty Hate Machine
5. Year Zero
6. With Teeth
7. The Slip

(Ghosts excluded.)

[thefragile_jake]

My list would go...

1. The Fragile
2. With Teeth
3. The Downward Spiral
4. Still
5. Ghosts I-IV
6. Broken
7. Pretty Hate Machine
8. The Slip
9. Year Zero

I count Still in there because of how much I love the music and flow of that album. It set the stage even more so for the ambient instrumental soundtrack work Trent would go on to create.

My reasoning for YZ being at the bottom is actually how kind of almost cheap the record sounds. It feels like an album created on Garageband and while there are some really cool and interesting moments going on there musically in a couple tracks, the album feels repetitive musically at times. Not even in the way The Fragile just repeats musical motifs and themes, the drum loops have too similar of a sound style to them. I think some of the lyrics are at some of their goofiest too...
"I PUSH DA BUTTON"
"COME ON SING ALONG, ERRREYBODY NOW"
...I listened to it again today, I like the record alright but it's my least favorite by far.

I actually feel kind of sad the Slip is at many people's very bottom list, though I can understand why. I really really liked that record because of how "sketch" like (as Trent described it) it feels. It does feel like someone just going into a studio and writing something rather quickly but coming out of the studio with some pretty good material. It's got so many different album feels in there that it almost gives an impression of the band saying "let's write a new album that sounds like a greatest hits compilation"....I'm probably not describing that the best way possible.

[LaneSax]

The Fragile
Pretty Hate Machine
The Downward Spiral
Broken
Year Zero
With Teeth
The Slip
Ghosts

[thepresence0]

I'm totally new here, but as long as some of you are including Trent Reznor's OST work... I'm going to give you my comprehensive Top Trent list:

1. Year Zero
2. The Fragile
3. Pretty Hate Machine
4. The Downward Spiral
5. Welcome Oblivion
6. Still
7. Niggy Tardust
8. Quake
9. The Slip
10. Ghosts I-IV
11. The Social Network
12. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
13. With Teeth
14. Broken

I think that's everything *not* including remix albums, covers, one off songs and EP's.

Personally, that above list changes dramatically fairly constantly for me. There isn't one album up there that I don't love for different reasons, so take the ranking with a grain of salt. I've greatly enjoyed listening to Trent grow and mature as a musician. In my mind, his best years are likely ahead of him. Something I can't say for most artists as they age.

[Big Fat Matt]

The Fragile
The Downward Spiral
Year Zero
Broken
With Teeth
Pretty Hate Machine
Ghosts I-IV

Yeah, pretty much. I hate putting things low on the list, but in the context of everything else on it, it gets much easier.

[ZeroSum]

God Tier:

The Fragile
Year Zero
The Downward Spiral

The not-quite God Tier (aka everything else):

Ghosts I-IV
The Slip
With Teeth
Broken
Pretty Hate Machine


...Ranking Pretty Hate Machine dead last makes me feel sick. I love that album so much. Trent is probably one of the most consistent artists in popular music, if you ask me.

[ZeroSum]

I actually feel kind of sad the Slip is at many people's very bottom list, though I can understand why. I really really liked that record because of how "sketch" like (as Trent described it) it feels. It does feel like someone just going into a studio and writing something rather quickly but coming out of the studio with some pretty good material. It's got so many different album feels in there that it almost gives an impression of the band saying "let's write a new album that sounds like a greatest hits compilation"....I'm probably not describing that the best way possible.

Though I couldn't possibly disagree with your opinion on Year Zero more, I think you totally hit the nail on the head when talking about The Slip. I like that record a lot, and have been listening to it quite frequently as of late. For the way it was released, as well as the fact that it's relatively short, it's a pretty solid little album, and I really enjoy it. Your greatest hits analogy makes a lot of sense- you can pick out individual fragments of it that each represent different eras of the band. The early part of the album seems to capture the aggression of Broken and the edgier parts of Pretty Hate Machine, while "Discipline" and "Echoplex" feel like they belong on With Teeth. "Head Down" reminds me of Year Zero in a lot of ways, while "Lights in the Sky" is "Hurt"-like. The more ambient, instrumental way the album ends sounds like Ghosts and the Fragile big time, too. It's like a huge mixed bag that encompasses every sound NIN has had, but somehow, it manages to all feel incredibly cohesive. Trent's ability to make an album flow perfectly and seamlessly is something I struggle to find in pretty much any other artist. It's definitely a gift he has.

[thepresence0]

Trent's ability to make an album flow perfectly and seamlessly is something I struggle to find in pretty much any other artist. It's definitely a gift he has.

I have incredible difficulty explaining this to people sometimes, but I completely agree. There seriously isn't a NIN album (or even a collaboration) that I haven't loved. Trent gives it 100% everytime and seems *extremely* aware of how an album ought to flow. While Year Zero is the only "concept" record he's done, I feel like every (for lack of a better word) 'product' he produces has a beginning, middle, and end. They feel like stories, even when the story being told is just an abstract set of emotions.

[katara]

While Year Zero is the only "concept" record he's done
The Downward Spiral would like to have a word with you.

[hobochic]

I'd go as far as to say that while TDS and TF are with no question lyrical concept albums, YZ leans more towards the "gimmicky" concept album, much like Green Day's overly rated American Idiot.

[Vertigo]

I'd go as far as to say that while TDS and TF are with no question lyrical concept albums ..

Broken and With Teeth too. I love that there's a strong theme and narrative thread in most of Trent's releases, it's what keeps drawing me in.

[thepresence0]

I suppose there are varying degrees of concept album.

The Downward Spiral is a thematically continuous album, but it isn't telling a highly specific, intricate storyline.

Year Zero on the other hand, could be a TV show (ha!) with how intricate its story is. Also, I don't think 'gimmick' is a word I'd ascribe to Year Zero. It seemed to come straight from Trent's soul, just as much as anything else he's done.

[staleincense]

#1 The Downward Spiral - yes, generic answer, I know. But it does deserve it's praise.
#2 Year Zero - A lot of people don't seem to like this, but I felt it was really innovative, and not just in terms of the ARG. It has this whole "glitch rock" feel that I've never heard from any other artist or album. And the concept was really well executed.
=2 Pretty Hate Machine
#4 With Teeth
=4 Broken - Feels kind of like a less refined, more basic version of TDS two years before it was actually released.
#6 The Fragile - Yes, I went there. Mainly because the second half of the right disc (barring Complication) is a pretty dull and anto-climatic end to te album.
#7 The Slip

I didn't rank Ghosts as I don't really feel it's comparable to the other albums.

[Halo Infinity]

The albums from 1989 to 1999 are constantly switching sometimes, but this is how I'd generally rank them.

1. The Downward Spiral
2. The Fragile
3. Broken
4. Pretty Hate Machine
5. With Teeth
6. Year Zero
7. The Slip
8. Ghosts I-IV

[elevenism]

1. Broken/Fixed
2. TF
3. YZ
4.PHM
5. TDS
6. Still
7. Awitha Teetha
8. The Slip
9. Ghosts

You know, unlike many of you, i REALLY love the slip and year zero, but there are so many other great albums. Ghosts on the other hand (AKA NIN trying to be Aphex Twin/BOC) i REALLY dont like. I got broken and fixed at 12 years old, so that's probably the reason for the number 1 spot.

[Vertigo]

I put Broken at the bottom and Ghosts second - some of us really do prefer the more ambient side of NIN to rargh rargh rargh pigs

Ghosts ranks bottom for me, and it's not because of the atmospheric instrumentals vs angry rock sides of the NIN coin, it's that I just don't think it's good enough. There isn't a focused direction behind it.

It's not really what I'd call ambient - it's rarely soothing, it's occasionally loud and challenging, it often doesn't flow well, and it's not something you can have thrumming away quietly in the background. It's generally quite insistent, prominent music. Dragon Tattoo and Quake are mostly much closer to what I'd define as ambient.
And on the other side of the coin, it's not an album full of Leaving Hopes, Warm Places, La Mers or Tetsuo themes either (which is what I'd really hoped for when the album was announced, the latter's non-existence notwithstanding). A handful of tracks might stand out as interludes on a more typical album, but here they're swamped in a sea of less exceptional material. And I don't think any of them are in the same league as the top drawer NIN instrumentals in any case.
One final failing is that there's no narrative to it, or underlying thematic depth - something which elevates The Social Network OST from another instrumental Trentticus release to being up there with the core NIN albums, for me at least. Might have helped if I'd bought the Deluxe to watch the accompanying slideshow.

So, for me, it doesn't work as ambient music, it doesn't work as primary music, and it doesn't work on levels that most of Trent's other albums excel at. The only time I ever listen to Ghosts is while playing computer games, where its dynamic and variable nature is welcome.



...Surprised I didn't need frog DNA to bridge the time gap to Sheepdean's post, and I've posted in the interim. But it's finally sunny outside, so 'tis the season to bash on Ghosts I guess.

[GavinCollins420]

1. Year Zero
2. The Downward Spiral
3. With Teeth
4. The Fragile
5. Pretty Hate Machine
6. The Slip
7. Broken
8. Ghosts I-IV

[ryanmcfly]

1. Year Zero
2. The Fragile
3. The Downward Spiral
4.With Teeth
5. Pretty Hate Machine
6. Ghosts
7. The Slip
8. Broken

[Kid Charlemagne]

Broken
With Teeth
The Downward Spiral
The Slip
The Fragile
Pretty Hate Machine
Year Zero
Ghosts


With Teeth is pretty underrated for me. All the songs are accessible, not much filler in my opinion, one of the best comeback albums of all time. Broken though is my shit, fond memories of skating to the album when I was in middle school, and even though it was released before Downward Spiral, I think it holds up much better.

[Collin]

1. The Fragile- pretty easy number one choice. It's like the definitive NIN album, all of the interesting sounds Trent has dabbled in throughout his entire career seem to make an appearance. Pretty impressive beast of a record.
2. With Teeth- underrated masterpiece IMO. So many great tracks, All the Love, TLBTB, BYIT, RWIB. Never understood the hate for this one.
3. The Downward Spiral- deserves its recognition and hype.
4. Pretty Hate Machine- a good pop record.
5. Year Zero- some beats are a tad too similar and samey, but some great tracks here nonetheless.
6. The Slip- I actually really liked The Slip, it just feels a tad unfinished. 1,000,000, Head Down and Lights in The Sky are all essential NIN though.
7. Broken- I do love the heaviness of it, but the brevity of it makes it hard to compare with full-length releases. Plus, I was never the hugest fan of HIS, the outro is overlong.
8. Ghosts I-IV- honestly not a bad album, but certainly his most underwhelming. It probably would have been better if some of the fat had been trimmed from it, but it's a nice album to return to if you're in the mood for it.

[eversonpoe]

what the hell.

(i love all of these so it's really just different degrees of love)
the fragile
the downward spiral
pretty hate machine
ghosts i-iv
broken / with teeth
the slip

(but i honestly barely like this one)
year zero

[andre78]

I've heard'em all so much that it's kinda like selecting between my kids. But I don't have kids, so this is way harder!!!

1. The Fragile - it just sounds freaking fantastic, never heard anything ( not even from NIN ) that sounded this powerful. Masterpiece from the first time I heard it up until this very moment.
2.The Downward Spiral - absolute classic, one of the very few albums that I cannot listen if it's not from start to finish.
3.Broken - this is what metal should be like. When I heard it for the first time I realized how most metal I knew was silly.
4.With Teeth - really, really great songs scattered all through the record. And best vocal performance from Trent ever.
5.Pretty Hate Machine - my very first contact with NIN. Some stuff in it just don't make it to me anymore ( even when it was re-released ), but it brings awesome memories.
6.The Slip - not that fond of the instrumental stuff and the whole album lacks some sequencing for me.
7.Year Zero - those big beats are tiresome most of the times. But can't ignore a record that contains something as beautiful as "In This Twilight".
8.Still - love how the songs are reimagined.
10.Ghosts I-IV - as commented in The Slip line, I'm not that fond of instrumentals. I tried but could never heard from start to finish, like all the other albums.

