Fantastic. Subbed for this, lmao. The Fragile is my personal favorite work of NIN. Combination of nostalgia and genuine love for the genre. This album was at the lowest point for Trent Reznor mentally. After this album, there was a short hiatus and he got himself clean. I'd highly, HIGHLY recommend that you keep going, as Reznor's emotional story is a through line in the albums that kind of make them all fit together. Next album is With Teeth, the first album he completed sober. It's not a concept album by any means, it was designed to be "thirteen punches in the face," so the songs featured are more standalone and anthem like. It's a really great album, though, and it's fascinating to see how his different real life situations affect his music. Cool reaction.
One of my favorite moments in the entire NIN discog is how Trent transformed the "Nothing can stop me" line. On The Downward Spiral, "Nothing can stop me now" starts as a Nihilistic decloration of freedom, and over the course of its runtime, the line turns into something self destructive and desperate. But the cries of "None of them can stop us now" evoke something bold, something hopeful, something meaningful. NIN gets me choked up on more than one occasion, but thats the one line where the tears come from true happiness.
1:00:40 I definitely prefer The Fragile. I still think The Downward Spiral is a 10/10 album and one of the best of the 90s, but i feel like the production on that album is aggressive and agitating (in the best, most awesome way) like it’s trying to keep you at arm’s length where you will watch Trent’s descent into the Downward Spiral as a spectator, whereas the beautiful, crumbling, distorted soundscape of The Fragile invites you in, only to suck you down into an inescapable morass where you’re more than happy to decay and fall apart right alongside Trent.
This album was my very best companion during some of the most isolated years of my life. It's an absolute gem and so many of the tracks can stand so strongly on their own. It's like an album of singles. Trent is a genius.
I find it funny and interesting that Marilyn Manson is featured both in the Starfuckers inc. chorus but also the music video despite being one of the people the song targets.
When I saw NIN live back in 2014, Melbourne, Trent was visually distraught at the end of The Wretched, and he spoke to us briefly about how the memories attached to writing certain songs hit him hard playing them every once in a while, and basically said when he was writing this album he was essentially trying to check out of this world, so your words on the same matter after listening to the song definitely ring true, its an awful feeling but this album and Trent’s music in general have been massive catharsis for me personally.
I always got the impression the impression that he ends shows with "Hurt" for this very reason. Like, to keep that young man in the past, he has to remind himself of what that young man felt like.
I saw them a few years ago and the only Fragile song they were playing on the tour was Even Deeper. He said some words about how dark of a time it was. I think he can't go back to the music on it very much. Too painful.
Happy to see more NIN reactions. There is a sort of a sister album to The Fragile called Still which features several instrumentals which were initally meant for the movie One Hour Photo, a new original track called And All That Could Have Been and three deconstructed previously released NIN songs from all 3 albums at that point Another sister album is The Fragile: Deviations 1 in which as an experiment Trent released on vinyl and entirely instrumental version of The Fragile complete with bonus outtake tracks. This is not available on streaming but can easily be found online, it's definitely worth checking out
This was always my favorite NIN album. It feels so grand and is so atmospheric. Their sound evolved a lot between downward and fragile - I still consider them pioneers, at the time nothing sounded like NIN and I loved this evolution. The bleakness he describes is so apparant throughout but it's so gorgeously woven together I can wrap myself in it like a blanket and zone out. Great music for art making.
since we are on the topic of NIN I would love to see you react to tori Amos's second album 'Under the Pink"! I think you would really enjoy, and ironically enough Trent Reznor is featured as a BGV for the chorus of "Past the Mission' on the album!
Thank you! I keep struggling to find good reactions! I always wonder what it's like to see others listen to my favorite music for the first time. I still consider The Fragile in my top 5 albums of all time. It makes so much sense that Trent ended up also scoring movies.
Fantastic reaction! A few get put off by the length of this album but in my opinion, it's their absolute finest work. A lot of themes going into this one. It took two years to make in the late 90s, Trent Reznor's grandmother, who essentially raised him and was a massive positive role model in his life, died either just before or during the making of the album, so a few songs are related to that event specifically (The Day The World Went Away and I'm Looking Forward To Joining You Finally come to mind specifically). There was also a lot of drama behind the scenes to do with his patchy relationship with Marilyn Manson at the time, although, besides Starfuckers Inc. Not sure how much that's addressed. Also, the song La Mer, he has mentioned he wrote when at a low point, he'd rented out a beach house in California with the given intention of finding inspiration to write material for the album but he actually intended to and seriously considered ending things there. He didn't of course but the one song that came out of that time, was that song. And finally, the tour that followed this album, and no doubt his life during this time, was very chaotic and full of depression. He struggled hard with addiction and depression during the long tour for this album, which eventually had to be cancelled I believe due to those reasons. The hiatus between this album and the follow-up, With Teeth, involved Reznor getting clean and sober and addressing a lot of things in his life. I really look forward to you digging into that one in the future, if you go there! A nice mellow, sort of spiritual successor to this sort of EP, "Still" which was recorded during the touring of this album. There's a few acoustic renditions of older songs and some mellow new tunes, it's haunting and beautiful. Once again, fantastic reaction, the amount of time and effort you put into the listening experience is great to witness. P.S. Sorry for the essay! :D
Thank you so much for this kind and informative comment !! X the stuff about his grandma passing really makes so much sense, admittedly I’m still not over my cat dying a few years ago sounds silly but it really did trigger a lot of depression for me too along with opioid addiction which I’m in recovery from for just over two years now as well. I would love to hear more NIN especially if there is some music that resembles some peace in his life ! This album really got me, I love it so much !
