Right Where They Belong: Ranking Nine Inch Nails Albums
Let’s go further down the spiral
Did you know Nine Inch Nails released a new album this past Friday? It’s true! My favorite band of all time is still putting out new music. Their newest release is the soundtrack to the upcoming Tron: Ares. Pretty weird sentence to write, but it’s true. This might be the first time in my life that I planned on buying a soundtrack to a movie that I have no intention of ever seeing.
I’ve already listened to it straight through a couple of times, and that number will likely increase by the time you read this. This got me thinking about which Nine Inch Nails albums are my favorites, so I’m naturally turning that thought experiment into a writing prompt. I’ve set myself some parameters. First off, I’m only including albums credited to Nine Inch Nails. By that I mean I will not be including any scores or soundtracks credited to Trent Reznor. If you’re not aware, Reznor initially founded Nine Inch Nails as a one person band. He was the only permanent member up until officially adding Atticus Ross in 2016. Most scores and soundtracks he has composed are credited to him by name and not the band, so I’m not including those as Nine Inch Nails albums. Secondly, I’m only including studio albums. No live albums or performances are making my list. Likewise, I’m not including remixes of previous albums (of which there are plenty). I’m also not including any singles. I am, however, including studio extended plays. Lastly, I’m not including any albums that are exclusively instrumentals. That means you won’t be seeing the Quake soundtrack or any of the Ghosts albums on this list. With the arbitrary ground rules I’ve given myself out of the way, let’s dive into these albums!
Album: Not the Actual Events
Release Date: December 23, 2016
Length: 21:08 (EP)
Favorite Tracks: “Branches/Bones,” “She’s Gone Away”
I want to start by saying even the last place album on this list is still an album I like. With that in mind, this is the Nine Inch Nails album that I revisit the least. Part of that is due to the length (only 21:08), and part of it is due to the overall sound of the album. While I appreciate that Reznor is going for a sound more reminiscent of his earlier albums, it also makes it less interesting to me than some of his more recent attempts at evolving his style. On the plus side, Nine Inch Nails got to feature “She’s Gone Away” in David Lynch’s Twin Peaks: The Return.
Album: Tron: Ares
Release Date: September 19, 2025
Length: 66:49 (LP)
Favorite Tracks: “As Alive as You Need Me to Be,” “Shadow Over Me”
This is the highest I could put the newest album after self-imposing a rule against instrumental albums. The Tron: Ares soundtrack has a total of twenty-four tracks, but only four of them have lyrics. That said, “As Alive as You Need Me to Be” is easily my favorite Nine Inch Nails song in over a decade. I’ve found myself humming and singing it to myself constantly since its release. It’s one of Reznor’s best vocal performances in recent years, and the electronica elements are exceptionally strong. This album could slide up and down this list as I continue to listen to it, but for now I’ll keep it here at eleventh.
Album: Bad Witch
Release Date: June 22, 2018
Length: 30:11 (LP)
Favorite Tracks: “Shit Mirror,” “Ahead of Ourselves”
Bad Witch deserves kudos for really deviating from the traditional Nine Inch Nails style while still bringing an industrial sound. There’s a significant amount of saxophone on this album that really makes it stand out. It was originally planned as the third in a trilogy of extended plays (following Not the Actual Events and Add Violence), but Reznor ended up turning it into a long play after deciding that he hadn’t pushed his music forward enough with the previous two albums. I think this was the right call. Of the tracks on this album, “Shit Mirror” is easily my favorite. It’s raw and aggressive in a way that I haven’t heard from Nine Inch Nails since Broken.
Album: Add Violence
Release Date: July 19, 2017
Length: 27:14 (EP)
Favorite Tracks: “Less Than,” “The Background World”
Speaking of Reznor’s planned trilogy of extended plays, the middle chapter ended up being my favorite. I guess it’s just following in the footsteps of previous trilogies like Star Wars and The Lord of the Rings in that regard. Unlike those previous two examples, however, Add Violence is probably the poppiest and most accessible entry in this trilogy. It’s an album I can easily listen to regardless of my current mindset. It might not be the most ambitious album, but there’s something to be said for a crowd pleaser. “Less Than” sets the tone for the entire album.
Album: The Slip
Release Date: July 22, 2008
Length: 43:45 (LP)
Favorite Tracks: “1,000,000,” “Discipline,” “Head Down”
I have a confession to make: I didn’t give The Slip a fair shake when it initially released in 2008. It came on the heels of Year Zero (2007), and there was just no way it was going to measure up to that album for me. I used to consider it my least favorite Nine Inch Nails album, but that has clearly changed over time. The more I listen to it, the more I appreciate it. Much like Add Violence, it’s a bit on the poppy side. I think the tracks are stronger here overall than that album, and the fact that it’s a long play helps with that. “1,000,000” is probably my favorite track off of this album, but “Discipline” is easily the biggest hit.
