The 500 - #201 - The Downward Spiral - Nine Inch Nails

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: #201
Album Title: The Downward Spiral
Artist: Nine Inch Nails 

Genre: Industrial Rock, Industrial Metal
Recorded: Three Studios, Los Angeles, U.S.A.

Released: March, 1994
My age at release: 28
How familiar was I with it before this week: Fairly

Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, at #122, moving up 79 spots
Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Piggy

Album cover for The Downward Spiral from Nine Inch Nails.

It was a line cook named Jeff Nisbet who first pushed a cassette copy of The Downward Spiral into my hands following a busy dinner shift at a London, Ontario, restaurant in the spring of 1994.

"You gotta hear this! It is incredible," he exclaimed.

Granted, he said that about a lot of music. Jeff was prone to superlatives when it came to his love of music and hockey. The two of us had bonded quickly around those two topics when I was first hired at the restaurant six months earlier. That, and the fact that he was, like me, born in St. Catharines, Ontario. Well, technically, he was from Thorold, -- a village that was incorporated into the Greater Niagara Region, including St. Catharines. Jeff was quite proud of being a classmate and friend of Thorold's best known citizen, Owen Nolan, who was drafted first overall into the 1990 National Hockey League by the Quebec Nordiques. Jeff proudly wore a Nolan Nordique jersey when we played pick-up hockey three times a week.

The only pictures I have of Jeff were scanned from
an old photo album -- notice his Nordiques jersey 
playing pick-up hockey.

I took the Nine Inch Nails cassette home and played it in the basement stereo of the townhouse I shared with two high school chums. I wasn't sure what I was hearing. I can't say I didn't like it. There were elements of hard rock that I appreciated; but there was something darker, grittier and more sinister about the sound. Of course, I'd heard about industrial music and could name a few bands that played the style, although I was less than enthusiastic about it. This record, the second from Nine Inch Nails, was essentially my initiation into the genre.

Industrial music was defined by the AllMusic database and website as "the most abrasive and aggressive fusion of rock and electronic music." It is a genre  that draws on, as the name suggests, harsh, mechanical and industrial sounds, blending them with avant garde experimental electronic noise. The pioneers of this provocative and transgressive cacophony was  the British group Throbbing Gristle, which coined the term along with the release of its first full-length record, The Second Annual Report, in 1977.

The Second Annual Report album cover from Throbbing Gristle

Although influential, Throbbing Gristle and other bands inspired by the industrial movement appealed to a niche audience and, unsurprisingly, their jarring, unconventional work did not enjoy mainstream success. However, that changed in the early 1990s with the hybrid genre of industrial metal and the emergence of bands that included Ministry, Rammstein, Marilyn Manson, Rob Zombie and Nine Inch Nails. Each had platinum-selling discs.

A collage of band logs from successful industrial metal bands of the 90s.

The Downward Spiral from Nine Inch Nails (often abbreviated to NIN, with the second N stylistically reversed) was by far the most successful record of its type. It was certified 3x platinum in Canada (300,000 units sold) and 4x platinum in the United States (four million sold).

The Downward Spiral was a concept record, detailing the protagonist's self-destructive plummet from misanthropic despair to suicidal ideation. The concept of a "downward spiral" was, prior to the album's release, an established clinical phenomenon in psychotherapy. It occurs when "negative emotions narrow one's attention and cognitive understanding of life's circumstances. This, in turn, initiates a spiral of emotional and physical changes which alter an individual's perception of their reality."

In a way, the “spiral” is an example of perpetual self-fulfilling prophecy. An individual loses his job and is unable to provide for his family. Understandably, he feels useless and inadequate. These feelings impact his ability to sleep, eat and socialize, consequently impacting his ability to secure gainful employment. Pushed deeper into depression, he begins to withdraw from friends and family. The cycle can persist without professional intervention and suicide is possible.

Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. If you experience such feelings,

contact a professional (Dial or Text 9-8-8).

I'm not sure why the ‘90s featured so many depressing and tragic themes in pop culture. Industrial metal was only one form of entertainment rife with themes of nihilism, angst and hostile social critique. It was a time of grunge music and the ironic thrift store "anti-fashion" mentality that was spawned. Even the most popular movies were bummers as they tackled grim disaster themes (Titanic, Twister); the holocaust (Life Is Beautiful, Schindler's List); mental breakdowns (The Fisher King, Girl Interrupted, Fight Club); social lassitude (Slackers, Clerks); and crazed serial murders (Kalifornia, Natural Born Killers). Regardless, I watched every flick -- sometimes more than once.

The soundtrack to Natural Born Killers featured the song Burn from
Nine Inch Nails.

