10 Most Important Hard Rock Bands Of The 80s
8. Nine Inch Nails
As much as people like to call the '90s a free for all for heavy genres, the '80s were certainly no slouch. Along with the sounds of hair metal, you also had the incoming underground punk movement, the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, and just the slightest traces of thrash coming into the mix as well. Long before the Ministry's of the world came to fruition though, Nine Inch Nails signaled the future of industrial all the way back in 1989.
Although Trent Reznor's little project that could wouldn't gel perfectly until the '90s, the arrival of Nine Inch Nails with Pretty Hate Machine really left an impression on those who heard it back in the day. Off the strength of just one record, Trent was already a top tier songwriter, with Head Like a Hole and Down In It having an intense darkness to them along with catchy hooks that made it absolutely perfect for MTV.
You also have to remember just how much of a shakeup this must have felt like at the time as well. Here was the beginnings of industrial rock and a heavy shift from standard pop, and it's getting played on the same stations that are showing bands like Warrant and Cinderella around the same time. They might not have been the biggest deal quite yet, but change was definitely in the air as the decade wound down.