Retrospective reviews regard The Downward Spiral as one of the most important albums of the 1990s and Reznor's greatest work. The 2004 edition of The New Rolling Stone Album Guide gave the album five out of five stars and called it "a powerful statement, and one of the landmark albums of the Nineties." Writing for Entertainment Weekly, Kyle Anderson remembered watching the music video of "Closer" on MTV as an adolescent and expressed that the album changed his perception of popular music from that of songs heard on the radio to albums with cover art. Stereogums Tom Breihan remains favorable toward the album since influenced youth culture, with teenagers wearing ripped fish nets on their arms. The album was also included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. According to Acclaimed Music, it is the 162nd most acclaimed album, based on appearances in critics' all-time lists.
