The Fragile
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The Fragile is the third studio album by the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released as a double album by Nothing Records and Interscope Records on September 21, 1999. It was produced by Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor and the English producer Alan Moulder, a longtime Reznor collaborator. It was recorded throughout 1997 to 1999 in New Orleans.
Looking to depart from the distorted production of their previous album, The Downward Spiral (1994), the album features elements of ambient and electronic music within a wide variety of genres. The album continues some of the lyrical themes from The Downward Spiral, including depression and drug abuse. The album notably contains more instrumental sections than their previous work, with some entire tracks being instrumentals. The Fragile is also one of the band's longest studio releases, clocking in at nearly 1 hour and 45 minutes long. The record was promoted with three singles: "The Day the World Went Away", "We're in This Together", and "Into the Void", as well as the promotional single "Starfuckers, Inc." and an accompanying tour, the Fragility Tour, which spanned two legs. Several accompanying recordings were also released, including a remix album, Things Falling Apart (2000), a live album, And All That Could Have Been (2002), as well as an alternate version of the record, The Fragile: Deviations 1 (2016).
Upon release, critics applauded the album's ambition and composition, although some criticized its length and perceived lack of lyrical substance. However, in the years following its release, it has come to be regarded by many critics and listeners to be among the band's best work. The album debuted at number one in the U.S. to become the band's first chart-topper, and was eventually certified double platinum by the RIAA.
Writing and recording
The Fragile was produced by Trent Reznor and Alan Moulder at Nothing Studios in New Orleans. There were some personnel changes within Nine Inch Nails after the Self-Destruct tour, which saw drummer Chris Vrenna replaced by Bill Rieflin and Jerome Dillon, the latter of whom would become Nine Inch Nails' full-time drummer until late 2005. Charlie Clouser and Danny Lohner contributed occasional instrumentation and composition to several tracks although the album was predominantly written and performed by Reznor alone. The Fragile was mixed by Alan Moulder and mastered by Tom Baker. The packaging was created by David Carson and Rob Sheridan.<ref>Template:Cite web Note: "info" must be selected for each release to verify</ref>
According to a February 2000 interview in Keyboard Magazine, two of the album's programmers, Charlie Clouser and Keith Hillebrandt, disclosed some synths used in the album's production, among them: Clavia Nord Lead 2, Waldorf Pulse and Microwave, Minimoog, Oberheim Xpander, Novation Bass Station, Sequential Circuits Prophet-VS, and the Access Virus.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Music and lyrics
Over a year before the album's release, Reznor suggested, perhaps with intentional or dismissive misdirection, that the album would "be irritating to people because it's not traditional Nine Inch Nails. Think of the most ridiculous music you could ever imagine with nursery rhymes over the top of it. A bunch of pop songs."<ref>Q, May 1998</ref>
In contrast to the heavily distorted instruments and gritty industrial sounds of their previous album, The Downward Spiral,<ref name="ABCNET">Rage: August 21, 1999 Template:Webarchive Last accessed April 15, 2007.</ref> The Fragile relies more on soundscapes, electronic beats, ambient noise, rock-laden guitar, and the usage of melodies as harmonies. Several critics noted that the album was seemingly influenced by progressive rock, art rock, electronica, and avant-garde music.<ref name="Pareles"/><ref name="Lipton">Template:Cite web</ref> It is categorized as an art rock album by The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004),<ref name="RSguide"/> Edna Gundersen of USA Today,<ref name="Gundersen"/> and Will Hermes of Entertainment Weekly. Hermes views that, like "art-rockers" King Crimson and David Bowie, Reznor incorporates elements of 20th-century classical music on the album, "mixing prepared piano melodies à la John Cage with thematic flavor from Claude Debussy".<ref name="Hermes"/> Music journalist Ann Powers observes elements of progressive rock bands King Crimson and Roxy Music, Reznor's influences, and the experimentation of electronica artists such as Autechre and Squarepusher, and writes that The Fragile uses funk bass lines, North African minor-key modalities, and the treatment of tonality by Symbolist composers like Debussy. The album also features several distorted guitar parts which Powers suggests that fans can enjoy.<ref name="Powers"/> Rob Sheffield observes a "prog-rock vibe" akin to Pink Floyd's 1979 album The Wall and feels that The Fragile is similarly "a double album that vents ... alienation and misery into paranoid studio hallucinations, each track crammed with overdubs until there's no breathing room".<ref name="Sheffield"/>
