10 Banned Hard Rock Music Videos
2. Nine Inch Nails - Happiness In Slavery
Trent Reznor and Nine Inch Nails were, whether they wanted to admit it at times or not, out to cause a stir from the beginning. Whilst Closer and its video were notoriously controversial and recut/edited to make the airwaves, the band had a video produced for a song from their debut EP that was so extreme it was nearly wiped from history.
The main driving force is the ritualistic sacrifice of a willing participant as played by performance artist Bob Flanagan - an appropriate choice considering the man had a background exploring the dark world of sadomasochism. Washing himself down and strapping himself to a chair, Flanagan has his hands impaled and his skin torn away by machines. His blood pools into a garden in the floor below, and the video ends with Reznor himself setting himself up to take the same ritual.
It’s no great surprise that the video was outright banned by MTV and other outlets, and fans had to wait until the Closer VHS to see it.
Of the video, Reznor has said that video was an expression of his artistic freedom after restrictions previously imposed on him by TVT Records and that they were simply “the best visuals to match the song”.