One of the things I've always liked about Reznor is his ability to put a more mature slant on an old childhood theme. A lot of his lyrics sound like a grownup version of 'Nobody likes me. Everybody hates me. Guess I'll go eat worms.' The Fragile is no exception. Just a lot more sophisticated in the approach.
I like the strange rhythms, deceptively simple sounding layers, built slowly on top of one another. The biggest surprise of the album is how much I liked the instrumentals. About a third of the album is instrumental and I've never been partial to those interludes before, but I loved the burst of rippling piano in "Just Like You Imagined" and the delicate to eerie and almost sinister shift in feeling in "La Mer", another lovely piano based piece. It sounds delicate and almost innocent in places. "The Great Below" continues with that delicacy that I don't remember hearing in past albums.
"No, You Don't" is notable for the sneering quality in Reznor's vocal delivery.
Though there are plenty of good moments on the Left CD, it's the songs and instrumentals on the Right CD that I prefer. "Into the Void" has to be one of my favorite cuts on the album. It has a solid funky beat and is my obvious contender for dance tune and maybe the slickest entry.
"Where is Everybody?" has a catchy 'Trent raps' kind of feeling. I can see this as a crowd sing along song on tour. "Please" follows and veers back into a rock sound, though with the very unique Reznor edge thrown into it.
"Starfuckers, Inc." sounds a lot better on the album than on the single, in my opinion. Why this should be I haven't quite placed my finger on yet. Maybe it's the placement on the album. It leads into "Complication", my favorite instrumental on the album -- a great, exotic rush of sound, hard driving.
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