The Storm Before it All: Nine Inch Nails' Prefacing EP, 'Broken'

NINE INCH NAILS: BROKEN

SCORE: 88/100

Broken is an EP that served as the transitioning point between Pretty Hate Machine and The Downward Spiral, with this project serving as the genre-bending shift from the 80's to the 90's, with noisy industrial grooves making up the composition of the EP, creating something dark and electrifying, - a fiery start to a new era for the band that would end in them becoming one of the most important pioneers of the 90's industrial scene.

TVT Records, the company that the band was signed to prior to Trent Reznor creating Nothing Records while signed to Interscope, had been incredibly strict on the band. The executives of the company were more than insistent that the band was to create an album nearly identical to their debut in the hopes that it would be another big success for the label - but little did they know the fires within Reznor that led to one of the most iconic runs in all of rock music. Rather than continuing the synth-heavy sounds of their debut, Reznor wanted to make something much darker and more in-tune to his creative liberty, leading him to ask the label to terminate his contract due to the restraints in which he was under - which meant a public dismay and hatred towards the label on Reznor's end. Eventually, the band had come to a del with Interscope Records, which Reznor wasn't potentially happy about at the time, either, stating that "We made it very clear we were not doing another record for TVT. But they made it pretty clear they weren't ready to sell. So I felt like, well, I've finally got this thing going but it's dead. Flood and I had to record Broken under a different band name, because if TVT found out we were recording, they could confiscate all our shit and release it. Jimmy Iovine got involved with Interscope, and we kind of got slave-traded. It wasn't my doing. I didn't know anything about Interscope. And I was real pissed off at him at first because it was going from one bad situation to potentially another one. But Interscope went into it like they really wanted to know what I wanted. It was good, after I put my raving lunatic act on." [Spin, 1996]

This label feud meant that the band had to record in secrecy, with Reznor eventually settling to record at what would become his home studio, Le Pig. This studio was located in the home where the Manson Family had infamously stabbed and killed actress Sharon Tate, meaning that he was living in the home of one of the most disturbing crime cases of all time - which had eventually gotten to him after an encounter with Tate's sister, where she had questioned if he was exploiting the death of Sharon Tate by living in the home in which she was killed in. Reznor had realized the severity in which he was promoting such a situation and the history of the home had kicked in as something that wasn't just an interesting oddity, which led him to move out after the encounter. The band used six different studios to record the project, all while working under various different names and using Broken as an unofficial title for an EP that had to be recorded in complete secrecy. 

The EP is split up through short instrumental tracks and long, biting industrial tracks that snarl and kick. It blends traditional industrial heaviness with something much more refined, something heavy and packed full of guitars and punches while Reznor spews every last lyric, using a distinct high yell for the songs that creates something that is instantly recognizable as the band. The band spawned multiple big songs through the release of the EP, meaning that TVT had underestimated just how well the band would sell without being unfairly labeled as nothing but a synth-pop band.

For an EP, Broken runs long - clocking in at just over 30 minutes may feel like an album's runtime, but this EP was necessary in the format it was put into, as it would help to preface the release of The Downward Spiral without over shining it as another studio album despite being considered one of the bands' major releases. It marked the bands first major label release, and it would start a major run of projects soon after.

Broken is the result of a budding artistry that would soon bloom into one of the most important pieces of industrial music ever made, spawning one of the biggest industrial acts of all time after their massively successful debut helped to make a name for the band - but where they would go next was a complete shift from their 80's sound, and they helped for every band in the scene to transition into the 90's.