Maps of Music

The Fragile (1999)

Where the lyrics of The Fragile take you, and where it was really made.

The cover is two photographs in one: a waterfall on top and the inside of a seashell below.

Key places

Nothing Studios, New Orleans (1999)

Recording site Mobile studio, 1305 Soniat Street — The album was produced at Nothing Studios in New Orleans, and the sessions ran across 1997 to 1999 in that city. The point marks the city center, not the exact building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Electrical Audio, Chicago (1999)

Recording site Electrical Audio — Supplemental drum recording for the album was done at this Chicago studio. Steve Albini is credited as the recording engineer for that session, and the point marks the studio building. Google Maps · Apple Maps

How to get there: See the map for directions.

Album story

Overview

• The third studio album by the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails
• Released as a triple album by Nothing Records and Interscope Records on September 21, 1999
• Produced by Trent Reznor and Alan Moulder, a longtime Reznor collaborator
• Recorded throughout 1997 to 1999 in New Orleans
• Departs from The Downward Spiral (1994) with ambient and electronic elements
• Continues lyrical themes of depression and drug abuse, with more instrumental sections, including entire instrumental tracks
• Promoted with three singles and the promotional single "Starfuckers, Inc."

Background

• Reznor described the album as a sequel to The Downward Spiral
• After the 1994 album, Reznor struggled privately with alcohol and drug use, which worsened after his grandmother's death
• The recording of The Fragile took place during this period
• Reznor later said withdrawal and intoxication often left him unable to write lyrics or focus on production
• In June 2000, a near-fatal overdose in London during the European leg of the Fragility Tour forced concert cancellations

Recording

• Produced by Reznor and Alan Moulder at Nothing Studios in New Orleans
• Mixed by Alan Moulder and mastered by Tom Baker
• Supplemental drum recording was done at Electrical Audio in Chicago
• Charlie Clouser and Danny Lohner contributed occasional instrumentation and composition
• The album was predominantly written and performed by Reznor alone

Cover

• Artwork designed by David Carson, with Rob Sheridan credited for the packaging
• The top section comes from a photo of a waterfall, and the bottom from a close-up of the inside of a seashell
• Carson said the cover image is a waterfall in Iceland and a seashell in the West Indies

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

Artist

Formation

• Formed in 1988 in Cleveland, Ohio, by singer-songwriter Trent Reznor.
• Reznor was the sole permanent member until Atticus Ross officially joined in 2016.
• The first live performance took place at Graffiti in Pittsburgh on October 27, 1988.
• Signed with TVT Records and later moved to Interscope Records.

Members

• Core members are Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross.
• Robin Finck, Josh Freese, and Stu Brooks form the current live lineup.
• Many former live members have been named, including Chris Vrenna, Danny Lohner, and Charlie Clouser.

Career

• Released Pretty Hate Machine (1989), Broken (1992), The Downward Spiral (1994), The Fragile (1999), and With Teeth (2005).
• Released Year Zero (2007), Hesitation Marks (2013), Bad Witch (2018), and Ghosts V and VI (2020).
• Won Grammy Awards for "Wish", "Happiness in Slavery", and "As Alive as You Need Me to Be".
• Inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2020.

Sources: en.wikipedia.org

Reception

At release

• Critics applauded the album's ambition and composition
• Some critics faulted its length and what they saw as a lack of lyrical substance
• Mojo praised it as an impressively multi-textured, satisfyingly violent sonic workout
• Alternative Press called it nothing short of astounding
• Edna Gundersen of USA Today said it was meticulously honed and twisted to challenge the listener
• Ann Powers of Spin called it a good old-fashioned headphone experience
• Jon Pareles of The New York Times said Reznor could turn studio isolation into music as cunning and disquieting as his earlier raw anger
• Brent DiCrescenzo of Pitchfork panned the lyrics as overly melodramatic
• Victoria Segal of NME called the music background and accused it of chasing crossover

Reappraisal

• The Rolling Stone Album Guide (2004) gave it three-and-a-half out of five stars, calling it fantastic from start to finish but short on memorable tunes
• AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that Reznor spent more time constructing surfaces than songs
• Exclaim! placed it at number two on its 2016 Essential Albums list for Nine Inch Nails
• Pitchfork's review of the 2017 Definitive Edition raised its score from 2.0 to 8.7

Records

• Debuted atop the Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 229,000, the band's first number-one album
• Fell to number 16 the following week, the largest drop from number one at the time
• Certified double platinum by the RIAA on January 4, 2000
• Sold 898,000 copies in the United States by May 2005
• Ranked number 341 in Rock Hard's book The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time (2005)
• Named one of the 10 best industrial metal albums and one of the 20 best metal albums of 1999 by Metal Hammer

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · es.wikipedia.org

Trivia

• The booklet credits one song "for Clara", which points to Reznor's grandmother Clara Clark
• After lukewarm sales, Interscope Records reportedly refused to fund the promotional tour, so Reznor paid for it himself
• The Fragility Tour used a triptych video display created by video artist Bill Viola
• Fight Club author Chuck Palahniuk singled out "The Wretched" and said it was neither rock 'n' roll nor classical
• Reznor said the album was a sequel to The Downward Spiral, an album about the destruction of a man

Sources: en.wikipedia.org · www.discogs.com

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