Disc One (Left)
"Somewhat Damaged" (Trent Reznor/Danny Lohner) – 4:31
"The Day the World Went Away" – 4:33
"The Frail" – 1:54
"The Wretched" – 5:25
"We're in This Together" – 7:16
"The Fragile" – 4:35
"Just Like You Imagined" – 3:49
"Even Deeper" (Trent Reznor/Danny Lohner) – 5:48
"Pilgrimage" – 3:31
"No, You Don't" – 3:35
"La Mer" – 4:37
"The Great Below" – 5:17
[edit]
Disc Two (Right)
"The Way Out Is Through" (Trent Reznor/Keith Hillebrandt/Charlie Clouser) – 4:17
"Into the Void" – 4:49
"Where Is Everybody?" – 5:40
"The Mark Has Been Made" – 5:15
Contains a 30 second hidden piece of 10 Miles High in the pregap.
"Please" – 3:30
"Starfuckers, Inc." (Trent Reznor/Charlie Clouser) – 5:00
"Complication" – 2:30
"I'm Looking Forward to Joining You, Finally" – 4:13
"The Big Come Down" – 4:12
"Underneath It All" – 2:46
"Ripe (With Decay)" – 6:34
The album itself features a rich array of electronic beats, ambient noise, and heavy guitar. While The Fragile received critical acclaim from many, it did not have the same commercial success as The Downward Spiral (variously attributed to the different musical climate in 1999 compared to 1994, and insufficient promotion by Interscope Records). The cover artwork was designed by David Carson.
The first single from The Fragile "The Day the World Went Away" was released several months before the album. The b-side track "Starfuckers, Inc." was included on the final album and became a video single itself.
Reznor described The Fragile in a 1999 interview:“ "There's a general theme to the album of systems failing and things sort of falling apart. In keeping with the idea of making everything sound a little broken, I chose stringed instruments because they're imperfect by nature. Although it may not sound like it, most of the album is actually guitar - and that includes the orchestral sounds and weird melodic lines. When it came to instruments that I didn't really know how to play - like the ukulele or the slide guitar - we were able to get some really interesting sounds by making the studio the main instrument."[1] ”
Narratively speaking, the album is an unofficial continuation of The Downward Spiral. Here, Reznor compares the lyrical content of the two albums:“ “I wanted this album to sound like there was something inherently flawed in the situation, like someone struggling to put the pieces together. Downward Spiral was about peeling off layers and arriving at a naked, ugly end. This album starts at the end, then attempts to create order from chaos, but never reaches the goal. It’s probably a bleaker album because it arrives back where it starts—[with] the same emotion.” The album begins “Somewhat Damaged” and ends “Ripe [With Decay].”[2] ”
The song "I'm Looking Forward to Joining You, Finally" is credited in the album's booklet as "for clara", suggesting that the song's topic, like "The Day the World Went Away", is about Trent's Grandmother, Clara Clark [1].
The song "Just Like You Imagined" was featured in trailers for the movie 300.
It was ranked #390 in the book 'The Top 500 Heavy Metal Albums of All Time' by Martin Popoff.