Spin Magazine's Top 40 Albums - Nine Inch Nails #4
By Jane Dark for Spin on May 1, 1998
If anyone on the current alt landscape approached the status of both icon and auteur, it's Trent Reznor: natural-born chiller on the lost highway winding its way from Gothville, through the industrial park, and into the newfangled suburbs of electronica. He's the model action hero for the hyper-modern universe (or, perhaps, alt-rock's Don Henley): a recording star who stays famous without actually, you know, releasing albums. Instead he makes singles, remixes, soundtracks, videos, even headlines. But mostly he makes scenes, lending his sensibility to David Lynch and David Bowie, gettin toasted by Oliver Stone and quoted by Tori Amos, competing with Alanis Morissette for the most bleepable alt-rock single ("Closer") of the decade. And Reznor even has his own cartoon- oh wait, that's Marilyn Manson. The much-craved new Nine Inch Nails album, featuring production assistance by Alan Moulder (Smashing Pumpkins, Curve) is expected to arrive this fall. 1997 ranking: 1
Transcribed by Keith Duemling