10 Bands That Mixed Different Music Genres

10. Nine Inch Nails

At the turn of the decade, the '90s were about to give way to a sea change in rock music. As hair metal started to go way out of style, bands like Nirvana and Pearl Jam began to pioneer a different aesthetic in rock and roll, where you didn't have to worry about being a towering rock god to become famous. So in the thick of bands with guitars making authentic music out of Seattle, one of the biggest names of the time turned out to be a guy with a piano tearing you to pieces.

Over the course of Trent Reznor's career, Nine Inch Nails has turned into one of the most forward thinking outfits in the world of music, never being afraid to combine the artificial sounds of Pro Tools with the rock aesthetic and actually pulling it off on albums like The Downward Spiral or the Fragile. Before Seattle had even blown up, Trent was already hitting the ground running with Pretty Hate Machine, making the first waves of industrial rock on songs like Head Like a Hole.

Ever since the '00s though, Trent has been looking to defy the traditional rock and roll hangups, from using saxophones on the most recent NIN albums to continuing his streak of ambient albums with the Ghost series, where he puts music in the public domain and lets his fans do what they want with the tracks. Along with his hand in different scores for movies, Trent seems to want to do absolutely everything he can with music from the moment he wakes up in the morning.