Nine Inch Nails - The Fragile

Nothing Records: 1999

This doesn't feel right. For those singles, sure, no problem. Remix EPs? Ain't no thang. Even a critically hailed album in The Downward Spiral? Relatively straight-forward, as I'd heard most of the big tunes off that one at one time or another, not to mention all the positive press its received several years after-the-fact made it easy figuring out what to expect and enjoy.

The Fragile is an entirely different case though. As Trent Reznor's third proper Nine Inch Nails album, an absurd amount of expectation was weighed upon it. Not only were folks wondering if he’d maintain his creative momentum, but might he even rescue industrial-rock from the doldrums the genre was suffering? Let’s be honest here: that scene had turned passé as nu-metal’d risen to prominence in the late ‘90s, nor was it done any favours by goofball hits like Rob Zombie’s Dragula. If ever there was a time to re-establish industrial within the public conscious as music with creative ingenuity and passion, that time was now (er, then).

Since all most remember from alternative rock at the turn of the century are bands like Limp Bizkit and Creed, it’s safe to say The Fragile failed to make the impact many hoped it could. To be fair to Reznor though, he may never have intended the album to generate such acclaim. It’s always a dubious endeavour for rock musicians to attempt the double-LP, critics ready to pounce with claims of hubris overshadowing talent. Still, Reznor had built up a decade’s worth of good will, thus The Fragile garnered plaudits for ambition, if not sales numbers.

So here's my conundrum: this album's been regarded as something of an 'art rock' experience, one that won't reveal itself with immediate catchiness, but with subtleties to be enjoyed after repeated listens - and I'm sure I will after a few more plays; hard, thrashing rock and oozing, ambient experimentation definitely makes this one enjoyed in a proper play-through. Unfortunately, due to my ridiculous self-imposed constraints, I don't get repeated plays to provide an in-depth analysis of The Fragile, merely what a couple quick listens offer mere days after I've removed the shrink-wrap. So... essentially how most enjoyed the album that first week it hit the streets.

And...? It's a good album, with subtleties I'll enjoy after repeated listen, but lacking those instantly memorable tunes one could still expect on a Nine Inch Nails release. No Closer, Wish, even Perfect Drug (the stop-gap single released a couple years prior). For sure, good songs abound on The Fragile, but they feel more as a part of a greater whole, whereas tunes off The Downward Spiral could stand alone just as well.

Yes indeed, it’s unfair that I must write a review of The Fragile without ample time to properly digest its contents. Oh well, I’m sure there’s exhaustively in-depth reviews of it floating out in interwebland. I’ll just leave off with the confirmation that, yes, it’s a worthy addition to the Nine Inch Nails legacy.

Nine Inch Nails - Further Down The Spiral

Nothing Records: 1995

I swear I never intended to get such a crash-course in Nine Inch Nails’ peak years. I figured it’d come as a slow, gradual process, assimilating Reznor’s music at a comfortable pace of my own volition. Oh so fool hardy of me to think thus. It’s almost as though ol’ Trent intended to release so much material within such a narrow alphabetical range, such that should anyone attempt to listen through their music collections in that order, they’d be forced to go through Nine Inch Nails discography almost all at once. It even makes me want to pick up The Fragile now, just to complete the process. Oh what the hell, I may as well.

Until that shows up, however, here we get the remix EP to The Downward Spiral, Further Down The Spiral. I’m not sure why it’s considered an EP though, as its runtime easily makes this a proper full-length remix album. And like all Nine Inch Nails remix projects, an attempt at creative a cohesive listening experience is repeated, a small collection of artists and producers called upon for all eleven tracks.

Returning from the Fixed remix project are industry icons Coil and J.G. Thirlwell (most well known as Foetus). Coil’s trippy, psychedelic take on The Downward Spiral actually ends up sounding like something The Orb was producing in those days (which may have contributed to Dr. Patterson getting tapped for a remix on The Perfect Drug a couple years later), while three different version of Erased play more to Coil’s twisted sense of choking soundscapes (the short Polite version notwithstanding). Meanwhile, Mr. Thirlwell gets his hands on Mr. Self Destruct, and brings the thrashing original closer to a proper industrial work; good for what it is, but his remix for Wish still ranks as his best.

