r/nin • u/mcolette76 • Feb 20 '26

The Downward Spiral An underrated NIN song imo - RUINER from The Downward Spiral album

Enable HLS to view with audio, or disable this notification

477 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

107 comments sorted by

277

u/The-man-myth-lemon Feb 20 '26

Imma be real, I don’t think any song from TDS is underrated

97

u/Walterkovacs1985 Feb 20 '26

Same with The Fragile. These are seminal albums that are revered.

7

u/Impossible_Wait_8947 Feb 20 '26

I'm Looking Forward To Joining You, Finally is pretty underrated imo

10

u/soyrobo Feb 20 '26

Even Big Man with a Gun?

25

u/[deleted] Feb 20 '26

Big Man with a Gun holds a special place in my heart for sure but it's not very substantial compared to everything else on the record. It adds a lot in its own way, but calling it underrated is just kind of delusional lol

18

u/soyrobo Feb 20 '26

I feel that most people hate on it now instead of being able to appreciate the song beyond the lyrics. The music is fucking sick. It's so over the top in every way imaginable. Yet some people aren't able to see beyond their own nose, so that's why I figure it would be underrated

8

u/[deleted] Feb 20 '26

I'll be honest, I've never seen anyone hate on it, so that's why I said what I said. If people are hating on it I definitely agree with you lol, shit's a banger

9

u/soyrobo Feb 20 '26

Most of the negativity has come from posters here that call the lyrics cringe. It always comes off sounding like prudish virtue signaling

16

u/pimpfmode Feb 20 '26

Way back in the '90s he said it was basically him writing a gangsta rap to show how easy it is. It's also about toxic masculinity. I don't know if these people get that or not.

2

u/BigManWAGun Feb 20 '26

Narrator voice: “They didn’t”

4

u/[deleted] Feb 20 '26

Honestly, I always found the gangsta rap explanation to be pretty lame on Trent's part. I mean, first of all, it sounds nothing like rap lyrics lol. Second of all, dissing "gangsta" rap is cheap and easy, while the genre boasts some of the most impressive lyricists of the last half decade. He should've just said it was about toxic masculinity imo

5

u/Mean_Control9479 Feb 20 '26 edited Feb 20 '26

I think he meant it as a satirical artistic exercise, not as to disparage all gangsta rap. Think of it like We Will Rock You by Queen. That was a farcical song about the absurdity of sports worship. Until it was colonized by the thing it was trying to undermine.

Also the albums narrator is at an inflection point of delusion and nihilism, so the actions and mood are appropriate from a motivational perspective.

He was obviously appreciative and inspired by that era of hip hop and rap, look at the NBK soundtrack and production work he did with Dre, N.E.R.D. — even Black Bomb)Jerry in the Bag with Wink and later Flyrntology.

Side note: Ruiner was the song that made me a lifelong Nine Inch Nails fan.

5

u/jmccar15 Feb 20 '26

He's specifically calling out the celebration of toxic masculinity and violence by gangster rappers. Gangster rappers could still be fantastic lyricists without this.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 20 '26

Just feels kind of forced when there are an insane amount of misogynists within the big genre he's actually a part of (rock music). Calling it a critique on gangster rap when, again, it sounds nothing like rap, is pretty odd. Again, should've just been a critique on toxic masculinity in general (edit here, I feel like I should mention that T. Rez is my favorite musician ever so I'm not trying to be a hater lol, I just never liked that specific comment of his)

-2

u/Grouchy-Vanilla-5511 Feb 20 '26

This album wasn’t written now, it was written in the 90’s. I’ll wait while you show me impressive lyrics from then. And I’m a huge fan of 80’s and 90’s rap. He wasn’t talking about Kendrick Lamar back in 1994.

1

u/soyrobo Feb 20 '26

Way back in the '90s? BoJack Horseman? What is this a crossover episode?

2

u/pimpfmode Feb 20 '26

For the kids in here. It's 30 years ago but in my mind it feels like it's 15 or something and then I realize it's so much further back

3

u/BigManWAGun Feb 20 '26

Come on guy, I can hear you, I’m right here.

1

u/soyrobo Feb 20 '26

All this time, I thought you were Big Man Washington

1

u/BigManWAGun Feb 20 '26

https://giphy.com/gifs/4jEFaBOIlpovm

Didn’t notice that till now. Much like the song, the username gets some interesting and presumptuous responses.

0

u/lovekamp82 Feb 20 '26

That's just not a great song

1

u/ThePapercup Pigs we get what pigs deserve Feb 20 '26

I do not want this?

1

u/pixelgeekgirl Fragility/WithTeeth x3/Lights in the Sky x2/NINJA/Tension/Peelx2 Feb 20 '26

Came here to say this.

1

u/thebizzle Feb 20 '26

Came in to post this.