@@FernStone "admittedly I’m still not over my cat dying a few years ago sounds silly but..." There's nothing silly about that. Losing a pet can be akin to losing a best friend or family. It's perfectly understandable to feel that loss. BTW: I greatly enjoyed your tour through this incredible album that meant so much to me, back in the day.
Such a great read. I have yet to fully go down the rabbit hole and listen to every album while watching interviews and such. I enjoy that journey but haven't had the time. You really made me wanna go do some research and read about this time.
im 43 spanish man, i remember my university years and this is a OST of those years, ohhhh good memories. This and deftones, fear factory, korn, alice in chains....
The more you listen to this album, the more you'll notice that some of the songs share melodies or motifs. For example, The Frail/The Fragile and La Mer/Into the Void. The Downward Spiral does it too with "nothing can stop me now" but there are a lot more occurrences on this album
Love your reaction to The Way Out is Through. That is definitely my best NIN song and has gotten me through some tough times. “All I’ve undergone I will keep on”
Just found your channel & I’m happy to see you enjoying this classic. If you’d like to delve deeper into this NIN era, there’s a double album called And All That Could’ve Been which I think you would love. The first disc is called Live & it’s live songs from the Fragile tour. And the second disc is called Still which has different versions some songs you’ve heard & some brand new Fraile-era tracks. The track “Leaving Hope” is a must-hear imo.
coming back after watching the video and this is why i love your videos ugh. i’m a huge nin fan and have listened to the fragile front to back hundreds of times but you just have such a way of seeing that you made me realize things i’ve never realized before about this album. like honestly you’re a genius p.s. the look is fantastic 💋
This album alongside Tool got me through my mom's passing. I was 28 and left with my youngee brother. Dad never there and then died too. Everyone around me died in the span of 4 years or so. I lost everyone close and I would've given up if it wasn't for my brother as I couldn't bare the idea of leaving him alone and lots of music. Ounces of weed too. I went into a dark place. Almost gave up. I will always thank music and weed. It allowed me to gain new perspectives.
Awesome reaction! Was looking forward to this one since I had found your channel through your The Downward Spiral reaction. Also I like your singing when you get into the music :-P
If you ever get the chance you should definitely watch And All That Could Have Been, the live concert recording of The Fragility tour around 2000. It's phenomenal.
I had almost forgotten just how amazing of an album this is- thank you for reminding me. Maybe not the typical NIN fan opinion, but this is my favorite album of theirs (followed by With Teeth). Be sure to check out their concert for this album in the concert video "And All That Could Have Been"... amazing stuff.
Never would have thought of requesting this on your channel, but I'm so glad you reacted to it! I wasn't a big NIN fan until this release but boy did I love it. Dark and moody just like me 🖤
50:27 It really is the "sexiest" song with how it grooves. It sounds like a night in the New Orleans swamp just high and drunk. You also pointed out something that took me a while to appreciate the deeper I got into making music: the mixing. Mixing all these layers and making them audible in some way, but gel together is so crazy. I can't imagine how many tracks each song consists of.
My Mom got this for me the day it came out. She picked me up from school and took a nap, and I experienced one of the best albums of my lifetime with headphones on. It's taken decades to know my own depression, and Trent has help, every step of the way.
It's my understanding that while making this album Trent was going through the loss of his grandmother who raised him. So I'm not positive but the song The Fragile has quite a lot of meaning if that is what he was feeling at the time. Love the vid and keep singing!!
Brilliant. With regards to Hesitation Marks I think it's a great album, many NIN fans would beg to differ but I love it, it is meticulously produced as you would expect from Trent but have a listen and make your own decision, reaction to it would be great. A lot of NIN fans seem to think that With Teeth was his last great album, personally I'd go with Hesitation Marks.
AHhhh you finally got to it! I think i commented on your reaction to The Downward Spiral about doing this album next, sooo happy you're listening to it. This album is...very special :))) I had a strong feeling you'd like it even more than Downward Spiral with how much variety it has sound wise with each track. Loved your reaction and assessment!
I love how much you got into The Wretched. Some of the most impactful songs are the slow songs that gut punch you. The amazing thing about NIN is that they have only gotten better with age. Trent is a true artist. The Fragile is such a sexy song. And Into the Void..perfection. The video for Starf*ckers was directed by and features Marilyn Manson.
