| Artist |
Nine Inch Nails |
| Album Title: |
The Fragile |
| Album Cover: |
 |
| Primary Genre |
Alternative |
| Format |
CD (2) |
| Released |
09/21/1999 |
| Label |
Nothing/Interscope Records |
| Catalog No |
0694904732 |
| Bar Code No |
6 06949 04732 0 |
| Packaging |
6 Panel Digipack |
| Tracks |
| The Fragile (Disc 1) |
| 1.
|
Somewhat Damaged (4:31)
|
| 2.
|
The Day the World Went Away (4:33)
|
| 3.
|
The Frail (1:54)
|
| 4.
|
The Wretched (5:25)
|
| 5.
|
We're in This Together (7:16)
|
| 6.
|
The Fragile (4:35)
|
| 7.
|
Just Like You Imagined (3:49)
|
| 8.
|
Even Deeper (5:47)
|
| 9.
|
Pilgrimage (3:31)
|
| 10.
|
No, You Don't (3:35)
|
| 11.
|
La Mer (4:37)
|
| 12.
|
The Great Below (5:17)
|
|
| The Fragile (Disc 2) |
| 1.
|
The Way Out is Through (4:19)
|
| 2.
|
Into the Void (4:51)
|
| 3.
|
Where is Everybody? (5:42)
|
| 4.
|
The Mark Has Been Made (5:17)
|
| 5.
|
Please (3:32)
|
| 6.
|
Starfuckers, Inc. (5:02)
|
| 7.
|
Complication (2:32)
|
| 8.
|
I'm Looking Forward to Joining You, Finally (4:15)
|
| 9.
|
The Big Come Down (4:14)
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| 10.
|
Underneath it All (2:48)
|
| 11.
|
Ripe (With Decay) (6:34)
|
|
| Date Acquired |
06/28/2025 |
| Personal Rating |
 |
| Acquired from |
Cheapo Records |
| Purchase Price |
5.00 |
Web Links |
All Music Guide Entry:
Discogs Entry:
MusicBrainz Entry:
Pitchfork Review:
Wikipedia Entry: |
Notes |
Notes:
Released in a three fold digipack with a 24 page booklet including full lyrics.
Cds are labeled LEFT and RIGHT instead of Disc/CD 1 and 2.
Managed for Conservative
Supplemental drum recording at Electrical Audio
Mastered at Precision
Recorded and mixed at Nothing Studios, New Orleans
Publicity for Nothing
Booking for Artist & Audience and Helter Skelter
Merchandising for Object
Credits:
Art Direction, Design, Photography By – David Carson
Artwork [Web Integration] – Rob Sheridan
Booking – Alex Kochan, Artists & Audience, Emma Banks, Helter Skelter
Engineer [Additional Engineering] – Dave 'Rave' Ogilvie, Leo Herrera
Engineer [Second Engineering] – Brian Pollack
Engineer, Mixed By, Producer – Alan Moulder
Legal [Legal Necessities] – Ross Rosen
Management – Conservative Management, John A. Malm Jr.
Management [Artist Relations] – Jeff Anderson
Management [Publicity, For Nothing] – Susan Swan
Mastered By – Tom Baker
Merchandising [Merchandising, For Object] – David 'Kahn' Johnson
Other [Being There] – Jerry Meltzer
Performer, Producer, Programmed By, Written-By – Trent Reznor
Programmed By – Clinton Bradley, Paul Decarli
Recorded By [Supplemental Drum Recording] – Steve Albini
Sound Designer [Additional Sound Design] – Charlie Clouser
Sound Designer [Additional Sound Design], Programmed By – Keith Hillebrandt, Steve Duda
Supervised By [Final Continuity And Flow] – Bob Ezrin
Companies, Etc.:
Phonographic Copyright ℗ – Interscope Records
Copyright © – Interscope Records
Manufactured By – Universal Music & Video Distribution, Inc.
Distributed By – Universal Music & Video Distribution, Inc.
