Nine Inch Nails - Fixed
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Free Music Notes for Fixed
Free Music Review: Most definitely something different.
Hit: 4 Stars
Let me start by saying that if you're a fan of the more alternative style of Nine Inch Nails, or just a huge fan of Halo 5 in itself, then this EP might not be for you.
Fixed is one of those rare experiments where a musician went ahead and went a little insane in the studio. This album is, essentially, distorted noise. If you thought the guitars on Broken were capable of shredding eardrums, wait until you hear the shrieking wind-up intro of Screaming Slave. Fixed is LOUD, and its out to make ears bleed and heads spin.
Granted, none of this is to say its a bad album. I love anything by NIN. But this album has its moments where there's no melody or rhythm going, and unless you REALLY focus, you probably WILL get lost and turned off by what you hear.
Gave Up gives a completely new take on the original, going for a much more chopped up style than anything. It's fast, it overlaps itself vocally, and its probably the easiest song to follow along with, as its probably the only one without any moments of static distortion. 10/10
Wish (Remix) is LONG. It's the longest track on the album, settling in at 9:10, and it covers a LOT of different areas. Its got moments of repetition, its got moments that'll make you want to headbang, and then its got its rare moments where the original is 100% distinguishable. If any drummer were to ever attempt this track live, though, his arms (and legs!) would probably fall off. 9/10
Happiness In Slavery (Remix) is pretty much a HIS instrumental, except not, at the same time... Which isn't so much a bad thing. The original is incredible in itself, and if you liked it, you'll like this track, too. But, like most of the rest of the album, there are parts that will thrash your eardrums with screaming and heavy beats pounding at you from different directions. 9/10
Throw This Away starts off giving you the idea that, maybe, just maybe, this album has a calm track on it. But halfway through, and your head will ache once more if you've got it turned up. It's probably the simplest song on the album, but its still got its fair share of distorted noise. It's also the shortest track on the entire album, at 4:14... 7/10
Fist F***, the second remix of Wish, is a little... Different. It's one of the two songs that really tests your abilities at loving Reznors' work, as you'll be sitting there for nearly 90 seconds hearing the same repeated loop just getting louder and louder. Basically, it goes phased guitar loop for 90 seconds, reversed drums for a few seconds, guitar loop again, then a drum loop over... and over... and over... with some weird vocals, and then it suddenly cuts to some random quote from some random movie, and then its right back into another guitar riff loop that slowly speeds up and pounds its way through to the end of the track. This track redefines repetition, and, as much as I still love it, is possibly the worst out of the 6 tracks. 7/10
Screaming Slave is the final track on the album, and the one that basically determines if this album is for you or not. For 8 minutes, you will hear NOISE. And then some more NOISE. And then maybe some DISTORTED NOISE on top of that. It's as industrial as Trent Reznor has ever gotten, but its still incredible. If you have no patience for a long build up, you won't like this song. It takes over a minute for any actual MELODY to come into play. And once that happens, it just gets louder and noisier. At about 2 minutes in, its still winding up and getting louder, and then BANG! Something that sounds like a car having trouble starting up, and then your skull gets pummelled once more with heavy bass beats, with random noise flowing throughout. At around 3 minutes, it REALLY tries to lose you, and throws pure RANDOMNESS at you. About 3 minutes pass before the insanity breaks, and you get to hear the screams from the HIS video without any music over them. But once you hear a woman whisper "he's dead...", you get pummelled once more with pure noise, and extremely faint vocals somewhere underneath it all. 9/10
Overall, this album starts strong (Gave Up (Remix) is amazing), gets a little boring in the middle, and then comes back to full force through to the end. It's EXTREMELY different, and while $6.49 might not be that much, its still always good to know what to expect beforehand.