Album: With Teeth
Release Date: May 3, 2005
Length: 56:05 (LP)
Favorite Tracks: “The Hand That Feeds,” “Every Day is Exactly the Same,” “Only,” “Right Where It Belongs”
With Teeth is an especially interesting album to me. I see it as the demarcation point between “old” Nine Inch Nails and “new” Nine Inch Nails. It was the first studio album released after a six year absence following the release of The Fragile (1999), and it featured some noticeable changes both to the sound of the band as well as physical changes to Trent Reznor himself. It was no secret that Reznor had been battling drug addiction and depression throughout the 1990s. He would eventually check himself into rehab, and he successfully exited the program in 2001. He has been sober and vegan ever since, and With Teeth was written from his new perspectives on life. Reznor’s voice is noticeably deeper on this album than his previous output, and the sound is much more stripped down and lo-fi. It’s a really strong album, but it’s also the rare Nine Inch Nails album where I actually think the singles that got the most radio play are also the best. The lone exception is “Right Where It Belongs.” It wasn’t the same big hit as others on the album, but I find it to be one of the most beautiful and emotional songs Reznor has ever written.
Album: Hesitation Marks
Release Date: August 30, 2013
Length: 61:50 (LP)
Favorite Tracks: “Copy of a,” “Came Back Haunted,” “All Time Low,” “Various Methods of Escape,” “I Would for You”
I had mentioned earlier that I didn’t fully appreciate The Slip when it first came out. That was not the case for Hesitation Marks. This was the “we have never been more back” of Nine Inch Nails albums for me when it was released in 2013. It’s one of Reznor’s most experimental albums, but it still feels distinctly Nine Inch Nails at the same. It has some slow and dense tracks, it has some light and breezy tracks, and it has some true classics. “Came Back Haunted” in particular is always in heavy rotation on my playlists.
Album: Pretty Hate Machine
Release Date: October 20, 1989
Length: 48:42 (LP)
Favorite Tracks: “Head Like a Hole,” “Terrible Lie,” “Down in It,” “Sin,” “That’s What I Get,” “The Only Time”
From here on out, every album I discuss is one I consider a masterpiece. Pretty Hate Machine is the debut album from Nine Inch Nails, and it is littered with bangers. Reznor mixes industrial tunes with bleak and rebellious lyrics that created the template that the band would become known for. “Head Like a Hole” is possibly his most well known song, and it kicks off this album with a righteous fury that carries the listener for the rest of the album. “Terrible Lie” might be my favorite Nine Inch Nails song from any album (though I prefer the live version to the studio version). “Down in It” mixes in some rap elements that feel very much of the time. “Sin” and “The Only Time” meld raw sexuality with a grimy industrial sound. This album has it all. So why do I only have it fifth? The one thing that keeps it from leaping the other four on this list is the decided lack of heavy guitars for the majority of the album. Reznor brought those to these songs when performing live, and he would go on to incorporate them in his future albums. It’s why I prefer the live versions of these songs to the studio versions. Despite that, I still love this album and listen to it frequently.
Album: Year Zero
Release Date: April 17, 2007
Length: 63:42 (LP)
Favorite Tracks: “The Beginning of the End,” “Survivalism,” “Vessel,” “Capital G,” “God Given,” “The Great Destroyer,” “Zero-Sum”
I don’t think I’ve been more excited for an album as I was for Year Zero. While Reznor was working on the album, he began promoting it through an alternate reality game (ARG). The album was going to be a concept album set in a dystopian future where the United States had become a Christofascist theocracy where democracy had been subverted through a Bureau of Morality that constantly surveilled its own citizens, cracked down on free speech, and persecuted minority groups. Thank goodness this is fictional and could never happen in reality! Oh no. On top of that, there is also a potentially supernatural entity that manifests itself as a giant hand reaching through the sky and into the ground. Pretty wild stuff!
Anyway, the ARG used to promote the album left various clues for fans to try and solve in order to get bits and pieces of the story Reznor was trying to tell in the album. There were shirts available to buy at Nine Inch Nails shows that had hidden messages that would direct fans to a URL that would include story elements. USB drives were left in random spots at concert venues where Nine Inch Nails performed that would have MP3 files of different tracks that would go on to appear on the album like “My Violent Heart” and “Me, I’m Not.” Fans could even run spectrographs that would generate images of The Presence (the giant hand).