[Senateguard33]

1. The Fragile-Not only is this album epic, but it contains an example of all the different musical styles of NIN, making it the one album that can give any listener the true definition of NIN's sound.
2. The Downward Spiral-Not much to say that hasn't been said already. I think the Fragile and this album tie as NIN's masterpiece.
3. Pretty Hate Machine-This was my favorite up until the Fragile was released. I've always been big on electronic music and the 80s sound. I probably play this one the most out of the entire catalog.
4. Ghosts I-IV-I always wished for NIN to do soundtracks and this was sort of the first taste of that. The Social Network and Girl With The Dragon Tattoo (two of Trent's best work IMO) evolved from this stuff.
5. Year Zero-A really cool concept and some great songs. It does get a bit draggy, but it is a very unique album.
5. With Teeth-This sort of sounds like a "cliff notes" version of the Fragile, or even a more radio friendly version. It doesn't offer anything new to the catalog, but does contain some of his best songs.
6. Broken-I like metal, but I'm not a huge fan. While this album is awesome, I prefer more diversity in an album, I suppose that is why it is shorter than the others.
7. The Slip-Very enjoyable, but like With Teeth before it, it doesn't offer anything new to the table. It has a lot of good stuff, but it sounds more like a collection of outtakes from Ghosts, Year Zero and With Teeth.

I don't consider Still to be an actual album, as it contains re-workings and material meant for the movie "One Hour Photo".

[Dragonkaos]

In this moment because change frequently...

1-The Fragile
2-Ghost I-IV
3-Broken
4-Prety Hate Machine
5-With Teeth
6-Year Zero
7-The Downward Spiral
8-The Slip

[Henrie_Schnee]

-The Downward Spiral [my entry ticket, after all these years still things to discover]
-With Teeth [the first nin-album whose launch I've withnessed, still in love with the design]
-The Fragile [arguably the best one, but not my favorite]
-Broken/Fixed [what is there to say?]
-Year Zero [pretty much still love it & and it's world, but not in as heavy rotation anymore than it's brethren]
-Pretty Hate Machine [granted, it has top songs, but overall it was always the hardest one for me to love]
-The Slip/Ghosts I-IV [tie for the last, but still awesome records in itself]

[Bowie]

1. The Downward Spiral
2. Year Zero
3. Pretty Hate Machine
4. The Fragile
5. With Teeth
6. Broken
7. The Slip
8. Ghosts I-IV

Didn't put much thought into. Simply tried to gauge how I react to each album when listening. Perhaps With Teeth should be higher. I'll justify my picks better when I have the time.

[neorev]

01. The Downward Spiral
02. With Teeth
03. Broken
04. Not The Actual Events
05. The Fragile
06. Still
07. Pretty Hate Machine
08. Add Violence
09. The Slip
10. Ghosts
11. Hesitation Marks
12. Year Zero

Updated on 9/5/17

[greenhorn1]

Well since I think PHM is one of the greatest albums of all time it's obviously got the top spot.

1. Pretty Hate Machine
2. Broken
3. The Downward Spiral (LOVE further down the spiral too)
4. Ghosts I-IV
5. The Fragile
6. With Teeth
7. Year Zero
8. The Slip

Honestly I just kind of guessed at 7 and 8 because I never really listen to either of them.

[henryeatscereal]

*EDIT* After hearing "Hesitation Marks" i think it goes:


1. The Downward Spiral - No words can do justice to this masterpiece!

2. The Fragile - In my opinion his best MUSICAL effort yet it has some filler (very little thankfully!)

3. Broken - Could have been the best NIN album if it were longer...

4. With Teeth - I think Trent resumes all his tricks in this album, straightforward and to the point!

5. Hesitation Marks - Liked!!!

6. Pretty Hate Machine - A bit dated, yet awesome in detail, this album shows that Trent had amazing ideas from the start, he just needed to polish his "act"

7. Year Zero - Awesome production values, yet it has filler, most of the songs are good not great

8. Ghosts I-IV - An ambitious effort and a very good album, yet it think it's hard to listen to it as a complete album...

9. The Slip - I like it, but it's my least favorite

[Toadflax]

In honor of he Hesitation Marks leak, I wanted to finally contribute to this thread...

This is very tricky, since I have such a childhood nostalgia attached to the pre-With Teeth albums. I have no idea how I'd feel if I heard them all at once. That said:


1. The Fragile - Two discs, layers, soundscapes. At the time, it felt like getting an extended edition of The Downward Spiral. Seeing The Great Below live was an incredible catharsis for me.

2. The Downward Spiral - The classic. I used to have this in my Walkman on repeat. My band in high school covered Hurt and March Of The Pigs.

3. Pretty Hate Machine - One of the first albums I owned. Eleven years old. I still love every song.

4. Hesitation Marks - After five or six listens, I'm pretty positive this is my favorite post-Fragile album. No idea how I'll feel about it as years go by, but I'm guessing it'll be somewhere around this spot (decent chance this would go above PHM without nostalgia bias).

5. Broken - A devastating staple of my middle school years. This album felt like the only person who understood me when I wanted to run away from home. If The Fragile gets brownie points just for there being so much more of it, Broken loses them for being an EP (just in terms of ranking, not in terms of how I feel about it as its own entity).

(Ghosts I-IV - I love Ghosts, but it's hard to rank it against the others due to its instrumental nature. It's more of an opus/symphony/soundtrack to me than an album.)

6. Year Zero - The Beginning Of The End and Capital G aside, I love almost every song on this album. The ARG was amazing, and hearing In This Twilight in the context of the story I had been following made me lose my shit.

7. With Teeth - I have a lot of nostalgia connected with this one, too, since I was still impressionable in my early twenties and it was the first thing after the hiatus, but I feel many of the songs are just kind of paint-by-numbers. I hate the rap-singing at the end of The Hand That Feeds.

8. The Slip - Nothing against this album either, but, like With Teeth, I just feel most of the songs are fairly lackluster. 1,000,000, Letting You, and Head Down sound like a 40 something trying to be a hard rocker. As much as I like the tracks (particularly the latter), the Corona Radiata / Four Of Us Are Dying interlude also feels out of place on such a short album.


So there it is. If anyone reading will indulge a little Hesitation Marks pontificating from me, I feel like With Teeth, Year Zero, and The Slip had so many brilliant moments, most of which were more electronic or mellow than rock-based (All The Love In The World, Sunspots, Right Where It Belongs, Me, I'm Not, My Violent Heart, The Good Soldier, The Warning, Vessel, In This Twilight, Demon Seed- Echoplex and Discipline to lesser extent). My biggest problem was those albums also had songs, most of which I mentioned above, that were very songwriting 101 that sounded like someone whose heart wasn't in hard rock anymore trying to keep up that persona (I believe the lyrics of Discipline are about this struggle). However you feel about Hesitation Marks, it absolutely sounds to me like someone who is fully realizing the music inside of him rather than trying to satisfy an expectation, whether from himself or others. Came Back Haunted had me worried, for instance. I like the song a lot, but it felt a little like it was just the new Hand That Feeds, rather than something like Copy Of A, which sounded like nothing i had ever heard before.

Thanks for reading. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the above. I love looking at this career as a complete arc and the cause and effect of it all.

[Janus3659]

This is tough. I'm (heh) hesitant to make the list without listening to HM but honestly I assume it will take many a listen to place that one on the list anyway.

1. The Fragile - start to finish, no track skipped. The only reason I ever invested in a multi-disc player. I remember making a burned copy of the Right disc with all of the songs from the different versions. Never could get Appendage to sound right with the rest of it. And I think I spent way too much time making The Mark Has Been Made segue into 10 Miles High correctly.

2. The Downward Spiral - it's hard to argue this as not at least second on the list. I may skip a track here or there... I'm not a fan of I Do Not Want This or the titular track. But, it's a fucking amazing album, no question.

3. With Teeth - REALLY tough call on #3. I guess there's a few reasons though... it's accessible. It's a departure on sound to a degree, and I feel that rehashing the same sound over and over again isn't growth. Fuck it, there's a lot of catchy songs on here. EDIETS, Only, TLBTB, RWIB.

4. The Slip - I like the range on this album. We go from Metal to catchy Dance anthem to subdued Ambient to borderline Techno.

5. Broken - I have a hard time listening to this because, basically, I wore it the fuck out. It was my first NIN purchase. I actually like the Closure music video version of Gave Up better (Manson playing guitar or bass... don't remember). I remember getting a bootleg of the Broken Movie on VHS (two copies actually - one TechnoNecrophilia and one The X Files) and thinking "What the fuck am I watching?"

6. Year Zero - I hate to place this so low on the list. It's a really good album, I got sucked into the ARG... I remember kinda doing a WTF? the first time through and still find myself doing that from time to time. But again, new sound, new direction. I liked the change.

7. Ghosts I-IV - This was such a surprise. It came out of nowhere and it was such an odd idea. I got one of the LTD editions, still have it. It's actually still in the box it was shipped to me in. It's a cool concept and I'll throw in on every great once in a while as background usually. Truthfully though, it's rare that I'm like "I really want to listen to Ghosts right now."

8. Pretty Hate Machine - Just not high on my list. I think it's partly that I picked it up later than a lot of the other stuff. Kinda like watching Chinatown after seeing tons of other film noir first. What's the big deal? ATTACK.

I kinda always forget about Still. I like Still, but I treat it like a B-side.
I'm not delving into soundtrack work, because that feels like Trent Reznor instead of Nine Inch Nails. If that makes any sense. Yes, Trent Reznor IS Nine Inch Nails. But, it's a part of him not the whole of him? Whatever.

[Akuratyde]

I kinda always forget about Still. I like Still, but I treat it like a B-side.
I'm not delving into soundtrack work, because that feels like Trent Reznor instead of Nine Inch Nails. If that makes any sense. Yes, Trent Reznor IS Nine Inch Nails. But, it's a part of him not the whole of him? Whatever.

Still is not a "studio album" so you're correct to not include it on your list. You're also correct not to include the soundtrack albums as they were not released under the NIN name and thus are not NIN releases.

Here are mine:

1. The Downward Spiral
2. Broken
3. With Teeth
4. Pretty Hate Machine
5. The Fragile
6. Hesitation Marks
7. Year Zero
8. The Slip
9. Ghosts I-IV

[brokenfragility]

1. The Downward Spiral
2. Hesitation Marks
3. Year Zero
4. The Fragile
5. Ghosts I-IV
6. Broken
7. Pretty Hate Machine
8. With Teeth
9. The Slip

If I was allowed The Social Network soundtrack it would have been near the top. 2nd or 3rd probably.

[Reaps]

1. The Fragile
2. The Downward Spiral
3. Hesitation Marks
4. With Teeth
5. Year Zero
6. Broken
7. Pretty Hate Machine
8. Ghosts I-IV
9. The Slip

[spitefulscorpio]

Pretty Hate Machine (Probably because this is the first NIN album I listened to so it holds a special place in my heart.)
The Downward Spiral
Hesitation Marks
The Fragile
Broken
With Teeth
Year Zero
Ghosts I-IV
The Slip

I guess I am in the minority with PHM!

[Dryalex12]

1. Still
2. The Downward Spiral
3. Hesitation Marks
4. The Fragile/Year Zero
5. Ghost
6. PHM
7. Slip
8. With Teeth
9. Broken


but to be honest I love them all the same

[rmxdave]

Hi guys. Decided to resurrect my account from the ETS graveyard because I've been putting some thought into my own rankings lately.

