When I first got "Broken" years ago, I thought it was brilliant-- I was young, somewhat isolated, and angry, it worked well for me.  In the intervening years, I've discovered its not really quite the record I thought it was.  Reznor was evidentally having a pretty bad time with a lot at this time, and he composed a slab of white hot anger-- there's really nothing else at all to it but that.  Now this isn't necessarily a bad thing, but when you're not there, it gets monotonous at times.

Mind you, at some point last year, I was angry and felt betrayed, and I put on "Broken", and it worked for me, but since I've gotten over that anger, it hasn't worked as well again (on a side note, as I was 26 at the time, the line "no new tale to tell, 26 years, on my way to hell" seemed to have an odd resonance...).

Still, its got its moments-- "Help Me I Am In Hell" is fantastic, a slice of calm admist the storm of the piece, and as far as blasts of pure anger go, they really get no better than "Wish".  The rest of the EP proper is ok, "Gave Up" I used to really love until I saw Reznor do it live and suddenly the version on record, which struck me as quite a bit overproduced didn't work well for me, and "Happiness in Slavery" I just find downright annoying.

This one's been released in two forms, with a 3" single accompanying it, with a whole bunch of blank tracks after the EP itself (six songs), or as just eight tracks.  The bonus material (however its in there) is two pieces-- a cover of Adam and the Ant's "Physical" anda Pigface's "Suck" (which Reznor did with that group).  The former is sort of the next step of the "Sin" single cover of "Get Down Make Love"-- it also clearly points the way to the future, oozing with a bizarre sensuality even as it maintains a feel of anger and torment.  "Suck" is closer in mood to the "Broken" tracks, though a bit more varied, with a nice funky bassline.

"Broken" is a great piece when you're in the right mood, but it lacks the subtlety and depth of Reznor's later work.
When I first got "Broken" years ago, I thought it was brilliant-- I was young, somewhat isolated, and angry, it worked well for me. In the intervening years, I've discovered its not really quite the record I thought it was. Reznor was evidentally having a pretty bad time with a lot at this time, and he composed a slab of white hot anger-- there's really nothing else at all to it but that. Now this isn't necessarily a bad thing, but when you're not there, it gets monotonous at times. Mind you, at some point last year, I was angry and felt betrayed, and I put on "Broken", and it worked for me, but since I've gotten over that anger, it hasn't worked as well again (on a side note, as I was 26 at the time, the line "no new tale to tell, 26 years, on my way to hell" seemed to have an odd resonance... ). Still, its got its moments-- "Help Me I Am In Hell" is fantastic, a slice of calm admist the storm of the piece, and as far as blasts of pure anger go, they really get no better than "Wish". The rest of the EP proper is ok, "Gave Up" I used to really love until I saw Reznor do it live and suddenly the version on record, which struck me as quite a bit overproduced didn't work well for me, and "Happiness in Slavery" I just find downright annoying. This one's been released in two forms, with a 3" single accompanying it, with a whole bunch of blank tracks after the EP itself (six songs), or as just eight tracks. The bonus material (however its in there) is two pieces-- a cover of Adam and the Ant's "Physical" anda Pigface's "Suck" (which Reznor did with that group). The former is sort of the next step of the "Sin" single cover of "Get Down Make Love"-- it also clearly points the way to the future, oozing with a bizarre sensuality even as it maintains a feel of anger and torment. "Suck" is closer in mood to the "Broken" tracks, though a bit more varied, with a nice funky bassline. "Broken" is a great piece when you're in the right mood, but it lacks the subtlety and depth of Reznor's later work.