The Fragile

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The Fragile
The Fragile cover
Studio album digipak by Nine Inch Nails
Released September 21, 1999
Recorded 1998–1999 at Nothing Studios, New Orleans
Genre Alternative rock, Industrial rock
Length 103:39 (CD)
112:20 (LP)
106:25 (CS)
Label Nothing
Producer Trent Reznor, Alan Moulder
Professional reviews
Nine Inch Nails chronology
Closure
(1997)		 The Fragile
(1999)		 Things Falling Apart
(2000)

The Fragile (also known as Halo Fourteen) is a double album by Nine Inch Nails released in 1999. The Fragile is the fourteenth official Nine Inch Nails release and the band's fourth major release, released on Interscope Records. The album is a concept album, continuing the plot of The Downward Spiral, despite the complete change in sound and style of the album. Instead of heavily distorted instruments, and gritty industrial sounds, the album relies much more on soundscapes, electronic beats, ambient noise, and heavy metal-laden guitar, such as in the single Starfuckers, Inc. Trent Reznor describes the album's plot and story as "a theme of things falling apart." Reznor has also said the album is bleaker than The Downward Spiral, despite the more aggressive, depressing tone of that album. Many songs on the album borrow bass, guitar, and keyboard lines from other songs on the album; most notably "The Frail" piano becoming "The Fragile" guitar and the bassline used in "La Mer" reappearing in "Into the Void".

Contents

[edit] History

The album was not as much of a commercial success as The Downward Spiral, most likely accredited to Interscope Records' lack of promotion of the album, and the lack of a stand-out single.[original research?] Despite a strong start at #1 on the Billboard Top 10, the album quickly slipped out of the Billboard Top 10 only a week after its release, and Reznor was forced to provide funding for the subsequent North American tour out of his own pocket.[1] The cover artwork was designed by David Carson.

The first single, "The Day the World Went Away", was released two months before the album. "Into the Void" and "We're in This Together" proved to be the album's most successful singles. The B-side track "Starfuckers, Inc." was released on the album as a track at the last minute[citation needed], and became The Fragile's last single.

Reznor described The Fragile in a 1999 interview:

“ "There's a general theme to the album of systems failing and things sort of falling apart. In keeping with the idea of making everything sound a little broken, I chose stringed instruments because they're imperfect by nature. Although it may not sound like it, most of the album is actually guitar - and that includes the orchestral sounds and weird melodic lines. When it came to instruments that I didn't really know how to play - like the ukulele or the slide guitar - we were able to get some really interesting sounds by making the studio the main instrument."[2] ”

The song "I'm Looking Forward to Joining You, Finally" is credited in the album's booklet as "for clara", suggesting that the song's topic, like "The Day the World Went Away", is about Trent's Grandmother, Clara Clark.[citation needed]

The song "Just Like You Imagined" was featured in trailers for the movie 300.

The fragile was ranked #390 in the book 'The Top 500 Heavy Metal Albums of All Time' by Martin Popoff.

[edit] Critical Response

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The majority of critics responded to The Fragile positively with major publications such as Entertainment Weekly and Spin bestowing large amounts of praise upon it. Entertainment Weekly awarded the album with the an A- and Spin gave The Fragile a 5/5 in addition to rating it as their favorite album of 1999. However not all critics were as receptive. Among these was Pitchfork Media who, in their review, gave The Fragile the low rating of 2/10. The Fragile has grown to become a favorite amongst both critics and fans.

[edit] Tour

In support of The Fragile the Nine Inch Nails live band reformed for the Fragility tour. The tour began in late 1999 and lasted until mid-2000, spanning Europe, Japan, New Zealand, Australia, and North America.[3] The tour consisted of two major legs, labeled Fragility 1.0 and Fragility 2.0. The live band lineup remained largely the same from the previous tour in support of The Downward Spiral, featuring Robin Finck on guitar, Charlie Clouser on keyboards, and Danny Lohner on bass guitar.[4][5] Reznor held open auditions to find a new drummer, eventually picking then-unknown Jerome Dillon.[6]

