The Fragile

This CD is incredible. It's NIN, nothing has changed except some updates to the sound (drum tones are a little more naturalistic and less mechanical, some new sounds from the synth area as well).The songs are powerful. Just devastating. This is what makes me long for the days of 1082 (an awesome club in Denver that now is completely weak). Rather than exclusively emphasizing the fast aggressive style that made NIN famous (read:Head Like A Hole, Perfect Drug), Trent also gets more into slower dirges and ends up being that much more psychotic and intense.

Standouts on first listen (gimme a break, I'm only on the second listen right now, and it doesn't come out until tomorrow): We're In This Together, Wretched, Just Like You Imagined, Pilgrimage, No You Don't, Somewhat Damaged, Underneath It All, and Starfuckers (natch). Actually, this is one of those rare things, a double CD with no filler.

The second CD sounds like they might be things he started writing much earlier in his career but has just finished, as there's a very Flock Of Seagulls tonality on several of the tracks on disc 2. Or maybe he's just having some retro fun. Cool Factor: the track La Mer, a cool jazz track, is certainly an odd inclusion, but I think it just makes the album that much better.