When I first started getting into Nine Inch Nails, I started with The Downward Spiral, followed by Pretty Hate Machine. Then one day I noticed Broken in a record store. I looked at the back and thought, "Only six tracks? That can't be right." Regardless, I decided that I needed to round out my collection, so I picked it up.

Well, whaddayaknow? There's more than six tracks - there's eight. Ok, still pretty short, but I quickly overlooked that fact once I heard this amazing music. What Broken lacks in length, it makes up for in its bursts of brutally raw emotion.

Those can be felt most emphatically in Happiness in Slavery which starts out with Trent Reznor's loud vocal blast of "Slave screams!" These continue throughout the rest of this insane, synthesized track, as Reznor sings his excellent lyrics: "Don't open your eyes/ You won't like what you see/ The devils of truth steal the souls of the free/ Don't open your eyes/ Take it from me/ I have found you can find happiness in slavery."

Another song with an atypical topic is the cover of Adam Ant's (You're So) Physical. I love this song's drum beats as they pound along to Reznor's cries of "You're just too physical/ For me." Hearing this industrial-metal track with such sexual lines makes for an interesting but incredibly effective contradiction. This is one of the two hidden tracks. The other, Suck, closes the album with more heavy, industrial sounds. Out of this whole album, I think this one most closely resembles Pretty Hate Machine material.

The hidden tracks come at numbers 98 and 99. While a good idea and cool effect, it can become annoying having to skip through all those empty tracks if you can't sit through the silence, which I never can. I have my computer's CD player to skip all those tracks, but if you can't do that, be prepared to hit a button several times. Unlike most hidden tracks, these are too good to ignore.

After a quiet, dark, minute-long instrumental(Pinion), the Grammy-winning Wish gets the album rolling with a crunchy guitar riff and intense vocals. This song has a sporadic feel, but it stays consistently heavy all the way. Last has another powerful guitar riff alongside some pulsing drum beats and fierce screams. The chorus - "This isn't meant to last/ This is for right now" - has a great delivery, as Reznor sounds constrained while allowing his yells to slip out once in a while.

Gave Up is a crazy track with fast drumming and almost disturbing vocals. Put this song on in the dark, close your eyes, and imagine yourself sitting helplessly in the middle of a room as small, vicious-looking creatures slowly, sadistically approach you waiting for their next meal. You think I'm crazy? Hey, I'm not the one who made the song.

Broken may be short, but every song - even the instrumental Help Me I Am In Hell - packs a lot of punch. This is an extremely well done album and an essential for people who like metal with electronic beats and raw energy.



Also from Nine Inch Nails:

Pretty Hate Machine
The Downward Spiral
With Teeth
Year Zero
Ghosts I-IV



Recommended: Yes

Great Music to Play While: Exercising