Someone else has probably mentioned this by now, but I believe the song ‘I’m Looking Forward to Joining you, Finally’ refers to Trent’s grandmother who passed away whilst he was writing this album. She was apparently the family member who got him interested in music from a young age, so this song seems like a tribute as well as a requiem to her.
1:05:10 The word creole is actually a general term that refers to any hybrid language that is created from the blending of 2 or more languages when different cultures come to occupy the same space. First, the two cultures create what is called a pidgin language that is a stunted mixture of the two languages with only the bare minimum vocabulary needed to communicate. Then, as subsequent generations grow up with the pidgin language, it develops into a proper language of its own that is then called a creole. Trent lived in New Orleans for a very long time where Louisiana Creole developed between early French colonists and West African slaves - but Milfort was born in Haiti, where the similar, but mutually unintelligible Haitian Creole developed.
I would say this album and downward spiral are the perfect albums for call of duty zombies perfect atmosphere and feeling from these albums give a spooky eerie yet intense rage perfect for a Zombie spree!😂😂😂
Actually, the vinyl has 2 extra tracks. You heard a teaser of one, 10 Mile High ("I'm getting closer" at the end of The Mark Has Been Made) The other is The New Flesh. Also, the vinyl has slightly different mixes and extended versions. If that's your thing, it sounds amazing on vinyl, and it's relatively cheap, $35-$40 for three lps. The single choices were kinda strange. "The Day the World went away" was the first, and only official US single released. The music video was unreleased. Released in August with "star fuckers inc." as a B-sides. "We're in this together" was released as a physical single in Europe and Argentina I think. A video was made and is pretty cool. There were three versions each with different B-sides. "Into the Void" was the third single, physically released, but only in Australia? This also had a cool video. Starfuckers was the last single, no official physical single was released, but does have a video. As far as the various versions on different albums, yeah, there were a lot of things released around this album cycle. Some have been mentioned already. "Things Falling Apart" was a remix album, which I like but felt a little underwhelming. The live album, which also came in a deluxe edition with "Still," a project that never really got completed. There was suppose to be a fully "acoustic" album, something sort of hinted at in a few songs. Trent is still happily married, with five kids! He's still very private. But you can follow his wife Mariqueen Mandiig-Reznor. She shares some very happy and wholesome pictures, and every once in a while, you'll get a Trent cameo. I don't like sticking my nose I'm people business, but something about seeing Trent's happy family gives me hope and peace of mind, someone that has also suffered from depression and almost didn't make it to adulthood and fatherhood.
Some additional context on certain songs: One of the key events shaping this album was the death of Trent's grandmother. Following his parents divorce, Trent lived primarily with his grandparents who actively encouraged him in the pursuit of the arts. In 1997 Trents grandmother Clara died and this was around the time Trent was actively diagnosed with depression. Following this Trent had a massive bout of writers block and struggled to actively start the sessions so as a way to take things off his mind, he travelled to Big Sur in California. However Trent's dark thoughts almost got the better of him and he actively considered ending things. One song only came from the session which was La Mer. The French vocals come from Trent's partner at the time Denise Milford. The Day The World Went Away and I'm Looking Forward... are the songs primarily about the death of Trents grandmother with a music video originally planned for TDTWWA being a funeral setting and Looking Forward being directly dedicated to Clara in the lyric booklet
In my opinion, and the way I have interpreted the songs... the entire album is about a toxic relationship with the first side being the character being so depressed he wanted to end his life and at rock bottom from the beginning (or rather maybe the end of the downward spiral?) Up until meeting a girl and falling desperately in love in were in this together now. But she also suffers from chronic depression and is a narcissist using him which fuels him and burns him further into depression until we get to the climax of the great below where she has killed herself by jumping into the ocean and he is standing on the ledge of the waterfall (that's the album cover art) trying to decide whether or not to join her and he doesn't. Then side two is his struggle to overcome her death in which he turns to drugs and sex (please is, in my opinion again, about filling the void in your soul with sex. But it just makes it worse.) This spiral continues all the way until the end where he is right back where he started. Destroyed inside but somehow still pushing forward. Even if he doesn't want to. -Daniel keene
Speaking of Gary Numan, I don’t know if anyone’s mentioned this yet but the companion remix/b-sides album Things Falling Apart features a really awesome cover of Gary’s Metal, it’s actually one of my favourite albums and I think the first one I heard, I know weird I heard the remixes first, but it’s got such amazing textures to it. It’s all mainly mixed by frequent collaborators who worked on the studio albums or played live with Trent too so it’s not too far off the same mood, although a bit more electronic. Out of all the remix/companion projects, the albums & EPs that came out of the Downward Spiral & The Fragile eras are some of the coolest additions to the catalogue imo. I mean hell, even Aphex Twin contributed a couple of tracks to fit the vibes of the Further Down the Spiral album.
