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CD reviews

The Fragile

Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile Audio CD

A fair review of the Nine Inch Nails "The Fragile" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Nine Inch Nails reviews here, or go back to the Nine Inch Nails tabs.

Band: Nine Inch Nails
Title: The Fragile
Rating:

Release Date: 1999-09-21
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Somewhat Damaged 2: The Day The World Went Away 3: The Frail 4: The Wretched 5: We're In This Together 6: The Fragile 7: Just Like You Imagined 8: Even Deeper 9: Pilgrimage 10: No, You Don't 11: La Mer 12: The Great Below 13: The Way Out Is Through 14: Into The Void 15: Where Is Everybody? 16: The Mark Has Been Made 17: Please 18: Starfuckers, Inc. 19: Complication 20: I'm Looking Forward To Joining You, Finally 21: The Big Come Down 22: Underneath It All 23: Ripe (With Decay)

Sublime
A double album is always something special, because only true artists can afford such a challenge! And Trent, after the already classic album "The Downward Spiral" was able to make a work even greater. The album is dense, and it needs a lot of listenings before you can get into.

The first album, the best, starts with a sequence of 7 tracks that are among the best songs ever written by him:

Somewhat Damaged
The Day the World Went Away
The Frail
The Wretched
We're in This Together
The Fragile
Just Like You Imagined

Then it closes with a ballad, "The Great Below", with really beautiful lyrics.

The second album has great tracks too, like "Into the Void", "Where Is Everybody?", "Please" and "The Big Come Down". The band sounds great, and the production is high-quality as usual.

That's for sure NIN best album and one of the last masterpieces of rock.

An Industrial Rock Masterpiece From NIN!
The twenty three tracks included were recorded at Nothing Studios in New Orleans, Louisiana between August of 1997 and April 1999. Industrial rock pioneer and multi-instrumentalist Trent Reznor released this double CD masterpiece called "The Fragile" in 1999 which he also produced with help from Alan Moulder. In addition to Reznor, many guest musicians participated; the most notable ones of the bunch being Danny Lohner (who helped in the songwriting process) and guitarist Adrian Belew who was a member of the excellent experimental group King Crimson playing on albums such as 1981's "Discipline".
The main lyrical theme of the album has been said to be a continuation of his previous full length CD "The Downward Spiral" but musically, Reznor continues to grow as a composer and arranger adding hypnotic synth textures to his trademark mix of heavily processed/distorted electric guitars with electronic beats/drums and avant-garde. It seems to me that some of Reznor's music on this LP could also be considered as modern Kraut-Rock!

Launching the set is the Reznor/Danny Lohner written "Somewhat Damaged" employing the technique of gradually increasing the volume of the instruments: a blend of aggressive percussion, the crunchy guitars plus Reznor's soft vocal delivery that gets more and more frantic as the song progresses! "The Day The World Went Away" is notable for a melodic hook and some nice chanting towards the end. The first instrumental of the album "The Frail" is made up of a pleasant melody played on the piano and it's a preview of the catchy chorus later used in the album's title cut. "The Wretched" shows Reznor in a darker mood with a haunting arpeggio on the piano for the verses and an aggressive chorus where the distorted guitars kick in. The fifth cut "We're In This Together" was chosen for a single release (Halo 15) and the lyrics took inspiration from David Bowie's song "Heroes". The strongest part is the well constructed chorus with the usual heavy guitar underneath.
Pay attention to the second instrumental "Just Like You Imagined". . . it's one of my favorites! A catchy six-note pattern played mainly on bass and piano drives this excellent tune along! The guitars provided by Lohner and Belew add a lot of texture. Before its conclusion the cool piano pattern is played but harmonized. A great ending to this masterpiece!
The mood shifts radically in the five-minute "Even Deeper" (Reznor/Lohner) where the verses are very dark/haunting filled with eerie synth textures. Another instrumental follows: "Pilgrimage" using what sounds like an eastern inspired melody. Very enjoyable! "No, You Don't" goes back the aggressive sound of the album's opening song while "La Mer" is another instrumental featuring some female vocals in French but pay attention to the backing track. . . it will be reprised later in "Into The Void": the album's most popular song that received plenty of air time. The closing composition on CD 1 "The Great Below" is an incredible gloomy ballad with an excellent vocal performance from Reznor.

The second part of the album opens with an ambient synth texture and the tune is called "The Way Out Is Through". Reznor sings briefly towards the end when an unexpected heavy section shows up. Three instrumentals are included in this second half: "The Mark Has Been Made", "Complication", and "Ripe (With Decay)". All three show interesting musical ideas but the most memorable for me was the last one I mentioned especially the faint vocals chant that shows up right before its conclusion. In "Starf. . . , Inc" Reznor vocals are filtered through some special effects before its heavy rocking chorus rushes in without warning! More heavy rock sounds are used in "Where's Everybody?" and "Please"; two songs with a killer chorus. "Underneath It All" displays a more Kraut-Rock based approach to songwriting where the main body of the song is actually one repetitive pattern with the vocals on top. A very interesting experiment results in "The Big Come Down": verses with dissonant funky guitar augmented by a haunting and melodic chorus with an atmospheric synth set up. This is one of my favorites! Also another favorite of mine is "I'm Looking Forward To Joining You, Finally" where the emphasis is put on percussion/bass. Reznor's vocal delivery stays soft throughout with a faint burst of keyboards in the chorus. Well. . . that's it! For me, all songs are great here! Not a single weak moment to be found!

If you like industrial rock, then you should definitely add this double CD masterpiece to your collection or any other album from Trent Reznor's NIN; one of the pioneering groups of the genre!
Thanks for taking the time to read!
Later.

An important album by NIN.
The songs on this album are smart and unusual. My favorite NIN album remains The Downward Spiral, allthough who can deny that This album (The Fragile) anything short of great. The music is dark and industrial. . . . the whole album (2 CD's full of music) makes any fan of music extra happy. Awesome album!.

LISTEN TO MEEEE
out of all the music out there THIS is why Nine Inch Nails is my favorite band. this Is My favorite CD. I love this. If you are like the people who put 1 to 3 stars then get off. this is art and if you dont see it you simply have no soul and no emotion. If you want to rate this a 1 star then your rating yourself as a loser. This is why we have music and this is what music is meant to be. I wish i knew who left the post saying Marilin Manson
has out done Nine Inch Nails so i can smack them with a bus. listen to me
o great reader of my post. . . Buy this and come with me on a journey away from reality and into a world of untold beauty and unforeseen enlightenment, come with me into the parts of your mind that you never knew existed. live life thru someone else's eyes and see yourself as the world sees you, and for once in your life. . . . know. . . . . yourself.

Amazing!!!
Trent is so creative in everything he does. This has to be nine inch nail's best album and one of my favourite albums of all time. Just look at the Ghost album. . . I never thought he would make something like that. And as far as the fragile goes, it was his first album that really should how creative he was.

You can see a complete list of all Nine Inch Nails discography, or go back to the Nine Inch Nails tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.