Word: reznor
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...produced by Brooks' company and music producer Babyface--Brooks adopted the persona of Gaines for his new CD. The cover shows the country king made over as Gaines, black hair swept over his eyes, an artsy soul patch of hair below his lip. He looks a bit like Trent Reznor crossed with a guy who eats a lot of cheese steaks. Inside, there's a fictional bio: "[Gaines] was born August 10, 1967...in 1989 Chris debuted his solo album, Straight Jacket...the album spent an extraordinary 224 weeks on the Billboard Top 200 Albums chart...
...also provided a theme for his new work. Recording of The Fragile began two years ago, and within a few months, 45 songs came tumbling out of Reznor. The final selection was whittled down to 23 tracks, but still weighs in at more than 100 minutes spread across...
...Fragile has very little fat on it, and in the age of the Backstreet Boys, it courageously dares to not pander to radio. The album has an organic feel, with little of the machine-like velocity and crushing density of Spiral. Reznor leaves breaks in the sonic wall this time, allowing the songs to breathe. He drives home a subtle message of uplift by filling the open spaces with soft, surprising textures rarely found in rock: cellos, violins, a ukulele here and there, and a tinkling piano--many of those played by Reznor himself, who also does most...
...Reznor is far from defanged. He relishes his stance as a rock outsider. "I still feel like I don't fit in anywhere," he says. He insists that his role will always be cartographer of the murkier depths of the mind. "I'll always feel a passion for what's behind the door." And he remains a trenchant critic of the record business and the "sound-alike, look-alike meaningless music" that rules today's pop but saps its relevance. He has bigger targets too: America's gun culture and the finger pointing of Washington moralists who blamed musicians...
What may most surprise listeners of The Fragile is Reznor's disclosure that his rooting around in the dark side has revealed light. Not religion exactly, but spirituality. "I was in a spiritually vacant zone," he says, "and I rounded a corner. I believe there's a purpose and a karma that's real. If it's right for you, embrace it." Embrace the album too, if you dare; but be careful, it's fragile...