Basically, this was the coolest marketing campaign for an album I have ever seen. I could not have been more excited for Year Zero, and it somehow managed to live up to the hype! Musically, it was a huge departure from With Teeth. This was an aggressive album with a litany of different sounds and styles. It’s full of great guitar riffs on songs like “Survivalism” and “The Good Soldier.” It has gritty industrial elements on songs like “Hypersonic” and “Vessel.” It has shockingly poppy dance beats on songs like “Capital G” and “God Given.” It even has elements reminiscent of dubstep at the end of “The Great Destroyer” that sounds like an auditory assault. Combine that with aggressively political lyrics and world building, and you have yourself an instant classic. I think it is easily the best of the “new” Nine Inch Nails albums.
Album: The Fragile
Release Date: September 21, 1999
Length: 103:39 (LP)
Favorite Tracks: “Somewhat Damaged,” “The Wretched,” “We’re in This Together,” “The Great Below,” “Into the Void,” “Where is Everybody?,” “Starfuckers, Inc.”
This was the toughest album for me to rank. I went back and forth on whether to have this second or third, but I ultimately decided to place it here. This is easily Reznor’s most ambitious album, and I don’t really think that’s up for debate. It is a massive album with twenty-three tracks clocking in at 103:39 that had to be released on two discs (Gen Z readers: ask your parents what compact discs were). Reznor really pushes the envelope both musically lyrically. Tracks like “Somewhat Damaged,” “The Wretched,” “Where is Everybody?,” and “Starfuckers, Inc.” are incredibly heavy and filled with rage and disgust. I find it impossible not to scream along with Reznor at the end of “Somewhat Damaged” in particular.
Songs like “The Day the World Went Away,” “The Fragile,” and “The Great Below” are filled with a quiet melancholy. They are genuinely heart wrenching.
There are also a healthy dose of catchy radio friendly tracks like “We’re in This Together” and “Into the Void.” That’s to say nothing of the instrumental tracks like “The Frail” and “Just Like You Imagined.” So why is it third instead of second or first on my list? It’s mostly a case of personal preference (I’ll get into that more when discussing the next album), but it also has to do with the length. For as much as I love this album, I do find myself skipping tracks more often than the top two albums on this list. It’s an extremely minor nitpick, but sometimes nits must be picked.
Album: Broken
Release Date: September 22, 1992
Length: 31:35 (EP)
Favorite Tracks: “Wish,” “Last,” “Happiness in Slavery,” “Gave Up,” “Suck”
I’m not going to beat around the bush. My favorite genre of music is metal, and Broken is hands down the most metal album Nine Inch Nails has ever made. Reznor made this album after touring with a live band and taking influence from the heavier guitar sounds that were missing from Pretty Hate Machine. The track “Wish” earned Reznor his first Grammy for Best Metal Performance. It’s especially fast and abrasive compared to anything Nine Inch Nails had recorded previously.
“Last” and “Happiness in Slavery” almost immediately up the ante after that. “Last” in particular might be the heaviest track Nine Inch Nails has ever released. “Gave Up” is also a track with a driving beat and aggressive vocals that refuses to let the listeners catch their breath.
The album also features a couple of excellent instrumental tracks in “Pinion” and “Help Me I Am in Hell” along with covers of “Physical” (originally by Adam Ant” and “Suck” (originally written and performed by Reznor when he was in the band Pigface). It’s only an extended play, but every track is masterful.
Album: The Downward Spiral
Release Date: March 8, 1994
Length: 65:02 (LP)
Favorite Tracks: “Mr. Self Destruct,” “Heresy,” “March of the Pigs,” “Ruiner,” “Becoming,” “Reptile,” “Hurt”
Come on. Was there really any other choice for number one? As far as I’m concerned, The Downward Spiral is a perfect album. When most people think about Nine Inch Nails, it’s with this album in mind whether they realize it or not. It’s the album that defines Nine Inch Nails. Reznor conceived of it as a concept album as it follows a man’s life and death as he battles depression, addiction, and a general sense of misanthropy.
Musically, the album employs a vast array of styles. There are kickass metal songs like you would find on Broken such as “Mr. Self Destruct,” “Heresy,” and “March of the Pigs.”
There are groovy rhythmic songs like “Closer,” “Ruiner,” and “Reptile.”
There are quiet contemplative songs like “Piggy,” “The Downward Spiral,” and “Hurt.”
There are also songs that I can only describe as purely industrial like “The Becoming” and “I Do Not Want This.”
“Closer” and “Hurt” are probably the most well known songs on the album. “Closer” was a massive hit that still gets plenty of radio play. “Hurt” was so brilliant that Johnny Cash decided to cover it. If that doesn’t convince you that this album is a masterpiece, then I don’t know what will. There are truly no skips on this album, and it endures as one of the greatest albums of all time.