The Fragile From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search The Fragile Studio album by Nine Inch Nails Released September 21, 1999 Recorded November 1997–April 1999 at Nothing Studios, New Orleans Genre Industrial Rock, Industrial Metal Length 103:39 (CD) 112:20 (LP) 106:25 (CS) Label Nothing Producer Trent Reznor, Alan Moulder Professional reviews Allmusic link Entertainment Weekly (A-) link Pitchfork Media (2.0/10) link Robert Christgau (B) link Rolling Stone link Nine Inch Nails chronology The Downward Spiral (1994) The Fragile (1999) With Teeth (2005) The Fragile is a concept double album by American Industrial rock act Nine Inch Nails, released in 1999 on Trent Reznor's Nothing Records. The album continues 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." 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", something that's usual in a progressive record or a concept album. Contents [hide] 1 History 2 Critical Response 3 Tour 4 Track listing 5 "The New Flesh" 6 Personnel 7 Chart positions 7.1 Album 7.2 Singles 8 References 9 External links [edit] History The album was not as much of a commercial success as The Downward Spiral. 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, while "The Day the World Went Away" was featured in the trailer for the movie Terminator Salvation. The Fragile was ranked #390 in the book The Top 500 Heavy Metal Albums of All Time by Martin Popoff. [edit] Critical Response 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 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, criticizing the album for what they considered to be overly melodramatic lyrics. [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. Left Disc # 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 Right Disc # 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" (A half-minute of "10 Miles High" is used as an intro.) 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" appears on the vinyl version of The Fragile, 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 Milfort – 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 2000 "Into the Void" — 11 27 4 — "Starfuckers, Inc." — 39 — — — "—" denotes releases that did not chart. [edit] References ^ Soeder, John (2000-04-09). "Rock's outlook bleak, but this Nail won't bend". Cleveland.com. ^ 21 August 1999 Last accessed April 15, 2007. ^ Elfman, Doug (2000-06-02). "Quite a Contrast" (fee required). Las Vegas Review-Journal. http://nl.newsbank.com/nl-search/we/Archives?p_product=LVRB&p_theme=lvrb&p_action=search&p_maxdocs=200&p_topdoc=1&p_text_direct-0=0FD3937E043E83C4&p_field_direct-0=document_id&p_perpage=10&p_sort=YMD_date:D. Retrieved on 2008-02-01. ^ "Guitarist Robin Finck Leaves GN'R To Return To NIN". MTV.com. 1999-08-04. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1429780/19990804/guns_n_roses.jhtml. Retrieved on 2008-02-08. ^ Mancini, Robert (1999-09-28). "Nine Inch Nails Line Up European Shows, But States Must Wait". MTV.com. http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1432650/19990928/nine_inch_nails.jhtml. Retrieved on 2008-02-08. ^ Rashidii, Waleed. "Jerome Dillon – New With NIN". Modern Drummer. http://www.moderndrummer.com/updatefull/200001232. Retrieved on 2008-02-09. ^ Saraceno, Christina and Austin Scaggs (2001-06-08). "NIN Doing Fragility DVD". Rolling Stone. http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/5931442/nin_doing_fragility_dvd. Retrieved on 2008-02-01. ^ Reznor, Trent (2004-07-21). "Access". Nine Inch Nails. Archived from the original on 2007-05-14. http://web.archive.org/web/20070514173115/http://www.nin.com/access/7_21_04/index.php. Retrieved on 2008-02-01. ^ a b c "Billboard Music Charts - Search Results - Nine Inch Nails". Billboard. http://www.billboard.com/bbcom/esearch/searchResult.jsp?No=0&Ntt=nine+inch+nails&Ntk=Keyword&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&an=bbcom&Ex=1&N=37&Ns=FORMATTED_DATE. Retrieved on 2007-09-28. ^ "Nine Inch Nails Survivalism". Top40-Charts.com. 2007-04-22. http://top40-charts.com/song.php?sid=19633&sort=chartid&string=survivalism. Retrieved on 2007-06-01. ^ "Chart Stats - Nine Inch Nails". Chart Stats. http://www.chartstats.com/artistinfo.php?id=595. Retrieved on 2007-09-28. [edit] External links Nine Inch Nails official site Disinfo.com: A listener's guide to 'The Fragile' Preceded by Ruff Ryders' First Lady by Eve Billboard 200 number-one album October 9 - October 15, 1999 Succeeded by Human Clay by Creed [hide]v • d • eNine Inch Nails Trent Reznor Robin Finck · Justin Meldal-Johnsen · Ilan Rubin Jeff Ward · Richard Patrick · James Woolley · Chris Vrenna · Danny Lohner · Charlie Clouser · Jerome Dillon · Alex Carapetis · Aaron North · Jeordie White · Josh Freese · Alessandro Cortini Major studio releases Pretty Hate Machine · Broken · The Downward Spiral · The Fragile · With Teeth · Year Zero · Ghosts I–IV · The Slip Major remix releases Fixed · Further Down the Spiral · Things Falling Apart · Year Zero Remixed Live releases Closure · And All That Could Have Been · Beside You in Time Singles "Down in It" · "Head Like a Hole" · "Sin" · "Happiness in Slavery" · "Wish" · "March of the Pigs" · "Closer" · "Burn" · "Hurt" · "The Perfect Drug" · "The Day the World Went Away" · "We're in This Together" · "Into the Void" · "Starfuckers, Inc." · "Deep" · "The Hand That Feeds" · "Only" · "Every Day Is Exactly the Same" · "Survivalism" · "Capital G" · "Discipline" Halo numbers 1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 · 11 · 12 · 13 · 14 · 15 · 16 · 17 · 18 · 19 · 20 · 21 · 22 · 23 · 24 · 25 · 26 · 27 Related People Sean Beavan · John Malm Jr. · Atticus Ross · Rob Sheridan · Adrian Belew · Gary Talpas · Brian Viglione · Russell Mills Bands Option 30 · The Innocent · Exotic Birds · Pigface · Lucky Pierre · Tapeworm · Marilyn Manson · modwheelmood · Saul Williams Articles Discography · Live performances · Tours · Live-band members · Awards · Year Zero ARG · Nothing Records · The Null Corporation · Strobelight Categories Members · Albums · Songs · Tours · Images · Audio samples Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fragile" Categories: Nine Inch Nails albums | 1999 albums | Double albums | Concept albums | Albums produced by Trent Reznor | Albums produced by Alan Moulder