Free Music Review: An Industrail Fixation
Hit: 4 Stars
Fixed[EP] contains different unique interpretations of songs found on Broken[EP]. After hearing Broken, it's difficult to imagine a recording that surpasses or even matches up to its intensity and cutting edge. As if Broken couldn't get any heavier, Fixed is even less commercial and harder to swallow than its original studio counterpart. The sound is more experimental, captivating yet meaningful. With more layers piled on, the music is less unimaginative and more compelling than before.Coil's remix of "Gave Up" is more provocative with Trent's voice segmented and recorded backwards while juxtaposed against innovative dance rhythms. "Happiness in Slavery" remix also shines through its intoxicating beats and dark progressive techno approach. My personal favorite is the 9 minute remix of "Wish". With help from J.G.Thrilwell, the song which won Reznor a grammy has been reassembled with a new perspective and purpose. While this track stands out in length, it also stands out in creativity and musical brilliance.
The intention of Fixed was mainly done due to the success of Broken. Even though it comes in an appealing blue package, it's definitely more than meets the eye. Halo 6 is not for the average listener and may be too much to digest initially. However, if given the chance, Fixed will indeed grow on you. I recommend it to all NIN fans or any music lover who will listen to it with an open mind. Although it is portrayed as a remix CD, Fixed has become a personal favorite and is capable and worthy of standing upon its own two feet.
Free Music Review: Fixed should be called Broken...
Hit: 4 Stars
This remix ep seems to have a identity crisis. Though the nice blue on the cover may seem to represent hope, you'll find NONE of that on this bad boy. Though this ep is called Fixed, you'll find NOTHING that comes close to that sound on this bad boy. Anyway, on to the review...The Gave Up remix is a great way to start this out, as it just builds and builds. With a drum beat that makes your head spin, chopped up lyrics, and that great Gave Up guitar riff, this one will stand out to the listener at first listen.
The longest song on the cd is next, the Wish remix. It builds greatly for the first few minutes, then goes to a deconstructed mix of the song. Then, it loops yet has enough differences to make it enjoyable.
My favorite song would be the Happiness In Slavery remix, track 3. It sounds nothing like the Broken version, and truthfully, I find that good. This is a great song,and to think that it's an instrumental!
Throw This Away is a combination of Suck and Last. Certainly the quietist of the cd, this song is above decent, so to speak.
The last two tracks are ones I could deal without. Fist is too boring, and Screaming Slave is just noise, though good noise. With the other songs on this cd though, the last two will be forgotten.
All in all, this is a great attempt at remixing, and a very successful one too. Buy this if you like expermientation.
Free Music Review: Strangely Listenable
Hit: 4 Stars
One of the more odd remix-EP's NIN has done, but a very cool one that fits within the era in which it was created and released. Diehard fans will end up with this album just to collect the halos, and fans of a certain age, starved for NIN releases in the 90's, own it simply because it came out.Older fans, and by that I mean actually older, not just longtime fans, might enjoy this more if they came at NIN from the Ministry/Skinny Puppy angle. There's a lot to appreciate in the configuration and chaos of this release, that make it, in some ways, as deep as Broken.
For the casual fan it may be a bit to stomach, and I question how much the casual fan might actually listen to this beyond the first few spins.
That being said, there is a lot of meat to this EP, inso much as it is truly a thematic and textured being of measured chaos, which stretches the limits of sound, noise and pace to really interesting places. This CD is mean for gulping all at once, not parsing into songs, and it will succeed for those curious and interested in experimental works, particularly in perspective on existing machinations like those found on the sister EP Broken.
Free Music Review: DEFINITELY not for the faint of heart.
Hit: 4 Stars
Fixed is probably one of the least accessible recordings by any artist, let alone Nine Inch Nails, otherwise known for making industrial music more palatable to the masses. It isn't unreasonable to assume that a large percentage of the copies of the Broken EP's remix disc are owned simply to complete a collection. There is absolutely nothing on this disc that could possibly appeal to the casual fan.That being said, you don't have to be a collector to get enjoyment from this single/EP. In fact, the first two tracks are very good remixes, similar to those found on 1995's Further Down The Spiral. However, after track 3, the tracks become more and more experimental, with the final track, "Screaming Slave," lacking anything that remotely resembles a song structure (to its credit, though, it is much more disturbing than anything else on Fixed).
This is not for the faint of heart, and in all likelihood, you won't enjoy the whole CD. However, the risk you take in buying Fixed is more than covered by the reduced price (compared to NIN's other remix CD's).