In 2002, the tour documentary And All That Could Have Been was released featuring performances from the Fragility 2.0 tour. While making the DVD, Reznor commented on the tour in retrospect by saying "I thought the show was really, really good when we were doing it",[7] but later wrote that "I can't watch it at all. I was sick for most of that tour and I really don't think it was Nine Inch Nails at its best."[8]

[edit] Track listing

The CD version is the shortest of releases, missing the "Appendage" from the cassette version of "Please" as well as extended versions that appear on the vinyl release. The vinyl release is the longest version of The Fragile, containing tracks "10 Miles High" and "The New Flesh", songs later to be released on CD singles for the single "We're In This Together". The vinyl version is missing the "Appendage" which appears at the end of the "Please" cassette version and "With Decay" which appears at the end of "Ripe" on the CD and cassette versions. The vinyl version also contains extended versions of some songs. The cassette version of the album is identical to the CD pressing, with the addition of "Appendage" tagged onto the end of "Please". Presented is the CD track listing.

All songs written and composed by Trent Reznor, except where noted. 

Disc one (Left)
# Title Length
1. "Somewhat Damaged" (Reznor, Danny Lohner) 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" (Reznor, Lohner) 5:48
9. "Pilgrimage"   3:31
10. "No, You Don't"   3:35
11. "La Mer"   4:37
12. "The Great Below"   5:17
Disc two (Right)
# Title Length
1. "The Way Out Is Through" (Reznor, Keith Hillebrandt, Charlie Clouser) 4:17
2. "Into the Void"   4:49
3. "Where Is Everybody?"   5:40
4. "The Mark Has Been Made" (Contains a 30 second hidden piece of "10 Miles High" in the pregap.) 5:15
5. "Please"   3:30
6. "Starfuckers, Inc." (Reznor, Clouser) 5:00
7. "Complication"   2:30
8. "I'm Looking Forward to Joining You, Finally"   4:13
9. "The Big Come Down"   4:12
10. "Underneath It All"   2:46
11. "Ripe (With Decay)"   6:34

[edit] "The New Flesh"

"The New Flesh" is a reference to a line in the 1983 cult movie Videodrome ("Long live the new flesh"). It is the basis for a song by Nine Inch Nails of the same name, and also serves as the topic matter of "0-0 (Where Evil Dwells)" by Wiseblood, "All Hail the New Flesh" by Strapping Young Lad, and "After the Flesh" by My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult, among others (see Videodrome).

The NIN song appears on the vinyl version of The Fragile (1999), disc 1 of the European and Japanese "We're in This Together" 3-disc single, and the Australian "Into the Void" single.

In The Fragile era, nin.com released "The New Flesh (version a)" (1:22) and "The New Flesh (version b)" (1:07).

While "The New Flesh" has never been played live in the traditional sense, instrumental portions of "The New Flesh" crossfaded quickly into "Pinion" formed a prerecorded intro to the Fragility tour shows of 1999 and 2000. The snippet was included on the DVD version of And All that Could Have Been (2002). Sometimes the finale of the intro featured Trent Reznor screaming "give it to me, I can take it." The same combination was used in some shows of the 2006 With Teeth tour.