Reznor adds a little distortion to Hurt, and studio associates Brian Pollack and Sean Beaven turn Self Destruction more clubby. Let’s face it though, the real draw of Further Down The Spiral is the special guest producer on hand. That’s right, let’s give it up for Rick Rubin! He gets to work with Piggy, where-

Eh? What do you mean there’s another special guest providing a remix? No he isn’t. Oh, he was approached to do so - guess someone in Reznor’s camp (Trent himself?) noticed that oddball Aphex Twin chap shared a similar noisy aesthetic, and thought he’d make for a welcome addition to the Further project. Turns out, however, Richard D. James couldn’t be bothered to even listen to the original track to remix, and simply sent some unreleased material instead (legend purports he initially used the excuse of “sped up entire song to use as a snare” to get away with it).

So you ended up with a Nine Inch Nails remix album, plus two new Aphex Twin tunes (both of which skew closer to his drill’n’bass period). Guess Futher Down The Spiral becomes essential purchasing if you’re a completist of either act.

Zenith - Flowers Of Intelligence

The Music Cartel: 1999

It almost seems like an accident. After a few years making acid techno and trance under various guises for various labels, Federico Franchi brought his Zenith moniker over to IST Records, they of the kick-ass mushroom logo. A sub-label of American hardcore outlet Industrial Strength Records, it made sense for Mr. Franchi to follow suit in what he offered them. The ensuing EP, titled The Flowers Of Intelligence, suddenly became an instant classic within hardcore circles, and the vinyl it was pressed upon a highly sought after piece of hardware for any discerning IST follower and bosh-head. The reason for this, as far as I can tell, is due to the melodies employed within the tracks, spritely counterpoints to the abrasive acid and thudding kicks in a genre that shuns any and all moments of melancholy. Okay, it’s essentially the same sort of thing that Aphex Twin was doing when he started on his ‘drill’n’bass’ style, but for the hardcore scene, Zenith’s music was fresh and unique.

Fair enough, but this curious tale doesn’t end with a much-beloved piece of rare-ish vinyl. A few years after that EP’s release, demand was high enough to warrant a proper album release. But IST don’t do CDs, mang. Enter The Music Cartel, a label more known for trippy, stoner rock and metal than anything electronic orientated. They did dabble in industrial music though, and Zenith’s work suggested an influence from that scene’s noisy, coarse aesthetics. Good enough for a proper release on their label, so the Flowers Of Intelligence was brought on over, with various other unreleased tracks in Mr. Franchi's backlog rounding things out to proper long-player length.

The result we have is an interesting mix of gabber beats, touching melody, and rough mastering. It's hard to tell whether the low-fi quality of this music was intentional or not; again, maybe a happy accident. Part of the appeal in the industrial aesthetic is how it takes conventional music and warps it into a parody of itself. Enjoy thundering 909s? Now they're diluted to such a point you feel their intent, but not their power. Haunting winds and mournful synths are abstracted such that they turn into something mysterious and puzzling. It's these attributes that gives Flowers Of Intelligence a degree of class you'd never find in regular hardcore circles, and wound up getting Zenith noticed by the IDM crowds. Say, he makes some interesting stuff, kinda in a retro-Warp sort of way. What else has he made- oh my God! What’s this hardstyle nonsense?

Flowers Of Intelligence isn’t likely to blow anyone away who’s digested the entire works of Richard D. James, as Zenith’s song craft primarily relies on extended loops fed through effects. They are catchy loops though, especially so if you enjoy crunchy acid or trancey hooks. Hell, the tunes are worth a look-see just to find out why they were so highly sought after back in the day. It’s definitely a cut above your typical hardcore schlock.

Nine Inch Nails - Fixed

TVT Records: 1992

With the release of Pretty Hate Machine, Trent Reznor made his Nine Inch Nails project an overnight success story. In adding more punk angst, it dragged the industrial scene out of quirky obscurity where only noise terrorists and silly jack-booted Belgians and Candadians existed, and back into the radar of rock enthusiasts. Sensing the momentum, the ensuing NIN tour utilized far more thrash, which further inspired Reznor in the studio while making the Broken EP, abandoned most of their debut’s obvious electronic influence altogether. Or maybe he was just really, really, really pissed off by TVT Records’ control over his work. Anyhow, Broken was a success as well, but the band never bothered with a tour for it, likely because Reznor was already in the process of making The Downward Spiral. And with that, I thank you, oh Lord Wiki.

In the meanwhile, a remix EP for Broken was released, titled Fixed. Remixes for industrial were hardly new, but as NIN leaned quite heavy into rock’s arena at this time, it probably came off confusing to all the thrash kids eager for more. Tough beans, chaps, you’re about to get a history listen here, as Coil’s in the mother-fuckin’ studio. Something of a super-group of the early-early industrial scene, having the duo lend their noisy blessing to Reznor’s project properly legitimized NIN with even the most stubborn doubters. Their mix of Gave Up chops the tune up and adds plenty of electronic noise, but the beats are almost pure rave (Belgian new beat!) with their clicky-clack percussion complementing.