I suspect there were many factors – political, economic, technological and cultural –that contributed to the general sense of disillusionment that many people felt toward mainstream institutions as the millennium drew to a close. I'm sure sociologists have examined the causes far better than I could here. However, I admit getting caught up in that general malaise. Perhaps it was  a byproduct of transitioning through my late-twenties into my early thirties.

Me aged 29 in the summer of 1994 , at a road hockey tournament

in Victoria Park, London, Ontario.

When I think back on who I was at that time, it feels less like nostalgia and more like imagination. I'm really not sure who that guy was -- the one who worked in a bar, lived with roommates and borrowed industrial metal cassette tapes from kitchen chums. Relistening to The Downward Spiral certainly brought back a few emotions, fortunately, they were a mix, and some were even jovial -- particularly remembering Jeff Nisbet and his unabashed enthusiasm for music and hockey.

The 500 - #342 - Violator - Depeche Mode

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

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Album: # 342

Album Title: Violator

Artist: Depeche Mode

Genre: Synth Pop, Gothic Rock

Recorded: 5 Studios - Italy, Denmark, UK, New York

Released: March, 1990

My age at release: 24

How familiar was I with it before this week: A little

Is it on the 2020 list? Yes, at #167 (Up 175 places)

Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Personal Jesus (Acoustic)

Depeche Mode were one of the many British synth-pop bands that I dismissed off-hand in my teens and early twenties. My dismissal was largely due to the social clique with which I aligned. I was a committed rocker (a prog-rocker no less) and, as a young man, that commitment was, well, rock solid. Preppies were the cultural enemy, and preppies loved The Smiths, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Cure and this week's artist, Depeche Mode. (Four bands who, collectively, have seven records on The 500).

Stereotypical 80s Preppies

What is it about opinionated teens? That's not fair. It isn't just teens. The world is full of opinionated people, many operating with limited, incorrect or misguided information.

According to psychologists, being zealously opinionated is usually about control. In this line of thinking, obnoxiously opinionated people are often struggling with their emotional intelligence -- the ability to perceive, regulate and manage their emotions. Consequently, they fight vociferously for their assumptions -- which often represent an emotional and intellectual safe-space for them. I suppose that is why teens and young adults can be disproportionately opinionated.

As a Grade 7 educator, the importance of fostering critical thinking in my students is important to me, particularly as their world view shifts from black and white to complex shades of gray. The task is to encourage my young charges to question things in their world and to appreciate different perspectives. In class, we often discuss the complex motivations of a fictional character or the myriad causes for an event from history.

Perhaps I am hoping they won’t make the same teen-age mistakes I made. Some of the things I espoused in vigorous defence of my opinions still make me shudder. My uniformed disregard for Depeche Mode’s music was, at the outset, a hill to defend. How times can change one’s perspective. In my recent review of the group’s output, I did a 180-degree turn.

Violator is the seventh studio release by the group from Basildon, a large town 42 km east of central London. Influenced by Talking Heads, David Bowie, Ultravox, The Damned and Iggy Pop, Depeche formed in 1980, taking their name from a French fashion magazine. Roughly translated, Depeche Mode means "Fashion Dispatch" or, more simply, "Fashion News".

Depeche Mode in 1990

The band enjoyed early success in Europe and Australia. The 1981 song, Just Can't Get Enough, from their debut album, Speak and Spell, had limited airplay in North America. It was also the first time I heard them. At the time, I was 15 and still solidifying my taste in music. Consequently, I didn't mind the song when it was played on pop radio stations. 

In March, 1984, the band released People Are People in advance of their upcoming record Some Great Reward. The single and album cemented their success internationally. It was also a departure from their earlier synth-sound as they began experimenting with harsher industrial sounds. The genre of industrial music is noted for its abrasive, avant-garde fusion of rock and electronic music with the rhythmic, albeit sometimes cacophonous, clang of metal pipes and machinery. 

This was the music of the club-scene in the mid-eighties, about the time my friends and I were old enough to go to clubs. Collectively, we unequivocally decided we hated industrial club music. Group-think had locked in and I went along despite my earlier tolerance. We endured the club-scene but retreated to the safe space of our favourite high school sounds in our cars and homes. We were not going to enjoy "preppy music" no matter how popular it got.

By the time Violator was released in 1990, my opinion was softening and, quietly, I enjoyed the two biggest songs from the record, Enjoy The Silence and Personal Jesus. In 2002, Johnny Cash recorded a hauntingly beautiful version of the latter for his record American IV: The Man Comes Around. This track reinforced my appreciation for Depeche Mode as songwriters. Indeed, Personal Jesus is recognized in several music publications as "one of the greatest songs ever written".

Album Cover for American IV: The Man Comes Around

Much like Cash, I have also "come around". I was operating with limited information as a young man and my emotional intelligence has improved. I'm okay with "preppy music" now. It turns out that I should have been all along.