[edit] Personnel

  • Tom Baker – mastering
  • Adrian Belew – guitars ("Just Like You Imagined", "The Great Below", "Where Is Everybody?")
  • Heather Bennet – backing vocals
  • Clinton Bradley – programming, technical assistant to Bob Ezrin, programming at mastering
  • Buddha Boys Choir – choir, chorus, chant
  • Buddha Debutante Choir – backing vocals
  • Di Coleman – backing vocals
  • Charlie Clouser – programming, atmosphere, synthesizers
  • Melissa Daigle – backing vocals
  • Paul DeCarli – programming
  • Jerome Dillon – drums ("We're in This Together")
  • Dr. Dre – mixing assistant ("Even Deeper")
  • Bob Ezrin – album sequencing assistant
  • Mike Garson – piano ("Just Like You Imagined", "The Way Out Is Through", "Ripe (With Decay)")
  • Page Hamilton – guitar ("No, You Don't")
  • Tracy Hardin – backing vocals
  • Leo Herrera – engineer
  • Keith Hillebrandt – programming, choir, chorus, sound Design
  • Danny Lohner – drum programming, ambiance, synthesizers, guitar ("Somewhat Damaged", "Just Like You Imagined", "The Great Below", "Complication")
  • Clint Mansell – choir, chorus
  • Alan Moulder – producer, engineer, mixing
  • Dave Ogilvie – engineer
  • Brian Pollack – engineer
  • Steve Albini – engineer
  • Trent Reznor – vocals, guitars, cello, piano, synthesizers, programming, producer
  • Elquine Rice – backing vocals
  • Terry Rice – backing vocals
  • Bill Rieflin – drums ("La Mer")
  • Barbara Wilson – backing vocals
  • Leslie Wilson – backing vocals
  • Steve Duda – programming, choir, chorus, percussion, violin
  • Eric Edmonson – choir, chorus
  • Cherry Holly – trumpet
  • Doug Idleman – choir, chorus
  • Marcus London – choir, chorus
  • Denise Milfrot – vocals ("La Mer")
  • Judy Miller – backing vocals
  • Gary I. Neal – backing vocals
  • Matthew Nicholls– backing vocals
  • Christine Parrish – backing vocals
  • Adam Persaud – choir, chorus
  • Martha Prevost – vocals
  • M. Gabriela Rivas – backing vocals
  • Nick Scott – choir, chorus
  • Rodney Sulton – backing vocals
  • Stefani Taylor – backing vocals
  • Nigel Wiesehan – choir, chorus
  • Willie – cello
  • Mason Kemmer – violin, donair supplier
  • Martha Wood – backing vocals

[edit] Chart positions

[edit] Album

Year Chart Position
1999 The Billboard 200 #1
1999 Top Canadian Albums #2
1999 Top Internet Albums #1

[edit] Singles

Year Song Chart peak positions
US
[9]		 US
Mod[9]		 US
Main[9]		 CAN
[10]		 UK
[11]
1999 "The Day the World Went Away" 17 — — 1 —
"We're In This Together" — 11 21 — 39
"Starfuckers, Inc." — 39 — — —
2000 "Into the Void" — 11 27 4 —

"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

[edit] References

  1. ^ Soeder, John (2000-04-09). "Rock's outlook bleak, but this Nail won't bend". Cleveland.com. 
  2. ^ 21 August 1999 Last accessed April 15, 2007.
  3. ^ Elfman, Doug. "Quite a Contrast" (fee required), Las Vegas Review-Journal, 2000-06-02. Retrieved on 2008-02-01. 
  4. ^ Guitarist Robin Finck Leaves GN'R To Return To NIN. MTV.com (1999-08-04). Retrieved on 2008-02-08.
  5. ^ Mancini, Robert (1999-09-28). Nine Inch Nails Line Up European Shows, But States Must Wait. MTV.com. Retrieved on 2008-02-08.
  6. ^ Rashidii, Waleed. Jerome Dillon – New With NIN. Modern Drummer. Retrieved on 2008-02-09.
  7. ^ Saraceno, Christina and Austin Scaggs (2001-06-08). NIN Doing Fragility DVD. Rolling Stone. Retrieved on 2008-02-01.
  8. ^ Reznor, Trent (2004-07-21). Access. Nine Inch Nails. Archived from the original on 2007-05-14. Retrieved on 2008-02-01.
  9. ^ a b c Billboard Music Charts - Search Results - Nine Inch Nails. Billboard. Retrieved on 2007-09-28.
  10. ^ Nine Inch Nails Survivalism. Top40-Charts.com (2007-04-22). Retrieved on 2007-06-01.
  11. ^ Chart Stats - Nine Inch Nails. Chart Stats. Retrieved on 2007-09-28.

[edit] External links

Preceded by
Ruff Ryders' First Lady by Eve		 Billboard 200 number-one album
October 9 - October 15, 1999		 Succeeded by
Human Clay by Creed
v • d • e
Nine Inch Nails
Trent Reznor
Alessandro Cortini · Josh Freese · Robin Finck · Justin Meldal-Johnsen
Jeff Ward · Richard Patrick · James Woolley · Chris Vrenna · Danny Lohner · Charlie Clouser · Jerome Dillon · Alex Carapetis · Aaron North · Jeordie White
Major studio releases
Major remix releases
Live releases
Singles
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