Another industrial luminary shows up for a remix of the kick-ass Wish, J.G. Thirlwell, he of Foetus fame. He takes the thoroughly thrash elements of the tune, runs ‘em through a sample grinder, and adds more tribal rhythms. Hey, this shit is even better than the original! At nine-plus minutes, it’s like the Awesome Extended Mix, or something. (in case you couldn’t enough of that, there’s also Fist F*@$ at the other end of the EP, essentially the ‘dub’ version)

The other three Fixed tracks are Reznor and bandmate Chris Vrenna tinkering with the song themselves. Their re-rub of Happiness In Slavery is more of a regular EBM take on the tune, while Throw This Away and Screaming Slave sound like experimental test-runs of what The Downward Spiral would feature in finished form. Not essential, but it does provide the EP with a little variety.

Remix EPs have a tendency to be pointless fluff, save the odd killer cut (hint: that’s Wish in this case), but Reznor wanted Fixed to stand on its own just as solidly as the Broken EP, and as a body of Nine Inch Nails music, this CD is definitely one of the stronger singles to be found. This band was only getting better as the ‘90s took form. Thank fuck I’m finally discovering this, even if I’m two decade late to the party.

BT - ESCM

Reprise Records: 1997

The inlay of BT’s sophomore album ESCM has the following printed out: “This recording is best suited to a nice pair of Sony MDR-7506 headphones.” Really? They’re good cans, but c’mon, those were the Dre Beats of the day - more of a fashion statement, especially within the DJ world. My Sennheiser HD650s are leaps and bounds better than the Sony model. Okay, that model didn’t hit the streets for half a decade after this CD came out, but what of the Sennheiser HD580s? They’d been around since ’93, and were considered the audiophile standard for headphones in the mid-hundreds price range. And BT’s saying even those won’t do with his album? Fuck you, Rick Berman.

Whoops, sorry. I’ve had Plinkett-isms stuck in my head lately. Still, a memorable bit from those Star Wars reviews at RedLetterMedia was producer Rick “Berman” going on about how CG technology allowed Lucas to create movies that are “so dense, [with] so much going on all the time.” Gee, sounds like someone else abusing technological capabilities, don’t it.

But hey, credit due where it’s deserved. Mr. Transeau created many sound effects himself, and as we’re dealing with ‘90s BT, the results aren’t as superfluous as his later efforts would end up. Case in point: Orbitus Teranium, a bare-bone bit of breakbeat supplemented with stutter and glitch effects at various points. In some ways, it’s nothing but a showcase of this technology, but as it capably serves the rhythmic momentum, it works. Most of the effects BT uses throughout ESCM are in this vein, and I’ve no problem with it, so long as the music it’s supporting can stand on its own. And that’s where ol’ Brian sometimes fumbles.

BT displays many influences and inspirations, but his songwriting can’t keep up. Opener Firewater is a perfect example, for the most part a solid “I can Enigma too” slice of world beat. Yet, at the back end of the track, BT suddenly chirps in with singing of his own, accompanied by folksy acoustic guitar strums and… wait, is this the same song? And… it’s already over. What was the point of that? Other instances crop up that are nothing but doodly bits of orchestral swells or piano tinkering because, hey, BT can play such music, but doesn’t know how to write a regular song around them. Then there’s Solar Plexus, the ‘rocktronica’ track even the most ardent BT fan scratches their head over. It’s nothing more than Mr. Transeau going “I can Trent Reznor too”, but what would Nine Inch Nails fans say about it? “Fuck you, Rick Transeau.”

Still, enjoyment outweighs the frustration. Flaming June’s a bona-fide classic, Jan Johnston’s contributions are pleasant enough, and early BT-Breaks are skill, three cuts of which we get. ESCM is considered a flawed gem, and perhaps BT realized this, using a mock-up of the 2001 Monolith for cover art. Or maybe he couldn’t clear the rights to the original as an image, resorting to a phonylith instead.

Nine Inch Nails - The Downward Spiral

Nothing Records: 1994

One of ...oh, who knows number of industrial albums you're supposed to have, even if you're not a fan of industrial music. I've barely scratched the surface of that scene, so there may be at least two dozen releases the discerning rivethead will point you to. The Downward Spiral, however, received critical acclaim across the rags, properly exposing the rock world to the world of industrial ...again (oh, how the originators were forgotten because of EBM). All hail Reznor, then, for bringing respect back to the industrial scene! ...for a few years anyway.