Recorded At – Nothing Studios
Recorded At – Electrical Audio
Mixed At – Nothing Studios
Mastered At – Precision Mastering
Licensed From – Universal Music Special Markets, Inc.
Published By – Leaving Hope Music
Published By – TVT Music, Inc.
Published By – Wish It Away
Published By – Hillebrandt
Published By – Hypercube Music
Published By – Warner-Tamerlane Music
Published By – Quackenbush Music Limited
Published By – PolyGram International Music Publishing, Inc.
Glass Mastered At – CMCA – R90827-22
Glass Mastered At – CMCA – R90827-24
Pressed By – CMCA
Barcode and other Identifiers:
Barcode (Text): 6 06949 04732 0
Barcode (Scan): 606949047320
Rights Society (Track 2-1): BMI
Rights Society: ASCAP
Matrix / Runout (Left, Mirrored): L808 4776 069490474 R90827-22 A CMCA @
Mastering SID Code (Left, Mirrored): L808
Mould SID Code (Left, Variant 1): IFPI 2F86
Mould SID Code (Left, Variant 2): IFPI 2F83
Mould SID Code (Left, Variant 3): IFPI 2F89
Mould SID Code (Left, Variant 4): IFPI 2F88
Matrix / Runout (Right, Mirrored): L808 4776 069490475 R90827-24 A CMCA @
Mastering SID Code (Right, Mirrored): L808
Mould SID Code (Right, Variant 1): IFPI 2F79
Mould SID Code (Right, Variants 2, 3, 4): IFPI 2F86
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Analyzed Folder: Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile_dr.txt
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR Peak RMS Disc Filename
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR05 -1.74 dB -09.69 dB 01 - 01 - Somewhat Damaged.aif
DR05 -0.21 dB -09.36 dB 01 - 02 - The Day The World Went Away.aif
DR12 -7.44 dB -23.81 dB 01 - 03 - The Frail.aif
DR05 -0.24 dB -08.08 dB 01 - 04 - The Wretched.aif
DR05 +0.00 dB -08.76 dB 01 - 05 - We’re In This Together.aif
DR05 -0.24 dB -07.83 dB 01 - 06 - The Fragile.aif
DR05 -0.54 dB -08.82 dB 01 - 07 - Just Like You Imagined.aif
DR06 +0.00 dB -07.49 dB 01 - 08 - Even Deeper.aif
DR06 -0.23 dB -09.11 dB 01 - 09 - Pilgrimage.aif
DR05 +0.00 dB -07.55 dB 01 - 10 - No, You Don’t.aif
DR08 -0.24 dB -11.38 dB 01 - 11 - La Mer.aif
DR07 -1.24 dB -11.82 dB 01 - 12 - The Great Below.aif
DR05 -0.04 dB -10.65 dB 02 - 01 - The Way Out Is Through.aif
DR06 +0.00 dB -08.69 dB 02 - 02 - Into The Void.aif
DR06 -0.10 dB -08.32 dB 02 - 03 - Where Is Everybody.aif
DR07 -0.24 dB -10.31 dB 02 - 04 - The Mark Has Been Made.aif
DR06 -0.24 dB -07.67 dB 02 - 05 - Please.aif
DR05 -0.04 dB -07.67 dB 02 - 06 - Starfuckers, Inc..aif
DR06 -0.08 dB -09.54 dB 02 - 07 - Complication.aif
DR07 -0.24 dB -08.89 dB 02 - 08 - I’m Looking Forward To Joining You, Finally.aif
DR06 -0.42 dB -08.80 dB 02 - 09 - The Big Come Down.aif
DR07 -0.24 dB -10.71 dB 02 - 10 - Underneath It All.aif
DR09 -0.24 dB -12.46 dB 02 - 11 - Ripe (With Decay).aif
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Number of Files: 23
Official DR Value: DR6
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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|
| Reviews |
All Music Guide Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine:
Never mind that it took Trent Reznor a long, long time to deliver Nine Inch Nails' second album; the anticipation that greeted The Downward Spiral was nothing compared to what awaited its sequel, The Fragile. Like Spiral, The Fragile appeared five years after its predecessor, but the wait seemed longer. After all, between 1989's Pretty Hate Machine and Spiral, Reznor released numerous stopgap EPs, remixes, and even toured, slowly building the ravenous following that devoured the second album. Spiral not only satiated those fans, but it made Reznor into a superstar and a critic's darling, and neither camp could wait to see where he was going to go next. Once he retreated to his New Orleans studio in 1996, there was little clue to what direction that may be. Word of some collaborators drifted out of the ether -- Alan Moulder returned as co-producer, engineer, and