Broken | The Downward Spiral | The Fragile | Ghosts series | EP Trilogy
While featuring more moments of beauty, The Fragile isn't anything better than its predecessor...
Original album:
- "The Wretched" is a looming, seething track riddled with self-hatred. Framed as a dialogue between the protagonist and his conscience, the pre-chorus where Trent mocks himself with jeers of "it didn't turn out the way that you wanted, did it?" that rise to a near-animalistic snarl is especially stomach-turning. The despair is stifling."Another day / Some other way / But not another reason to continue / And now you're one of us / The wretched, the wretched..."
- "The Mark Has Been Made" is mostly an awesome song, invoking the feeling of I Am Legend, Need For Speed Undercover or S.T.A.L.K.E.R. The last 21 seconds are a different story.
- That is actually part of "10 Miles High", originally on the vinyl version of the Title Track. It was put in as a little secret.
- "Underneath it All", the ambiguous penultimate song. The erratic electronics, the vocals rising in volume as it goes on, the sheer despair of the lyrics made note of... chills."Numb all through, I can still feel you...""Hear your call, underneath it all...""Kill my brain, yet you still remain...""Crucified!""After all I've died!""After all I've tried!""You are still inside!""All I do, I can still feel you..."
- "Ripe", the closing track in the vinyl version. It's an excruciatingly grim ending for the album, with fluctuating acoustic guitars disintegrating into disjointed pianos before returning to make an awfully dark conclusion. The whole thing sounds as if it's rotting away under a thick sheet of frost... brrrr.
- Taken up to eleven with the complete version, "Ripe (With Decay)", from the original CD release. This version adds the remaining part of the song, known as "Decay", where after becoming depressed, the protagonist tries to find new hope, then loses again. To add some more salt to the wound, dark, thunderous drums blare in the distance while Trent's unsettling chanting is heard in the background. Perfect for the album's Downer Ending.
- Then again, the song is supposed to represent the idea of returning to that feeling you wanted to leave behind (which in this case, was depression). And regarding the protagonist trying to seek happiness only to lose hope, it's more likely that his downward spiral has become a Vicious Cycle.
- Taken up to eleven with the complete version, "Ripe (With Decay)", from the original CD release. This version adds the remaining part of the song, known as "Decay", where after becoming depressed, the protagonist tries to find new hope, then loses again. To add some more salt to the wound, dark, thunderous drums blare in the distance while Trent's unsettling chanting is heard in the background. Perfect for the album's Downer Ending.
- The B-side "10 Miles High". Featuring a creepy "I'm getting closer..." buildup, then a harsh, heavy, metallic riff explosion, then more quiet creepiness, then more heavy riffing, muffled this time so it sounds distant and decaying, then finally an absolutely terrifying ending with creepy processed chanting:
Things Falling Apart (remix album) and We're In This Together (halo):
- Albeit the whole track counts as Tear Jerker, Trent's chanting in the beginning of "The Day The World Went Away (Quiet)" is pretty disturbing. It sounds like some goddamn satanic ritual being made in progress!
- The remix version of "Where Is Everybody?" may sound pretty awesome compared to the original, but the latter features some very abrasive synths and muffled human screaming being heard in the background.
The Fragile: Deviations 1 (instrumental album):
- "Taken" is quite a disturbing demo. The majority of the soundscape of the song is Trent groaning and chanting being looped through a synthpad whilst a percussion loop plays as the chant slowly turns into a distorted scream which then fades out and loops all over again until the song ends.
- "Last Heard From" may be a song related to Trent's score for Quake, especially the main theme as this is another song notable for using a very distorted scream from Trent being looped throughout the track whilst a synth pattern (similar to "Missing Pieces") plays.
- "Claustrophobia Machine (Raw)" is really hypnotic but very hard to listen to for the first few listens. A lot of people have theorised that the "Claustrophobia Machine" in question is the sound of an MRI Machine booting up and making ungodly noises which has inspired the main percussion loop in this song. Others have more likened the song to an anxiety attack or being hunted down by a figure.
- "Feeders" starts with a bunch of looped, static-like screeching noises playing in the background while followed by a distant, fading guitar melody. One minute and fifteen seconds later, an unhinged xylophone melody kicks in until a loud, gurgling drone consumes the whole track in the end."This is it..."
Music videos:
- "Starfuckers, Inc.
," features Trent and a typical 'Hawt Blonde Gurl' going to a filthy carnival that looks like it's taking place in the Deliverence town, featuring all sorts of celebrity Take That! including a hideously obese Courtney Love. The video doesn't get insanely freaky until the end, where it's all in strobe lights and Hawt Blonde Gurl shocks everyone by revealing she's Marilyn Manson! - "The We're In This Together" music video could be considered nightmare fuel to some due to the surreal images within it such as extreme closeups of random people and objects not to mention Trent screaming the lyrics of the chorus while lights flicker. We follow Trent as he wakes up in an abandoned building and notices a crowd of lookalikes similar to him running through the streets of Mexico. Trent decides to follow the crowd up until they catch a train all packed together like sardines. Trent sees glimpses of a woman during this chaos so it's assumed that Trent is trying to follow her but the narrative isn't really explained well. Near the end of the music video, the crowd of people reach a desert to which Trent trips up and almost gets trampled by the crowd cowering into a ball. Afterwards, we see that the crowd of people are now gone, evaporated rapture style with only Trent left alone to wander in the desert in confusion as we see the remains of clothing of the Trent clones all strewn across the desert.
