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Mick Hutson/Redferns/Getty Images The difference between The Fragile and Kid A is that Radiohead was mostly rewarded for taking a deliberately difficult and (at times) inscrutably insular left turn. If you were a crazy contrarian, you could argue that Kid A is actually a failure in this regard, because it's a self-consciously "alienating" record that made people who cared the most about Radiohead believe even more intensely in the group's integrity. But for Reznor, The Fragile really was a gamble that, in the short term, did not pay off. The album was considered such a disappointment that Interscope Records wouldn't pay for a tour; Reznor had to pay for concerts that promoted a record that Interscope was selling out of his own pocket.
Nine Inch Nails was (and still is) a lot more popular than Radiohead. (Among the mainstream rock audience, The Downward Spiral towers over OK Computer in terms of sales and radio airplay.) This affected the perception of what was essentially a self-indulgent project created in open defiance of audience expectations. What made Radiohead seem brave made Reznor appear delusional and even arrogant.
This is really quite brilliant. I've never heard anyone (other than myself) put together such a compelling thought provoking argument in support of Reznor/NIN's acceptance and acknowledgment as a "serious" and influential artist, whose career has been under appreciated by the alt rock literati.
Still, I'm not sure the argument needed to be made. I think there are still a lot of people out there who view NIN as a decaying 90s relic who is just limping on in a career that everyone knows has been dead longer than his influence extended. Those people are doing themselves a disservice, not Trent.
I think I saw this coming back when With Teeth was about to be released, and the Killers were all over the radio. Something about the overt Joy Division and Depeche Mode worship that was becoming trendy among "post punk" (or, SPIN's version of post punk) made me think that NIN's music would find a place in audiophile vinyl shops, and the playlists of kids who would shape trends for the next generation.
NIN shares more with the more "vintage" and retro focused heavy hitters of the 00s indie rock scene (Xiu Xiu, LCD Soundsystem, Arcade Fire, !!!) than I ever would have thought possible back when Pantera fans were buying Broken. I am pleased that Im not alone in believing that associating Trent Reznor with the 90s alt rock scene alone is just a fallacy at this point. It was his least productive decade, and anyone who was reading daily blurbs on SeemsLikeSalvation during the deadly space between albums, when The Fragile felt about as likely to happen as the second coming of Christ will agree on that, I'm sure.
I keep listening to Hesitstion Marks, however, and I think my appreciation for it is waning. Song by song, it's way behind The Slip and Year Zero. But shit, who cares? It's new NIN, and that's all it has to be until it falls into perspective and becomes part of the mythos.
Classy piece though. Damn classy piece.
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