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It's a candy-coated hand grenade that goes off with songs like "Star-bleepers Incorporated" (Reznor's poisoned rant at former friend Marilyn Manson) or "Into The Void" and its danceable beats. It is one of the reasons "The Fragile" is more a grower album than an instant classic.
As you listen to the sprawling near two hour opus that is "The Fragile," you realize that Reznor has mastered the art of the alienation; over and over the words "cold," "decay," "damage" or the usual four letter 'obscenity' that starts with F appear. And the template has been chiseled into granite, with bubbling minor key softness giving way to explosive, violent guitar blasting.
It may have taken Trent Reznor almost 6 years to make a proper album after The Downward Spiral, which meant he had a long time to store up the vitriol that is his musical stock and trade. "The Fragile" not only attacks you with its blistering aural onslaught, it seeps into those demented cracks in your mind that you thought were closed off to this kind of manipulation.A lot of that has to do with Reznor's studio acumen; the guy knows how to structure sound like few others.
"The Fragile" is despondency on a par with Pink Floyd.In the same vein as Pink Floyd, Nine Inch Nails rails against the world that makes him famous but fails to give unto him anything good. There's plenty of anxiety and anti-social attitude, plus Reznor's own dour perceptions.
Lots of little bits of construction reveal themselves as time goes by. Those are the two most obvious songs here, but the bulk of "The Fragile" will twist into you and stay there, as long as you have the patience to treat it over time.
The album is dense, and it needs a lot of listenings before you can get into. 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 first album, the best, starts with a sequence of 7 tracks that are among the best songs ever written by him:Somewhat DamagedThe Day the World Went Away The Frail The Wretched We're in This Together The FragileJust Like You ImaginedThen 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.
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. 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. This is one of my favorites. "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 catchy six-note pattern played mainly on bass and piano drives this excellent tune along. 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".
"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. Three instrumentals are included in this second half: "The Mark Has Been Made", "Complication", and "Ripe (With Decay)". The guitars provided by Lohner and Belew add a lot of texture. "The Day The World Went Away" is notable for a melodic hook and some nice chanting towards the end. "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 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. 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". More heavy rock sounds are used in "Where's Everybody." and "Please"; two songs with a killer chorus. The twenty three tracks included were recorded at Nothing Studios in New Orleans, Louisiana between August of 1997 and April 1999. Reznor sings briefly towards the end when an unexpected heavy section shows up. 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". Reznor's vocal delivery stays soft throughout with a faint burst of keyboards in the chorus. 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.
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. 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. 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. Another instrumental follows: "Pilgrimage" using what sounds like an eastern inspired melody. Well.that's it. 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. For me, all songs are great here.
Before its conclusion the cool piano pattern is played but harmonized. Very enjoyable. Also another favorite of mine is "I'm Looking Forward To Joining You, Finally" where the emphasis is put on percussion/bass. 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.
My favorite NIN album remains The Downward Spiral, allthough who can deny that This album (The Fragile) anything short of great. The songs on this album are smart and unusual. 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 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. This is why we have music and this is what music is meant to be.
out of all the music out there THIS is why Nine Inch Nails is my favorite band. I love this.
this Is My favorite CD. If you want to rate this a 1 star then your rating yourself as a loser.
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.
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. live life thru someone else's eyes and see yourself as the world sees you, and for once in your life.know.yourself.
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