Man, what the hell am I supposed to say about this one? I've only just recently heard this album in full, although I'm familiar with the big hits like Closer, Hurt, and March Of The Pigs. The fact it's taken me this long to check out an album that's hailed as a classic of the 90s – of any genre – leaves me soundly kicking myself. It even falls into my sphere of musical interests, being electronic and all. Yeah, there's thrashing metal and other elements of rock throughout, but that shouldn't have shied me away from it. I liked The Prodigy and The Chemical Brothers, after all, and Trent Reznor's a far better producer and musician than either of those acts.

I have only the music industry to blame. 1994 was still reeling from the loss of their current rock poster child, Kurt Cobain, and left scrounging for another Next Big Thing. Instead of scouring for potential new stars in other scenes, they stuck things out with grunge, hoping acts like Pearl Jam, Stone Temple Pilots, or, if you were Canadian, Our Lady Peace would be the next Nirvana. Or hey, how about that Brit-wave thing, with Oasis and Blur maybe rescuing rock from post-grunge doldrums! Oh please, anything but industrial, where only weird computer hackers enjoy it. They are the only ones that enjoy it, right?

After all, who could like this? Okay, so The Downward Spiral has some amazing production going on; an incredible attention to all the little details, yet keeping things smoothly flowing as each song progresses. If Reznor’s a good musician then, why can’t he make something more radio friendly? All that choking industrial distortion, creepy sound effects, eerie ambient passages, counter-pointed acoustic melodies, and shout-singing that sounds as though the machinery of society is holding all his angst back - that no matter how much he tries to make his voice heard, it will forever come through only in a digitized, garbled mess of noise. Geez, none of that can be played on any respectable airwave. Maybe that “fuck you like an animal” song, if he cleans up the language.

So thus, The Downward Spiral was initially relegated to the fringes, where yours truly never noticed it until the momentum it caused for industrial rock made it impossible to ignore. Would I have liked it had I heard it the year it came out? Hell no, I had ‘techno’! *kick, kick*

Fear Factory - Remanufacture (Cloning Technology)

Roadrunner Records: 1997

Nah, fuck it! I get to invoke a reissue loophole here, in that all the remix material was bundled on a second CD of the Demanufacture package (plus a couple extra tagged on the end of CD1). Thus, Remanufacture is technically labeled as CD2 of its parent album in my media player list. Since it was initially an entirely different release though, I’ll talk about it separately.

Story goes Rhys Fulber and Bill Leeb were commissioned to do remixes of material from Fear Factory’s first album, Soul Of A New Machine, which led to Fulber becoming the band’s unofficial fifth member. Rather than making another EP length remix album, it was decided to give the full remix treatment to Demanufacture, each song having a re-rub to itself. Fulber was tasked with the bulk of the work, but several other tunes were sent to other producers, giving some much needed variety to the project.

I know what you're thinking. Remix albums suck, for the simple fact there's no cohesion or communication among the various remixers. Agreed, which is why having only four keeps things musically tight and flowing from track to track. They aimed to make Remanufacture just as solid of a standalone album as the parent one, and though it's not quite as good, it's still a fun ride.

Unsurprisingly, Fulber takes his remixes fully down the industrial road. Though he throws a couple surprises here and there - Zero Signal is turned into a bass-sludge EBM work titled Faithless - his work mostly retains the originals' pace and attributes. It's as though he's now the main attraction with Fear Factory backing him rather than the other way around on Demanufacture. The other remixer of note was Junkie XL, who provides two cuts for Remanufacture, and a few additional ones that initially only appeared on the Burn single but are included with the reissue as well. I've always felt he's best at block-rockin' big beats, and he's in as fine of form as ever here.

The show stealers, however, have to be Kingsize and DJ Dano. The latter goes full-on gabber with T-1000, outclassing all the other gabber remixes that were done for New Breed overseas (and yes, they're also included on the reissue). Kingsize's remix is utterly bonkers though! Titled Cloning Technology, it brings all the best aspects of big beat while making brilliant use of Fear Factory's thrashier side. Just when you think this track can't get any more headbangin', he adds another layer of intense mosh, over and over again. Some out there might be miffed that Replica's morbid theme (about a person born from rape) is essentially wiped away for the purpose of ravaging dance floors, but then that argument can be made for most of Remanufacture.

It does make me wonder how many within the metal scene appreciated these remixes. They certainly enjoyed Demanufacture enough to hail it a classic, but I don’t hear much mention of this one. Their loss, then.

