The Anger and The Fragile
4 Out Of 5 Stars
It may have taken Trent Reznor almost 6 years to make a proper album after The Downward Spiral, which meant he had a long time to store up the vitriol that is his musical stock and trade. As you listen to the sprawling near two hour opus that is "The Fragile," you realize that Reznor has mastered the art of the alienation; over and over the words "cold," "decay," "damage" or the usual four letter 'obscenity' that starts with F appear. And the template has been chiseled into granite, with bubbling minor key softness giving way to explosive, violent guitar blasting. "The Fragile" is despondency on a par with Pink Floyd.
In the same vein as Pink Floyd, Nine Inch Nails rails against the world that makes him famous but fails to give unto him anything good. There's plenty of anxiety and anti-social attitude, plus Reznor's own dour perceptions. "The Fragile" not only attacks you with its blistering aural onslaught, it seeps into those demented cracks in your mind that you thought were closed off to this kind of manipulation.
A lot of that has to do with Reznor's studio acumen; the guy knows how to structure sound like few others. It is one of the reasons "The Fragile" is more a grower album than an instant classic. Lots of little bits of construction reveal themselves as time goes by. It's a candy-coated hand grenade that goes off with songs like "Star-bleepers Incorporated" (Reznor's poisoned rant at former friend Marilyn Manson) or "Into The Void" and its danceable beats. Those are the two most obvious songs here, but the bulk of "The Fragile" will twist into you and stay there, as long as you have the patience to treat it over time.
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