Template:Quote box Described by Reznor as a sequel to The Downward Spiral—an album with a plot detailing the destruction of a man—The Fragile is a concept album dealing with his personal issues, including depression, angst, and drug abuse. His vocals, for the most part, are more melodic and somewhat softer, a departure from his harsh and often angry singing in previous works. However, several music critics including Reznor noticed the lack of lyrics on the album.<ref name="Ransom"/><ref name="shadowofdeath">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The Bulletin interprets it as an industrial rock album about "fear and loathing that could compete with Pink Floyd's The Wall".<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> In some ways, The Fragile is a response to The Downward Spiral. Reznor compared the lyrical content of the two albums:
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 Reznor's grandmother, Clara Clark. Template:Citation needed Fight Club author Chuck Palahniuk singled out "The Wretched" for comment: "I remember being amazed when I first heard this... This wasn't just ennui: this was an active, aggressive, angry lack of caring. It's not 'Let's kill ourselves'; it's 'Let's kill each other'... It's not rock 'n' roll and it's not classical. It's something in between."<ref>Q, June 2006</ref> According to a CIA document entitled Guidelines for Interrogation Methods the song "Somewhat Damaged" was one of 13 songs played to detainees at Guantanamo Bay, supposedly as a means of torture.<ref name="Kmov">13 Songs used for torture Last accessed July 6, 2016.</ref>
Packaging
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The cover artwork was designed by David Carson. A section within his book Fotografiks<ref name="Carson">Template:Cite book</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> reveals that the top section of the album cover is from a photo of a waterfall and the bottom section is from a closeup photo of the inside of a seashell. Carson elaborated on this further in an image on his website:
Promotion
Fragility Tour
On September 10, 1998, at the 1998 MTV Video Music Awards, a thirty-second teaser trailer was shown on television to promote the then untitled album.<ref name="MTV">Template:Cite web</ref> It would be more than a year before the album was finally released.<ref name="MTV"/> 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 "Starfuckers, Inc." was released on the album as a track at the last minute Template:Citation needed, and served as a promotional single for The Fragile. 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.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="1.0">Template:Cite web</ref> Reznor held open auditions to find a new drummer, eventually picking then-unknown Jerome Dillon.<ref name="Modern Drummer">Template:Cite web</ref> Nine Inch Nails' record label at the time, Interscope Records, reportedly refused to fund the promotional tour following The Fragile's lukewarm sales. Reznor instead committed to fund the entire tour himself, which quickly sold out. He concluded that "the reality is, I'm broke at the end of the tour", but also added, "I will never present a show that isn't fantastic."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> The tour featured increasingly large production values, including a triptych video display created by contemporary video artist Bill Viola.<ref name="Gergiev">Template:Cite web Template:Dead link</ref> Rolling Stone magazine named Fragility the best tour of 2000.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> 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",<ref name="Rolling Stone">Template:Cite magazine</ref> 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."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Reznor's drug dependence and overdose in 2000
