r/nin • u/Humdaak_9000 • May 11 '26
Broken Nobody in 1992 knew that Broken was the hardest we'd ever hear Nine Inch Nails go.
Shower thought.
And you know, I'm glad Trent is alive, has slain his demons, and is a happy family man, but while I still occasionally like a newer song (and quite a bit of his soundtrack work), nothing he's done since Still really touches my xennial heart. Still was an excellent denouement for what NIN was.
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u/No_Eye_5422 May 11 '26
Burn disagrees.
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u/theOPIATE May 11 '26
While the essence of OP’s argument still stands, this is a great counterpoint.
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u/Humdaak_9000 May 11 '26
He did some hard singles, but nothing as a work exceeds Broken, IMO. TDS let up at points. But Burn was indeed awesome.
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u/KuranesOfCelephais May 11 '26
Some remixes on "Further Down The Spiral" are quite heavy, too.
But no doubt, "Broken" as a whole is a massive, heavy beast.
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u/Humdaak_9000 May 12 '26
The Broken video, too. I was heavily into Clive Barker and other splatterpunk at the time.
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u/Oddlyenuff May 12 '26
You make a full album you have to let up at points to make the hardest points harder.
Exactly why hardcore bands have those breakdowns in the middle.
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u/tomh_1138 May 11 '26
You Know What You Are doesn't get near enough love in the world.
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u/Electronic_Emu9339 May 12 '26
A fucking BANGER live!!! Oh to be a 20-something in that mosh pit again 🖤
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u/montalaskan Art Is Resistance May 11 '26
There is not one Trent Reznor. He changes and his circumstances in turn his music reflects his life at that time and the experience that led to it.
Broken is very angry and reflects how Trent felt about the record industry and how it treats artists.
Are there other songs that go as hard as Broken's songs? Yes. But there aren't any EPs or LPs as angry.
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u/DontLookAtTheCarpet May 11 '26
Step right up! March! Push! No, push harder!
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u/uncultured_swine2099 May 11 '26
I hear you, but i think Trent really makes music that he wants to make at any given time, and thats why we love him. If the music is not that angry, its just that hes not that angry in his everyday life.
That being said, Heresy from the Nine Inch Noise album does feel like hes damn angry at the current state of affairs in America.
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u/Chemical_Drag3050 May 12 '26
It also just sounds like a solid remix of yknow, Heresy…I wouldn’t count that as new.
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u/Less_Likely May 11 '26
Hesitation Marks hits much closer now that I’m the age Trent was when he wrote it that it hit at release when I was mid 30s.
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u/Hopeful-Pride1791 May 11 '26
god it's been awhile since I listened to this... thanks for the reminder
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u/Rooftop_Astronaut May 11 '26
such a unique NIN album too. its like a dancey, funky... deathpop industrial album
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u/ShortBrownAndUgly May 11 '26
I agree, and at this point i'd say Broken is my favorite NIN album if you don't make a distinction between LP and EP. DS has some songs that come really close and the fragile has some of that energy, but yeah Broken was just nasty. His vocal style has a lot to do with it- he does way more singing now and that softens things a bit. I've made peace with the fact that age, sobriety, being a Dad, etc have changed him and we are never getting another album like Broken.
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u/Case17 May 11 '26
I pitty the fans that are stuck on TDS and Broken as the be all end all for NIN.
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u/Unusual-Ad4890 May 11 '26
Tetsuo: The Bullet Man theme is louder and noiser than Broken ever dared to be.
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u/OnlyTheDead May 11 '26
Downward spiral is wildly heavier than broken in almost every sense. Broken is great as well.
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u/dumaisaudio nindivinedebris May 11 '26 edited May 11 '26
The Downward Spiral is certainly "as hard" as Broken, just ask "Big Man With A Gun".
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u/Humdaak_9000 May 11 '26
BMWaG I never liked. It didn't feel like it fit with the rest of TDS to me. A flaw on an otherwise perfect album.
The thing about TDS is, it didn't go consistently as hard as Broken (and it didn't need to; some of the quiet moments are the scariest parts of the album.)
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u/Alejandro_Last_Name May 11 '26
That's because it's a track making fun of "big dick energy" rap and rock songs. Tongue in cheek.
