cdm72's Full Review: The Fragile by Nine Inch Nails
Man, that took forever. A full 5 years after the release of Halo 8 (and 3 years after my conversion to NINaholic), Trent Reznor FINALLY returned with a brand new full-length Nine Inch Nails album in 1999. Halo 14: The Fragile. Not only that, it was, because God loves me, a double album. Word!
I bought Halo 14 pretty much as soon as it came out and for the next month, at least, it took over and pushed all other cds out of the way. It’s a much more moody album than previous Halos, which is saying something, considering how much anger oozes from the other albums. However, those albums were basically one trick ponies playing variations on a theme, while Halo 14 displays an incredible array of feelings.
There’s contemplation, melancholy, heartbreak, surrender, confusion, and, underneath it all, hope.
Reznor claims a theme of “systems failing and things sort of falling apart” * permeates the album and, to a degree, he’s right. However as a counterbalance to the lyrics and his heavy use of stringed instruments (“I chose stringed instruments because they're imperfect by nature”*), the heart of most of these songs rests in the low end, the drums and bass which provide so much strength and stability, especially on tracks like “The Wretched” or “La Mer”. And who can forget the downright rocking funk of “Into the Void”?
At 23 tracks, some claim overkill on Reznor’s part, but unlike a lot of other 20+-track albums, Halo 14 never feels like it’s overstayed its welcome. Reznor manages to keep the energy high, even on the more unassuming songs like “Underneath It All” or “”The Way Out is Through”. And when he rocks, he rocks.
“We’re In This Together” is reminiscent, thematically, of Bowie’s “Heroes” (with louder guitars, but without the Nazis), while the only word to describe “No, You Don’t” is BRASH. The instrumental track “Pilgrimage” is the sound of demons marching out of Hell (there are 6 instrumentals on Halo 14 and each one is just as important to the whole as any other track).
Halo 14 obviously was not what audiences were expecting after the incredible success of Halo 8, but nor was AROUND THE WORLD IN A DAY what fans expected after PURPLE RAIN. And that’s exactly as it should be. Lyrically he tends to cover the same ground over and over (like another artist I know whose follow-up didn’t meet the expectations of his smash 1984 soundtrack), but musically he shows an amazing level of growth on Halo 14. And for that I thank him. I liked “Closer” but we don’t need it repeated ad infinitum (cough cough halo 9).
Halo 14 is Trent Reznor growed up. With his extensive musical training and producing brilliance, he’s created a timeless record that doesn’t owe its inspiration to any other single period or genre, it simply IS. Halo 14 is a separate other entity from all others before or after. Combining ambient sounds and metal guitar thrashing, as well as multi-layered vocals (another area of growth, who knew Reznor could actually SING?), Halo 14 is the payoff to all NIN fans who had to wait half a decade for something new. Our reward was a 103-minute sonic work of art.
A few missteps here and there as he gets off track (I’m still wondering what “Starfckers, Inc” has to do with the theme of the album and I’ve always thought “The Great Below” was average at best), but in a world of hit singles and year-long musical careers, here we have an album 2 years in the making because the man behind it COULD, and it’s not simply a collection of radio friendly tunes shoved into the midst of a bunch of filler, this is an honest-to-God album, meant to be taken in as a whole. You don’t ask “What are the good songs on THE FRAGILE”? There are no songs, there is only the Halo.
This double CD album The Fragile is very much a record meant to be listened to in one sitting. The album once again is performed with bombastic NIN mo...More at Buy.com
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