Fear Factory - Demanufacture

Roadrunner Records: 1995/2005

Future Shock Week continues with Fear Factory’s Demanufacture! Huh, you didn’t realize we’re in the middle of a themed review week? Neither did I, until I noticed this trend starting with The FSOL’s post-apocalyptic Dead Cities. Of course there was Deltron 3030 just now, and Deepwater Black’s based around a future where humanity’s wiped out by a global pandemic. Even Deep Forest could count, hinting at a future where society has gone tribal again! Or maybe I just like Future Shock music, and it’s a total coincidence that we’d get a run of them in alphabetical order. Yeah, that's it.

I admit having almost no experience with this genre. I'm not Metal Mike nor Johnny Thrash, though I've had the odd roommate that was. There are undeniable classics to be found within that scene but very, very few I’m compelled to get for myself. This is one of those exceptions, as Fear Factory appealed to the 'techno boy' in me with their industrial leanings. Plus, what teenager of the 90s could resist Zero Signal, as featured in the classic Mortal Kombat soundtrack?

Demanufacture is a rarity within the death metal scene, dealing with futurism rather than historical fantasy and the like. The topics sung, growled, and bellowed by lead singer Burton C. Bell, though often covering contemporary issues (at least, contemporary for the 90s), work just as well if envisioned in an apocalyptic landscape like something out of the Terminator franchise; in fact, the band very much used Terminator 2 as inspiration. Helping them out with this was Rhys Fulber (of Front Line Assembly and Delerium fame), adding synth backings and industrial textures to complete the future shock vision. Fear Factory still dominate, but Fulber's touch greatly enhances tracks like Zero Signal, New Breed, and Pisschrist.

So the music's all around solid stuff, but I’m astounded by how good of a headphone experience it is, something I never thought I'd say about death metal. As long as you go for the ride, you’ll be swept up in by Demanufacture's atmosphere. It's like watching the opening scene of T2 for the whole damn album. The gatling gun drumming (double kick pedal!), the grinding machinery of the bass, the encompassing guitars and synths; the triumphant highs and the suffering lows, everything. I know I keep saying this about such albums, but it really does reward a full play though. Everyone should immerse themselves into it at least once, even if you don't like metal. Well, so long as you don't mind the thrashing side of rock anyway.

Sadly, it took me years to properly do that, despite knowing about the band since, um, the Mortal Kombat movie. Truth be told, the only material from Fear Factory I had was the remix album, Remanufacture, and burned from an aforementioned roommate at that. Not until Demanufacture was reissued with the remix CDs did I finally hear it in full. I’d talk about those too, but they come out of alphabetical order, so…

Nine Inch Nails - Closer

Island Records: 1994

Also known as that “fuck you like an animal” song. In fact, I think it’s all anyone knows about this song. Well, except for the opening kick-snare, which immediately alerts people that the “fuck you like an animal” song is starting.

And no, I didn’t go back on my word from the last review. This is electronic music. Nearly all industrial music is to a degree. However, because it’s primarily the rock scene that latched onto the sound, it's often overlooked when considering the whole of electronic music’s heritage. There’s more to it than that, of course, but I’ll get into it when I’ve an album more appropriate.

Meanwhile, let’s talk Nine Inch Nails. Or, maybe you can tell me more? Truth is I’ve barely given Trent Reznor’s band notice over the years. What I heard, I thought was cool (especially that “fuck you like an animal” song everyone was playing!) but my bed was firmly in the ‘techno’ camps back when NIN was blowing up, and my limited purchasing power reflected that. Fortunately, now that I have disposable income, I can go back and rediscover that which I foolishly bypassed. Or, in this case, gather up friends’ CD collections whenever they’re looking to offload them.

As a single, Closer is an odd one. Apparently it was released as a double-digi pack, but with only one CD within, the second of which had to be purchased at a later date. Guess that’s one way to test fanbase loyalty, and I’d be astounded if anyone could pull it off now.

Of the two CDs, there isn't much difference in terms of tone. The first has the version of Closer everyone’s familiar with even to this day (“Hey, Bro! It’s that ‘fuck you like an animal’ song!”), a funky Jack Dangers remix that almost sounds like what a Lenny Kravitz cover would end up as, and various other industrial-metal, noise, and sonic experimental cuts scattered about the rest. The second CD mostly reworks other songs from The Downward Spiral, the main highlight being an awesome EBM-thrash version of Closer called Closer To God. Compared to the first CD, these cuts are a nice break from hearing Reznor constantly telling me he wants to fuck me like an animal (wait, huh?).

Overall, this is a solid single for fans of 90s industrial - the ironic-fascist, angst driven, cyberpunk sort. If you’re just looking for the “fuck you like an animal” song though, best stick with the simply titled track Closer .