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BrokenFrom NinWiki For the short film based on the album, go to Broken Movie
ContentsInspirationThe 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
Bonus TracksPhysical 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 put them on the EP. The first 250,000 copies included a 3.5" CD with the bonus tracks "Physical" and "Suck" in a small envelope inside the digipak. After discovering that some unscrupulous record store owners were selling the bonus disc as a separate entity, 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] In 1995, Nine Inch Nails performed "Physical" live with Adam Ant for two nights in a row in New York City. After Reznor introduced Adam Ant and Marco Pirroni on the second night, Adam Ant proclaimed to the audience, "It's nice to be on stage with the best fucking band in the world." Album Credits
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 |