Changes

The release of ''Broken'' followed on from a major disagreement between [[Trent 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. A direct reference to Gottlieb appears in one of the [[Nine Inch Nails music videos|music videos]] for "Gave Up", where the words "FUCK YOU STEVE" can be spotted on a computer screen. 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.

<blockquote>"I tried doing an album that I actually just wrote on guitar rather than my tried-and-true method of a drum machine and keyboards. So with the exception of 'Happiness in Slavery' all songs were written on guitar. I was gonna make it totally stripped down to guitar, bass and drums but as I started it I realized I could easily fall into another trap. What might sound interesting to me - because I'm not used to it - may sound like a garage band to the world. So we just took the three instruments and sampled 'em, fucked with 'em, processed them. It's kind of overboard, we did go crazy. It's kind of dense, too dense. It's over analyzed - every song has 20 diffedifferent melodies that you won't hear the first five or ten times you listen, or maybe never."</blockquote> ==Album Credits==*Writing, performance and production: Trent Reznor*(2,3 and 6) Production: [[Flood]], Trent Reznor<br><br>Caution: Not for use with mono devices<br><br>*Management: [[John A. Malm, Jr.]] for Conservative*Assistants: [[Brian Liesegang]], [[Sean Beavan]], [[Chris Vrenna]]*Additional engineers, etc. along the way: Paul Kendall, the Bill Kennedy, [[Leo Herrera]], John (Genghis) Aguto, Mike Baumgartner, Martin Brumbach, Trevor Bum-Cleaver Sadler*Extra real drums on 2 and 6: [[Martin Atkins]], Chris Vrenna*Barks and roars: Maise<br><br>The sound on this recording was influenced by my live band in 1991 featuring: [[Richard Patrick]], [[Jeff Ward]], [[James Woolley]]<br><br>*Studios: Hell (New Orleans), Royal Recorders (Lake Geneva), South Beach Studios (Miami Beach), Village Recorder (Los Angeles), A&M (Los Angeles), Pig (Beverly Hills)*Mastering: Tom Baker at Futuredisc*Merchendise: Paul Steels, Jerry Long*Legal: Michael S. Toorock*Booking: Gerry Gerrard for Intertalent*Publicity: Sioux Zimmerman<br><br>*Thank you: Jimmy Iovine, Ross Earls, Island UK, Eric Greenspan, Rick Rubin, Joe McEwen, Seymour Stein, Susie Tallman, Mark O'Shea, Ian Copeland, A&M Studios and Kevin Westenberg, Sheira Rees-Davies*No thanks: You know who you fucking are<br><br>The slave thinks he is released from bondage only to find a stronger set of chains.<br><br>*Sleeve design and photography: [[Gary Talpas]] for Black Sun<br><br>*©1992 Leaving Hope and ©1992 TT Music, Inc.*7 written by A. Ant ©1980 CBS Records, Inc.*8 written by T. Reznor/Pigface ©1991 Thumbless music, Leaving Hope and TVT Music, Inc. ==Live==All of these songs have been played live over the years. Some tracks were played as early as 1991 on the [[Lollapalooza Tour]], though "Last" wasn't played until [[Performance 2007]] tour. The EP was played live and sequentially in full (including "Physical" and "Suck") on the first date of the [[Cold And Black And Infinite Tour]]. == "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:  <blockquote>"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."[http://www.theninhotline.net/archives/articles/manager/display_article.php?id=327]</blockquote> == Press Sheet ==An A4-sized press sheet included with the 12" vinyl promo includes the following passage from Reznor:<br><div align="center" style="clear:right"><div style="float: right; display: inline;">[[Image:Broken uk12promo presssheet lq.jpg|thumb|UK press sheet|none]][[Image:Broken us presssheet lq.jpg|thumb|US press sheet|none]]</div>Broken was secretly recorded from march to august 1992 in a variety of locations<br>without the permission of<br>the record label<br>to ensure it could fester without Divine intervention<br>now They just leave me alone and let me do what I want<br><br>"Broken was a hard recording to make<br>Broken is an ugly record made during an ugly time in my life<br>Broken marks phase three of nine inch nails: the becoming<br>I am starting to realize what this is all about<br>and I don't like it<br><br>Flood starting out producing but I ended up<br>I'm not sure why<br><br>maybe I am what everybody seems to think I am<br><br>nine inch nails is still not a real band with real people playing real instruments<br>there will be no touring for Broken<br><br>I am starting work on my new full-length recording - The Downward Spiral - which I<br>hope will be finished the beginning of 1993<br><br>some will come along for the ride, some won't<br>Trent Reznor, 1992<br></div> ==Re-releases==The re-release of ''[[The Downward Spiral (halo)|The Downward Spiral]]'' (along with Trent's own words, shown below) started rumors that ''Broken''/''Fixed'' could eventually be re-released in high definition stereo and surround sound. [[access#2004_12_03|2004/12/03]] [[nin.com/access|nin.com access]]: [[Image:Questions10.gif]] ===Definitive 2017 Edition Vinyl===A vinyl reissue was announced in December 2016 and began shipping in August 2017, with further vinyl reissues of the other major NIN releases to follow.[http://www.nin.com/nine-inch-nails-records-reissued-vinyl/] <blockquote>"Trent Reznor and NIN art director [[John Crawford]] set out to make the “definitive editions” of all the main NIN releases on vinyl. Reznor: 'We want to present the catalog as it was intended to be, with no compromises. That means a careful remastering of the audio from the original sources, a careful and painstaking recreation of the artwork, pristine materials, some surprises and an insane attention to detail that you probably won’t notice… but it matters to us. No extra bullshit and gimmicks – the “real” records in their truest form available at a reasonable price.'"</blockquote> The B side of the vinyl is an etching with a cryptic message circling around the surface in a spiral fashion, reducing in size as it goes. It begins with lines from "Last" ("this isn't meant to last this is for right now") before descending into a rant, with some lines deliberately scratched out. This edition of the vinyl comes with a booklet containing photos and an essay about the album. It also retains the original vinyl's format of having the two bonus tracks on a separate 7" record. ==External Links==*[http://nincatalog.com/broken/ ''Broken'' at nincatalog.com]*[http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fs%3Fie%3DUTF8%26x%3D0%26ref_%3Dnb%5Fsb%5Fnoss%26y%3D0%26field-keywords%3Dnine%2520inch%2520nails%2520broken%26url%3Dsearch-alias%253Daps&tag=thniinnawi-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957 ''Broken'' at Amazon] *[http://rover.ebay.com/rover/1/711-53200-19255-0/1?icep_ff3=9&pub=5574848848&toolid=10001&campid=5336384580&customid=&icep_uq=nine+inch+nails+broken&icep_sellerId=&icep_ex_kw=&icep_sortBy=12&icep_catId=&icep_minPrice=&icep_maxPrice=&ipn=psmain&icep_vectorid=229466&kwid=902099&mtid=824&kw=lg ''Broken'' at eBay] {{Halo|before=[[Sin (halo)|Sin]]|after=[[Fixed]]|number=5}}[[Category:NIN Discography]]