mixer; Adrian Belew contributed some guitar; Dr. Dre did some mixing -- which only increased expectations that the sequel would top its predecessor. All of those names, plus concept album guru Bob Ezrin (who "provided final continuity and flow"), are credited on The Fragile, but everybody's contribution is filtered through Reznor, who has the only discernable signature on the album. That's no great shock, since NIN has always been Reznor's vehicle, but what is shocking is how The Fragile feels like no great leap forward, musically or lyrically. As the first five songs unwind, all of Nine Inch Nails' trademarks -- gargantuan, processed distorted guitars, ominous electro rhythms, near-ambient keyboards, Reznor's shredded vocals and tortured words -- are unveiled, all sounding pretty much how they did on Spiral. Upon closer inspection, there are some new frills, particularly in the quiet sections, yet these aren't apparent without some digging. And what's on the surface isn't necessarily inviting, either. There is nothing as rhythmic or catchy as "Closer," nothing as jarring as the piano chorus of "March of the Pigs," no ballad as naked as "Hurt." Ultimately, there are no great singles, which is remarkable for a 23-track double-disc album. That's not to say that Reznor doesn't try for something immediate and visceral: He pulls out all the stops on "We're in This Together" and winds up sounding like Filter. Indeed, every time he stretches for a hate anthem, he misses the mark; he either recycles old ideas or sounds restrained. Fortunately, The Fragile begins to live up to its title once the first side is over. Subsequently, there are detours into empty, noisy bluster (some of which, like the Marilyn Manson dis "Starfuckers, Inc.," work quite well) but they're surrounded by long, evocative instrumental sections that highlight Reznor's true gifts. He may not always write memorable songs, but he knows how to arrange and how to create interesting sonic juxtapositions. For instance, with its unsettling martial rhythms and Germanic synthesized brass, "Pilgrimage" is scarier than any of his pummeling testosterone fests. Throughout its long running time, The Fragile is compelling when it's vulnerable, when Reznor steps away from his trademark rage in favor of crafting delicate, alternately haunting and pretty soundscapes. These are quite captivating on their own, yet they cast a dark shadow upon the industrial bluster, which sounds canned, even self-parodic, in comparison. Since they provide a change of pace, these flirtations with self-parody fit nicely into the flow of the album, which never feels indulgent, even though it runs over 100 minutes. Still, The Fragile feels like a letdown in many ways. There's no denying that it's often gripping, offering odd and interesting variations on NIN themes, but that's the problem -- they're just variations, not progressions. Considering that it arrives five years after Spiral, that is a disappointment; half a decade is plenty of time to redefine an artist's signature sound, as NIN proved with their first two albums. That's not to say that it's impossible to tell where the time went -- Reznor's music is immaculately crafted and arranged, with every note and nuance gliding into the next, and that alone takes time -- but he and Moulder spent more time constructing surfaces than songs. Those surfaces can be enticing but since it's just surface, The Fragile winds up being vaguely unsatisfying, even with all of its virtues.
Pitchfork Review:
1:00am: I've gathered my supplies and I'm going to sit this one straight through. Trent's going to keep me up for at least another two hours with his latest bloated indulgence, The Fragile. So I've got a pot of coffee. It's black. Pitch black. As black as your fucking soul! And I'm typing on this machine. This machine is grinding me down. I feel like a fucking machine! Grrrarrrgh!