1. The Fragile
2. Pretty Hate Machine
3. The Downward Spiral
4. Hesitation Marks
5. Broken
6. With Teeth
7. The Slip
8. Year Zero
9. Ghosts I-IV

If Still was allowed, I'd probably put it at #2 because AATCHB and Leaving Hope are that good. Also, HM could move up or down over time. I know when YZ first came out, I would have put it near the top of the list, but it just did not hold up well for me.

[Mark Fraser]

Obviously this list could easily, easily change as it will take a couple of months to fully decide where HM stands. However, as of now:

9) The Slip
8) Ghosts
7) With Teeth
6) Hesitation Marks
5) Year Zero
4) The Fragile
3) Broken
2) Pretty Hate Machine
1) The Downward Spiral

[ChasingTheGhost]

1. The Fragile
2. The Downward Spiral
3. Hesitation Marks
4. Broken
5. Pretty Hate Machine
6. With Teeth
7. Year Zero
8. The Slip
9. Ghost

[fabripav]

1. The Downward Spiral
2. The Fragile
3. Hesitation Marks
4. Ghosts I-IV
5. Broken
6. The Slip
7. Year Zero
8. Pretty Hate Machine
9. With Teeth

[greyskies13]

Well if we are including things like the soundtracks, i'm going to include remix and live albums since they were released under the actual NIN name. So my order goes like this:

1. The Downward Spiral
2. The Fragile
3. Year Zero
4. Broken
5. Year Zero Remixed
6. With Teeth
7. Still
8. Pretty Hate Machine
9. Ghosts I-IV
10. The Slip
11. The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
12. And All That Could Have Been
13. Further Down The Spiral
14. The Social Network
15. Things Falling Apart
16. Fixed

right now Hesitation Marks is coming in somewhere between Still and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo

[Amaro]

The thing about Still is that it contains past original songs (you all knew that right? NIN fans), so...kinda...you know.

But if you say fuck it... (in which case I'll say it with you)

The Fragile > The Downward Spiral
Hesitation Marks > With Teeth > Broken
Pretty Hate Machine > Still > The Slip
Ghosts I-IV > Year Zero

(Keeping it straight NIN.)

These are my updated preferences.

[Inkë]

1. The Downward Spiral
2. Pretty Hate Machine
3. Broken
4. Year Zero (tie)
4. The Fragile (tie)
6. The Slip
7. With Teeth
8. Ghosts I-IV

[chroipahtz]

1. The Fragile
2. The Downward Spiral
3. Hesitation Marks
4. Year Zero
5. With Teeth
6. The Slip
7. Pretty Hate Machine
8. Broken
9. Ghosts I-IV

[dregs]

1. The Fragile
2. The Downward Spiral
3. Hesitation Marks
4. Broken
5. PHM
6. Still
7. Ghosts
8. Year Zero
9. With Teeth
10. The Slip

[kejar31]

1. The Fragile
2. The Downward Spiral
3. Hesitation Marks
4. Broken
5. PHM
6. Still
7. Ghosts
8. Year Zero
9. With Teeth
10. The Slip

Me and this guy/girl think exactly the same :)

[Winter Is Coming]

This is really tough. But before I go into any list I think it is important to set the ground rules for the ranking, for example the OP didn't include Ghosts because it is an instrumental album.

So, I guess my first criteria would be that only NIN official releases count and that this is not a TR list. So no GWTDT, TSN or HDA. The second, is that this is purely subjective based on my tastes right now, with maybe some consideration given to the effect these albums have had on me over the years. I will not, however, be giving any consideration at all to the public's perception of the albums. So TDS being one of the hallmark 90s releases won't have any effect on my ranking it but the fact that TF was my first ever NIN album may solidify its position at number 1 because I'm a sentimental motherfucker and it was basically my first love.

I know exactly what 1 and 2 will be, and I know what is going to be last, but 3-8 are really tough choices.


1. The Fragile - Trent's most masterful work. Two CD sprawling opus that changed the way I listened to music. From the first time I heard it, NIN were my favorite band. If I was a little older and had been introduced to TDS first, then TDS might take top spot, but even ignoring the sentimentality of The Fragile, it still takes top spot. This has been and always will be my favorite NIN album. The day that the Ultra Deluxe Remastered Edition is released is the day my life will be complete. Goddamn, I really hope that it is still in the plans at some point.

2. The Downward Spiral - Easy number 2 choice. I don't feel like a whole ton more has to be said because these top two seem fairly obvious to me - and apparently almost everyone else because TDS and TF are numbers 1/2 on almost every list.

3. Hesitation Marks - This might be the euphoria of a new album dropping but I'm pretty confident in this choice at number 3. HM feels like TR has taken all of my favorite things from WT, YZ and The Slip and combined that with a new direction and HM is what came out.

4. Ghosts I-IV - When I was in University I bet I listened to this album 200 times because any time I was writing a paper, I would put it on repeat and it would be my sountrack to writing for hours on end. I disagree with the comments in this thread that it is too long, isn't as tight as it could be, is directionless or anything else that has been mentioned in this thread (although I might use some of those comments for a GWTDT review but I digress). It is just so beautiful in so many ways. Never has an album that is without a single word said so much to me.

5. With Teeth - Again my sentimentality is probably what puts this ahead of my 6th-8th choices, as this was the first NIN album that I heard on release day (at the time anyway). It certainly has some weaker songs, like The Collector, but to this day Sunspots is in my top 3 NIN songs of all time.

6. Year Zero - It does have a couple of tracks I'm not overly fond of but I love the way it represented such a shift from WT and then to The Slip. Both WT and the Slip seem to be more on the Broken side of the pendulum, being more rock oriented with a raw stripped down kind of a feel. YZ feels now like very much a precursor to HM in that it was very electronic focused.

7. Broken - I couldn't decide where the heck to put this. Slight disadvantage in that it is so short but it is also the album I'd most likely describe as being like getting hit with a sledge hammer. What it lacks in length, it certainly makes up for in intensity.

8. The Slip - I really wanted to put this higher but there is just so many strong candidates in the previous 7 spaces. Even in an all-star game, someone still has to get picked last, or in this case second last. Good album and unlike some of the previous choices there isn't a single song I don't like but it also doesn't have any game breakers that take it to the next level.

9. Pretty Hate Machine - As mentioned, only my 1/2 choices and this one were set in stone before I even thought about ranking the albums. I don't dislike PHM, and I'm definitely too young to have appreciated its effect in the late 80s/early 90s, but even though it has grown on me, it still sounds a bit dated and is the only album I don't listen to regularly. I also prefer the live versions of pretty much every song that is played live. There are a few songs in the NIN catalogue that I prefer live but rare that I prefer all the live versions to the studio versions. I don't hate it. I just don't love it as much as the others.


If I were to incorporate TSN and TGWTDT, I'd put TSN in 4th and bump Ghosts down to 5th and so on. And then I'd put TGWTDT somewhere around Broken/The Slip, maybe ahead of both or between or behind both. Not sure. That one never grabbed me like the others. Still is hard to place too because while I like that record, it is really the last half of the album that I love, specifically AATCHB. Overall though I'd have to place it in the lower half. Probably same or similar to TGWTDT.

[tony.parente]

Broken
With_Teeth
The Fragile
Year Zero
Still
Hesitation Marks
The Downward Spiral
Pretty Hate Machine
The Slip
Ghosts

[pigpen]

1.The Downward Spiral
2.The Fragile
3.With Teeth
4.PHM
5.Hesitation Marks
6.Broken
7.Year Zero
8.The Slip
9.Ghosts

Obviously HM could move up or down, but It's going to have to grow on me pretty hard to knock any of those
top 4 albums out..

[InvitingmeAway]

9. Year Zero (love the story/concept behind it though) 8. The Slip 7. Pretty Hate Machine 6. Broken 5. With_Teeth 4. Ghosts 3. Hesitation Marks 2. The Downward Spiral 1. The Fragile

[ninsp]

1. The Fragile 5/5
2. The Downward Spiral 5/5
3. Hesitation Marks 4.5/5
4. Year Zero 4/5
5. Ghosts 3.5/5
6. The Slip 3/5
7. Pretty Hate Machine 3/5
8. Broken 2.5/5
9. With Teeth (A fucking awful album. THTF, Only and the final 3 save it from not being a 0 in my book, the final three are some of my favorite ever.) 1.5/5

[thefragile_jake]

I'll rank em all.

1. The Fragile
2. The Downward Spiral
3. Hesitation Marks
4. With Teeth
5. Broken
6. Ghosts I-IV
7. Still
8. Pretty Hate Machine
9. The Slip
10. And All That Could Have Been
11. Year Zero

[Ryan]

01 - Broken
02 - The Fragile
03 - Still
04 - Pretty Hate Machine
05 - The Downward Spiral
06 - The Slip
07 - Hesitation Marks
08 - Year Zero
09 - AATCHB
10 - With Teeth
11 - Ghosts I-IV

[ManBurning]

My original ranking as of Dec 9, 2011:




1. The Fragile
2. The Downward Spiral
3. The Slip
4. Pretty Hate Machine
5. With_Teeth
6. Broken
7. Year Zero
8. Ghosts I-IV

And now, a year and a half and a new Album later, let's see how my opinion has changed:
The way I scored it this time was I went over and looked at the tracklisting of each album and added up how many songs I liked very album and divided it by the number of songs on the album. Here is what I came up with... For albums that had identical percentage, I ranked it based on the songs I liked on the album compared to the songs I liked on the other with the same score.

1. The Fragile - 20/23 = 86.9%
2. The Downward Spiral - 12/14 = 85.7%
3. Pretty Hate Machine - 8/10 = 80%
4. The Slip - 5/10 = 50%
5. Broken - 4/8 = 50%
6. Hesitation Marks 7/14 = 50%
7. Year Zero - 7/16 = 43%
8. [With_Teeth] - 5/13 = 38.4%
9. Ghosts I-IV - 7/36 = 19.4%

[Tiz]

Cool.

The Fragile
The Downward Spiral
Hesitation Marks
Still
Broken
Ghosts
Pretty Hate Machine
The Slip
Year Zero
With Teeth

[eyenigma]

The Fragile
The Downward Spiral
Pretty Hate Machine
Broken
The Slip
Hesitation Marks
With Teeth
Year Zero
Still
Ghosts

[Wretchedest]

A tier: Tightly competing, but far and away better than the B-Tier albums
1.The Downward Spiral
2.Broken
2a. (TGWTDT)
3.Ghosts/The Fragile (These are competing right now, I often apply something similar to ManBurnings grading system above, actually... but Ghosts has a significant handicap here by virtue of having more tracks.)


B-Tier, Very tight, :
1.Pretty Hate Machine
2.Hesitation Marks/Year Zero (Another competition spot. Year Zero's status as a multimedia ARG project gives it an edge)
3. Quake
4. HTDA
5. With Teeth

C Tier:
1. Welcome Oblivion
2. an Omen
3. Social Network

D Tier:
The Slip


The Downward Spiral
The Fragile
Year Zero
Broken
Dragon Tattoo
Ghosts
Social Network
PHM
With Teeth
Slip


Honestly I don't know how the lack of lyrics automatically makes it not music... that seems really stupid to me. Vox are but one instrument, not the lynchpin of the whole operation.

From two years ago... lots of movers! Notably my opinion of Year Zero has fallen, as has the Fragile maybe in part because Ghosts and Broken picked up steam.

Also Notable: HTDA growing on me quite a bit.

[the_tic_begins]

1. The Downward Spiral
2.Still
3. Pretty Hate Machine
3.Broken
4.Fixed
5.The Fragile
6. AATCHB
7. With Teeth
8. Things Falling Apart
9. Ghosts
10. Year Zero

The top 5 will mix between themselves at random.

