Halo 14: The Fragile
After a few years' hiatus, Reznor returned with 1999's The Fragile. By this time, the music world had gone through significant changes, and it seemed like NIN had been displaced in time. This was the first double LP of its kind to be released in a time where corporate agenda seemed to outweigh the quality of music. It was a return to the concept album, only this time Reznor had been inspired by Pink Floyd's The Wall. There are similarities in that there are several running themes as well as musical notes hidden in each track. It is a near two-hour complex approach to maintaining uniform themes and sound. It should be noted that with this release, the decision was made to use more actual instrumentation to create artificial sounding noise. What I appreciate most about The Fragile is the abstractions scattered throughout. The Way Out Is Through is a great example of this as it serves as the opener for the second half of the album, which at a run time of four minutes and seventeen seconds, only consists of four verses. Again, I feel this is another album that is flawlessly executed. It is my absolute favorite NIN album to date, for more of the same reasons previously mentioned with TDS. It's the only album I can't listen to a song out of context from. When I listen to The Fragile, it has to be from beginning to end. Part of my reasoning behind this is that I feel the experience is tarnished when taking a song out of context. The Fragile was meant to be heard in its entirety and is most rewarding when approaching it from that standpoint. It is, in my opinion, a timeless album that borrows from past concept albums, but greatly expands on arrangement and theme in such a way that it can feel very weighty at times.