Trent Reznor needs a puppy
By Summer Mendoza
" ... Watching, waiting, commiserating. Say it ain't so, I will not go, turn the lights off, carry me home... " - Blink 182, "All the Small Things."
Someone really needs to buy Trent Reznor a puppy.
As frontman, and ultimately creator of Nine Inch Nails, Reznor's deep depression surfaces after five long years on the new album The Fragile.
Having first been introduced to NIN when the track "Head Like a Hole" appeared in the opening credits of the forgettable Corey Haim straight-out-of-rehab-comeback-vehicle, Prayer of the Rollerboys, (hey, I was in sixth grade and not quite over my Corey Haim phase, okay) I was quite anxious to hear the first full-length (and then some) album from NIN since 1994's The Downward Spiral.
I'm happy to say that the double CD The Fragile doesn't disappoint. In the new album, Reznor manages to add new elements to the undeniably trademark sound of Nine Inch Nails. Most different is the sound of the percussion on the album. The loss of long time Nail drummer, Chris Vrenna behind the kit is a noticeable change in the sound and line-up for NIN, though it provided room for musical growth.
With Fragile, Reznor adds cellos, violins, and raw sounding guitar licks where there were once computerized simulations of instruments, while somehow managing to keep the industrial sound that put NIN on the map.
Disk one, or "Left" as it is labeled, contains music that appears to pick up where Spiral left off. This includes the current single, "We're in this Together" and the title track, which NIN performed at this year's lack-luster MTV Video Music Awards. Though the sound is similar, the content has changed a bit from Spiral. Unlike Spiral, The songs on Fragile don't seem to have a common story, and are more about someone who's hit bottom and is very lonely, longing for companionship."Right," or disk two contains my favorite tracks on the album. Track two, "Into the Void" sounds reminiscent of Upstairs at Eric's, by Yaz, which will remain one of my favorite albums for as long as I draw breath, hence, I love it a lot.
My absolute favorite song on Fragile is "Starf***ers, Inc." I love this song for many reasons, only one of them happens to be that it is a blatant jab at one-time Reznor protŽgŽ Marilyn Manson. With lyrics like, "I am every f***ing thing and just a little more/I sold my soul but don't you dare call me a whore" - not to mention the closing line, "Now I belong I'm one of the beautiful ones," - I can only assume Reznor and Manson won't be sending each other Christmas cards this year.The Fragile is definitely worth picking up, and chances are the NIN U.S. tour will be just as good.
Summer was going to write about 311's new CD, but it came out on Tuesday, and our deadlines were before that ... and her pleas to the gods of Capricorn Records for an advanced copy seem to have fallen on deaf ears. To console herself, she's probably going to watch License to Drive or Dream a Little Dream to relive those Corey Haim years.