This album was alot more collaborative than before. For example, the drum programming on Even Deeper was credited to Dr Dre. Trent's studio was full of people, making snippets. Alot of real string instruments, thats the plucking you hear. The liner notes in the cd/vinyl has a long list of contributers, but so much was recorded so quickly, they dont remember who did what exactly.
OH SHIT literally just saw this after talking to my gf about this album! I use to listen to it so much in middle school it fell apart lol Edit: Gosh, The Great Below never fails to make me tear up
HIGHLY HIGHLY suggest listening to the vinyl version of this album with the bonus tracks “10 Miles High” and “The New Flesh.” The original version feels almost incomplete after you take those two songs into account.
Very interesting to me that you didn't much care for La Mer but had such a visceral reaction to Into the Void. If you listen to them back to back, you'll realize that Into the Void was built off the same exact chords and drum groove as La Mer, to the point where I'd almost consider Into the Void to be "Part 2" of La Mer.
That is interesting! Weird how sounds can hit you, maybe just the textures even. In my mind La Mer at the time of listening felt like a transitional track. Hearing how the track came about gives it such a darker deeper feel when listening now. It’s emotional to me. Sometimes at the time of reacting my mind may not be fully focused in every moment especially as I take hours to record these vids 😂. This is such a phenomenal album with bits I’m going to keep discovering over every listen. Thanks for commenting and watching ! 🙏
I highly recommend checking out the songs "The new flesh" and "10 miles high" they were leftovers couldn't fit int the double vinyl so they replaced 2 songs in the japanese and european vinyl, The new flesh is easily NIN's most disturbing sounding song
I always felt downward spiral was trent realizing he was in a downward spiral and mostly said fuck it and embraced it. The fragile was him realizing he wanted out but wasn't quite sure how to do it.
Oooh yes ! I totally feel that. The downward spiral is horrible but you’re still so naive … once you are down there for a a short while you start going “hmmm any day now I will snap out of this and be okay again” but then the realisation creeps in that no one or thing can save you and It makes you extremely vulnerable and inevitably hopeless.
😂😂😂 Love that ! Also have the lyrics in front of me too. If I hear the melody or general tune first I just go for it, express myself with the music. Especially when it’s as good as this !
It reflects off me. If I stay outside too long I might reflect the sun rays too much and explode the sun ! So it’s best I stay out of the sun to protect us all. You’re welcome babe ❄️🤣
Terrible album. I remember being quite excited about its release, but was ultimately left disappointed with the pedestrian songwriting and insipid lyrics. The Downward Spiral remains Trent’s best work.
Not even close to Downward Spiral. First....should have never been a double record. Way too many instrumental songs, lots of mediocre to bad songs Even deeper La mer Where is everybody All the songs after Starf are rubbish Uninspired lyrics Not much metal He's never gonna top Downward Spiral
Fantastic. Subbed for this, lmao. The Fragile is my personal favorite work of NIN. Combination of nostalgia and genuine love for the genre. This album was at the lowest point for Trent Reznor mentally.
After this album, there was a short hiatus and he got himself clean. I'd highly, HIGHLY recommend that you keep going, as Reznor's emotional story is a through line in the albums that kind of make them all fit together.
Next album is With Teeth, the first album he completed sober. It's not a concept album by any means, it was designed to be "thirteen punches in the face," so the songs featured are more standalone and anthem like. It's a really great album, though, and it's fascinating to see how his different real life situations affect his music.
Cool reaction.
One of my favorite moments in the entire NIN discog is how Trent transformed the "Nothing can stop me" line. On The Downward Spiral, "Nothing can stop me now" starts as a Nihilistic decloration of freedom, and over the course of its runtime, the line turns into something self destructive and desperate. But the cries of "None of them can stop us now" evoke something bold, something hopeful, something meaningful.
NIN gets me choked up on more than one occasion, but thats the one line where the tears come from true happiness.
1:00:40 I definitely prefer The Fragile. I still think The Downward Spiral is a 10/10 album and one of the best of the 90s, but i feel like the production on that album is aggressive and agitating (in the best, most awesome way) like it’s trying to keep you at arm’s length where you will watch Trent’s descent into the Downward Spiral as a spectator, whereas the beautiful, crumbling, distorted soundscape of The Fragile invites you in, only to suck you down into an inescapable morass where you’re more than happy to decay and fall apart right alongside Trent.
Well said and I agree completely!
@@arachosia yeah me to
This album was my very best companion during some of the most isolated years of my life. It's an absolute gem and so many of the tracks can stand so strongly on their own. It's like an album of singles. Trent is a genius.
I find it funny and interesting that Marilyn Manson is featured both in the Starfuckers inc. chorus but also the music video despite being one of the people the song targets.
Manson knew and knows exactly what he is
Story goes Manson heard the song, then called Trent and said: "I have a great idea for the music video." And they became friends again.
