Review Summary: A true anger trip with classics such as Wish and Happiness in Slavery; but Trent should learn that too much anger is exhausting.
Nine Inch Nails'
Broken was almost like a striptease to fans; secretly letting them know what's in store for them with
The Downward Spiral. The keyboards and lo-fi of
Pretty Hate Machine are gone; in favor for loud, noisy, and angry guitars. This isn't the new-wave/industrial album that was
Pretty Hate Machine. It's pure industrial metal. Songs like
Happiness in Slavery and
Wish truly show this; but there's something the other industrial metal albums don't have; and this happens to be what Nine Inch Nails are known for; Trent Reznor's raw, unadultured anger.
But this album happens to be so dark, and so angry that is actually is too depressing to listen to over and over again.
Broken puts a damper on your mood. Even though most of the songs are great the first time around, a common problem is found in Broken. Outside of
Help Me I Am In Hell,
Broken doesn't let you take a breath; there's no slow intermissions which are usually found in every Nine Inch Nails album. It's too much to take in; by the time it's over you're wondering what just happened.
Even with all these problems; they are minor because
Wish may be one of the best Nine Inch Nails songs ever. It's filled with anger, Trent Reznor screaming for most of the song; and the dynamic changes in this song are just ridiculously crazy every time you hear them. But, there's plenty more anger and loud noise thrown around; as
Last is another angry, guitar driven song featuring a completely un-distorted guitar solo; and a percussion-driven beat that would even astound
Ministry's drummer.
Happiness in Slavery is completely simple, but angry and catchy. The simple, "you'll find Happiness in Slavery!" seems to stick in your brain no matter how many times you hear it.
Physical (You're So) was a cover of Adam Ant; but doesn't show it; as almost everything has been stripped down and changed into a hard, industrial song.
Suck is pretty nifty when you first listen to it, but it gets repetitive and a bit too overdrawn the more and more you listen to it.
Help Me I Am In Hell is the slowest
Broken gets. It's a slower, mostly acoustic song that picks up at the end. It's actually a really good intermission to
Broken, but it's the only one, as
Pinion, the opener takes forever to get going, then it blows up at the end into a loud mess of guitars and percussion.
Gave Up heavily relies on percussion, but truly feels like an industrial song as it features plenty of vocal loops, and screaming vocals in the chorus.
Broken is just so loud that
Gave Up is a slower song on this album.
Trent Reznor's trip through his anger is an interesting one that was a little bit overdone. He normally sprinkles his anger on certain songs; but it's on every single song and it manages to be exhausting by the end. By the end, the songs all seem to be tiring and loud; but
Broken has too many good listens by themselves to pass it up.
