
The texture of the music is what stands out more than anything else. Trent's debut, Pretty Hate Machine was so spare compared to other industrial music. At the time, I felt that The Downward Spiral was Trent's attempt to address those calling him an industrial poser. Since he didn't abandon his use of pop song structure, I have the feeling that Trent felt a need to go full-blast with creating a grating, fierce, and raw sonic assault...that also has soft periods that help to keep the perspective on how loud the songs get instead of deadening the listener's ears with constant white noise music. In that pursuit, he distorts and alters much of the sound that guitars sound like keyboards, synths sound like guitars; it is all melodic noise.
The Downward Spiral was better than I remember. That said, I am very glad to be moving on from this album. The aggression, tension, grating noises, and angst was effectively conveyed in the music and really put me in a foul mood.
Songs I Knew I Liked: "Mr. Self Destruct," "Piggy," "March of the Pigs," "Closer," and "Hurt"
Songs I Now Like: I had forgotten how I liked "Heresy," "Ruiner," "A Warm Place," and "Reptile"
Songs I Can Go the Rest of My Life Never Hearing Again: If I'm going to listen to the album, there aren't any tracks I would skip.