Released:  September 21st, 1999

Recorded:  January 1997 – February 1999

Genre:  Industrial Rock, Alternative

Record Label:  Nothing / Interscope

Duration:  103:39

Producers:  Trent Reznor, Alan Moulder

Personnel*

Track Listing

Singles

Why The Fragile is One of My Favorites

Way back in Issue #1, I covered Nine Inch Nails’ The Downward Spiral and remarked that The Fragile was boring by comparison.  I wasn’t trying to say that The Fragile was horrible, I was only trying to point out what an amazing album TDS is.  The Fragile is regarded as Reznor’s best by many critics and fans, though I still tend to prefer its predecessor.  Even so, this double album from Nine Inch Nails is still a great album, with a greater focus on atmosphere than 1994’s masterpiece.

Although there are plenty of guitars throughout the two discs of The Fragile, overall it is markedly less guitar-driven than TDS, and the guitars take on a less harsh tone, more in line with rock rather than metal.  Many of the tracks are mid or even low tempo, with much less aggression and hostility.  It’s a reflective record, though it still deals with the usual NIN themes of isolation and rejection.  A wider array of sounds are also used, giving The Fragile an experimental edge.

A lot less “boom” and a lot more introspection define this body of work and it can be a little harder to get into at first without the pounding rhythms to bob to.  Replacing it are more melodic compositions and a wide variety of noises and instrumentation.  The album also flirts with progressive rock and ambient music, and though the end result is quite impressive, I still lean towards the heavy tracks that offer us glimpses into the past.  Now I won’t say that The Fragile bland or boring, but I also won’t call it perfect.  I’ve listened to it so many times that many of these songs have become a part of me, and there are some very strong tracks here.  However, there’s also a little bit of fluff hanging around that I’m sure Reznor could’ve trimmed and probably put out a fantastic single disc album.  The Fragile never gets boring, yet it also has trouble staying memorable at certain times, making for a weird listen.

When it shines it shines brightly, and the opener “Somewhat Damaged” is another perfect marriage of guitars and synth, presided over by none other than Reznor.  Layers are piled on to cacophonous effect along with a few heavy guitars.  It actually reminds me a lot of TDS’s opening track, Mr. Self Destruct,” in mood and tone.  Tracks like “The Day the World Went Away” are pleasant and extremely atmospheric, though I feel they tend to go on a little long without reach any sort of climax (well, there’s all that god-awful noise at the end, but I don’t think that counts).  “The Frail” is one of several instrumentals; again, beautiful, but not really entertaining.

“The Wretched” is an excellent piece built off of a few creepy piano notes.  It might be my favorite from the whole album, especially once the song explodes after a prolonged quietude with “The clouds will part / and the sky cracks open/ and God Himself will reach his fuckin’ arm through / Just to push you down / J-J-Just to hold you down.”  “We’re in This Together” is the rock-oriented single overlaid with tons of fuzz and feedback.  Interesting to note is how much like TDS this song actually sounds, yet underneath is a fairly standard rock song, which is far removed from anything on the previous record.

“Pilgrim” is an instrumental that sounds like a march.  It’s easy to imagine a political rally and a militaristic presence at this “event,” though there is something a little alien about it.  “The Great Below” is The Fragile’s answer to “Hurt.”  Sad, spooky,and soft-spoken, the various instruments and background elements create a spacier and more expansive emptiness than the closed in and walled off vibe of “Hurt.”  “The Great Below” also houses one of the album’s strongest melodies (not to mention Reznor’s mournful and resigned delivery), but unfortunately it drags on far too long.

On the second, “Right” disc, “Into the Void” gallops along with huge buzzing synth notes.  It’s radio friendly all the way through, but it still gets the job done and brings a little bit of relief the form of its familiar structure.  “Starfuckers, Inc.” is of course another commercially viable track; I wish there was a little more to it and less repetitions of the chorus, though the choppy verses are hard not to sing along to.  “I’m Looking Forward to Joining You, Finally” works in some intriguing rhythms, yet I can’t help but feel that it never really goes anywhere.

I suppose that in the end I’m a little torn when it comes to The Fragile; I really like the tracks that I like, but sometimes I feel like too much time is spent with instrumentals that fail to leave an real impact.  There’s “The Frail,” La Mer,” “The Mark Has Been Made,” “Just Like You Imagined,” “Complication,” “Ripe (with Decay),” that are competent, but I have trouble seeing their role in the larger picture.

Other songs like “Please,” “The Way Out is Through,” and “No, You Don’t” just don’t grab my attention.  I don’t not like them, and I can sit down and listen to them, they just don’t pack that same usual Nine Inch Nails punch.  More than anything they remind me of lackluster B-sides.  Reznor has created plenty of amazing backdrops; it seems like what he hasn’t done is fully develop them.  The Fragile has its fair share of exceptional tracks, but is it enough to fill 2 CDs?  Not quite.  I think the stronger move would’ve been to release a single CD’s worth of material consisting of the poppier stuff like “We’re in This Together,” “Somewhat Damaged,” and “Into the Void.”  Six or eight months down the road, he could’ve then packed the instrumentals and more formless songs on a companion/followup to the album proper, thereby admitting that the “real album” contained the better stuff but still giving fans a complete package.  And why the B-side “10 Miles High” never made the final cut is baffling – it’s one of the stronger songs from NIN’s Fragile-era.

So maybe The Fragile isn’t up there with my very favorites of the 90’s, but there are still enough songs between the two discs that I’d hate to go without.  I do love what The Fragile wants to be and what it tries to be, I just think it’s a little too big for its own good.  The nuance of far too many tracks is lost among the buzzing and humming that fails to carve out a truly memorable sound.  I will say that this was the last album/era that I could really get on board with Nine Inch Nails; The Fragile is divinely inspired next to With Teeth, and Reznor continued his exploration of politics with Year Zero, further alienating fans like myself.  I get it, he wants to grow up and make more mature, meaningful music, but it feels like all his passion may have dried up.  At least on The Fragile we were still getting raw emotion.  But who knows…10 or 15 years down the road, Reznor could release something utterly mind blowing…and I hope he does.

Written by The Cubist

Other albums from Nine Inch Nails in this series:

• 1989 – Pretty Hate Machine – Issue #58-I
• 1992 – Broken – Issue #59
• 1994 – The Downward Spiral – Issue #1

Back to The Cubist’s 90’s Albums