9:00pm: My first experience with The Fragile, as is the case with most new CDs, comes in my Honda. I'm sitting at a red light on Webster and Damen, waiting for a left turn. Trent Reznor is screaming, "Tear a hole exquisite red/ Fuck the rest and stab it dead" over a troop of industrial guitars and digital whining. I yawn with such stretching intensity that I miss my turn light. The entire situation strikes me as particularly humorous. Here I am-- a 24- year- old white guy with floppy bangs, wearing a tie, driving a Honda-- and all the bile Trent Reznor can must muster up from his supposedly scorched soul makes me yawn.
Sometime over the last decade, music that is intrinsically meant to be menacing (i.e. Nine Inch Nails) has become a banal syndicated- action hour soundtrack. It's easy to imagine the overproduced grind of "The Wretched" blaring through a TV screen as Nightman kicks a henchman off a roof. This stuff could be the score to "The Crow 4: In Space." And this time around, Trent has unanimously failed to shock anyone above the age of 15 and under the age of 54. I mean, have you listened to old Judas Priest lately? Now, this is not to say music must be confrontational, although the best of it typically is. However, in a pop society that has become numb to industrial sounds through ESPN2 and Surge commercials, it's no longer interesting or tolerable to base one's entire output on volume and amplified cliches.
And so "Somewhat Damaged" continues to pound out its same four notes. Systematically, layers of crust, fuzz, dirt, and whatever else Reznor can scrape off the walls in his studio are piled on top, pounding out the same four- note scale. 1-2-3-4. 1-2-3-4. 1-2-3-4. Ooh, wow, did he just say "fuck?" Trent, Holden Caulfield rubbed that out 50 years ago.
8:00pm: "Hello?" asks Ryan.
"Okay, I'm going to read you something," I say.
"Oh, hey dude. Um, sure."
"'She shines/ In a world full of ugliness/ She matters/ When everything is meaningless.'"
"Oh, man."
"'Sometimes I have everything/ Yet I wish I felt something.'"
"Are these lyrics?"
"'Underneath it all/ We feel so small/ The Heavens fall / But still we crawl.'"
"Haha. What is this?"
"Pleading and/ Needing and/ Bleeding and/ Breeding and/ Feeding/ Exceeding."
"Rhyme-y."
"Now everything is clear/ I can erase the fear/ I can disapper."
"Man, what is this. Is this some emo album?"
"I am every fucking thing and just a little more/ And when I suck you off not a drop will go to waste/ It's really not so bad, you know, once you get past the taste, yeah/ Starfuckers."
"No. Oh, no. No. It's Nine Inch Nails!"
1:49am: "Even Deeper," a track mixed by Dr. Dre, spits aluminum riffs into my headphones. The entire concept of pairing of Dr. Dre and Nine Inch Nails, a match maid in Kornboy heaven (or most likely the Interscope commissary) is laughable. Shuffling beats squirt under "Blade Runner" booms and fathoms of string samples. The end product sounds entirely similar to the rest of this 104- minute albatross. The token celebrity stroking of this studio marriage is fittingly overwrought, unnecessary and done with questionable intent. From the sound of it, Trent cares little to broaden his palate from this rap/ rock union. Without the liner notes, one would never pick this song as "the Dr. Dre track."
Ironically, a man hailed by his legion of testoster- drones as "genius" often leans heavily on the work of other, better sound wizards. Adrian Belew, Steve Albini, and Alan Moulder conspicuously leave their fingerprints all over The Fragile. In other words, whenever something sounds cool, it's most likely coming from one of these other men, who have worked on such mind- blowing classics like Talking Heads' Remain in Light, Slint's Spiderland, and My Bloody Valentine's Loveless, respectively. The constipated drone of "The Day the World Went Away" unabashedly attempts to mimic My Bloody Valentine's sculpted cacophony. Unfortunately, from the hands of an unsubtle goth, the result is strained fuzz.
