In '94 my angst was still accelerating. You're right that PHM contained expressions of anger and confusion. It just felt more whole than TDS.
RE commercial success [0]:
> Nine Inch Nails' second studio album, The Downward Spiral, entered the Billboard 200 at number two,[57] and is the band's highest seller in the US, over four million copies, among five million worldwide.[58]
RE commercial success [0]:
> Nine Inch Nails' second studio album, The Downward Spiral, entered the Billboard 200 at number two,[57] and is the band's highest seller in the US, over four million copies, among five million worldwide.[58]
[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nine_Inch_Nails