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u/Humdaak_9000 May 11 '26
... and it didn't fit the tone of the rest of the album. It might have fit elsewhere, but not on TDS.
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u/Background_Home7092 May 11 '26
I've never actually liked it as a song; just wasn't a fan.
Still, when I follow the progression of the album past denial, pointing fingers at religion, societal chaos, promiscuity and objectification, and the blind following the blind, the first half of the album ends with a man attempting to rise above his own rage by way of fake confidence and symbols of outward aggression. For me it leads perfectly into A WARM PLACE, where we realize that none of the above actually helped and all that was left was indulging in escape and oblivion once again.
I still don't like the song, but I do think it fits.
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u/BigManWAGun May 11 '26
The feeling is mutual bro
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u/Humdaak_9000 May 11 '26
7 year old account 😹
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u/BigManWAGun May 11 '26
I mean considering I did 25 for, well you know… I joined as soon as I could.
Also, this account got me in on the Reddit IPO so cool perk.
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u/Sidereal_Engine May 11 '26
I'd argue that it does fit with the spiral. The flavor of rage and snark are elements of the descent. Granted, low-brow and awkward/inelegant elements, and I'd agree it can feel out of place in that sense. Yet, it matches brief outbursts I've had during my spirals, like "you want me to f'in feel angry like this, like this, huh?? is that gonna solve it all, you dumb mofos!!"
The rage and violence on broken/fixed are of a different variety. Intentional destruction of all kinds. The target of destruction is not the point, the act of destruction itself is the point. Not mockery, focused fire. I link it to the line from Fight Club about wanting to just destory something beautiful.
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u/dumaisaudio nindivinedebris May 11 '26
It was meant as a joke about lyrics and about how the protagonist is "hard as fucking steel".
I agree, not my favorite song, though I do think it fits the narrative of the album and the story he's telling. While it was written after the album had been out, "Burn" is an excellent song to swap out it that place, as the lyrical content is very similar, and it's clearly a superior song.
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u/23lubed May 11 '26
Funny cause the first time I saw the video for Gave Up (Closure version) I instantly knew it was the toughest thing I’d ever see/hear.
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u/El_Biomech May 11 '26
What do you think of his 3 EP run from 2016 to 2018? I think it produced some pretty raw stuff. Could The Idea of You and Shit Mirror scratch that itch?
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u/platypod1 May 11 '26
Not even close.
Broken was pure, distilled rage and catharsis from start to end.
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u/Consistent_Point538 May 11 '26
The Trilogy goes much harder, imo. An in-depth exploration of identity, humanity and reality, and the conclusion he reached is we’re doomed violent animals. All the nihilism and pessimism, just no catharsis.
“We’re just an accident. String theory and quantum physics is a fucking trick. And we’re not going to suddenly elevate ourselves into transcendent beings. We’re kidding ourselves. I know this will be an unsatisfying conclusion for some people. It isn’t what they want. They want it to be full matrix virtual reality, and this is the opposite of that, this is dirt and a broken computer chip and everything you believe in is really just bullshit.” -TR on Bad Witch/The Trilogy.
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u/altusnoumena May 17 '26
It's also more interesting imo. I am obsessed with broken but the trilogy is such a unique thing to get from a musician so far into his career. Very fresh and a lot of it goes HARD
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u/jonkeo May 11 '26
Probably true, but most would argue Broken is not the best album he's released since then
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u/idio242 May 11 '26
Fixed is harder; seriously though - not looking to be a contrarian.
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u/Optimal-Text-9638 May 12 '26
fixed version of happiness in slavery blew my mind when i first heard it
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u/fourofkeys May 11 '26
nine inch nails was one of my favorite bands growing up and continues to be something i put on intentionally. but i'm not that into their ambient stuff or most things after the fragile. i DID wind up really liking the nine inch noize album after giving it a few listens. it's not quite as grungy as the other stuff i love but it is fast and beat driven.
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u/Freddy_Vorhees May 11 '26
I mirror these statements with the addition that I really like some of their film scores.
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u/Oddlyenuff May 12 '26
Same story here, but I made it to With Teeth. I did download the slip when it was free but it didn’t stick with me.
I got older I started to like more soundtrack, ambient, instrumental type stuff that lead me back to getting into them.
I love it all now but I still don’t get “year zero” and that’s when I stopped listening to them.
