Trent Reznor is the mastermind behind the industrial techno-rock band Nine Inch Nails (NIN). Building on breakthrough hits like "Head Like A Hole" and "Terrible Lie," neither of which charted, NIN was poised for greater success. That happened in 1994, when NIN scored their first chart hit, "March Of The Pigs," from the classic album, "The Downward Spiral." The song went to #59, and the follow-up, "Closer," reached #41. The band would reach even greater chart heights in 1999 when "The Day The World Went Away" hit #17. NIN disappeared from the charts until 2005 when the excellent "The Hand That Feeds" reached #31. "Wish" was on the 1992 EP, "Broken." A great high-energy track, it is surprising this one didn't put the band on the chart first.
The legendary Johnny Cash, one of the top 100 artists of all-time, has graced us with his gritty songwriting style and trademark vocals. His career began back in 1956 when his classic, "I Walk The Line", strutted to #17. Towards the end of his life in 2003, he put his own spin on several other artist's classics in his "American Recordings" series. A song that seemed to be written for Cash is "Hurt" by Nine Inch Nails. NIN took the song to #54 in 1995. Cash's interpretation on little more than acoustic guitar suits the lyrics perfectly, and the video will linger in your mind as a haunting epitaph. Cash's version of "Hurt" did not chart, but the digital track went gold and helped score a ranking of #22 for his "American IV" album released in 2002.
