I was 14 years old when I first heard this wall of sound blasting through speakers in a friend's room. To say my life and outlook on music would forever change is an understatement. This wonderful, loud, and crazy artistry of music began to form who I would become upon its explosion into the room and my ears. My friend's room could barely contain the massive well constructed guitar riffs and my mind was unable to comprehend what was happening. I had heard heavy metal music before but when Trent began to sing I knew this was a whole new level of music I would love for a long time. His words were compelling yet angsty enough to speak to me exactly the way I felt when I was a teenager. The very first lyric I heard was - "Gave up trying to figure it out..." This was a daily thought for me at the time. Mind you I wasn't typically a moody child or teen but Nine Inch Nails' music seemed to coincide well with me when i was feeling down or depressed.
As heavy as the music was and despite all the brooding and dark subject matter of most of the lyrics.