I'm curious how HM can honestly be in anyone's list this early. If you heard every album for the first time in the last few days then yes.
It's new music after a long hiatus. It's fresh, it's exciting, it's probably been on constant rotation.
It's also 2 days old

[EndlessLoveless]

1. The Fragile
2. The Downward Spiral
3. Still
4. Broken
5. With Teeth
6. The Slip
7. Pretty Hate Machine
8. Year Zero
9. AATCHB
10 Ghosts

I agree, too early for HM, but if things stay the way they are now, it will be #3. Some of the WT songs are my favorite nails songs of all time (the ending trinity). And some of the Ghosts songs are some of my favorite as well (wish he made a few of them with vocals and held them for a different album).

[Vertigo]

Including HTDA and soundtracks, but not Still or the live and remix albums, because that's how I roll.

Commander-in-Chief: Downward Spiral
General: Year Zero
Brigadier: Welcome Oblivion
Colonel: Fragile
Major: Social Network OST
Captain: Hesitation Marks
Lieutenant: With Teeth
Sergeant: Quake OST
Corporal: HTDA EP
Private: Broken
Drill Instructor: The Slip
Private Pyle: Girl With The Dragon Tattoo OST
Janitor: Pretty Hate Machine
Jizzmopper: Ghosts

[thevoid99]

As of right now....

1. The Downward Spiral
2. The Fragile
3. Broken
4. Year Zero
5. Pretty Hate Machine
6. Still
7. Hesitation Marks
8. Ghosts I-IV
9. The Slip
10. With Teeth

[Halo Infinity]

I just thought that I'd give this another attempt.

1. The Downward Spiral
2. The Fragile
3. Pretty Hate Machine
4. Broken
5. Year Zero
6. With Teeth
7. The Slip
8. Ghosts I-IV

[Dragonkaos]

Not always but right now....

1-The Fragile
2-Pretty Hate machine
3-Ghost
4-The Downard Spiral
5-Broken
6-Year Zero
7-With Teeth
8-Still
9-Further Down The Spiral
10-The Slip
11-Strobe Light

[tw3rbz]

Not always but right now....

1-The Fragile
2-Pretty Hate machine
3-Ghost
4-The Downard Spiral
5-Broken
6-Year Zero
7-With Teeth
8-Still
9-Further Down The Spiral
10-The Slip
11-Strobe Light
Clearly your placement of Strobe Light is incorrect.

[steelnails95]

TF, TDS, Broken, HM, WT, PHM, YZ, TS, Ghosts

[exactlythesame]

I - The Fragile
II - The Downward Spiral
III - Hesitation Marks
IV - Broken
V - Still
VI - Year Zero
VII - With Teeth
VIII - Pretty Hate Machine
___________

IX - Ghosts I-IV
X - The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo
XI - Social Network

The instrumental work deserves a separate category, it's hard to compare it to lyrical music.

[Emil Dorbell]

TDS
Broken
The Fragile
Hesitation Marks
PHM
The Slip
With Teeth
Year Zero
Ghosts

[ripedecay]

I've been contemplating this since it has unanimously been determined that HM is in fact that good (i agree). however, i cant put it above the fragile due to it's nice aged effect aka nice memories i have of it built into facets of me. TDS isnt over rated by any stretch but def requires a certain mood level to listen to. WT was def not well received by me at first in spite thinking the art was absolutely amazing, but now is def a really nicely rounded album and has some personal favs. YZ was a blast to be a part of during the ARG on here and feel like it did what it was supposed to. The Slip was a nice treat and is def underrated. Broken is the sound most relate to NIN i feel who dont listen to regularly. PHM is a classic and i dont think sounds very dated when u look at it like YZ it has a unique vibe. Ghosts i feel was just jam sessions and TR finally giving us what we asked for in unreleased material and had some solid gems on it. HM def feels complete although i'd like more instrumental "filler" as it were.


1.The Fragile
2.Hesitation Marks
3.With Teeth
4.The Downward Spiral
5.Year Zero
6.The Slip
7.Broken
8.Pretty Hate Machine
9.Ghost I-IV

[bugas]

Downward Spiral
The Fragile
Hesitation Marks
Pretty Hate Machine
Year Zero
With Teeth
Ghosts I-IV
The Slip (most hated album of all time, i like to think as it as NIN's "st.anger")

[McCarty]

The fragile

Downward spiral

Hesitations marks

Year zero

Fixed (like it better than broken even though not a real album)

Broken

Pretty hate machine

Ghosts

Slip (I agree what the person above said)










Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free (http://tapatalk.com/m/)

[Headlike]

I've excluded all the EP, Live and Remix releases from my strictly Album (LP) only list (which is the reason why you don't find the 'Broken' EP there).

1. The Downward Spiral
2. Pretty Hate Machine
3. Hesitation Marks
4. With Teeth
5. Year Zero
6. The Slip
7. The Fragile
8. Ghosts I-IV

[KingDeathMachine]

1. The Fragile
2. The Downward Spiral
3. Year Zero
4. Ghosts I-IV
5. Broken
6. With Teeth
7. Pretty Hate Machine
8. The Slip

Not going to rank Hesitation Marks until I've had a few months with it, but my initial impression is that it could wind up supplanting Year Zero as my #3 favorite, or crack my top 4. It's really, really fucking good, but...need time before I can properly place it.

[fakdoo]

the fragile (left)
the downward spiral
with teeth
ghosts i-iv
broken
the fragile (right)
hesitation marks
year zero
pretty hate machine
the slip

[NINisamazing]

Did not include live stuff, still or any of the remix records.

TDS
The Fragile
Hesitation Marks
Broken
The slip
PHM
With teeth
Ghosts
Year zero

[BRoswell]

New ranking:

1. The Downward Spiral/The Fragile
2. Ghosts I-IV
3. Hesitation Marks
4. Year Zero
5. Broken
6. With Teeth
7. The Slip
8. Pretty Hate Machine

[Pdhot65ton]

1. The Downward Spiral-masterpiece from start to finish.
2. The Fragile-just short of masterpiece, some filler and white noise, but 90+% is brilliant.
3. Pretty Hate Machine-some of it has not held up (kinda I want to), but most of it is stellar and sounds fresh still, didn't fall victim to the 80's or Nirvana.
4. Year Zero-surprisingly diverse, goes heavy to mellow, last album to really have the edge of NIN, not a personal album, but still angry, and NIN is at its best when TR is angry.
5. Broken-would be higher if there was more of it. Only Tom Morello and Dimebag Darrell played guitar angrier than what TR did here.
6. With Teeth-lots of good stuff here, but not a cohesive album, the first one on this list that I skip around and don't play through. seems like a greatest hits record comprised of all new material
7. Hesitation Marks-doesn't do much for me, 4-5 songs are enjoyable to me, hopefully over time it will grow on me.-
8.The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo-only 2 songs that have vocals and none are TR, but its still better than the rest
9. Still-more The Becoming
10. The Slip-IMHO-the low point of NIN, I don't like any of it
11. Ghosts-I barely count this as NIN, but its on the list because so far, its the only way Ive been able to get TR's autograph
12. The Social Network-Interview on the DVD is cool

I factor in the quality of songs when played live and the artwork in addition to the studio recording. I figure if TR goes out of his way to make each album a multi-media experience, then I treat them as such. No remix or Live, redundant.

[Krazy]

1- TDS
2- Broken
3- The Fragile
4- PHM
5- Withahha_Teethhaa!!
(big drop off IMO after this)
6- Year Zero (much like TF, a grower- but nothing ends up sticking out)
7- Hesitation Marks (after multiple listens and seeing Tension live multiple times still doesn't do much for me :/ I've yet to come across someone in person to have anything good to say about HM)
8- The Slip (understanding the process of the album, it ends up being OK at best- but only us NIN dorks know how it came to be. I can understand someone picking this out never hearing of NIN, and wondering what the fuss is all about with NIN)
9- Ghosts (don't consider it a NIN album, I understand it to be labeled as such for marketing purposes though)

[rampface]

The Fragile
The Downward Spiral
Hesitation Marks
Year Zero
Pretty Hate Machine
With Teeth
Broken
The Slip
Ghosts I-IV

[Halo Infinity]

I actually felt like doing it this way for this post.

Nine Inch Nails 1989-2002
1. The Downward Spiral
2. The Fragile
3. Pretty Hate Machine
4. Broken
5. And All That Could Have Been (Live/Still) [I actually prefer to put them together now, since they're connected anyway.]

Nine Inch Nails 2005-2013
1. Hesitation Marks
2. With Teeth
3. Year Zero
4. The Slip
5. Ghosts I-IV

Oh, and while they're not albums, I thought of ranking Closure, And All That Could Have Been (Live), and Beside You In Time.

Official Nine Inch Nails Concert Footage
1. And All That Could Have Been (Live)
2. Closure
3. Beside You In Time

[SarahConnor]

Stereogum.com does this well: http://www.stereogum.com/1467231/trent-reznor-albums-from-worst-to-best/list/

[bruised]

Albums:
The Fragile
The Downward Spiral
Hesitation Marks
Pretty Hate Machine
Broken
Year Zero
Ghosts
The Slip
With Teeth

Live/Remix:
Beside You In Time
AATCHB
Things Falling Apart
Further Down The Spiral
Fixed
Head like A Hole

[Frydek]

It's quite hard to rank all the albums taken out of context. E.g. I really liked PHM in the early 90s but I never listen to it. I find it didn't age well but back then it was great. Anyway, there goes...

1. TDS
2. TF
3. WT
4. YZ
5. HM
6. TS
7. Ghosts
8. Broken
9. PHM

[Bloomy1992]

1. The Fragile
2. The Downward Spiral
3. Hesitation Marks
4. Pretty Hate Machine
5. Broken
6. Year Zero
7. With Teeth
8. The Slip
9. Ghosts I-IV

[Your Name Here]

1) The Fragile (fucking awesome)
2) The Downward Spiral (5 million people can't be wrong)
3) Broken (raw and angry)
4) With Teeth (When will he play Sunspots live)
5) Pretty Hate Machine (it started it all)
6) The Slip (not sure why you guys hate it so much I love Discipline, Corona Radiata)
7) Ghosts (I actually listen to this a lot)
8) Hesitation Marks (I have a love/hate thing going on with this record)
9) Year Zero ( In This Twilight, Vessel are my favs)

[pinata89]

1. The Downward Spiral
2. The Fragile
3. Broken
4. Pretty Hate Machine
5. With Teeth
6. Year Zero
7. Hesitation Marks
8. The Slip

[screwdriver]

I'm gonna go with...
1. The Fragile
2. The Downward Spiral
3. Hesitation Marks / With Teeth / Pretty Hate Machine (really just depends on the day)
4. Broken (I love it but I'm just not in that headspace anymore)
5. The Slip
6. Ghosts
7. Year Zero

[tony.parente]

1. With Teeth
2. Broken
3. The Fragile
4. Year Zero
5. The Downward Spiral
6. The Slip
7. Pretty Hate Machine
8. Hesitation Marks
9-98 (silence)
99. Ghosts

[icecream]

1 the downward spiral
2 the fragile
3 hesitation marks
4 year zero
5 pretty hate machine
6 with teeth
7 the slip
8 ghosts

[pigpen]

1.The Downward Spiral
2.The Fragile
3.With Teeth
4.Pretty Hate Machine
5.Broken
6.Hesitation Marks
7.Year Zero
8.The Slip
9.Ghosts

Nothing will top The Downward Spiral for me.. NEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I hate to rank Ghosts so low, since it's always been something I wished Nine Inch Nails would do. I just see it as this really big missed opportunity, full of fragmented ideas instead of the full fledged NIN instrumental experience you'd expect having been exposed to all of them leading up to it. Oh well. It's still cooler than a lot of things..