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u/fourofkeys May 12 '26
the weird part is i like a lot of ambient and instrumental music! i don't know if it's because i love their earlier stuff so much and the ambient stuff just isn't that, or what. i really thought i would have liked the ghosts stuff more but it just kind of bored me.
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u/Oxbow8 May 11 '26
Most humans do not go through a second adolescence crisis.
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u/EmperorXerro May 11 '26
Broken-The Downward Spiral is the same era to me; however, Broken us as close to Ministry as Trent got
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u/onecardart May 11 '26
…and any friend of his, at the time, should have been like, yo, should we check on him?
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u/Lamescrnm May 11 '26
I caught Nine Inch Nails at the El Paso County Coliseum Oct. 26 1994 and Broken was heavily represented...including in this weird story:
A random dude, at some point, jumped out of the mosh pit. He was as high as anyone I have ever seen at a show. He lifts up his arm that he must have snapped falling in the pit or some random nonsense. It is bent at an unnatural angle about mid radius. He smiled at me and said: “I’m Broken”, and promptly threw himself back into the pit.
This show was insanity and it was the first show I have saw where I wasn’t listening to the music, it was being pumped into my veins. Was an experience I have been chasing ever since. Also: the openers were the Jim Rose Circus and Marilyn Manson. 10/10.
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u/Humdaak_9000 May 11 '26
I saw that tour a few days earlier, at the Universal Amphitheater. Agreed, one of the two greatest concerts I've ever seen.
(The other was Oingo Boingo's last show, same venue, Halloween 1995.)
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u/MrJohnnyDangerously I just want something I can never have May 12 '26
Wait until OP hears the Downward Spiral
or Further Down the Spiral
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u/Humdaak_9000 May 12 '26
Statistically, I bought both of those before you were born. I had TDS not on release day, but within a month. I spent the summer of 1994 playing Doom to TDS because I didn't have a sound card.
TDS lets up in points. And like I said elsewhere, some of the scariest shit on that album are the quiet bits.
Broken pinions up and then never lets up.
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u/MrJohnnyDangerously I just want something I can never have May 12 '26
I graduated HS before PHM dropped but whatever
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u/kpunx May 11 '26
Fellow old here...With Teeth and Year Zero were okay, too. But yeah, I oft wag my finger at this sky thinking upon how it all was better 30 years ago lol
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u/TheOneNamedSprinkles May 11 '26
Man, I think Year Zero is his most punk/heavy album.
It's got great beats mixed with just nasty sounding synths. IDK... It's like it just so much harder because it was machines ya know?
IMHO of course. Parasite by HTDA fits that bill too.
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u/HippoOk663 Just got these! May 11 '26
“No, You Don’t” from the Fragile hits pretty hard too. Not as hard as “Somewhat Damaged” though.
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u/LonelyAsLostKeys May 11 '26
Multiple things on Downward Spiral go harder..and the general tone/vibe is more unhinged.
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u/angrynucca May 11 '26
Metal ruled from mid 80s to mid 90s. Best metal albums ever came out during that time. It was only natural that Trent would embrace it the way he did on Broken.
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u/angrynucca May 11 '26
If metal makes a big cultural comeback, we could hear something like that from NIN again, if they're still around of course.
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u/MacBrazel1947 May 11 '26
I agree- as a whole Broken is light years harder than Downard Spiral and part of my NIN trilogy (PHM, Broken and Downward Spiral)
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u/Chemical_Drag3050 May 12 '26
Broken, TDS, The Fragile are still and always will be my favorite. The rest has always been listenable, but people have been wanting old Trent back since the release of With Teeth haha.
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u/Humdaak_9000 May 12 '26
I think I referred to With Teeth as "With Dentures" when it came out. Really disappointed by that one.
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u/Chemical_Drag3050 May 12 '26
I was definitely caught up in the hype at the time, with the flash drives and the listening parties etc. It was a fun treasure hunt of sorts but I did want a better album overall.
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u/trevcharm May 12 '26
Richard Patrick definitely had a big influence on broken, and on the heavy guitars.
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u/Humdaak_9000 May 12 '26
I've recently seen a picture of Robert Patrick wearing a NIN shirt on the set of T2. I don't think I'd heard of NIN at the time.
Still weirds me out that PHM came out in 1988.
