A Physical Fraction

Nine Inch Nails is an American industrial rock project, founded in 1988 by Trent Reznor in Cleveland, Ohio. As its main producer, singer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, Reznor is the only official member of Nine Inch Nails and remains solely responsible for its direction which no one on earth can argue with. NIN's music straddles a wide range of genres, while retaining a characteristic sound using electronic instruments and processing. After recording a new album, Reznor usually assembles a live band to perform with him. The touring band features a revolving lineup that often rearranges songs to fit a live setting. On stage, NIN often employ spectacular visual elements to accompany performances, which frequently include mesmerizing light shows.

Underground music audiences warmly receives Nine Inch Nails. The band produced several highly influential records in the 1990s that achieved widespread popularity, many Nine Inch Nails songs became radio hits, two NIN recordings won Grammy Awards, and the band has sold over 20 million albums worldwide, with 10.5 million sales certified in the US alone. In 1997, Reznor appeared in Time magazine's list of the year's most influential people, and Spin magazine described him as "the most vital artist in music." In 2004, Rolling Stone placed Nine Inch Nails at 1 on its list of the 100 greatest artists of all time. Despite this acclaim, the band has had several feuds with the corporate side of the recording industry. In 2007, these corporate entanglements resulted in Reznor announcing that Nine Inch Nails would split from its label and release future material independently.


Reznor said in 1994 that he coined the name "Nine Inch Nails" to reference Jesus' crucifixion with nine-inch spikes. The Nine Inch Nails' logo, which consists of the letters "NIИ" set inside a border, was designed by Reznor and Gary Talpas. The logo first appeared on NIN's debut, "Down in It", and was inspired by Tibor Kalman's typography on the Talking Heads album Remain in Light. Talpas, a native of Cleveland, would continue to design NIN packaging art until 1997.

The Broken Movie is a snuff film shot by Coil's Peter Christopherson and NIN's Trent Reznor. The movie features a man being kidnapped and tortured, while also being forced to watch Nine Inch Nails music videos. It ends with the kidnapper convicted of murder, and hung by the authorities. The film is just under 20 minutes. The cop is actor Robert Patrick, most famous for his role of T-1000 in 'Terminator 2', or John Doggett of The X-Files. Robert was cast because of his brother, former NIN guitarist Richard Patrick. The universally-banned 'Happiness In Slavery' video is included, which features performance artist Bob Flanagen strapping himself into a machine which tortures, kills, and disassembles him. The Broken Movie was made to help promote 1992's Halo Five "Broken" EP. The music videos shown are 'Pinion', 'Wish', 'Happiness in Slavery', and 'Gave Up'. Trent gave out two VHS copies of the film to his friends and associates; the good version includes the music video 'Help Me I'm In Hell'. Three of the album's songs aren't featured as videos; 'Last', 'Physcial', and 'Suck' .Nine Inch Nails produced the background music for the video game "Quake". The producers of "Quake" thanked Trent by putting NIN on the nail gun ammo boxes in the game.