[screwdriver]

1.The Downward Spiral
2.The Fragile
3.With Teeth
4.Pretty Hate Machine
5.Broken
6.Hesitation Marks
7.Year Zero
8.The Slip
9.Ghosts

Nothing will top The Downward Spiral for me.. NEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I hate to rank Ghosts so low, since it's always been something I wished Nine Inch Nails would do. I just see it as this really big missed opportunity, full of fragmented ideas instead of the full fledged NIN instrumental experience you'd expect having been exposed to all of them leading up to it. Oh well. It's still cooler than a lot of things..

I really agree on Ghosts! The funny thing is there are a few tracks on there that very nearly hit that height -- Ghosts 3, Ghosts 28 come to mind -- and if they had taken their time with these and a few others, as opposed to cranking out so many, I think we could've really had *the* instrumental album we were craving.

[pigpen]

I really agree on Ghosts! The funny thing is there are a few tracks on there that very nearly hit that height -- Ghosts 3, Ghosts 28 come to mind -- and if they had taken their time with these and a few others, as opposed to cranking out so many, I think we could've really had *the* instrumental album we were craving.
I agree with Ghosts 28.. That track is beautiful! That kind of goes to show what I'm talking about though, they had the potential to make something truly great, and in some spots DID. More often than not though, it just seems like they were more intent on just making noises and stuff than trying to put together a compelling album.
That said, I still like it for what it is.. Just wish it could have been more.

[Inkë]

I already gave my rank list on this thread, but it was before the release of HM.

1. The Downward Spiral
2. Pretty Hate Machine
3. Broken
4. Year Zero (tie)
4. The Fragile (tie)
6. Hesitation Marks
7. The Slip
8. With Teeth
9. Ghosts I-IV

[HurtinMinorKey]

1. TDS
2. The Fragile
3. Broken
4. PHM
5. Year Zero
6. The Slip
7. With Teeth
8. HM
9. Ghosts

[GavinCollins420]

Revised for HM:

1. Year Zero
2. The Downward Spiral
3. With Teeth
4. Hesitation Marks
5. The Fragile
6. Pretty Hate Machine
7. The Slip
8. Broken
9. Ghosts I-IV

[icecream]

I agree with Ghosts 28.. That track is beautiful! That kind of goes to show what I'm talking about though, they had the potential to make something truly great, and in some spots DID. More often than not though, it just seems like they were more intent on just making noises and stuff than trying to put together a compelling album.
That said, I still like it for what it is.. Just wish it could have been more.
Ghosts remind me of the interview Trent gave and he played unfinished demos of HM songs.

[Halo Infinity]

Nothing will top The Downward Spiral for me.. NEVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I've also felt the same way in some ways ever since I've first heard of Nine Inch Nails. I still believe that Trent Reznor could make another album like The Downward Spiral if he really wanted to though, but it's also very hard, or even impossible for me to imagine The Downward Spiral itself becoming completely topped. Then again, you'd also have fans that say that Pretty Hate Machine, or The Fragile is the best. I also noticed that I kept putting The Downward Spiral at number 1 more and more though, and I usually end up putting The Fragile at number 2.

[pigpen]

I've also felt the same way in some ways ever since I've first heard of Nine Inch Nails. I still believe that Trent Reznor could make another album like The Downward Spiral if he really wanted to though, but it's also very hard, or even impossible for me to imagine The Downward Spiral itself becoming completely topped. Then again, you'd also have fans that say that Pretty Hate Machine, or The Fragile is the best. I also noticed that I kept putting The Downward Spiral at number 1 more and more though, and I usually end up putting The Fragile at number 2.
Those two albums are constantly at battle for which one I'm listening to more at the moment, but The Downward Spiral just means so much more to me. If I were to lose all of my copies of it, and be banned from ever hearing it again, it'd still be my favorite album.. Not only my favorite nine inch nails album, my all time favorite album!!

[Mutilated]

Its nice to give this some thought - here's what I came up (the definitive NIN ranking, of course) [cough, cough] :

1. The Downward Spiral
2. Pretty Hate Machine
3. Broken
4. The Fragile
5. Year Zero
6. Hesitation Marks
7. Ghosts
8. WIth Teeth
9. The Slip

[Halo Infinity]

I just thought that I'd try to rank Nine Inch Nails albums from With Teeth and up.

1. Year Zero
2. Hesitation Marks
3. With Teeth
4. The Slip
5. Ghosts I-IV

[SM Rollinger]

Just like alot of films, i have a tier-based system for ranking my favorite NIN albums...

Tier 1 : The Downward Spiral
Tier 2 : Year Zero
Tier 3 : Pretty Hate Machine, The Fragile, Hesitation Marks
Tier 4 : With Teeth

I havent put any thought into "ranking" the instrumental works and remix EPs, seeing as the occupy a different place, from a musical prospective, than the LPs. I left both the Slip and Broken off the list as IMO they arent long enough to be considered LPs.

TDS is an obvious milestone, and anybody who knows me knows my thoughts on the album.

Year Zero, the recording process, with doing it on the road and not having access to the full studio, really forced a creative side out of Trent I never thought possible. That and Vessel kicks fuckin' ass and the need to start playing in again live. Maybe right before Happiness in Slavery?!? I dont think i could handle the intensity!!! I about lost it when I saw it played on the LITS tour!

As for the Tier 3, well, to me these, while they are all compleatly solid albums that greatly define the "NIN" sound, thats the problem. I dont think any of them take enough chances. And yes I know PHM was the first album, but if you go back and listen to Purest Feeling, I think it was a bad move to strip out the "funk" elements from the music for a more "industrial" sound. But hey, things come full circle, and as far as HM goes, im glad some of that "funk" has surfaced again. But alas, not enough "streaching outside your comfort zone" Trent (Everything (the song, FU if u think it sucks!), the sax work and Pino's funk-da-fide bass was a good start) And as much as I love the Fragile as a 2 disc work, it could have been, and should have been condensed into a single, 80 minute disc. Its like there is almost too much going on, the album is pulling itself in too many directions at once. Although I cant imagine life without The Wretched and The Big Come Down, I think things should have been more fleshed-out before recording took place. (i also realize that Trent realizes that NIN fans can be pricks and arent as open minded as he thinks and he cant go writing albums that alienate his fan-base)

And I know alot of you love WT, but im just going to come out and say it, its a boring album (except for The Line Begins to Blur)

These are just my opinions, and just because I put WT and The Fragile towards the bottom, doesnt mean i think they suck. In fact, i like them better than 95% of the music in my collection (and its a big one.)

[Halo Infinity]

I just thought I'd give this another attempt as my opinion seemed to have changed a bit. I also thought that I'd like to separate Pretty Hate Machine to The Fragile from With Teeth to Hesitation Marks. It made ranking a little bit easier for me that way, and it also a bit more fun.

Pretty Hate Machine to The Fragile

1. The Fragile
2. The Downward Spiral
3. Pretty Hate Machine
4. Broken

With Teeth to Hesitation Marks

1. With Teeth
2. Hesitation Marks
3. Year Zero
4. Ghosts I-IV
5. The Slip

[Atu]

First three positions are solid, after that the it gets kinda blurry

1. The Fragile
2. The Downward Spiral
3. Hesitation Marks
4. Broken
5. With Teeth
6. Pretty Hate Machine
7. Year Zero
8. The Slip


Omitted Ghosts because I consider it to be something like Still rather than normal album.
Also I'm surprised myself by how much I actually like With Teeth as I really hated it upon release, opposite to Year Zero which practically I haven't listened for a long time.

[Space Suicide]

First three positions are solid, after that the it gets kinda blurry

1. The Fragile
2. The Downward Spiral
3. Hesitation Marks
4. Broken
5. With Teeth
6. Pretty Hate Machine
7. Year Zero
8. The Slip


Omitted Ghosts because I consider it to be something like Still rather than normal album.
Also I'm surprised myself by how much I actually like With Teeth as I really hated it upon release, opposite to Year Zero which practically I haven't listened for a long time.

Hesitation Marks better than Pretty Hate Machine AND Broken?

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mz42HXRAMeE/UVfYuTDnGwI/AAAAAAAADec/1vMxTcve5FQ/s320/BlankStare+forrest+gump.jpg

[elevenism]

1.broken/fixed
2. the fragile
3. year zero
4. TDS
5. PHM
6. HM
7.WT
8. The Slip
9. Ghosts

subject to change daily

[Atu]

Hesitation Marks better than Pretty Hate Machine AND Broken?


What's so shocking?

[sheepdean]

People who don't include Ghosts make me not want to include Broken

[Wolfkiller]

That's like comparing apples to angry, screaming oranges though.

[Vertigo]

Currently...

1. Year Zero
2. Downward Spiral
3. Hesitation Marks (stares provocatively Space Suicide)
4. With Teeth
5. Fragile
(Welcome Oblivion)
(Social Network)
6. Broken
(HTDA EP)
7. Ghosts
(Quake)
8. Pretty Hate Machine
(Dragon Tattoo)
9. Slip

[Halo Infinity]

I thought that I'd have another attempt at this list just to see if anything has changed.

1. The Fragile
2. The Downward Spiral
3. Pretty Hate Machine
4. Broken
5. With Teeth
6. Hesitation Marks (I've been actually listening to Hesitation Marks more than Year Zero as of late, but Year Zero is still very close.)
7. Year Zero
8. Ghosts I-IV/And All That Could Have Been (Still)
9. The Slip

It turns out that I actually still have a hard time ranking this list with And All That Could Have Been (Still). I feel like I should just put it right next to Ghosts I-IV.

[Edo]

My order of preference is almost identical, except that I'd switch PHM with Broken, and it is Year Zero > Hesitation Marks > With Teeth for me. And I've been guilty of not listening to Ghosts nearly as much as they deserve, so there's a big question mark in where I should put them on my little list. :(

Edit: also, I love AATCHB very much but I mentally put it in another "list" that has Fixed, Further Down The Spiral and Things Falling Apart in it - not major releases of new music, but rather albums containing mostly versions and interpretations of previously released music, if that makes sense.

[curbes]

1)PHM
2)The Fragile
3)TDS
4)Broken
5)WT
6)HM
7)YZ
8)Ghosts
9)The Slip

[darksiren82]

1. The Fragile
2. Pretty Hate Machine
3. Broken
4. Year Zero
5. With Teeth
6. Hesitation Marks (can't help it - 30 something, married me loves this album)
7. The Slip
8. The Downward Spiral
9. Ghosts I-IV/And All That Could Have Been (Still)

[WorzelG]

1. The Fragile
2. The Downward Spiral
3. Pretty Hate Machine
4. Hesitation Marks
5. Year Zero
6. With Teeth
7. The Slip
8. Broken
9. Ghosts I-IV
(HM/WT/YZ could easily change around in the next few years, but I think 1-3 and 7-9 are pretty set)

[Airbornefeline]

1. The Downward Spiral
2. The Fragile
3. Broken
4. Year Zero
5. Pretty Hate Machine
6. With Teeth
7. The Slip
8. Hesitation Marks
9. Ghosts
Even though I love The Fragile, The Downward spiral will just always have a special place in my heart. Also, there are some tracks on The Fragile such as Starfuckers and a couple others on the 2nd disc that I just really don't enjoy listening to that much, where as I love every song on The Downward Spiral and the concept of the whole thing is very appealing to me. Year Zero is by far the most creative and exciting album Trent has made since he got clean IMO. With Teeth and all the others really don't stack up when compared to his other work. Even though I don't listen to the studio PHM that much, I love the live versions of all the songs so I feel like it deserves its spot. Hesitation Marks is still an alright album, it's just not what I look for in a NIN album. Ghosts was something I listened to once and never had the urge to go back to. The Slip had some good songs like Lights In The Sky and Head Down but overall it didn't do much for me. Maybe when I grow out of my edgy teenage years I'll appreciate these later albums more.