When I saw NIN live back in 2014, Melbourne, Trent was visually distraught at the end of The Wretched, and he spoke to us briefly about how the memories attached to writing certain songs hit him hard playing them every once in a while, and basically said when he was writing this album he was essentially trying to check out of this world, so your words on the same matter after listening to the song definitely ring true, its an awful feeling but this album and Trent’s music in general have been massive catharsis for me personally.
I remember he said he struggled to write lyrics at the time. There are lots of the album with no vocals
I always got the impression the impression that he ends shows with "Hurt" for this very reason. Like, to keep that young man in the past, he has to remind himself of what that young man felt like.
Based Massive Attack pfp
@@ilyas_claymore got it tattooed on me too, fav album of theirs
I saw them a few years ago and the only Fragile song they were playing on the tour was Even Deeper. He said some words about how dark of a time it was. I think he can't go back to the music on it very much. Too painful.
Happy to see more NIN reactions. There is a sort of a sister album to The Fragile called Still which features several instrumentals which were initally meant for the movie One Hour Photo, a new original track called And All That Could Have Been and three deconstructed previously released NIN songs from all 3 albums at that point
Another sister album is The Fragile: Deviations 1 in which as an experiment Trent released on vinyl and entirely instrumental version of The Fragile complete with bonus outtake tracks. This is not available on streaming but can easily be found online, it's definitely worth checking out
Oh, I feel like they would LOVE Still.
This was always my favorite NIN album. It feels so grand and is so atmospheric. Their sound evolved a lot between downward and fragile - I still consider them pioneers, at the time nothing sounded like NIN and I loved this evolution. The bleakness he describes is so apparant throughout but it's so gorgeously woven together I can wrap myself in it like a blanket and zone out. Great music for art making.
since we are on the topic of NIN I would love to see you react to tori Amos's second album 'Under the Pink"! I think you would really enjoy, and ironically enough Trent Reznor is featured as a BGV for the chorus of "Past the Mission' on the album!
Tori would interject some NIN lyrics into certain songs for a bunch of years around 95 to early 2000s 💕 They have a bit of a history
@@jessicahimmel7867 yes! biggest one being the reference to 'their nine inch nails' in the bridge of precious things!
Thank you! I keep struggling to find good reactions! I always wonder what it's like to see others listen to my favorite music for the first time. I still consider The Fragile in my top 5 albums of all time. It makes so much sense that Trent ended up also scoring movies.
You signing along gave me chills. Subscribed.
Fantastic reaction! A few get put off by the length of this album but in my opinion, it's their absolute finest work. A lot of themes going into this one. It took two years to make in the late 90s, Trent Reznor's grandmother, who essentially raised him and was a massive positive role model in his life, died either just before or during the making of the album, so a few songs are related to that event specifically (The Day The World Went Away and I'm Looking Forward To Joining You Finally come to mind specifically). There was also a lot of drama behind the scenes to do with his patchy relationship with Marilyn Manson at the time, although, besides Starfuckers Inc. Not sure how much that's addressed. Also, the song La Mer, he has mentioned he wrote when at a low point, he'd rented out a beach house in California with the given intention of finding inspiration to write material for the album but he actually intended to and seriously considered ending things there. He didn't of course but the one song that came out of that time, was that song. And finally, the tour that followed this album, and no doubt his life during this time, was very chaotic and full of depression.
He struggled hard with addiction and depression during the long tour for this album, which eventually had to be cancelled I believe due to those reasons. The hiatus between this album and the follow-up, With Teeth, involved Reznor getting clean and sober and addressing a lot of things in his life. I really look forward to you digging into that one in the future, if you go there! A nice mellow, sort of spiritual successor to this sort of EP, "Still" which was recorded during the touring of this album. There's a few acoustic renditions of older songs and some mellow new tunes, it's haunting and beautiful. Once again, fantastic reaction, the amount of time and effort you put into the listening experience is great to witness. P.S. Sorry for the essay! :D
Thank you so much for this kind and informative comment !! X the stuff about his grandma passing really makes so much sense, admittedly I’m still not over my cat dying a few years ago sounds silly but it really did trigger a lot of depression for me too along with opioid addiction which I’m in recovery from for just over two years now as well. I would love to hear more NIN especially if there is some music that resembles some peace in his life ! This album really got me, I love it so much !
The Great Below is certainly about his grandmother as well and is my favorite NIN song.
@@FernStone "admittedly I’m still not over my cat dying a few years ago sounds silly but..."
There's nothing silly about that. Losing a pet can be akin to losing a best friend or family. It's perfectly understandable to feel that loss.
BTW: I greatly enjoyed your tour through this incredible album that meant so much to me, back in the day.
Such a great read. I have yet to fully go down the rabbit hole and listen to every album while watching interviews and such. I enjoy that journey but haven't had the time. You really made me wanna go do some research and read about this time.
Holy Shit! This album is everything! Best time in music! For me
im 43 spanish man, i remember my university years and this is a OST of those years, ohhhh good memories. This and deftones, fear factory, korn, alice in chains....
FINALLLYYYYYYYY im so excited for this been wanting this for such a long time !!!!!