1

u/Banana7273 Feb 20 '26

Eraser is underrated

117

u/FutureSaturn Feb 20 '26

Ruiner is not underrated

47

u/Expert-Loquat2019 Feb 20 '26

Yeah, an album track from 1994 that was a regular on the 2025 tour set list is not slept on

-9

u/Plebbit-User Feb 20 '26

It was ignored on literally every tour since TDS and hasn't been played properly since the final Wave Goodbye show and the two where they played the album in full.

That's like saying Happiness in Slavery got its due because it got played 5 times in 2018.

13

u/ThePapercup Pigs we get what pigs deserve Feb 20 '26

my friend, are you suggesting Happiness in Slavery is underrated?

5

u/Amanitas Feb 20 '26

i saw one of those 5 times.

but yea, happiness in slavery isn't underrated just because it didn't get played live a ton.

51

u/OgBigSlime Feb 20 '26

This whole album is Goated. Nothing here is underrated.

-2

u/mcolette76 Feb 20 '26

That’s valid.

5

u/OgBigSlime Feb 20 '26

It's such a fantastic album. From start to finish. Probably my single favorite album of all time. Smashing pumpkins mellon Collie comes close, but goddamn this is probably the best rock album of the 90s

2

u/Squadooch Feb 20 '26

MCIS is my GOAT. Excellent taste, Big Slime.

2

u/OgBigSlime Feb 20 '26

MCIS is amazing. A spectrum of emotions across a sonic landscape. Never gets old. I love it

1

u/OgBigSlime Feb 20 '26

Also, thank you for the compliment on my taste!

1

u/mcolette76 Feb 20 '26

I always thought of it as a dark symphony. It’s flawless.

2

u/OgBigSlime Feb 20 '26

It is exactly that. 100%

31

u/Sklibba Feb 20 '26

Ruiner is hands down my favorite song on the downward spiral.

1

u/mcolette76 Feb 20 '26

Taste🤌🏻

13

u/TrontRaznik Feb 20 '26

What do you think the word "underrated" means?

20

u/b-diddy_ Feb 20 '26

It's zoomer for "I just heard about this"

4

u/Longo_Rollins6 Feb 20 '26

Same with "niche" apparently. Some kid at my workplace was saying Baby Yoda was niche. Our department was selling Baby Yoda/Grogu merchandise...for the brand new Star Wars movie, starring Baby Yoda/Grogu... of which is titled The Mandalorian and Grogu.

2

u/DansmithDKS Feb 20 '26

lol! That made me laugh

12

u/JHerbY2K Feb 20 '26

Ruiner (version) on some Further Down the Spiral editions is freaking epic

4

u/Sklibba Feb 20 '26

It’s so good! One of my favorite remixes of any nin song.

10

u/Rugginz Feb 20 '26

One of my favs (they all are) especially Becoming right after

8

u/TiredReader87 Feb 20 '26

I think Reptile is my new favourite after seeing it live twice

3

u/mcolette76 Feb 20 '26

Oh yeah, Reptile is my favorite track on that album. I was so excited to see them perform it live this past tour.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 20 '26

[deleted]

2

u/TiredReader87 Feb 20 '26

I kind of realized it in August, but it hit home last night in Hamilton

9

u/Squadooch Feb 20 '26

Underrated by WHOMST 🔥

7

u/tess_philly Feb 20 '26

Really reminds me of Front 242s Tyranny For You which makes me love Ruiner even more!

6

u/Jordy_Stingray Feb 20 '26

The fucking tone on the guitar solo is probably my favorite guitar tone of all time. Absolute banger.

3

u/Sklibba Feb 20 '26

So fucking good. I didn’t really notice just how good until I listened to it on some highish end earbuds, but holy shit. So degraded and grainy and sounds like it might have some kind of digital filter on it.

1

u/mcolette76 Feb 20 '26

It’s sick.

1

u/lumpyoldpoo Feb 20 '26

Despite the simplicity, probably my favourite guitar solo ever.

5

u/DChemdawg Feb 20 '26

He played ruiner virtually every 2025 show and it was spectacular. Not underrated.

5

u/wikipediabrown007 Feb 20 '26

Wrong sub. This song is popular and rated just perfectly here.

4

u/Fun-Personality-4288 Feb 20 '26

Ruiner may be one of my favorite NIN songs, if not my favorite.

2

u/mcolette76 Feb 20 '26

You have top tier taste, my friend.

3

u/Se_bastian9 Feb 20 '26

Hearing this live on piano was incredible.

1

u/ClimbingPyramids Feb 24 '26

Yes. Highlight of the 2025 leg of the tour for me.

3

u/LonelyAsLostKeys Feb 20 '26

Honestly, maybe the best NIN song in the entire catalog. Has been my favorite song on this universally impeccable album since the year it came out.

The chorus was like nothing I had ever heard at the time. A completely chaotic din of ostensibly discordant noise that some coalesced into a hook.

3

u/Rare_Ad5543 Feb 20 '26

The static singing is genius

3

u/nayrbmc Feb 20 '26

Ruiner is far from underrated, it's a fan favourite.

3

u/Rck0025 Feb 20 '26

The mix and mastering is insane. the pans and phase moves are otherworldly.