[m15a]

1. Ghosts I-IV
2. The Downward Spiral
3. Hesitation Marks
4. With Teeth
5. Broken
6. The Fragile
7. Year Zero
8. The Slip
9. Pretty Hate Machine

I think ranking albums is kinda weird, but I was curious if I was able to settle on some order and, well, I could. Could put HM above TDS, maybe, since I definitely feel like listening to it more these days, but I'm not sure how much that matters.

[GlitchyFlame]

9. The Slip
8. Broken
7. Pretty Hate Machine
6. With Teeth
5. Ghosts
4. Hesitation Marks
3. Year Zero
2. The Downward Spiral
1. The Fragile

7-6
5-4
3-2
All tend to change places depending on what mood i'm in.

[Halo Infinity]

I actually haven't done this since Not The Actual Events came out. Anyway, I just thought that I'd give it a try now that it actually exists. I doubt much has changed since the last time I ranked my favorite NIN albums, but at least it gives me yet another release to rank.

1. The Fragile
2. The Downward Spiral
3. Pretty Hate Machine
4. Broken
5. With Teeth
6. Year Zero
7. And All That Could Have Been (Still)
8. Hesitation Marks
9. Not The Actual Events
10. Ghosts I-IV
11. The Slip

[BRoswell]

1. The Downward Spiral/The Fragile
3. Ghosts I-IV
4. Year Zero
5. Hesitation Marks
6. Broken/Not The Actual Events
8. With Teeth
9. The Slip
10. Pretty Hate Machine

[Helpmeiaminhell (is now in hell)]

1. Fragile
2. Pretty Hate Machine (TRs 2010 remaster helped my love for this album grow)
3. Downward Spiral
4. Broken
5. Year Zero
6. Still
7. With Teeth
8. NTAE
9. fuck it, Purest Feeling
10. Slip
11. Ghosts
12. Hesitation Marks

[kel]

tds
broken
the slip
wt
the fragile
year zero
hm
phm
ntae

(haven't heard any ghosts tracks outside of lits shows, so ...)

[Tommy_Macbeth]

TDS-just honestly perfection imo, it can't NOT affect me
TF-top 14 songs on the album might be as good at TDS, but there's too many other songs that I can't really appreciate tbh, but the songs I do appreciate...just wow
HM-got into NIN when I was 14 (2014) so I have nostalgia for it and it has grown on me much more than any other album, might be the most comforting album
WT-connects the most to me personally, might have the best stand-alone songs of all the albums
NTAE-addicting, engaging, finding it hard not to listen to everyday- love the style
PHM-always fun, very relatable, a classic, but it doesn't have the same level of layers as the higher ranked albums imo
Add Violence- some of the coolest sounds/textures Trent has ever touched, but it still leaves something to be desired.
YZ-great concept, still sounds awesome, probably best last two songs on an album, but sometimes the songs sound too similar
Broken- 8 awesome songs I always enjoy
TS-even though it's ranked so low, I still love it, but some of the songs really drag it down for some reason in my mind
Ghosts-beautiful, but I enjoy a few instrumentals on an album rather than an entire album of them

[astfgyl]

The Fragile/The Downward Spiral

Pretty Hate Machine/Broken

With Teeth/The Slip/Not The Actual Events/Add Violence

Ghosts

Hesitation Marks

Year Zero. (If Capital G and Godgiven are taken out it isn't so bad in fairness)

In that order, but I would enjoy listening to any of them. The ones that are doubled up are the ones I flit between depending on the weather.

[Indefinite_Cure]

1. The Downward Spiral
2. The Fragile
3. Year Zero
4. Add Violence
5. With Teeth
6. Hesitation Marks
7. The Slip
8. Pretty Hate Machine
9. Broken
10. Not The Actual Events
11. Ghosts I-IV
12. Still

[implanted_microchip]

Currently:

TDS
The Fragile
NTAE/Add Violence (the third part will help decide more concretely where these would go)
Still.
Year Zero
With Teeth
Hesitation Marks
Pretty Hate Machine
Broken
Ghosts I-IV
The Slip

[motionlessZombie]

As of right now:

1. The Fragile
2. Pretty Hate Machine
3. Broken
4. The Downward Spiral
5. With Teeth
6. Add Violence
7. Not the Actual Events
8. Year Zero
9. Hesitation Marks
10. The Slip
11. Ghosts

[ChipRock]

A tricky one for sure, but I'm going to commit myself without thinking it through too much.

01 The Downward Spiral - Never any doubt about that, and I don't expect this to ever change. Stone cold classic. Say no more.
02 The Fragile - I have love/hate issues with this record, but I can't bring myself to place it any lower. I tried, but no.
03 Add Violence - Maybe it's just because it's new, but after however long now it still feels consistently outstanding. Love it.
04 Hesitation Marks - Flawed as a whole, but at its best it sums up all I love about NIN.
05 With Teeth - Playing this more as time goes by. Unspectacular by NIN standards, but the quality of the songs shines through.
06 Broken - Sonically amazing, particularly for its time, but in contrast to WT the songs themselves just aren't as good.
07 Not The Actual Events - Actually could be joint 6th. Couple of great songs, and an interesting shift in sound for NIN.
08 Pretty Hate Machine - Feel bad for having this down here. It is a classic, of course, but from a retro perspective.
09 Year Zero - Loved YZ songs played from LITS, and appreciate the concept etc, but the record lacks something somewhere.
10 Ghosts - It's a good record, and I'm glad it exists, but won't get a great deal of play at home for me.

[center27j]

1. The Downward Spiral
2. Broken
3. The Fragile
4. Pretty Hate Machine
5. With Teeth
6. Hesitation Marks
7. Yr Zero
8. Ghosts
9. Add Violence
10. The Slip
11. NTAE

[BRoswell]

1. The Downward Spiral/The Fragile
3. Ghosts I-IV
4. Not The Actual Events
5. Year Zero
6. Hesitation Marks
7. Broken/Add Violence
8. With Teeth
9. The Slip
10. Pretty Hate Machine

[botley]

*breaks down sobbing*

*kicks the gun across the floor*

I CAN'T. I CAN'T DO IT.

[ltrandazzo]

LPs

The Fragile
Ghosts
Year Zero
TDS
Hesitation Marks
PHM
With Teeth
The Slip

EPs

Still
NTAE
Broken
AV

[ultimaton]

The Fragile
The Downward Spiral
Broken
Add Violence
Ghosts I-IV
Year Zero
Not the Actual Events
Still
With Teeth
Pretty Hate Machine
Hesitation Marks
The Slip

[Swykk]

01 The Downward Spiral
02 The Fragile
03 Year Zero
04 Broken
05 With Teeth
06 Not The Actual Events
07 Add Violence
08 The Slip
09 Hesitation Marks
10 Pretty Hate Machine
11 Ghosts

[Xen]

Main Albums:

----- Masterpiece -----

1. Fragile - The quintessential NIN album, best combo of heavy/light and complex/minimalist. Band lineup, arrangement, and production was at the peak.
2. Downward Spiral - This album sets them apart from the rest of the alternative acts of the time. Absolutely no filler, and nobody could match the band's raw energy.

----- Excellent -----

3. Still - Best aural representation of depression/hopelessness, contains 3 of Trent's best instrumentals.
4. Broken - Best aural representation of rage/nihilism, contains best cover done by NIN.

----- Very Good -----

5. Year Zero - Great follow up to a lackluster comeback album (in my opinion), most singularly focused and complete post-Fragile album.
6. Ghosts I-IV - Great experimentation and concept, proves that Trent doesn't need lyrics to make evoke emotions from the listeners.

----- Good -----

7. With Teeth - Great start, average middle, and good finish to the album. First album on my list to contain filler tracks in my opinion, but still lots of classic songs.
8. Pretty Hate Machine - Several good/great songs, surprisingly catchy, but with some of the cheesiest lyrics in the entire catalog.
9. NTAE/AV/3rd EP Trilogy - Some good impressions at first, especially after the let down I had after hearing Hesitation Marks. Not complete grade due to the third EP being unreleased so far.

----- Average -----

10. The Slip - A couple of great songs, some other good tracks, but overall sounds like B-sides from WT and YZ sessions.
11. Hesitation Marks - My hopes were pretty high after hearing Came Back Haunted, but this album was a let down for me because of the generic sounding slower sections (unlike the slow songs from Fragile/WT/YZ which were unique and sounded nothing like the other).

Remix Albums

1. Further Down the Spiral - Best collabs/remixes and awesome experimentation
2. Closer to God - Ditto
3. March of the Pigs - See 1 and 2 but kinda short
4. Year Zero Remixed - Some great remixes, similar in theme to YZ but different enough as well.
5. Things Falling Apart - Very good remixes but also some filler and crappy ones too.
6. Fixed - I like the effort but way too noisy and weird for me.
7. The Perfect Drug - Wasn't feeling it, most remixes seemed half-baked to me.

[eversonpoe]

LPs

The Fragile
Ghosts
Year Zero
TDS
Hesitation Marks
PHM
With Teeth
The Slip

EPs

Still
NTAE
Broken
AV

i think it's funny that you're one of the only people who has ranked Ghosts as high as me, yet you like YZ waaaaaay more than i do. but still, <3

[OSLIN]

Current Top Ten

10. Hesitation Marks
Top heavy and back-loaded, this album starts strong and ends stronger. I feel it would have benefited from a couple cuts (ahem, Running & Disappointed). To be honest, I only fully listened to this album a couple times and don't really find myself coming back to it. I can appreciate the change of pace and a new aesthetic, but it doesn't really resonate sonically. 6/10 Top Tracks: Copy of A, In Two, Black Noise

09. The Slip
How did I, How did I, How did I like this album? Just as with Hesitation Marks, I feel it has its ups and downs.
With Teeth light, the songs have some great pop to them, yet I feel a little more production value would have put this higher on my list. I understand it was done quickly and it's kind of a broken-down experimental extended EP. The album isn't bad by any means, it's reflective and foreshadows Ghosts to come and it was literally priceless. Also, can I hear Demon Seed live once before I die? Fuck. 6.5/10 Top Tracks: Head Down, Lights in the Sky, Demon Seed

08. Broken
The rage of a disillusioned 26-year old man makes this EP one worth screaming to. Guitar heavy and full of giving no fucks other than those of the fisting variety. A project taking the destructive side of the live act and amping it up to eleven in the studio. The energy of this album still excites, yet the anger is something I no can longer relate to (most of the time). Gnashing and brutal this wasn't meant to last, but for a short period in the early 90's it was for right now. 7/10 Top Tracks: Happiness in Slavery, Gave Up

07. With Teeth
This album is a great portrayal of a man reflecting on his prior struggles with substance abuse and mental health issues. Brave, daring and full of beautiful moments that are less concerned about fitting into the fans concept of what NIN should be and more of a musical catharsis. It erratically beats, it flip flop flips and then the album concludes with little pieces bleeding through, everything back where it belongs, fabric tearing, lines blurring and the struggle going on and on and on... 7/10
Top Tracks: All the Love in the World, Sunspots, The Line Begins to Blur, Right Where It Belongs

06. Not the Actual Events/Add Violence/ ?
Sleeping or awake these EP's are a dream come true, breathing old life into new NIN. It has it all, endless loops, vocals clear as mud, burning carcasses, crawling spiders and infected Japanese. With the finale still waiting to break through the surface, there is no future point in time I don't see this project making my top 5. ?/10
Top Tracks: The Idea of You, Burning Bright (Field on Fire), This Isn't the Place, The Background World