A Spellling AND a NiN fan. Taste!
@@jjbb4546 exactlyy 🤭
The more you listen to this album, the more you'll notice that some of the songs share melodies or motifs. For example, The Frail/The Fragile and La Mer/Into the Void. The Downward Spiral does it too with "nothing can stop me now" but there are a lot more occurrences on this album
Amazing album, I got it for Christmas in college when it came out. I still listen to it all the time, all these years later.
Love your reaction to The Way Out is Through. That is definitely my best NIN song and has gotten me through some tough times. “All I’ve undergone I will keep on”
Loved this! Would love to see more NIN. With Teeth or Hesitation Marks, maybe? (But they're all masterpieces)
Just found your channel & I’m happy to see you enjoying this classic.
If you’d like to delve deeper into this NIN era, there’s a double album called And All That Could’ve Been which I think you would love. The first disc is called Live & it’s live songs from the Fragile tour. And the second disc is called Still which has different versions some songs you’ve heard & some brand new Fraile-era tracks. The track “Leaving Hope” is a must-hear imo.
Nice voice btw. That impromptu vocal you did on We're in this together was awesome.
coming back after watching the video and this is why i love your videos ugh. i’m a huge nin fan and have listened to the fragile front to back hundreds of times but you just have such a way of seeing that you made me realize things i’ve never realized before about this album. like honestly you’re a genius
p.s. the look is fantastic 💋
Omg !! This makes me so happy, thank you for commenting x
This album alongside Tool got me through my mom's passing. I was 28 and left with my youngee brother. Dad never there and then died too. Everyone around me died in the span of 4 years or so. I lost everyone close and I would've given up if it wasn't for my brother as I couldn't bare the idea of leaving him alone and lots of music. Ounces of weed too. I went into a dark place. Almost gave up. I will always thank music and weed. It allowed me to gain new perspectives.
Awesome reaction! Was looking forward to this one since I had found your channel through your The Downward Spiral reaction. Also I like your singing when you get into the music :-P
Best album of all time for me. Been listening to it since I was 14 in middle school. I'm 32 now. Still just as good as back then.
You'd laugh it I told you that La Mer is one of my favorite NIN tracks ever. So beautiful and haunting. That drum line. What can I say?
La Mer is amazing.
Arguably one of the best albums of ALL time, most certainly my favorite. Just BANGER after BANGER, back to back.
If you ever get the chance you should definitely watch And All That Could Have Been, the live concert recording of The Fragility tour around 2000. It's phenomenal.
I had almost forgotten just how amazing of an album this is- thank you for reminding me. Maybe not the typical NIN fan opinion, but this is my favorite album of theirs (followed by With Teeth). Be sure to check out their concert for this album in the concert video "And All That Could Have Been"... amazing stuff.
Never would have thought of requesting this on your channel, but I'm so glad you reacted to it! I wasn't a big NIN fan until this release but boy did I love it. Dark and moody just like me 🖤
And love the Nancy look. Nailed it!
came here for the vocal improv. was not disappointed.
❤️❤️❤️ awwwww thank you !! X
50:27 It really is the "sexiest" song with how it grooves. It sounds like a night in the New Orleans swamp just high and drunk.
You also pointed out something that took me a while to appreciate the deeper I got into making music: the mixing. Mixing all these layers and making them audible in some way, but gel together is so crazy.
I can't imagine how many tracks each song consists of.
Glad you got to listen to my favourite album of all time, hope you get to see NIN live, seen then on every tour since my first time in 94.
I got flashbacks from the Elastica video for Connection during No You Don't. Nice camera work.
My Mom got this for me the day it came out. She picked me up from school and took a nap, and I experienced one of the best albums of my lifetime with headphones on. It's taken decades to know my own depression, and Trent has help, every step of the way.
I hope you continue to check out his catalog. So many different sounds to come and they’re still putting out quality, relevant and honest material.
Glad you got to experience this album. Still after all these years one of my favorite albums in my collection
I listened to this album every day for like a year straight and was still noticing new layers. This was peak NIN.
Ah, NIN
Sing it, girl. I don't mind. Lots of space here. Great voice, btw.
Hey there, not sure if you’ve done a reaction of the ‘broken’ album by NIN but it’s also amazing IMO! Short and sweet.
I love this look on u! And the paint color on the wall behind u is awesome too
It's my understanding that while making this album Trent was going through the loss of his grandmother who raised him. So I'm not positive but the song The Fragile has quite a lot of meaning if that is what he was feeling at the time. Love the vid and keep singing!!
Brilliant. With regards to Hesitation Marks I think it's a great album, many NIN fans would beg to differ but I love it, it is meticulously produced as you would expect from Trent but have a listen and make your own decision, reaction to it would be great.
A lot of NIN fans seem to think that With Teeth was his last great album, personally I'd go with Hesitation Marks.
