The Downward Spiral

The Downward Spiral (also known as Halo 8) is the third major release by American Industrial rock act Nine Inch Nails, released in 1994 on Reznor’s own Nothing Records (a vanity label of Interscope Records). “Halo 8” of the official Nine Inch Nails halo releases, it is a concept album detailing the destruction of an undisclosed man; from the beginning to his climatic suicide. The album was a major commercial success that secured Nine Inch Nails as a force in the 1990s music scene, in particular following the release of the single “Closer” and its controversial video.

To record the album, Reznor rented the house located at 10050 Cielo Drive in Beverly Hills, California where actress Sharon Tate was murdered by members of the Manson Family in 1969. Reznor built a studio space in the house which he named Le Pig, after the message that was scrawled on the front door with Tate’s blood by her murderers. Reznor told Entertainment Weekly that despite the notoriety attached to the house, he chose to record there because, “I looked at a lot of places, and this just happened to be the one I liked most.” Reznor moved out of the house in December 1993, after he said “there was too much history in that house for me to handle.” After the album’s recording, Trent Reznor consulted with the landlords and had the house demolished shortly after.

Reznor made a statement about working in the Tate house during a 1997 interview with Rolling Stone: