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It all started with "Pretty Hate Machine", a spectacular album, that brought an industrial style of music to the masses. Followed by the much harsher "Broken" and then "The Downward Spiral", which melded the styles of both previous albums into one.

"The Fragile" expands greatly on "The Downward Spiral", fullfilling another piece in NIN's musical journey. Was it worth the five year wait? Certainly. Does it sound somewhat like it's predecessor? Yes, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Each Nine Inch Nails record flows into the next. They're not so much individual albums as they are one cohesive work. Building and extrapolating on each other to give the listener a glimpe into the sometimes tortured psyche of Trent Reznor.

Reznor's lyrics also tend to carry over from album to album, providing continuity. I think some of his better efforts are included on this album.

What sets NIN apart from most of the clones is the music. And here again, they don't disappoint. Sonically this is a beautiful work with layers and layers of sounds forming on top of each other, with new sounds being discovered with each listen. Some of the best tracks are the instrumentals like "La Mer".

Overall it's a brilliant album that most NIN fans already own and that the curious should check out. A breath of fresh air in todays stagnant musical enviroment.


Epic.......   July 15, 2000
 56 out of 58 found this review helpful

It's been almost a year since I've bought "The Fragile". I've listened to both CD's so many times it would make Trent Reznor either very happy or very worried. And you know what? Both CD's are still getting daily play. From the sheer anger of "No, You Don't" to the to funk angst of "Please" to the thumping evil beats of "The Wretched", this has to be the greatest album ever. I can honestly say I'll never find an album of this magnitude, simply because nothing comes close. That's a bold statement, I know, but it's all true. Whether you agree or not about that, you can't deny the fact that this album is the best produced album ever. It seems like every time I listen to it I find something new. Reznor and Alan Moulder did the greatest job humanly possible. And that's just the music. "Somewhat Damaged" (which is co-written by tourmate Danny Lohner) is one of NIN's best written songs. The emotion of it is extremely strong, the music is slow (at first) and then builds up to an explosion of anger being led by it's fragile-yet-angry lyrics. And to think, that's just the first song off the first disc (or the "Left" disc as it's referred to). Next is "The Day The World Went Away", a beautiful song with loud guitars and no drums. Then it's "The Frail" (one of the best of the instrumentals) which bleeds into "The Wretched", a song that sounds like you're going to hell and Trent's showing some empathy. "We're In This Together" is simply amazing. When that chorus kicks I still get chills up and down my spine. The title track has one of the most beautiful and sad guitar solos I've ever heard. As I'm sure you'll notice when you get it (and you better too), is that there is a lot of violin and cello work throughout the album. It doesn't shine any better than in "Even Deeper". Though mixing credit is given to Dr. Dre, you can't even tell he did anything. The way the song leads out is breathtaking. "Pilgrimage" is the best instrumental on "The Fragile", it sounds as if dead souls are marching along; absolutely perfect. "La Mer" is too beautiful for words, starting out with heavenly piano notes that explodes into hip-hop beats (!) and Prince-style (! ) funk that will move you like you never thought NIN could. "The Great Below" is just too touching. Both romantic and sad, all I can say is just listen to it. Now on to the "Right" disc. "The Way Out Is Through" is a great song that leads into an even better one, "Into The Void" (one of my favorites off the album). "Where Is Everybody?" through "Star (um..) Inc." retraces the betrayal that Trent was dealing with in earlier songs. "Star Inc." by the way, rocks like Limp Bizkit wish they could. The next couple of songs are also great. But it picks up at another one of my favorites, "Underneath It All". The beat and romantic lyrics make it so it can be played as loud as you want, or as soft as you want. The finale, "Ripe (With Decay)" is a very dark instrumental with it's gothic-style piano notes to give it a dead-like feel. A long album, an epic album, a masterpiece. Play this album with your headphones and at the highest volume possible through big speakers, you'll pick up on all sorts of interesting sounds. By the way, sorry for the long review, but I had to attempt at giving it the justice it deserves.


Pure Excellence and Genius   November 20, 2000
 34 out of 34 found this review helpful

This is "The Fragile." Agressive. Searching. Loose. Smashed up. Glued back together. Imperfect. Flawed. Closer to something. Sad. Happy. Optimistic. Searching. The wonder. The light. The turmoil. The brooding. The mind. The fragile.

Yes, all of this is Trent Reznor, his emotions and sounds standing naked to the listner in this two-disc album that refuses to leave you past the end. It's an album that's hard to describe, but it easily is put on the cinematic scale that only few bands like Radiohead and Pink Floyd can give you. "The Fragile," can easily be said that it's different than all of the other Nine Inch Nails albums--since all of them are so sonically different from one another--but in this case, "The Fragile" is an important turn. With the introduction of a more low-fi organic sound, like violins, yukelledes, and pianos, mixed with the electronic tension that NIN has long-since been associated with, you have a sound that is extremly avant-garde, almost art-rockish. One really good display of this is the opening track, "Somewhat Damaged. It begins with a simple innocent, accoustic guitar, playing the same tune again and again until it starts to be built up with more tracks of accoustics. A hard pounding beat sets in; every hit is distinct from one another like they all have personalities of their own. Electronic whizzing begins, filling the ears with more and more building tension; every new track builds to make the tune more intense. Reznor starts singing soon afterwards and quickly turns the song, which so innocently began with a little guitar, into a raging Goliath.

And that's just the first track!

Reznor amazingly stresses the importance of the 'concept album,' a line of song after song that feels like a movie being played to you sonically. Every song, like the crunchy-but-mellow "The Day The World Went Away" flows neatly into the other, like the mellow classical "The Frail." Every song, from hard to soft, fits neatly between each other, with fade-ins coming so seamlessly you wonder how anyone could find a connection between them.

The dizzing "Where In This Together," with its whizzing guitar buzz and never-ending pace feels extremly schizophrenic for a first listening, but after more listening, you begin to discover how honest and right it feels; its lyrics, which are some of Reznor's most optimistic in years, gives you a sense of the over-all theme to this album: Rising above all that's happened to you, or at least trying to.

Songs like the jazzy "La Mer" and also the title track genuinely show a bright shinging gem of beauty to be found in all of this personal examination and acceptance. Other songs, such as the hip-hop fueled/Dr. Dre-assisted "Even Deeper" and "The Big Comedown" drag you back into the place where Reznor tries to escape from--his tortured psyque. But that very ability to mix these kind of songs in the same album, yet not in a way that doesn't challenge the listener to think is truly amazing, and is probably one of Reznor's finest feats as a producer. He brings out what we hide within ourselves and shows how ugly and sometimes beautiful they are.

Of the two discs on this album, none stands out as better as the other; the two both show brilliance. Although the listener might get side-tracked by the first disc, it's excellent to explore the rest. One can't ignore the Pink Floyd-ish "The Way Out is Through," or the funk-filled "Into the Void." Instead, this album, after all, isn't an album you just skip from one song to another, but rather one you listen to the whole way. It's also excellent to listen to with your headphones (I STRONGLY recommend your first listening over headphones).

"The Fragile" is an album of the truest account. This is NOT Limp Bizkit. This is NOT Kid Rock. This isn't EVEN Korn. Instead, this is music that's intelligent, deep, brutal, yet beautiful. This is an album of substance. I highly recommend it.

It wouldn't hurt a non-NIN fan to check it out. I'm sure you'll enjoy it.


The Prince of darkness returns   February 13, 2000
 31 out of 37 found this review helpful

The anticipation for only the third full studio NIN album in 10 years, The Fragile was perhaps too much. Expectations are too easy to crush with such a long and painful wait. Look what happened to Metallica with Load, a fine album but no-where near reaching the level of brilliance fans demanded. The Fragile fulfils expectation and then some. After listening to the double album enough times to know each song inside out, I can safely say NIN has released the most adventurous and musically-diverse album of the last five years. The opening quartet of songs are a strong notification that Trent Renzor is back on a creative high after an unhealthy absence. `Somewhat Damaged' is all cutting edge sounds, a simple guitar line starting the misery before finally merging into `The Day The World Went Away' which continues to sound like nothing else in US rock at the moment. It must be noted that the many instrumental tracks are just as good if not better musically that the "proper" songs - special mention goes to the almost-dance `Complication' and frankly bizarre matching band music of `Pilgrimage'. `Even Deeper' will not be a favourite when listening to the album at first but slowly will emerge as one of the highlights along with `No, You Don't', the most upbeat and alternative rock song. `The Great Below' end the first disc on a familiar note. Very close to the finale `Hurt' off Downward Spiral it combines lost hope with stirring strings. The second disc is not as strong or as rewarding as the first but is still much greater than anything else in the music genre. If you like accessible alternative rock music try Limp Bizkit or Creed, but those who search for daring and at times an exhausting music experience try the Fragile - sometimes self-pity can be enjoyable and fun.


Brilliant Music, Trite Lyrics   July 2, 2003
 29 out of 50 found this review helpful

Trent Reznor, the mastermind and sole creative force behind Nine Inch Nails, is a musical genius, no doubt about it. Each of his albums display a different facet to this genius: from his blazing, multi-layered electronic debut 'Pretty Hate Machine', to the primal-scream therapy of 'Broken', to the kitchen-sink approach of his conceptual symphony 'The Downward Spiral,' Reznor has proved his chops again and again; sonically, there is never a dull moment, or a mediocre near-miss. His music is a combination of incredible subtlety and brute intensity: electronic whispering and guitar-lashing screaming: all tied together in Reznor's distinct vocals--he howls, murmurs, groans and garbles and snarls his unique Voice over the torrid soundscape of his All-Involving Angst. These three albums form a trinity of power, precession, and passionate release; they are a triumph of the creative exergesis, the need to express.

And then there is The Fragile.

Released in the fall of 1999 amidst a storm of PR, hype and rabid fanboy anticipation, 'The Fragile' was hailed as an immediate masterpiece by the truly faithful; yet, perhaps unsurprisingly, it quickly descended the charts (due in large part to the lack of a catchy single for Joe & Jane Cancun to latch onto) and, in hindsight, it seemed destined to become one of those "unappreciated gems" that future generations will discover and devour, again and again. Hey, Mozart had them by the folder-full. The music, the lyrics, the Reznor package--it will reverberate in the halls of legend eternal, right?

Wrong--There is one serious flaw to 'The Fragile.' Angry teenagers/adults will worship this flaw, and declare it the unifying thread throughout both 'The Fragile' and NIN's past efforts. But to someone that has actually grown up with Reznor's albums, suffered the same sort of angst and helpless rage at the inadequacies of mankind & its stifling status quo--and grown to _transcend_ self-loathing as a form of pity/comfort--the groans and teeth-gnashing prevailant throughout 'The Fragile's' muddy currents become hollow, predictable, and pointless. Or, to commit the ultimate heresy, I declare Reznor's lyrics are as vapid as those of N'Sync or the Backstreet Boys. It's the same-old, same-old, in a slick new package. And for genius, the same-old just doesn't cut it.

The music of the Fragile is amazing. The emphasis on rock-structure, with eruptive dynamics, powerful bass/percussion, and moody, extremely polished synth undercurrents, manages to put the album above NIN's previous efforts. It is dark and powerful, and it pounds you over and over like a wrecking-ball impact.

Unfortunately, Trent has not evolved beyond the self-loathing schtick utilized on every piece of his previous music. If "The Downward Spiral" is the absolute pinnicle of Reznor's All-Involving Angst, then "The Fragile" is the nadir: a two disc monstrosity devoted exclusively to the whining torment of a musical genius perpetually locked in the studio with his demons. The result is terrifying, brutal, at times beautiful...and ultimately pathetic.

There is so much in this crazy world one can get depressed about...yet Reznor's anger remains undirected at any specific targets, except himself; thus, in the face of the _true_ horror currently continuing throughout the world, the result of such overindulgent self-absorbtion comes off as heavy-handed, narrow-viewed and incredibly trite.

I'll give Reznor credit: he has talent, and he knows what his fans want. Alas, in the end it is all a waste.