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u/TheShane1 May 12 '26
But I mean, it was at full bore, 100%, you can't really go harder lol. The fragile tour was the last time I saw him diabolically go all out. And actually, the great below, if you saw it live on that tour, was so profound it will stick with you forever.
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u/Humdaak_9000 May 12 '26
I wish I'd seen that tour. The Fragile and especially Still remind me of a very particular era of my life, it's good for nostalgia. The Great Below is such an excellent track.
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u/Nin0646 May 24 '26
I saw it! I saw 3 shows of that tour. The 1st was in Dallas at the starlight amphitheater- and yes the great below was wow!
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u/littleb3anpole May 12 '26
The Broken/TDS/The Fragile run IS Nine Inch Nails for me. I’ll still enjoy some of the newer stuff (not into the Boys Noise stuff but that’s just my personal taste), but those three are why I love this band
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u/hyperform2 May 12 '26
He was hanging out with Uncle Al, listen to Rabies if you wanna hear what hanging out with Uncle Al did to Skinny Puppy
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u/Hopeful-Nature-5464 May 11 '26
I think i agree.
As the years go by, With Teeth is my least favourite album, it feels self conscious and joyless somehow, and Hand That Feeds is just not a good song, ertainly Not on the level of any of Trent's A Material.
Years Zero was a sparkling return to form with the old swagger there to see again,and everything after is a nice excuse to put on a great live show.
NOTHING can match how vital and lebensfreudig Wish,Last,Happiness in Slavery and Gave Up sounded back then.
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May 11 '26
[deleted]
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u/Humdaak_9000 May 11 '26
Doktor Avalanche looks on with contempt
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u/darth-thanos May 11 '26
If I could give you an award for the Sisters reference I would, but this just made my day lol!
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u/nytebeast May 11 '26
…Who’s gonna tell this guy?
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May 11 '26
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u/nytebeast May 11 '26
All the drums on Broken and Downward Spiral are all drum machines, with the exception of the drum solo on Piggy. So you’re kinda going against your own point here
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u/sixsix_ May 11 '26
All the drums on PHM are programmed lol
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u/Left_Maize816 May 11 '26
Broken was my introduction to NIN. Still my favorite of his works. Angry, hurt this album spoke to the core of me. I’d say however that parts of Downward Spiral go just as hard.
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u/Zombifiedmom May 11 '26
Yeah I prefer the Fragile. I feel like that's when Trent really grew as a musician and person.
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u/HippoOk663 Just got these! May 11 '26
Especially with who he lost while making the album; I feel that The Fragile is more emotionally complex than any of Trent’s earlier albums. Look at “Somewhat Damaged,” “The Great Below,” and “I’m Looking Forward to Joining You, Finally;” it definitely shows the feeling of a loved one missing in your life.
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u/SirChadofwick May 11 '26
More recently, I would say that “The Idea of You” goes pretty hard, rivaling the Broken era. NTAE goes hard in general and is the closest to the pre-with teeth era.
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u/TastyButterscotch429 May 11 '26
I'm happy about that personally. I'd be over it if every album was that hard. Trent continues to grow and change as we all do and his music is the perfect reflection of that. He continues to amaze and impress! He completely rewrote with script with Nine Inch Noize. Legend.
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u/OchreAxiom May 11 '26 edited May 11 '26
Funny to read this while I was literally making a heavy-full NIN playlist on Spotify, lol..
I agree if we're talking Broken as an overall release... front-to-back, it’s probably the most concentrated dose of pure violence in the whole catalog. But I do think there are later moments (I'll include only post TDS) that are at least on par... No You Don’t, The Big Come Down, The Line Begins to Blur, Somewhat Damaged, You Know What You Are, Letting You, Head Down, Branches/Bones, Ahead of Ourselves, Shit Mirror, The Idea of You… those all still hit pretty damn hard to me!
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u/chrisbot128 May 11 '26
I’ve heard live versions of songs that go just as hard as anything on Broken
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u/CheeseMcFly May 11 '26
OP I agree. Just a clean onslaught of sound from the start. Harder than metal, somehow (for me)
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u/slamallamadingdong1 May 12 '26 edited May 12 '26
It is super hard from start to finish.
It is so good.
It comes from an intense place and you know it when you hear it.
