01) Nine Inch Nails – “Please”

The Fragile is an interesting record to me, It covers a lot of ground but seems to maintain a common thread that keeps the listener close to the center. “Please” Is the track I always seem to return to. It’s a fairly straight forward song just over 3:30 long, but in that time I feel as though Trent Reznor seemed to unify many ideas. The bass is clean and prominent, the drums are open and natural but the synths and bit crushed guitars reside in their own space when on paper, they shouldn’t at all. The vocal feels improvised but honest, and the chorus feels a bit disjointed in that it moves away from the verses but it maintains a smooth sense of belonging in the track. In short, It feels as though everything could fall apart at any second but it never does. It’s delivered with confidence and power which to me, is the most important takeaway delivered by The Fragile.