Nine Inch Nails - 1992 - Broken [EP]

Released about three years after Reznor's first album Pretty Hate Machine, Broken is a radical break from the previous release's synthpop sensibilities and really opens up ground for what would become the sounds so reminiscent of his later work. Really angry stuff here. My favs are "Wish," "Happiness in Slavery," and "Last." Also a really strange release in that in some version there are actually 99 songs (the last two tracks are called "Track 98" and "Track 99" respectively) and each track not labeled in the tracklisting is a single second of silence. We see his use of silence, out bursts of anger and a huge emphasis on swear words, violence, sexual deviance, etc. Truly first in line in his "industrial" work (though from a purely technical standpoint, his music never becomes actually "industrial" until Ghosts I-IV--nothing really implements the requisite ambient and minimalist and noise for true industrial music until then (almost 20 years after his first release)).

download: Nine Inch Nails - 1992 - Broken [EP].zip

Nine Inch Nails - 1996 - Quake Soundtrack

I don't know how many of you played Quake, but I fucking loved that game. It was scary as hell, really fun and really long with one awesome and freaky level after another. I remember how awesome it was when you realized you had to teleport into the final boss in order to kill her. Or when it would rain with blood after you killed a bunch of people with a single grenade. Or when I first got the thunderbolt which just shoots pure lightning. Fucking awesome! Fucking HARDCORE! ARGHHHH!! ARGHHH!!!! GRRR!!!! ARGGHHH!!! well, enough of that...the album is okay. It's hard to listen to because it's really very repetitive. But it does fit well with the game. It's clanky and gritty and industrial (it really does sound like a machine at points) and droning and spooky and provides a good background to your steady prowl through hell and back. But it's kinda hard to listen to. Truly recommended if you like Quake, NIN, or ambient music. It's also nice if you're just looking for wacky, scary music. It's also good for sleeping. No really. I actually put it on quite regularly with the sole intention of listening to the first song (which I actually really like) and passing out before it ends.

download: Nine Inch Nails - 1996 - Quake Soundtrack.zip