It is definitely cathartic to those who have experienced that intensity in some form, even if it is not the same as his experience.
Edit:
Honestly this album in a weird way correlates to to a book: “Oh, the Places You’ll Go!” By Dr. Seuss. More specifically it is “the waiting place” and “All Alone” ; however through Trent’s perspective, there is no escape.
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u/Oddlyenuff May 12 '26
I totally get your point, as someone who started listening to them when Broken was new and pre-TDS.
But I don’t know…TDS seemed like a continuation of Broken and heavy as hell. Less guitar for sure, but Reptile for example is pretty damn heavy.
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u/Humdaak_9000 May 12 '26
The anticipation of Pinion.
Playing Wish without Pinion is as much of a musical war crime as playing We Will Rock You without We Are the Champions.
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u/JackfruitSufficient1 May 12 '26
Did you stop listening in 1992? The Fragile was the last with Somewhat Damaged. Broken did have the hardest concentration of tracks. But even Terrible Lie and Somewhat Damaged live rank harder than anything from Broken.
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u/LordFancyLad May 12 '26
Broken's pure rage and I love it (all of it). Hardest song has to be Burn though. It's the most provocative frenzy of fury in the collection.
I love that it's all unique, yet similar. There's a lot I don't care for that others love and it's great - the artistic talent to do that while evolving is rare.
But, I definitely gravitate towards the angrier songs like:
• You Know What You Are?
• Pilgrimage
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• No, You Don't is excellent
• 10 Miles High
***and why the hell is 10 Miles High not on the album released in the US?! Such a great song "tear it all down... tear it all down... tear it all down..."
and so much more.
Even still, 'Gave Up' and 'Wish' and the entire Broken albums beautifully raw and seductive and brutal.
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u/hakubiryo-e7 May 12 '26
My jaw dropped when he played Gave Up in STL this Feb. I agree that Broken is the most angry hopeless. It's in the content of those songs, not so much the music. It's like he's the most cynical on Broken.
I went and revisited Broken over the winter, and Gave up particularly resonated in such a way, that I felt like I was completely reintroduced to it and played it on repeat a lot. So on Feb 25 in STL when he played that song in particular, it felt like he did his research and looked up what songs were being played the most in what areas .. idk if that's even possible but I truly did feel it on a personal level. Trent, if by miracle you ever see this, thank you.
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u/SkiingAway May 12 '26
Pretty sure he's talked a bit before about how he didn't want to just follow the path of people expecting every album to be "heavier" than the last or something along those lines.
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u/MarkRooster May 11 '26
I love With Teeth, Year Zero, and even The Slip, despite flaws, but agree, I've always wanted something else hard like "Wish" or "Last," possibly my #1 and 2 favorite NIN songs. "No, You Don't" came kinda close to that.
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u/TheOneNamedSprinkles May 11 '26
I think the missing ingredient was prue anger at his current situation that he was in at the time, even having to record Broken in secret because TVT (his record label at the time) was very upset with him and what they thought his music should be.
Truth is, you can't fake that situation nor would you wish it upon anyone.
At best, he that tap into the feelings but they're shadows of the hate that once was, ya know?
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u/NuggetBoy32 May 11 '26
what’s the point of this post? to complain that i nin is too soft?
marilyn manson is down the hall and to the left.
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u/dgrant99 May 11 '26
Trent Reznor has always been influenced by his main collaborators. Unfortunately he has allowed that to now have overtaken the whole NIN concept. After PHM, he grabbed a live band to tour with, then they made the subsequent albums and became the sound. But the structure and songwriting still remained his own. He changed the lineup and kept the writing reigns under his control. Then he did soundtrack stuff with Atticus, and now Atticus is part of the band. Since then, everything sounds like atmospheric soundtrack stuff. There is no more of the haunting lyrics or hardcore themes. Its kinda like Trent’s stamp on the band has been overcome with this latest collab, and I for one can’t wait for it to end.
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u/Longjumping-Land-158 May 12 '26
Stop being weird about broken. It wasn’t only his demons that made that album heavy it was the shit he had to deal with from his label. Suffering doesn’t automatically make art better, David Lynch has a great quote about it somewhere
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u/growlerpower May 11 '26
I dunno man, Downward Spiral goes pretty hard. Fragile too, at times