AHhhh you finally got to it! I think i commented on your reaction to The Downward Spiral about doing this album next, sooo happy you're listening to it. This album is...very special :))) I had a strong feeling you'd like it even more than Downward Spiral with how much variety it has sound wise with each track. Loved your reaction and assessment!
Great vid - I love how you just "get it"
Thank you so much 😊
The Fragile is my favorite album of all time, I'm so glad someone reacted to it
I love your singing along! At least you're not tone deaf! You can even harmonize, and I love your voice!
Aww thank you so much ❤️❤️
Subscribed for more harmonising 😂 sounded great!
I love how much you got into The Wretched. Some of the most impactful songs are the slow songs that gut punch you. The amazing thing about NIN is that they have only gotten better with age. Trent is a true artist. The Fragile is such a sexy song. And Into the Void..perfection. The video for Starf*ckers was directed by and features Marilyn Manson.
Someone else has probably mentioned this by now, but I believe the song ‘I’m Looking Forward to Joining you, Finally’ refers to Trent’s grandmother who passed away whilst he was writing this album. She was apparently the family member who got him interested in music from a young age, so this song seems like a tribute as well as a requiem to her.
1:05:10 The word creole is actually a general term that refers to any hybrid language that is created from the blending of 2 or more languages when different cultures come to occupy the same space.
First, the two cultures create what is called a pidgin language that is a stunted mixture of the two languages with only the bare minimum vocabulary needed to communicate. Then, as subsequent generations grow up with the pidgin language, it develops into a proper language of its own that is then called a creole.
Trent lived in New Orleans for a very long time where Louisiana Creole developed between early French colonists and West African slaves - but Milfort was born in Haiti, where the similar, but mutually unintelligible Haitian Creole developed.
The Fragile is my favorite album of all time from my favorite artist of all time.
Absolute masterpiece.
Great reaction!
I would say this album and downward spiral are the perfect albums for call of duty zombies perfect atmosphere and feeling from these albums give a spooky eerie yet intense rage perfect for a Zombie spree!😂😂😂
Actually, the vinyl has 2 extra tracks. You heard a teaser of one, 10 Mile High ("I'm getting closer" at the end of The Mark Has Been Made)
The other is The New Flesh. Also, the vinyl has slightly different mixes and extended versions.
If that's your thing, it sounds amazing on vinyl, and it's relatively cheap, $35-$40 for three lps.
The single choices were kinda strange.
"The Day the World went away" was the first, and only official US single released. The music video was unreleased. Released in August with "star fuckers inc." as a B-sides.
"We're in this together" was released as a physical single in Europe and Argentina I think. A video was made and is pretty cool. There were three versions each with different B-sides.
"Into the Void" was the third single, physically released, but only in Australia? This also had a cool video.
Starfuckers was the last single, no official physical single was released, but does have a video.
As far as the various versions on different albums, yeah, there were a lot of things released around this album cycle. Some have been mentioned already. "Things Falling Apart" was a remix album, which I like but felt a little underwhelming. The live album, which also came in a deluxe edition with "Still," a project that never really got completed. There was suppose to be a fully "acoustic" album, something sort of hinted at in a few songs.
Trent is still happily married, with five kids! He's still very private. But you can follow his wife Mariqueen Mandiig-Reznor. She shares some very happy and wholesome pictures, and every once in a while, you'll get a Trent cameo. I don't like sticking my nose I'm people business, but something about seeing Trent's happy family gives me hope and peace of mind, someone that has also suffered from depression and almost didn't make it to adulthood and fatherhood.
Some additional context on certain songs:
One of the key events shaping this album was the death of Trent's grandmother. Following his parents divorce, Trent lived primarily with his grandparents who actively encouraged him in the pursuit of the arts. In 1997 Trents grandmother Clara died and this was around the time Trent was actively diagnosed with depression.
Following this Trent had a massive bout of writers block and struggled to actively start the sessions so as a way to take things off his mind, he travelled to Big Sur in California. However Trent's dark thoughts almost got the better of him and he actively considered ending things. One song only came from the session which was La Mer. The French vocals come from Trent's partner at the time Denise Milford.
The Day The World Went Away and I'm Looking Forward... are the songs primarily about the death of Trents grandmother with a music video originally planned for TDTWWA being a funeral setting and Looking Forward being directly dedicated to Clara in the lyric booklet
The day the world went away is about the death of his grandma the one he really loved deep and the death shook him making this song
"This album could have been made today"... hit the nail on the head right there
Please react to Jazmin Bean's album "Traumatic Livelihood", I think you'll really enjoy it ❤
PLEASE YES
fern you always turn out a look AND review an album? do we even deserve you? 🥰❤️
🥹🥹 awwwww ly !! x
In my opinion, and the way I have interpreted the songs... the entire album is about a toxic relationship with the first side being the character being so depressed he wanted to end his life and at rock bottom from the beginning (or rather maybe the end of the downward spiral?) Up until meeting a girl and falling desperately in love in were in this together now. But she also suffers from chronic depression and is a narcissist using him which fuels him and burns him further into depression until we get to the climax of the great below where she has killed herself by jumping into the ocean and he is standing on the ledge of the waterfall (that's the album cover art) trying to decide whether or not to join her and he doesn't. Then side two is his struggle to overcome her death in which he turns to drugs and sex (please is, in my opinion again, about filling the void in your soul with sex. But it just makes it worse.) This spiral continues all the way until the end where he is right back where he started. Destroyed inside but somehow still pushing forward. Even if he doesn't want to. -Daniel keene
This is brilliant ! I see it.
