10 Most Controversial Music Videos Of All Time
4. Nine Inch Nails - Closer (1994)
Nine Inch Nails strike again with the second single from their second album, The Downward Spiral. Set in the quarters of a mad scientist, the video incorporates all manner of nasty imagery including cruelty to animals, vital organs on display and Trent Reznor decked out in fetish gear. Reznor frequently hovers in the air and is attacked by a wind machine also.
The bizarre visuals were inspired by American photographer, Joel-Peter Witkin and the short film Street of Crocodiles by the Brothers Quay. The edgy content was clamped down by censors at the time with the television release frequently displaying a Scene Missing title card in place of several scenes. The unedited version of the single can be found on Nine Inch Nails’ Closure video album and director Mark Romanek’s Directors Label Volume 4.
Both the sinister music video and the track itself proved immensely popular, greatly enhancing Nine Inch Nails’ exposure in the mainstream. It remains one of Reznor’s most popular and best-known tracks. When looking back on the music video, Reznor explained “The rarest of things occurred: where the song sounded better to me, seeing it with the video. And it's my song.”