05. Pretty Hate Machine
Honest and ahead o' the times. This machine was the hate child of 80's pop, infused with an industrial hip-hop vibe, mixed with a vocalist whose heart was grey and head was... well... like a hole. Everything about this album is begging to please. Sprinkled with dirty, yet pretty aggro-synth hits. Opening with one of NIN's most popular anthemic numbers and unabashedly drenched in lyrics so embarrassingly honest that you wouldn't want your older sibling to read them at the dinner table. 7.5/10 Top Tracks: Head Like a Hole, Terrible Lie, The Only Time, Ringfinger

04. Ghosts I-IV
This collection of instrumentals show case the process and the strong collaboration between Trent and Atticus. Like a fine wine (minus TR whining) this album ferments in my mind, filling me with the spirit of what could have been. Haunting and conjuring the sounds of a world we are no longer beholden to. A timeless piece filling in the blanks of our deepest, darkest memories. 8/10 Top Tracks: 1 Ghosts I, 13 Ghosts II, 24 Ghosts III, 28 Ghosts IV, 31 Ghosts IV, 34 Ghosts IV, 35 Ghosts IV

03. Year Zero
This album has grown on me and as the world that is conveyed in the album seems set on a collision course with reality, this only adds to my intrigue. Set in a dystopian future and fraught with warning. It's not the usual introverted, self-reflective NIN trope, yet still feels as relevant, nihilistic and foreboding. It's not just music, it's an experience. 8.5/10 Top tracks: Me, I'm Not, My Violent Heart, In This Twilight, Zero-Sum

02. The Downward Spiral
Ironically the pinnacle. The Downward Spiral is an enigma, terrifying yet alluring. From the first sounds you are sucked in, to be chewed until all the tender parts have been erased. It's visceral landscape scraping away all the rest. Leaving you breathless, regretful and taking you to limitless depths. Until at the last second you realize there is hope and even though it's a million miles away, we can rejoice that we are still right here. 10/10
Top Tracks: Mr. Self Destruct, Piggy, Ruiner, The Becoming, Reptile, Hurt

01. The Fragile
Waves of every feeling ever felt. 10/10
Top Tracks: Somewhat Damaged, The Day the World Went Away, We're in This Together, Just Like You Imagined, La Mer, The Great Below, The Way Out is Through, Please, The New Flesh, I'm Looking Forward to Joining You, Finally, The Big Come Down, Ripe (With Decay) Still: Leaving Hope

[Kulerage]

[Disclaimer]: I do not dislike ANY Nine Inch Nails release. It just so happens that when I put them in order it ended up like this. So just because an album is low doesn't mean I find it bad. Also, my opinions on the releases constantly changes, so in about a week this list will likely be pretty different.


Pretty Hate Machine: Synth-Pop is not really my go to, but the Industrial undertones do help it. All in all just not 100% my taste.

Ghosts I-IV: Cool idea. Awesome songs. Not very memorable, with the songs not having distinct enough titles. Also very long listen.

With Teeth: I personally blame this ranking on overplaying. I truly loved this album when I first heard it, but I've long since worn out my taste for it. Though my love for Beside You In Time has never ceased.

The Downward Spiral: Go ahead. Murder me. But before you do, the reason I rank this so low is because I actually find myself going back to it not really that often compared to the other albums. I've also kind of worn out my taste for it. Okay, NOW you can kill me.

Year Zero: While I actually like this album more than the one in front of it, I find it hard to listen to in one setting, since the electronics really punch you and aren't all that easy to listen to.

Hesitation Marks: Never got the hate for this. It's like Pretty Hate Machine but in a way I like even more. That's all I can really say about it.

Broken: Pure, uncontrolled, aggression. It's like Year Zero in that it punches you a bunch, but much quicker so that no second is wasted.

Not The Actual Events: Alongside the next release, I actually credit this releases high ranking to it being new and much more fresh than anything else. But, I also rank it so high because it takes what I like about With Teeth, Broken, Hesitation Marks and The Downward Spiral and puts in a new package that still sounds original.

Add Violence: Eh, probably just because it's the newest EP. But anyway, it goes in several different directions while still maintaining a constant flow.

The Fragile: This is a masterpiece. It is also hard to listen to in one setting, but the punches aren't that common so it's still a smoother listen. Also the story is genius, much like the Downward Spiral, but the music helps it keep it's replay ability, with the Right side being very experimental.


Eh, still don't feel satisfied with this. Oh well

[Halo Infinity]

I was absolutely/pleasantly surprised to see just how much I actually enjoyed Add Violence. I just don't know any other way to put that right now, but the fact that it's that close to Broken for me, should say it all. Satisfaction, indeed. :)

1. The Fragile
2. The Downward Spiral
3. Pretty Hate Machine
4. Broken
5. Add Violence
6. With Teeth
7. Year Zero
8. And All That Could Have Been (Still)
9. Hesitation Marks
10. Not The Actually Events
11. Ghosts I-IV
12. The Slip

[clarktrent]

1. Ghosts I-IV
2. Further Down The Spiral (US)
3. The Downward Spiral
4. Fixed
5. Quake OST
6. The Fragile
7. Broken
8. Still
9. Recoiled
10. Not The Actual Events
11. Add Violence
12. Year Zero
13. The Slip
14. Hesitation Marks
15. Things Falling Apart
16. Pretty Hate Machine
17. With Teeth
18. Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D

[Krazy]

Too lazy to look at what past posts I made in this thread, but here’s the latest and probably last one. Many of the top half are too close to call so the tiebreaker goes to percantage of album I enjoy. Also excluding remix albums, Still, and Ghosts (which should’ve been a seperate Trent project but I understand the marketing advantage of having the NIN label attached to it):

1) TDS
2) Broken
3) PHM
4) TF
5) WT
6) YZ
(major drop off at this point)
7) HM
8) TS
9/10) NTAE/AV (songs are interchangeable between EP’s IMHO and could’ve just been one album)

[ManBurning]

1) The Fragile
2) The downward spiral
3) NTAE (yes, I am ranking it this high. It's fantastic!!)
4) Year Zero (10 yrs ago, I would have placed this record at the bottom of the pile, this record has really grown on me since then)
5) Broken
6) The Slip (demon seed scores this album the majority of its points)
7) Pretty Hate Machine
8) Add Violence (it's not bad. I was just expecting so much more after NTAE and considering the name "add violence" I thought this would be even harder/more abrasive than NTAE was, not dialing it down a notch. I think NTAE and Add Violence should swap album names.
9) With Teeth (I used to place this record higher, but everytime I try and listen to it these days, I can't help to see what I saw in this record back in the day. These days I listen to all the love and sunspots and maybe the line begins to blur and I'm done. I can't listen to this record from front to end).
10) Hesitation Marks

[implanted_microchip]

Currently, without any serious thought, best to last:

TDS
The Fragile
NTAE
Year Zero
Add Violence
With Teeth
Hesitation Marks
Pretty Hate Machine
Broken
Ghosts
The Slip

I love them all, but some more than others, like a parent willing to be honest about their feelings towards their children. The top 3 feel consistent but everything else shuffles around all of the time.

[ManBurning]

Currently, without any serious thought, best to last:

TDS
The Fragile
NTAE
Year Zero

Hey! Our top 4 are exactly the same!

It's nice to see some love for NTAE. I don't get why people are ranking it so low. It's the classic abrasive NIN sound people have been asking for all this time.

[implanted_microchip]

Hey! Our top 4 are exactly the same!

It's nice to see some love for NTAE. I don't get why people are ranking it so low. It's the classic abrasive NIN sound people have been asking for all this time.
This EP trilogy is shaping up to be my favorite project Trent’s ever committed to. Aesthetically, thematically and sonically it’s all spoken to me heavily at this particular point in time in my life and has been exactly what I’ve been wanting out of music. Burning Bright live and in studio is one of the most powerful and overwhelming things he’s ever created and manages to feel like the pinnacle of the melodic abrasion he’s been pursuing since 1989 and The Background World feels like the logical endpoint of everything he’s been battling with himself about since With Teeth.

[bobbie solo]

1. Ghosts I-IV
2. Further Down The Spiral (US)
3. The Downward Spiral
4. Fixed
5. Quake OST
6. The Fragile
7. Broken
8. Still
9. Recoiled
10. Not The Actual Events
11. Add Violence
12. Year Zero
13. The Slip
14. Hesitation Marks
15. Things Falling Apart
16. Pretty Hate Machine
17. With Teeth
18. Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D

edgelord over here.

[scribnation]

Albums Ranked:
1. The Fragile
2. The Slip
3. Year Zero
4. The Downward Spiral
5. Pretty Hate Machine
6. With Teeth
7. Hesitation Marks

EPs Ranked:
1. Broken
2. Add Violence
3. Still
4. Not The Actual Events

[thefragile_jake]

While my top three has been constant ... overtime I feel like my middle section is finally changing.

1. The Fragile
2. The Downward Spiral
3. With Teeth
4. Pretty Hate Machine
5. Broken
6. Ghosts I-IV
7. Hesitation Marks
8. Not the Actual Events
9. The Slip
10. Add Violence
11. Year Zero

[Dryalex12]

1. Still
2. The Fragile
3. The Downward Spiral
4. With Teeth
5. Not The Actual Events
6. Add Violence
7. Year Zero
8. The Slip
9. Ghosts
10. Hesitation Marks
11. Pretty Hate Machine
12. Broken

[Shunt]

1. The Fragile
2. The Downward Spiral
3. Not the Actual Events/Add Violence
4. Hesitation Marks
5. Pretty Hate Machine
6. Broken
7. Ghosts
8. The Slip
9. Year Zero
10. With Teeth

All of them are good. I can't decide where to put Still, so I left it out.

[elevenism]

This EP trilogy is shaping up to be my favorite project Trent’s ever committed to. Aesthetically, thematically and sonically it’s all spoken to me heavily at this particular point in time in my life and has been exactly what I’ve been wanting out of music.
This makes me really happy for you, to have such a powerful touchstone and piece of art that means so much to you when you're young.
It seems like the older i get, the harder it is to REALLY get into a record the way i did when i was in my 20s.

Sorry for late reaction, ha. I'm just catching up on this thread.

[Garymly]

1. Add Violence
2. Hesitation Marks
3. With Teeth
4. The Slip
5. The Fragile
6. The Downward Spiral
7. Pretty Hate Machine
8. Not The Actual Events
9. Year Zero
10. Broken

[motionlessZombie]

1. Add Violence
2. Hesitation Marks
3. With Teeth
4. The Slip
5. The Fragile
6. The Downward Spiral
7. Pretty Hate Machine
8. Not The Actual Events
9. Year Zero
10. Broken

Can I ask why Broken is at the bottom? I ask because Broken is usually popular and favorited among NIN fans.

[Helpmeiaminhell (is now in hell)]

Revised 2018 edition (putting the EPs in there as albums)

1. Fragile
2. Downward Spiral
3. Pretty Hate Machine
4. Broken
5. Not The Actual Events
6. Bad Witch
7. Year Zero
8. With Teeth
9. Add Violence
10. The Slip
11. Hesitation Marks
12. Ghosts

1-4 is basically a tie and 1-10 are all albums I dig...As for 11 and 12.......

[eachpassingphase]

Sheesh, this is hard to do. Unlike 99% of the bands I listen to, NIN doesn't have a single album that I don't enjoy, so I mostly ranked them by the amount of time I have spent listening to them.

1. The Fragile
2. Add Violence
3. The Slip
4. The Downward Spiral
5. With Teeth
6. Pretty Hate Machine
7. Not the Actual Events
8. Broken
9. Year Zero
10. Ghosts
11. Hesitation Marks

If I did this tomorrow, my answers would likely be different. Also: I think it is REALLY cool to see how varied everyone's ranking is. The Fragile and TDS tend to be relatively high on most lists, but everything else falls in a million different directions.

