Hmm...
Pretty Hate Machine is great for it's early 90s, minimalistic synths and dark feel. Standout tracks: Terrible Lie, Something I Can Never Have, Head Like A Hole.

Broken (technically an EP) is pure rage, angst and nihilism. Standout tracks: Wish, Happiness in Slavery.

The Downward Spiral is his biggest critical and commercial success. It's best off listened to in one sitting, as it's a concept album. More refined industrial sounds than Broken's unbound hate, and achingly beautiful at times. Standout tracks: Closer, Reptile, Hurt.

The Fragile you know, got panned a bit because people expected/wanted TDS part 2. Standout tracks: The Fragile, La Mer, The Great Below, The Big Comedown.

With Teeth was made some time after The Fragile, once Trent had cleaned up. It's his most accessible album, but still has some deeply personal moments. Standout tracks: Only, Sunspots, Beside you in time.

Year Zero is another concept album, set in a near-future where America's ruled by a totalitarian Christian government. There's an entire backstory behind it all (including coverups, alien/god manifestations etc), but even without knowing that it's a solid album. It's more electronic that TDS/The Fragile. Standout tracks: Survivalism, Capital G, The Great Destroyer, In This Twilight.

Ghosts I-IV is a 36 track, all-instrumental affair that started as a project to see if they could release an entire album, start to finish, in a month. The first quarter is free to download online, the rest is a pittance. Lots of different styles, mostly calm and melodic.

The Slip is the last album, released for free online. It feels like a compilation of songs that didn't make the last 2 albums, or ideas he had that he wanted to record under NIN. Standout tracks: Discipline, Echoplex, Lights in the Sky.

There are plenty of remix albums too, but above's the main discography.
( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Wed 28 Jul 2010, 14:13, 1 reply, 16 years ago)

Sorry for the wall of text
Short answer: Acquire The Downward Spiral, and listen to it from start to finish.
( Labia Majora You keep on talking but it makes no sense at all, Wed 28 Jul 2010, 14:15, Reply)

sounds good
I'll do that

thanks
( Vipros. clever got me this far, then tricky got me in, Wed 28 Jul 2010, 14:18, Reply)