In the years leading up to the Fragility Tour, Reznor’s personal life had been complicated by addiction and grief. Following the commercial breakthrough of The Downward Spiral (1994), Reznor struggled privately with alcohol and drug use, which intensified after the death of his grandmother, the woman who had raised him. The loss profoundly destabilized him, and he began using substances heavily to cope.<ref name="wasteland">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Cocaine and alcohol became central to his daily routine, with sessions often blurring into days of self-destructive excess.<ref name="wasteland" /> The recording of The Fragile took place during this period. Reznor later acknowledged that he was frequently incapable of writing lyrics or focusing on production because of withdrawal and intoxication.<ref name="wasteland" /> Although The Fragile was widely acclaimed upon release in 1999,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Reznor himself could not appreciate its reception. In an interview cited by Exclaim!, he admitted that during this era "nothing felt good anymore, not music, not success, not anything".<ref name="exclaim">Template:Cite web</ref> By the time the Fragility Tour began, Reznor was carrying the weight of his addictions into one of the most elaborate and demanding concert productions of his career.<ref name="TheG">Template:Cite web</ref> The most serious crisis occurred in June 2000, during the European leg of the tour in London. According to The Guardian, Reznor obtained what he thought was cocaine but which turned out to be heroin, specifically a highly potent form sometimes referred to as "China white", a type of fentanyl.<ref name="TheG" /> After ingesting the drug, he collapsed and suffered a near-fatal overdose, requiring emergency medical care.<ref name="TheG" /> The episode forced the cancellation of concerts and marked the lowest point of Reznor's life.<ref name="TheG" />
The overdose left Reznor shaken. Though he continued to downplay the severity of his addiction immediately afterward, the London episode planted the realization that he was no longer in control. Several planned European performances were canceled, and Nine Inch Nails temporarily withdrew from touring. By 2001, Reznor entered rehabilitation, beginning the process of recovery. In interviews, he has repeatedly cited the 2000 overdose as the moment that forced him to confront the reality of his addictions.<ref name="AdSt">Template:Cite web</ref> In a 2005 conversation he stated: "If I drink again I’ll probably die. And I don’t want to die."<ref name="AdSt" />
Reissue
On September 21, 2009—the tenth anniversary of the album's release—a Nine Inch Nails official Twitter update hinted that a deluxe 5.1 surround audio reissue of The Fragile was in the works and was scheduled for a 2010 release.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> During an interview with The New York Times that was broadcast on January 7, 2011, after questioned about the album Reznor explained:
While on tour in 2014 in Australia and New Zealand, Reznor was interviewed by a local reporter and was quoted about the reissue stating:
In June 2015, an instrumental version of the album was released to Apple Music.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> This version of the album also includes alternative versions of "The Frail", "Just Like You Imagined", "Pilgrimage", "La Mer", "The Mark Has Been Made", and "Complication", the instrumental version of "The Day the World Went Away (Quiet)", an extended version of "+Appendage", a demo version of "10 Miles High" called "Hello, Everything Is Not OK", and two previously unreleased tracks from The Fragile ("The March" and "Can I Stay Here?")
In 2017 a reissue of the vinyl version of The Fragile was released, alongside an expanded, instrumental version, titled The Fragile: Deviations 1. This version of The Fragile contains all songs in either instrumental or alternate formats, and combines them with newly released songs written and recorded during the sessions for The Fragile. Deviations 1 consists of a one-off 4×LP pressing.<ref name="deviations">Template:Cite web</ref>
Critical reception and legacy
Template:Album ratings The Fragile received generally positive reviews from contemporary critics.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> Mojo called it "an impressively multi-textured, satisfyingly violent sonic workout",<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> and Alternative Press found it "nothing short of astounding".<ref name="AP">Template:Cite magazine</ref> Edna Gundersen of USA Today called it "meticulously honed and twisted to baffle, tantalize, disarm and challenge the listener", and wrote that "the coats of polish ... can't camouflage Trent Reznor's perverse and subversive paths to musical glory."<ref name="Gundersen"/> Ann Powers of Spin called the album "a good old-fashioned strap-on-your-headphones experience".<ref name="Powers"/> Jon Pareles of The New York Times wrote that, although he "doesn't approach suicide as he did on" The Downward Spiral, "Reznor can hide in the studio and piece together music that's as cunning, and disquieting, as his raw anger used to be."<ref name="Pareles">Template:Cite news</ref> Will Hermes of Entertainment Weekly viewed that, even "if [Reznor's] emotional palette is limited, it remains broader than any of his metalhead peers", and that, "right now, hard rock simply doesn't get any smarter, harder, or more ambitious than this."