I think the album hesitation marks is a continuation of this also
The discs of The Fragile are labeled Left and Right. I've never decided which disc to put in the CD player first.
My favourite album ever
Speaking of Gary Numan, I don’t know if anyone’s mentioned this yet but the companion remix/b-sides album Things Falling Apart features a really awesome cover of Gary’s Metal, it’s actually one of my favourite albums and I think the first one I heard, I know weird I heard the remixes first, but it’s got such amazing textures to it. It’s all mainly mixed by frequent collaborators who worked on the studio albums or played live with Trent too so it’s not too far off the same mood, although a bit more electronic.
Out of all the remix/companion projects, the albums & EPs that came out of the Downward Spiral & The Fragile eras are some of the coolest additions to the catalogue imo. I mean hell, even Aphex Twin contributed a couple of tracks to fit the vibes of the Further Down the Spiral album.
Omg I got to hear it !
I loved loved your singalong to TDTWWA. At fist I was like "wha?"... and then I loved it.
I would say their next album (With Teeth) is most similar to Please. It's also the first album recorded after Trent got sober.
I saw the fragility tour with A perfect Circle and was the best live show ever
This album was alot more collaborative than before. For example, the drum programming on Even Deeper was credited to Dr Dre. Trent's studio was full of people, making snippets. Alot of real string instruments, thats the plucking you hear. The liner notes in the cd/vinyl has a long list of contributers, but so much was recorded so quickly, they dont remember who did what exactly.
OH SHIT literally just saw this after talking to my gf about this album! I use to listen to it so much in middle school it fell apart lol
Edit: Gosh, The Great Below never fails to make me tear up
About time! Great reaction
Omg I got the CD gifted to me by my friend for my birthday last week !!!
HIGHLY HIGHLY suggest listening to the vinyl version of this album with the bonus tracks “10 Miles High” and “The New Flesh.” The original version feels almost incomplete after you take those two songs into account.
Very interesting to me that you didn't much care for La Mer but had such a visceral reaction to Into the Void. If you listen to them back to back, you'll realize that Into the Void was built off the same exact chords and drum groove as La Mer, to the point where I'd almost consider Into the Void to be "Part 2" of La Mer.
That is interesting! Weird how sounds can hit you, maybe just the textures even. In my mind La Mer at the time of listening felt like a transitional track. Hearing how the track came about gives it such a darker deeper feel when listening now. It’s emotional to me. Sometimes at the time of reacting my mind may not be fully focused in every moment especially as I take hours to record these vids 😂. This is such a phenomenal album with bits I’m going to keep discovering over every listen. Thanks for commenting and watching ! 🙏
The start is hilarious lol
I highly recommend checking out the songs "The new flesh" and "10 miles high" they were leftovers couldn't fit int the double vinyl so they replaced 2 songs in the japanese and european vinyl, The new flesh is easily NIN's most disturbing sounding song
I always felt downward spiral was trent realizing he was in a downward spiral and mostly said fuck it and embraced it. The fragile was him realizing he wanted out but wasn't quite sure how to do it.
Oooh yes ! I totally feel that. The downward spiral is horrible but you’re still so naive … once you are down there for a a short while you start going “hmmm any day now I will snap out of this and be okay again” but then the realisation creeps in that no one or thing can save you and It makes you extremely vulnerable and inevitably hopeless.
PLEASE fern brat remix album!!!!
56:25 this song i can picture an Edit of darth Vader or this song being used in a movie where it's an evil villain or feared leader walking
I was aboout to ask why you're singing along to songs you've never heard before, but then I realized that I do the same thing!
😂😂😂 Love that ! Also have the lyrics in front of me too. If I hear the melody or general tune first I just go for it, express myself with the music. Especially when it’s as good as this !
AM YISRAEL CHAI
you need the sun babe
It reflects off me. If I stay outside too long I might reflect the sun rays too much and explode the sun ! So it’s best I stay out of the sun to protect us all. You’re welcome babe ❄️🤣
Terrible album. I remember being quite excited about its release, but was ultimately left disappointed with the pedestrian songwriting and insipid lyrics. The Downward Spiral remains Trent’s best work.
Not even close to Downward Spiral.
First....should have never been a double record. Way too many instrumental songs, lots of mediocre to bad songs
Even deeper
La mer
Where is everybody
All the songs after Starf are rubbish
Uninspired lyrics
Not much metal
He's never gonna top Downward Spiral