[ZeroSum]

It seems kind of wrong, but if we count the whole 'trilogy' as a single entity, its right fucking up there with TDS and The Fragile.

[Steven]

It seems kind of wrong, but if we count the whole 'trilogy' as a single entity, its right fucking up there with TDS and The Fragile.


No I feel you. I have yet to listen to Bad Witch but if it's as good as people are saying, then combining it with the 2 EPs it makes one of the most adventurous, experimental NIN works ever.

[bobbie solo]

Can I ask why Broken is at the bottom? I ask because Broken is usually popular and favorited among NIN fans.

edgelord.

[lightfoot_heavyhand]

Revised 2018 edition (putting the EPs in there as albums)

1. Fragile
2. Downward Spiral
3. Pretty Hate Machine
4. Broken
5. Not The Actual Events
6. Bad Witch
7. Year Zero
8. With Teeth
9. Add Violence
10. The Slip
11. Hesitation Marks
12. Ghosts

1-4 is basically a tie and 1-10 are all albums I dig...As for 11 and 12.......

I *might* switch Bad Witch and NTAE, but otherwise this is my exact ​ranking.

[Krazy]

Hmmmm, let’s see how I feel today. Can’t include Ghosts in here- I’ve always thought of it as an experiment marketed to be a NIN album because sales. Also can’t include Bad Witch yet. Leaving out Still which has awesome original songs but personally don’t like the remakes:

1) TDS
2) Broken
3) PHM
4) TF (this album has always been too long for me, with nearly half of it being forgettable)
5) W_T (can be interchangeable with YZ depending on mood)
6) YZ (can be interchangeable with W_T depending on mood)
- note: for me, major drop off here
7) NTAE
8) AV (has nothing to do with the music or ranking, but this album title was a huge let down)
9) HM (has some under rated songs, and I personally like the production outside of the annoying low end frequencies that want to destroy a subwoofer- and not in a good way)
10) TS (decent considering what the vision was for the album, but in the end it’s about the final product)

[BRoswell]

Can’t include Ghosts in here- I’ve always thought of it as an experiment marketed to be a NIN album because sales.

If Trent was concerned about sales, he wouldn't have made Ghosts. ;)

And like it or not, it is a Nine Inch Nails album.

As far as my own ranking goes, I imagine the new album/EP/whatever will fall in roughly the same area as the previous EPs.

[Krazy]

If Trent was concerned about sales, he wouldn't have made Ghosts. ;)


Ghosts did incredibly well from profit stand point. How did the HTDA releases do?

Yeah, the NIN marketing helped. Let’s not kid ourselves.

[BRoswell]

Ghosts did incredibly well from profit stand point. How did the HTDA releases do?

Pretty sure they did well too, especially since Welcome Oblivion had the backing of a major label.

Also, Ghosts was the first Nine Inch Nails release after Trent split from Interscope for various reasons. With that in mind, which seems more likely? Trent doing an album of music that he wanted to, but couldn't under the pressures of a record label to produce hits, or Trent just throwing out some demo material under the Nine Inch Nails name in order to sell it? If Trent felt it was different enough from Nine Inch Nails, he wouldn't have put it out under that name (see: Tapeworm).

Like I said, regardless of what anyone thinks of it, Ghosts is a Nine Inch Nails album, and saying it "doesn't count" is idiotic.

[Krazy]

So because HTDA was on a major label it automatically does well? OK then.

I just decided to leave Ghosts off my list since it’s such a flier (a double disc of short instrumentals) compared to everything else. Nothing more and nothing less. People are also excluding Still and remix albums.

[BRoswell]

So because HTDA was on a major label it automatically does well? OK then.

Do you have any evidence that it was a total flop?

And I brought up the label because they had the budget to market the album, which most likely helped with sales. I doubt it's an album that's going triple platinum anytime soon, but unless anyone has any evidence to the contrary, I imagine it did as well as it could.


I just decided to leave Ghosts off since it’s such a flier (a double disc of short instrumentals) compared to everything else. Nothing more and nothing less.

The argument that it's not a Nine Inch Nails album because it's all instrumentals is also idiotic. Trent has entertained both the lyrical and instrumental side of the "band" many times. Going all in on one album doesn't change that.

Bottom line: if Trent didn't think it fit in with the Nine Inch Nails name, he wouldn't have released it under that name. People can argue that he releases his soundtrack work under his own name, but it's not as if he was auditioning for score work around the time Ghosts came out. It was meant to be what he said it is: a soundtrack for daydreams. It's an album that's designed for you to project your own meanings and feelings into rather than have Trent spell out how you're supposed to feel. As someone who thinks Trent has always been a good-not-great lyricist, the lack of lyrics on Ghosts was actually refreshing to hear, and it's never felt "wrong" to me.

[Krazy]

If you want to look into HTDA profits, go for it. I decided to leave Ghosts off since I’m not sure how to rank it- that’s it!

I have to go to bed now (yes, seriously). Have a good night, and quit calling my opinions idiotic.

[BRoswell]

If you want to look into HTDA profits, go for it.

Oh, didn't you already do that? It sure sounded that way when you implied that they did poorly because they didn't have the Nine Inch Nails name attached to them. :p


I decided to leave Ghosts off since I’m not sure how to rank it- that’s it!

Maybe you could have said that at the beginning instead of bringing up all this other nonsense. Just a thought.

[Krazy]

Oh, didn't you already do that? It sure sounded that way when you implied that they did poorly because they didn't have the Nine Inch Nails name attached to them. :p



Maybe you could have said that at the beginning instead of bringing up all this other nonsense. Just a thought.

According to Wikipedia Welcome Obligion peaked at #30 on the US charts, which is fair to say that it didn’t do as well as Hesitation Marks.

There’s your fucking answer.

[AThousandDaysBefore]

1.-And All That Could Have Been/Still (This was my first Nin album, so it has a special place in my heart)(100/100)
2.-Fragile (100/100)
3.-NTAE/Add Violence/Bad Witch (Considering this as just one album) (99/100)
4.-Hesitations Marks (99/100)
5.-The downward spiral(99/100)
6.-With Teeth (96/100)
7.-Broken (94/100)
8.-Pretty Hate Machine (93/100)
9.-The slip (90/100)
10.-Ghosts (86/100)
11.-Year Zero (80/100)

[BRoswell]

According to Wikipedia Welcome Obligion peaked at #30 on the US charts, which is fair to say that it didn’t do as well as Hesitation Marks.

There’s your fucking answer.

#30 isn't bad when you consider how much music comes out in a year and the variety of music that factors into those chart listings. Also, why did it have to do as well or better than Hesitation Marks to be considered a success? Of course a Nine Inch Nails album is going to sell more, but that doesn't prove that Welcome Oblivion was a total flop. Like I said, it was never going to be a record-breaking chart-topper. Try again.

And this still doesn't prove that Ghosts isn't a true Nine Inch Nails album. ;)

[curbes]

1. PHM
2. Downward Spiral
3. Fragile
4. Broken
5. With Teeth
6. Hesitation Marks
7. Not The Actual Events
8. Add Violence
9. Year Zero
10. The Slip
11. Ghosts
12. Bad Witch

[Halo Infinity]

1. The Fragile
2. The Downward Spiral
3. Pretty Hate Machine
4. Broken
5. With Teeth
6. Year Zero
7. Add Violence
8. Bad Witch
9. Not The Actual Events
10. Hesitation Marks
11. Ghosts I-IV
12. The Slip

[kel]

broken
the downward spiral
the fragile
the slip
pretty hate machine
with teeth
not the actual events
bad witch
year zero
hesitation marks
add violence
ghosts

[BRoswell]

After a few spins of the EP trilogy...

1. The Downward Spiral/The Fragile
3. Ghosts I-IV
4. Year Zero
5. Not The Actual Events/Add Violence/Bad Witch
8. Broken
9. With Teeth
10. Hesitation Marks
11. The Slip
12. Pretty Hate Machine

[Swykk]

01 The Downward Spiral
02 The Fragile
03 Year Zero
04 Not The Actual Events
05 With Teeth
06 Broken
07 Add Violence
08 Bad Witch
09 The Slip
10 Hesitation Marks
11 Ghosts
12 Pretty Hate Machine

[Steven]

1. The Downward Spiral
2. The Fragile
3. Trilogy
4. With Teeth
5. Hesitation Marks
6. Year Zero
7. Pretty Hate Machine
8. Broken
9. The Slip
10. Ghosts

[Ryan Tollefson]

1 The Fragile
2 The downward spiral
3 NTAE/AV/BW
4 Hesitation Marks
5 With Teeth
6 Broken
7 Year Zero
8 the slip
9 pretty hate machine
10 ghosts


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Steven]

1 The Fragile
2 The downward spiral
3 NTAE/AV/BW
4 Hesitation Marks
5 With Teeth
6 Broken
7 Year Zero
8 the slip
9 pretty hate machine
10 ghosts


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Our top 5 is extremely similar

[ZeroSum]

How I feel after binge-ing NIN all month in excitement around Bad Witch

The Fragile
The Downward Spiral
The Trilogy (which I would rank in the order of BW > NtAE > AV)

---------

Year Zero
Hesitation Marks

---------

Pretty Hate Machine
The Slip
Broken
Ghosts
With Teeth

The albums may shuffle within their tiers, but I don't foresee anything switching tiers.

[elevenism]

When you guys do this are you thinking "of all time,' or are these your favorites to listen to?

Like TDS is incredible but I've heard it SO many times in the past 24 years that I'm probably not gonna be putting it on any time soon.

For me, as far as NIN that I actively listen to, it's currently

1. Bad Witch
2. NTAE
3. AV
4. The Slip
5. Broken
6. Fixed

And that's it, lately.

[HWB]

When you guys do this are you thinking "of all time,' or are these your favorites to listen to?

Like TDS is incredible but I've heard it SO many times in the past 24 years that I'm probably not gonna be putting it on any time soon.

For me, as far as NIN that I actively listen to, it's currently

1. Bad Witch
2. NTAE
3. AV
4. The Slip
5. Broken
6. Fixed

And that's it, lately.


Honestly, this, I haven't heard The Downard Spiral in a while since I listened to it so much.

[thefragile_jake]

Based on my consistent listening of Bad Witch for about a week now, I'm pretty confident in my current ranking of my favorite Nine Inch Nails albums.

1. The Fragile
2. The Downward Spiral
3. With Teeth
4. Pretty Hate Machine
5. Bad Witch
6. Broken
7. Ghosts I-IV
8. Hesitation Marks
9. Not the Actual Events
10. The Slip
11. Add Violence
12. Year Zero

[Halo Infinity]

When you guys do this are you thinking "of all time,' or are these your favorites to listen to?
In some ways, it's a little bit of both for me, but I still just lean a little bit more towards the former whenever it comes to album rankings.

For instance, Pretty Hate Machine to With Teeth are often on the higher parts of the rankings for me, since as I've mentioned several times before, they have a special place in my heart so to speak, even if just for sentimental and nostalgic reasons alone and just being overall favorites. I'm also positive that it's because those albums were my introduction to Nine Inch Nails anyway, and With Teeth being the first NIN album I actually had to wait for, since I was just a fan since 2002.

However, there have been times where I would also listen to the newer works more, but that also still depends on my overall mood and preference at the time being.

[eversonpoe]

1. the fragile
2. ghosts i-iv
3. bad witch
4. the downward spiral
5. not the actual events / add violence
6. still
7. pretty hate machine
8. broken
9. with teeth
10. the slip
-
- severe drop in enjoyment
-
11. year zero (i love several songs on here, but their live versions are more compelling, and i still maintain that capital G is the worst song trent has ever written)
12. hesitation marks