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BrokenFrom NinWiki For the short film based on the album, go to Broken Movie
InspirationThe release of Broken followed on from a major disagreement between Reznor and his record label at the time, TVT Records, and the influence of the conflict is evident in multiple aspects of the record. After the credits in the packaging, a line reads "no thanks: you know who you fucking are" followed by "the slave thinks he is released from bondage only to find a stronger set of chains." This is most likely directed towards TVT Records' Steve Gottlieb, who refused to allow Reznor out of his contract, resulting in a legal battle between the two parties. Trent Reznor has also stated that during the Pretty Hate Machine Tour the songs grew more aggressive when played by a live band compared to their studio counterparts. Violence on-stage also became a common feature at their shows as a result of the band venting pent-up frustration and anger on their instruments. Consequently, Broken sounds much more abrasive and harsher with the increased prominence of distorted guitars, amongst other things. Audio TextureOn this EP, there are louder mixes and more distortion on every instrument, including a classic Mellotron MKIV (originally owned by John Lennon), which can be heard most noticeably on the track "Gave Up". Reznor said he wanted the album to be "an abrasive, hard-to-listen-to thing...I wanted to make a record that the first time you hear it you don't like it, but you might want to hear it again, but by the third time it's pretty cool. By the fifth time, you really like it and possibly by the tenth time you're not sick of it and now it all makes sense" Track listingBroken is available for download on iTunes and Amazon MP3. CD
12" Vinyl A1 "Pinion" - 1:02 Bonus 7" A "Physical" - 5:29
Bonus Tracks"Physical" and "Suck" were originally meant to feature on a 12" single set to coincide with NIN's Lollapalooza Tour shows, that was unable to be released due to record label difficulties. Reznor felt that the tracks were worthy of being released regardless however, and thus recorded them for the EP. The first 250,000 copies included a 3" CD with the bonus tracks "Physical" and "Suck" in a small card sleeve inside the digipak. Due to the far higher production cost of making an EP 2 discs, Reznor had the format changed and the EP was re-released as a single CD, with the bonus tracks occupying track numbers 98 and 99. Tracks 7 through 97 all contain 1–3 seconds of dead air, leaving a gap of 1:31–4:33 between "Gave Up" and "Physical". For the vinyl release, the main tracks were released as a 12", with the bonus tracks on a 7" contained inside the album sleeve. Reznor has explained why the tracks were released as they were: "It was a way to distance them from the other music because it wasn't part of the same mind set. Unfortunately, the risk involved is, with radio being as conservative as it is, I knew they would jump on "Physical" or "Suck" because they're a bit more digestible than the other stuff, so I've tried to make them as obscure as possible."[1] Album Credits
"Caution: Not for use with mono devices"A warning about mono devices appears in the liner notes. Trent Reznor gave the following explanation for this warning: "Regarding the warning for 'mono' devices... Without getting too far in detail, a scientific property of sound is its 'phase'. When recording music in stereo, you're supposed to be aware of its phase. If not, certain parts of the sound will disappear when it's played in mono. So, we discovered that by messing around with the phase, we could make elements of the music stand out rather oddly. (remember Q-sound? -it's based on the same type of principle) So...certain songs on 'broken' we mixed out of phase (because we felt like it) BUT... The songs don't sound right on mono devices (like some radios or TVs). Has anyone heard 'happiness in slavery' on the radio? I heard it on KROQ in LA and the snare drum was gone through most of the song. (and yes, it kind of destroys the groove!) So, basically, that's what that means."[2] Press SheetAn A4-sized press sheet included with the 12" vinyl promo includes the following passage from Reznor:  Broken was secretly recorded from march to august 1992 in a variety of locations External Links |