<ref name="Hermes"/> Robert Hilburn of the Los Angeles Times wrote that, despite its length, "this is a profoundly challenging and moving work that strikes at the hollowness of most contemporary pop-rock with bullwhip force."<ref name="Hilburn"/> The GuardianTemplate:'s Adam Sweeting praised it as "a fearsomely accomplished mix of monster riffing, brooding melodies and patches of minimalist soul-searching".<ref name="Sweeting"/> Rolling Stone writer Rob Sheffield felt that the album's "excess is Reznor's chosen shock tactic here, and what's especially shocking is how much action he packs into his digital via dolorosa."<ref name="Sheffield"/>
In a negative review, PitchforkTemplate:'s Brent DiCrescenzo panned the album's lyrics as "overly melodramatic".<ref name="DiCrescenzo"/> John Aizlewood of Q felt that it is "let down by Reznor's refusal to trouble himself with melody and by some embarrassing lyrics".<ref name="Qmag">Template:Cite magazine</ref> NMETemplate:'s Victoria Segal panned its music as "background" and accused it of "chas[ing] 'crossover'", with "grey rock sleet masquerading as a storm beneath a haze of 'experimental' textures."<ref name="NME"/> Scott Seward of The Village Voice facetiously commended Reznor for "once again ... pioneering the marriage of heavy guitars, moody atmospherics, electronic drones and beats, and aggressive singing. Just like Killing Joke 20 years ago."<ref name="Seward">Seward, Scott. Review: The Fragile . The Village Voice. Retrieved on August 29, 2009.</ref> Village Voice critic Robert Christgau was even less receptive: "After six fucking years, genius-by-acclamation Trent Reznor delivers double-hoohah, every second remixed till it glistens like broken glass on a prison wall. Is the way he takes his petty pain out on the world a little, er, immature for a guy who's pushing 35? Never mind, I'm told—just immerse in the music. So I do. 'Dream job: emperor,' it says. 'More fun than death by injection.'"<ref name="CG"/>
The Fragile was included on several magazines' "end-of-year" album lists, including The Village Voice (number 14), Rolling Stone (number four), and Spin (number one).Template:CN In a retrospective review, The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004) gave it three-and-a-half out of five stars and wrote that, as "NIN's monumental double-disc bid for the art-rock crown, The Fragile sounds fantastic from start to finish, but there aren't enough memorable tunes underneath the alluring surfaces."<ref name="RSguide">Template:Cite magazine</ref> AllMusic editor Stephen Thomas Erlewine offered similar criticism, writing that "Reznor's music is immaculately crafted and arranged, with every note and nuance gliding into the next — but he spent more time constructing surfaces than songs. Those surfaces can be enticing but since it's just surface, The Fragile winds up being vaguely unsatisfying."<ref name="Erlewine"/> In 2005, The Fragile was ranked number 341 in Rock Hard magazine's book The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> In 2016, Exclaim! listed The Fragile at number two on their "Essential Albums" list for Nine Inch Nails, citing it as their most ambitious work and "a tragic if not stunning portrait of depression."<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Pitchfork would later reassess the album in their review of the album's 2017 "Definitive Edition", with a score change going from 2.0 to 8.7, describing it as Reznor's "magnum opus... The Fragile scrapes the sky like never before."<ref name="Collins">Template:Cite web</ref>
In Metal Hammer, it was named one of the 10 best industrial metal albums as well as one of the 20 best metal albums of 1999.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="MHtop2099">Template:Cite web</ref>
Commercial performance
The Fragile debuted atop the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 229,000 copies, earning the band their first number-one album on the chart.<ref name="Sparkle">Template:Cite magazine</ref> The album fell to number 16 the following week, becoming the largest drop from number one at the time.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> On January 4, 2000, the album was certified double platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA),<ref name="RIAA"/> and by May 2005, it had sold 898,000 copies in the United States.<ref name="Sparkle"/>
Steven Hyden of The A.V. Club wrote that Reznor developed Nine Inch Nails from its role as a prominent rock act and by the time he finished recording The Fragile, alternative rock's overall popularity declined with several of Nine Inch Nails' contemporaries being disestablished or displaced by newer bands. Hyden also attributes the album's commercial performance to the rise of file-sharing on the Internet, which deviated from the alternative rock movement's emphasis on "fetishized vinyl" and "music festivals as peaceful places for young people to commune and dream of better futures."<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Track listing