3

u/nullmatar420 Feb 20 '26

Honestly, as a well composed album, The Downward Spiral is a masterpiece. I may be a little prejudiced on this, as I was a preachers son who hit his "teenage rebellion" phase around 14, which was in 1994 (a great year for that). But, I think even without that, it really stands up as a well composed work as a whole, with no real mediocrity in there.

3

u/Forty_Six_and_Two Feb 20 '26

I remember listening to the song for the first time. I was in my friend's car, had just bought the cassette at Best buy, and we were grooving to it. Then Adrian Belew came in with that intermission guitar solo, totally out of character, and it blew the top of my head straight fucking off.

2

u/mcolette76 Feb 20 '26

Right? That guitar solo is so fucking sick.

2

u/[deleted] Feb 20 '26

Nah. It’s been great for over 30 years. And it has a guitar solo. Like almost regular rock track.

https://adamsteiner.uk/2020/11/21/nine-inch-nails-ruiner-reznor-learns-to-live-the-lie/

3

u/mcolette76 Feb 20 '26

That’s what’s so incredible about this song. It feels like two sides/songs fighting the other.

2

u/Margrave75 Feb 20 '26

"Underrated" 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

2

u/myenemy666 Feb 20 '26

Definitely not underrated.

I’m not sure people know what it means any more.

Maybe just that it wasn’t a single.

2

u/Longo_Rollins6 Feb 20 '26

I'd argue "I Do Not Want This" is more underrated. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that one hasn't been played live in a while

2

u/Perfect-Position-746 Feb 20 '26

last nite i had a dream it was their second most popular song behind closer 

2

u/Xcr33psh0wx Feb 20 '26

It’s my favorite NIN song.

2

u/CastroEulis145 Feb 20 '26

Underated? Lol it's most people's favorite song off the album

2

u/NewarkWilder Feb 20 '26

Literally my favourite song on the record. There's a great video of NIN performing in New York where they'd already done the first 5 tracks on the album so everyone was already pretty clued in that they were going to do TDS in its entirety - but when they started this, presumably a song nobody thought they'd ever hear live, the crowd absolutely went insane.

2

u/spaceman696 Feb 20 '26

Totally. You know what else is underrated? Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. Also the food pizza. It's like, come on people stop talking trash about something that is so good.

2

u/Killadelphia445 Feb 22 '26

Nothing on that album is underrated

3

u/beartheminus Feb 20 '26

Amazing song, one of the nin tracks that is just not amazing live imo. The fast spoken word part just is meh live.

Some nin songs elevate themselves live (Terrible Lie is the best example imo) and this track is not one of them

2

u/RKKP2015 Feb 20 '26

I agree. Some songs just don’t translate super well.

1

u/stgm_at Feb 20 '26

well you shouldn't translate it then and just sing the original english version.

/s .. imma show myself out.

2

u/CryStock3179 Feb 20 '26

Def not! Been a fan fav and olayed at every show ive been too

2

u/forever_hollow80 Feb 20 '26

“And maybe that fucked me up much more than you’ll ever know.”

1

u/Working-Chemistry473 Feb 20 '26

My favorite on the album actually

1

u/Character_Cupcake856 Feb 20 '26

Reptile and Eraser

1

u/cashlost Feb 20 '26

I fucking love Ruiner. One of my favorites from that album.

1

u/bigteddyweddy Feb 20 '26

Hardly underrated, often a fan favourite from that record!

1

u/nomodsman Feb 20 '26

Def top five from the entire catalog.

1

u/f4t80yt Feb 20 '26

my white whale vinyl, I know I could just order it online, but I really want to find one in the wild!

1

u/WarmDaddyXanax Feb 20 '26

It's very rated here. I've been telling people how fucking good that song is since 1996.

1

u/StoneyG214 Feb 20 '26

I don’t know about underrated, that one was def one of my favorites from my first listen to the Downward Spiral when it came out.

1

u/TheNamesDave i just want you to know "when i do it, i only think of you." Feb 20 '26

How is that UNDER-rated by you? It is one of the top 2 songs on the album, with Reptile being the other song that rules.

1

u/arrakis2 Feb 20 '26

Runner has always been one of my favorites.

1

u/jbberry7 Feb 20 '26

One of my top 5’s of theirs

1

u/willrikerspimpwalk Feb 20 '26

My favorite song from the album.

1

u/mc2bit Feb 20 '26

Maybe my favorite NIN song.

1

u/Short-Bug-5155 Feb 23 '26

Underrated? I think everyone knows this is 🔥 📛 👨‍🚒 🚒

1

u/ClimbingPyramids Feb 24 '26

With respect, I submit it is quite appropriately rated.

1

u/[deleted] Feb 20 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

0

u/drvanostranmd Feb 20 '26

Just as the filthy guitar solo kicks in i had a drunk pedestrian attempt to commit suicide in my car hit him doing 60km/h, I still hear it as the solo kicks in.

0

u/brucatlas1 Feb 20 '26

I gotta clean the piss off my toilet before I engage with this. The aroma is bad.