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Ten years after Pretty Hate Machine gave a comatose rock scene some much-needed
electro-shock therapy, nine inch nails’ imprint on the genre remains unmatchable.
By popularizing electronic music, nine inch nails auteur Trent
Reznor rewired the mainstream, inspiring Time magazine to name him “One of
the Most Influential People in America,” and Spin to praise him as “The Most
Vital Artist in Music Today.”
The Grammy Award-winning artist is once again forcing the genre’s growth
— and his own — by pushing both into new territory. His latest, The
Fragile (dubbed "The Decade’s Most Anticipated Album” by Alternative Press),
is a 23-track, double-disc set that clocks in at over 100 minutes of music.
Reznor dedicated two solid years to make this record, and the resulting music —
bracingly resonant and rich with pictures — reinforces his reputation as a
meticulous artisan.
“I wanted to try new things, fully utilizing the
studio while putting more effort into melody and structure,” explains
Reznor. “Instead of trying to analyze what I was creating, I just let it
flow to see where it went. It was all about not being afraid and it felt very
liberating.”
Five years since his last full studio album, “The Downward Spiral,” Reznor still
refuses to play by the rules. On “The Fragile,” structures are detonated and
rebuilt; gorgeous melodies are woven into discordant loop-laden racket, and
instrumental tangents tumble from one symphonic arrangement to the next. Remarkably, Reznor somehow blends it all to overwhelming effect. Even more
surprising is the ratio of strings (slide guitar, violins, cellos, ukuleles,
upright bass) to synths, a sound that ultimately gives the record a more organic
feel, despite being processed by Reznor’s unique filter.
“There’s a general theme to the album of systems failing and things sort of falling apart,” Reznor
explains. “In keeping with the idea of making everything sound a little broken, I chose stringed
instruments because they’re imperfect by nature. Although it may not sound like it, most of the
album is actually guitar — and that includes the orchestral sounds and weird melodic lines. When it
came to instruments that I didn’t really know how to play — like the ukulele or the slide guitar — we
were able to get some really interesting sounds by making the studio the main instrument.”
Reznor manipulates everything from ripples of feedback to vocal harmonies in order to serve mood
and atmosphere. The result is somewhat cinematic, creating aural movies that evoke images
ranging from black and bleak (“Somewhat Damaged,” “Starfuckers, Inc.,” “No You Don’t”) to
graceful and haunting (“La Mer,” “The Great Below”). At the center of the album are clamorous
pop songs like “The Day the World Went Away” and the album’s first single “We’re In This
Together,” both of which highlight The Fragile's marked melodic bent.
The Fragile
was produced by Reznor and engineer/mixer Alan Moulder. As for making the album a
double-disc set, Reznor says, “Once we had crossed the line of 74 minutes on a
CD, I made the decision to go with 2 discs. It just felt better. It’s kind of
like Side A and Side B of an album.” |
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Over the course of the past decade, Trent Reznor has started his own label (nothing records),
stolen the show at both Lollapalooza and Woodstock ‘94, produced/exec-produced three CDs for
Marilyn Manson and soundtracks for David Lynch (“Lost Highway”) and Oliver Stone (“Natural Born
Killers”), released a slew of singles and a home video (“Closure”) and created music for the
CD-ROM game, “Quake.” Meanwhile, Pretty Hate Machine has gone triple-platinum, topped
SoundScan’s pop catalog chart, and was named one of the “200 Albums Essential To Any Rock
Collection” (Rolling Stone).The Grammy-winning “Broken” went platinum as well, while The
Downward Spiral actually topped them both, debuting at #2 on SoundScan’s Top 200, and selling
more than 5 million copies worldwide. The latter was also named one of Rolling Stone's “Essential
Recordings of the ‘90’s” and one of Spin’s “Greatest Albums of the 90’s.”
“As a fan, I want to listen to an album, not just singles,” says Reznor. “I want something that I can
sink my teeth into, something that I can listen to a million times, trying to get more out of it with
each spin. That’s the record I tried to make here. That is The Fragile.”
To read the latest in-the-studio story on Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross: Recording “With Teeth,” click here.
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NIN-RELATED INTERVIEWS
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Jerome Dillon Produces
Former NIN drummer Dillon’s
“nearLY: reminder” soundtrack-meets-rocktronic masterpiece started as
an attempt to sonically recreate his recurring dream. He
and engineer Brett Pierce (B. Poledouris/T. Boyle) tell us how they recorded this epic release.
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Tweaker of Sound
Grammy-winning composer/producer Chris Vrenna talks about recording and engineering the new Tweaker
record in Pro Tools, his latest favorite plug-ins, and composing music for games.
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Keith
Hillebrandt
After producing a sonic masterpiece sound CD called “Diffusion of Useful Noise,” sound designer
Keith Hillebrandt went on to design all of the sounds for NIN’s “The Fragile.” Now he’s just
produced a new sonic library full of dark, gritty textures: “Useful Noise V.2.”
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Order Jerome Dillon’s nearLY record
It’s finally here: NearLY’s debut album “reminder” is a unique collection of songs that are tied together by various musical and lyrical threads. Baroque strings and acoustic instrumentation are merged with aggressive bombastic drums and bass for a hollow and hauntingly seductive record that takes you on an isolating journey. “absolutely gorgeous.” Thenitmustbetrue.com.
RELEASE DATE: DECEMBER 20th, 2005
To order “nearLY: reminder” now, click here or click the image above.
Get music by NIN
With Teeth (dualdisc)
(click the image below)
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With Teeth (audio cd)
(click the image below)
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And All That Could Have Been (video - DVD)
(click the image below)
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And All That Could Have Been (video - VHS)
(click the image below)
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And All That Could Have Been (audio)
(click the image below)
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The Fragile (audio - 2-CD set)
(click the image below)
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Closure (video - VHS)
(click the image below)
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The Downward Spiral (audio)
(click the image below)
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Broken (audio)
(click the image below)
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Pretty Hate Machine (audio)
(click the image below)
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Interviews