The 500 - #376 - Post - Bjork

I was inspired by a podcast called The 500 hosted by Los Angeles-based comedian Josh Adam Meyers. His goal, and mine, is to explore Rolling Stone Magazine's 2012 edition of The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. 

Album # 376

Album Title: Post
Artist: Björk

Genre: Art Pop, Electronica, Trip Hop
Recorded: Six studios - Nassau, Bahamas, and London, England
Released: June, 1995
My age at release: 29
How familiar was I with it before this week: One Song
Song I am putting on my Spotify Playlist: Hyperballad - selected by my my teaching colleague Sandra Snooks

Post is the second studio release by Björk, pronounced Be-Yurk, not Be-York, which is how I've said it and heard it for decades. The Icelandic artist is well known for two events, neither of which has anything to do with her music. 

In March, 2001, she arrived on the red carpet for the Academy Awards in a "swan dress". The bold choice was "widely criticized as outrageous and outlandish", with film critic Emmanuel Levy calling it the "fashion faux-pas of the year". Meanwhile, Boston Globe reporter Jay Carr wrote that "the wraparound frock made her look like a refugee from the more dog-eared precincts of provincial ballet." Comedian Joan Rivers made a joke about Björk "spreading newspapers on the bathroom floor", before remarking that "the girl should be put in an asylum."

The "crazy" dress would dominate "water-cooler talk" for days and eclipse any conversation about the award winners that included Julia Roberts for Erin Brockovich and Russell Crowe for Gladiator, which also won picture of the year.

Then, in 2008, Björk attacked a photographer from the New Zealand Herald at the Auckland International Airport, falling to the ground awkwardly as she ripped the back of his shirt. This was her second violent altercation with paparazzi. In February, 1996, she grabbed television reporter Julie Kaufman and took her to the ground, banging Kaufman's head on the concrete floor.

New Zealand Reporter shows the
evidence of the confrontation with Bjork

Consequently, Björk earned the reputation for being "crazy" and "unhinged". It was unfortunate because it overshadows her immense talent. It also makes me wonder if the same behaviour from a male celebrity would be judged as harshly. 

The aforementioned Russell Crowe has had multiple altercations with paparazzi and media. Interestingly, the Wikipedia entry about his behaviour reports Crowe as having "a bad temper". A further Google search about Crowe's many conflicts is awash with descriptions such as "rowdy", "hot-headed", "nasty" and "violent".  Absent are the words "crazy" or "unhinged", which, it seems, are usually reserved for female performers who behave badly.

Crowe arrested in 2016 for an assault charge.

Recently, my wife and I watched Framing Britney Spears. This HBO documentary profiles the pop-singer's turbulent life, including her confrontations with paparazzi and the infamous "head-shaving incident". 

As I watched, I was troubled by the casual and cruel way Spears, now 39, was mocked while suffering through a public mental-health breakdown. Late night talk show hosts took easy and mean-spirited shots at her with jokes that any good comic would dismiss as "low-hanging fruit". 

She was even the punchline for a Family Feud question: "Name something that Britney Spears has lost." Contestants unsympathetically giggled out point-scoring responses that included, "her mind" and "her children".

I'll readily admit that I made both "Britney" and "Bjork" jokes in reference to some of the choices they made. This isn't an effort to virtue signal, I went for the same "low-hanging fruit" for the sake of a laugh, and I remained uniformed about the events that led to these choices. 

Consequently, I approached Bjork's Post with an open-mind and was delighted by what I discovered. Although I was familiar with the album's opening track Army of Me, the rest of the record was virgin territory.

Post was positively reviewed as "genre roulette" in The San Francisco Chronicle, a term which delighted me. I am a massive fan of artists who make every track on their record a surprise. Indeed, one of my favourite records of all time is Queen's 1975 record,  A Night At The Opera, #231 on The 500. 

Post is a record full of surprises, featuring industrial music, trip-hop, experimental sounds and even a big band jazz number. Listening to it reminded me of the famous saying (often erroneously attributed to Mark Twain) about the weather in New England: "If you don't like it, wait a few minutes and it will change". 

Speaking of change, attitudes toward the infamous swan dress have certainly shifted. It is now celebrated as "iconic" and was "re-imagined" by designer Valentino for the 2014 Paris Fashion Week, whose interpretation received high praise from critics.

I'll close with a quote from one of my favourite musicians, Geddy Lee of Rush. When asked about his listening habits in 2000, he said of Björk; 

"She's awesome. She is not for everyone's taste, but she is damn well for my taste, I love her. She is a real artist, she's deeply talented and her voice is as compelling as any voice I have ever heard."

Geddy Lee