The Fragile: Deviations 1
Template:Infobox album Template:Album ratings
The Fragile: Deviations 1 is an alternate version of The Fragile that contains all of the original songs in either instrumental or alternate forms, and combines them with newly released tracks written and recorded during the sessions for The Fragile. Deviations 1 consists of a one-off, limited edition four-LP pressing that was not made available on CD.<ref name="deviations" />
Critical reception
Neil Z. Yeung of AllMusic recommended that fans listen to and understand the original album first before delving into Deviations 1.<ref name="allmusicdev1" /> Ultimately, he said that the release "serves as both a sonic time capsule and a reminder of one of NIN's most rewarding and underrated efforts."<ref name="allmusicdev1" /> Writing for Pitchfork, Sean T. Collins found Deviations 1 interesting but simultaneously perplexing, saying "Far too many of Deviations' freshly vocal-free songs sound like karaoke versions rather than instrumentals that can stand on their own. The result is a listening experience that outstays its welcome on a song-by-song basis, let alone over the course of its massive 150-minute running time."<ref name="pfdev" />
Track listing
Personnel
Credits adapted from AllMusic,<ref name="allcredits">Template:Cite web</ref> and The Fragile liner notes.<ref name="credits">Track listing and credits as per liner notes for The Fragile album</ref>
Musicians
- Trent Reznor – vocals, all musical performance except as noted, programming and production
- Adrian Belew – guitars on "Just Like You Imagined", "The Great Below" and "Where Is Everybody?"
- Charlie Clouser – programming, additional sound design; atmospheres on "The Great Below" and drum programming on "Into the Void", sound design on “Starfuckers Inc.”
- Jerome Dillon – chorus drums on "We're in This Together"
- Steve Duda – marching percussion, programming and production on "Pilgrimage"; chorus on "Starfuckers, Inc."; violin on "Ripe (With Decay)"; additional sound design
- Mike Garson – piano on "Just Like You Imagined", "The Way Out Is Through" and "Ripe (With Decay)"
- Keith Hillebrandt – programming and additional production on "The Way Out Is Through"; chorus on "Starfuckers, Inc."; additional sound design
- Cherry Holly – trumpet on "Pilgrimage"
- Danny Lohner – guitars on "Somewhat Damaged", "Just Like You Imagined", "Even Deeper", "The Great Below", "Where Is Everybody?" and "Complication"; drum programming and synthesizers on "Even Deeper"
- Denise Milfort – vocals on "La Mer"
- Kim Prevost – backing vocals on "Into the Void"
- Porter Ricks – keyboards, programming and synthesizer
- Bill Rieflin – drums on "La Mer"
- Willie – cello on "La Mer"
Production and technical personnel
- Steve Albini – engineering and supplemental drum recording
- Tom Baker – mastering
- Clinton Bradley – programming; technical assistant to Bob Ezrin
- Paul Bradley – programming
- David Carson – art direction, design and photography
- Paul DeCarli – programming
- Dr. Dre – additional production and mixing assistance on "Even Deeper"
- Bob Ezrin – additional production (album sequencing)
- Ken Friedman – additional sound design
- Leo Herrera – additional engineering
- Alan Moulder – production, engineering and mixing
- Dave Ogilvie – additional engineering
- Brian Pollack – engineering
Choirs
- Buddha Debutante Choir Template:Small:
- Heather Bennett
- Melissa Daigle
- Judy Miller
- Christine Parrish
- M. Gabriela Rivas
- Martha Wood
- Fae Young
- Choir Template:Small:
- Di Coleman
- Tracy Hardin
- Gary L. Neal
- Traci Nelson
- Elquine L. Rice
- Terry L. Rice
- Rodney Sulton
- Stefani Taylor
- Barbara Wilson
- Leslie Wilson
- Buddha Boys Choir Template:Small:
- Eric Edmonson
- Doug Idleman
- Marcus London
- Clint Mansell
- Adam Persaud
- Nick Scott
- Nigel Wiesehan
Charts
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Weekly charts
| Chart (1999) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| European Albums (Music & Media)<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 17 |
| Japanese Albums (Oricon)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 15 |
| Chart (2025) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| Greek Albums (IFPI)<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> | 1 |
Year-end charts
| Chart (1999) | Position |
|---|---|
| US Billboard 200<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref> | 164 |
Certifications
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