2:00am: Trent Reznor is the worst, most predictable, most uninspired lyricist working today. The freshman gloom spouted throughout The Fragile are only making it easier for the Goth Lyric Generators on the web. Copy the word decay from this sentence. Paste it into a Word document. Highlight it. Press Shift-F7. Every synonym that appears on your thesaurus screen pops up in Trent Renzor's pitiful poetry. Coming from the mouth of a steadily plumping, thirtysomething recluse (who, incidentally, is bearing striking resemblance to Phil Hartman's SNL Frankenstein character these days), it's just sad. Does he collect candelabras and "Spawn" comics? I guarantee it. In the five years it's taken to complete The Fragile, Trent seemingly watched Dark City at least 40 times. It's insulting to hear Trent and his PR firm talk up the "radical departure" and pop flourishes on this record because the record sounds 100% similar to Broken and The Downward Spiral. Or more accurately, it's like combining Broken and The Downward Spiral. Clever.
2:45am: The gentle piano plunking of "La Mer" lulls me to sleep momentarily on its second time around. It's not the gentle ambience of it, though, since this loud sludge could knock out a speed addict. The Fragile is the most taxing record I've ever had to work through in my five years of reviewing CDs. I mean, even the Beatles failed to make a double album without throwing in some filler. Why does Trent Reznor thinking he can succeed? I'm actually glad Billy Corgan used up The Infinite Sadness. Reznor would jump all over a title like that.
It's difficult to decide where to even begin trimming The Fragile. It's so stunningly monotonous. Any bit of it could be lost without notice. I mean, when the instrumental interludes carry an album, it's a blaring neon sign flashing "stay away!" I pity the kids of the style- over- substance generation-- and yes, it will only be kids-- who enjoy this album. Kids, high school isn't as bad as it seems. You'll grow out of this phase. Save yourself, or your parents, the 25 bucks. The Fragile's length begins to make sense in this context. 104 minutes is the perfect duration for those post- dinner, pre- "X-Files" periods of "nobody understands me" bedroom isolation sit-ins.
3:00am: Before getting back into The Fragile, I peruse the liner notes and artwork. David Carson of "Raygun" fame laid out the artwork for The Fragile. And what a fitting look! Carson, whose design work broke new ground for typography, lost touch years ago. The originator of the 1990s' trademark "crusty look" is analogous to the fat- bottomed disco fonts of the '70s or the thin sans- serif of deco. But guess what? It's almost 2000 and the world needs a new look and a new sound. Carson and Reznor will forever be remembered as 1990s pop figures that helped create an identifiable logo for the decade, and little else. Trent, you are Flock of Seagulls. The Fragile embodies everything wrong with this decade-- hype, letdown, technological fetishism, empty rage, financial bloat, bombast, self- loathing, and indifference to anything truly important and interesting flowing underneath the surface. Trent Reznor is Chris Gaines.
3:20am: "Starfuckers, Inc." That's pretty much all I have to say in criticism of this album. That sums it right up. Do you or don't you want to own an album with a song called "Starfuckers, Inc?" Besides the snickering potty- mouthed title, it's one of the most blatantly hypocritical attacks ever put to tape. It's a widely- publicized attack on Marilyn Manson. There are several lyrical references to the gangly idiot such as "I'm one of the beautiful ones" and "My god pouts on the cover of a magazine." And how are these jabs delivered? Why, in a song which sounds exactly like Marilyn Manson (and also borrows from Carly Simon), by a man who pouts on the cover of Rolling Stone, Alternative Press, Spin, etc.
In essence, Reznor is Marilyn Manson without the makeup (which is a bit like Kiss without the makeup). The Fragile is simply Music for 'The Elder for the digital age. I take comfort knowing that the passing of another decade will make this record seem as amusingly insincere as 10CC.
And at this point, I'm angry, hungry, and frustrated. In fact, I feel like kinda like Trent Reznor. Is this the grand design? After over two hours of listening to his incessant whining and grating, I've become the very model of his audience.
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| Cover 1 |
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| Cover 2 |
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| Cover 3 |
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| Cover 4 |
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| Cover 5 |
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| Cover 6 |
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| Cover 7 |
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| Cover 8 |
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| Cover 9 |
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