The Fragile [Box set, Explicit Lyrics]

I got into NIN recently, and The Fragile was my first album. I'm always wary of art-rock & prog-rock, but this is so stylish and cunningly put together, it made me love it. Reznor is complicated but never pretentious - he remembers he is actually a musician underneath it all, something Radiohead seemed to forget with Kid A. There are so many brilliant tracks it is difficult to describe. Highlights: The passion of We're In This Together, the beauty-beast of No You Don't, the anger of Starf*ckers, the nihilsm of The Day...., the guitar jangles and screamed vocals on The Big Come Down, the danceability of Into The Void, the growing bass of Somewhat Damaged. Even on the loudest, most obnoxious moments have hidden melodies, begging to be picked out. It even has good instrumentals, which i usually hate. You can be a complete music illiterate like me and still be touched by the manipulation of instruments.

The strartingly odd cover, cardboard box and inside lyrics booklet complete a magnificent purchase. Now even his own mentor Gary Numan is taking the industrial-goth route, we have to ask weather music could live without Trent Reznor and his Nine Inch Nails

The last full length NIN album, "The Downward Spiral" is considered a dark and controversial album, but "The Fragile" proves to be more of a softer and melodic piece (although there is still plenty of anger and surprises to go around). With each album you can sense how much NIN's music has evolved. And this album is certainly no exception. There are soft songs and there are heavy songs. There are angry songs and there are emotional songs. There's songs with lyrics, and there are some that are just purely instrumental. No two songs sound alike and no two songs make you feel the same way. That is the genius to Trent Reznor. He can always impress and surprise you.

This double-album is the most complex thing Reznor has done, or at least in my mind. Which is why it took so long for it to come out. There is NOT ONE BAD SONG on the entire two disks. As soon as you're finished listening to them, you want to listen to them again. My favorites are songs like "somewhat damaged," "we're in this together," "the great below," "please," "the mark has been made," "the frail," "the big come down," "where is everybody," "the fragile," and "into the void." But the bottom line is they're all good and this isn't an album you'll want to go around skipping tracks. You will want to absorb it all in its entirety and nothing less.

What can I say; I think Trent Reznor is a musical genius. And I know I'm not the only one who feels that way. Sure, there were people who were disappointed with this album, but if you really do appreciate everything that NIN has done, then you will fall in love with this double-album masterpiece. From start to finish, "The Fragile" is a unique experience that can never be duplicated.

It would be of little use to highlight any tracks of particular interest as each one complements the other, and in turn the theme of the album; although, unable to resist temptation the gut wrenching emotivism of 'The great below', the raw power of 'We're in this together' and the seductively destructive 'big come down' will really hit you where it hurts.

Many people comment on nails as being suicide music, and without any fear of reducing their opinions to drivle i will simply say that they can only be denying something that dwells deep within us all. This album will suck you in and emrace you with its iron grip, you'll experience crushing riffs, turbulent synthesized beats and a wealth of percussion effects, with of course the prolific sound of trents agonisingly raw vocal talent to transcend the lot into another dimention of expression through music.

Raw, industrial and thoroughly enjoyable