Happy (belated) Birthday to The Fragile

[firewlker]

As much as I enjoyed the With Teeth live era, the 2008 lineup and every incarnation afterwards was technically better IMO. It would be a treat to hear the current band tackle WITT, but clearly the vocals are the issue. He was able to make Last work and they still play that one, so I suppose there's hope.

Both Last and WITT were played one step below live btw. I think he still can do it specially since his voice isn't that low recently compared to the mid 2000's and he barely doing much of a drive on his voice post 2016.

I guess for a one or two nights like the TDS concerts would be fine but for a tour would be tiring on his vocal chords.

[BRoswell]

As much as I enjoyed the With Teeth live era, the 2008 lineup and every incarnation afterwards was technically better IMO.

I don't disagree with that, but I think in order to do a full performance of the album and do it justice, you would need more than just the regular band.

Also, the rigidity of playing the same album (a double album at that) night after night might not be as appealing to Trent & Atticus as it is to us. Just look at the last couple tours. They're very loose in terms of the setlists. Not quite Wave Goodbye loose, but they clearly are more excited about playing a variety of stuff rather than having to stick to a specific setlist.

[Tiger_Stealth]

I think it would be dope if every Fragile song was played at least once during the course of a longer tour. Even if it meant only the intro/outro of a track or a specific part of a song, performed in some form. That way the crowd was always in for a surprise as to what specific songs would be played but there would be a guarantee of some Fragile greatness.

[trollmanen]

Following up on my last post, someone asked Rob Sheridan on Threads about those tracks, and his response suggests they were renamed and not unreleased.

[TheBang]

Before Charlie made the claim it *could* be The Big Come Down, I always thought it could be Just Like You Imagined. It's likely not any of the songs with lyrics that made the album that weren't on those white board tracklistings (We're In This Together, No You Don't, The Great Below, Where Is Everybody) given how prominently the song title is featured in the lyrics. Ripe was on that CD along with Rotation so it's not that. The Frail and I Look Forward To Joining You Finally are unlikely. That leaves Just Like You Imagined, The Way Out Is Through and The Big Come Down, assuming it is not a totally unreleased track, which I think is unlikely since every other song listed on those early listings ended up on the album (and it's easy to see how Stained became Underneath It All).

The Way Out Is Through's working title was Anomaly. So, I like your logic for it being either JLYI or TBCD.

[Wulgaren]

rotation feels very right for the big come down but i can’t tell you why lol it just does

it has that ominous fragile disc 2 vibe

[Erneuert]

that ominous fragile disc 2 vibe

To me the album would be perfect if every version of the album had 10 Miles High on it (so that Left and Right have the same number of tracks), and that Ripe never appears without (With Decay) because no one should miss out on hearing that last part. Those final screeching guitars and bizarre vocal humming come straight out of a surrealist painting from Hell.

edit: @Wulgaren - added “from Hell” to the end. Seemed more appropriate.

[fillow]

Not quite Wave Goodbye loose, but they clearly are more excited about playing a variety of stuff rather than having to stick to a specific setlist.

I'll have you know that 2018/2022 era is in fact looser than Wave Goodbye in terms of setlist.

While Trent's vocals from 2005-2009 era are definitely stronger than 2022, the current band is just more musically versatile. Perhaps JMJ's upright bass parts is the only thing the current band won't be able to do.

[Erneuert]

I think it would be dope if every Fragile song was played at least once during the course of a longer tour. Even if it meant only the intro/outro of a track or a specific part of a song, performed in some form. That way the crowd was always in for a surprise as to what specific songs would be played but there would be a guarantee of some Fragile greatness.

That would be a good idea, and we could create our own live version of it, just like everyone already does, adding in their favourite Deviations bits and pieces.

Although I would argue that one or two shows should be advertised and performed as “The Fragile Complete” - doing all songs as they appear on the CD version, and all the missing b-sides, nuances and anomalies being played after Ripe (With Decay) as the encore, exactly like Robert Smith did with the Disintegration Australian shows… although he did the rarities first (at the first of the five shows):

https://www.setlist.fm/setlist/the-c...-1b906d80.html

[trollmanen]

The Way Out Is Through's working title was Anomaly. So, I like your logic for it being either JLYI or TBCD.

I was thinking about Rotation and Stained so much I forgot about Anomaly being The Way Out Is Through. To me, Rotation fits Just Like You Imagined more.

[jmtd]

My personal fragile live wish is to get a high quality copy of the performance of WITT from the LA show, complete with the unique outro (and Last whilst we’re at it). It’s probably the best quality recording of WITT live in existence, and the full stream download I have is too rough (maybe the stream content-negotiated different qualities, and someone else is sitting on a higher quality, idk). The teaser/trailer is way higher quality but just auditions the songs and doesn’t have the WITT outro.

Heh if I went back in time to 2007 (I’ve wanted the above that long) I was also be wishing for TPD live and they eventually delivered that in spades !!

[TheBang]

It’s probably the best quality recording of WITT live in existence, and the full stream download I have is too rough (maybe the stream content-negotiated different qualities, and someone else is sitting on a higher quality, idk).

That's the highest quality that was available. Such was quality of Flash Video in 2007.

[fillow]

re:WITT
what we need is some NIN fan working for the Portuguese TV to break into channel's archives and deliver the perfect recording of the Lisbon performance that they for sure still keep somewhere.

this one

[Erneuert]

re:WITT
what we need is some NIN fan working for the Portuguese TV to break into channel's archives and deliver the perfect recording of the Lisbon performance that they for sure still keep somewhere.

this one

So surprised that hasn’t surfaced yet.

[Frozen Beach]

A hires release would be nice, preferably of the Vinyl version.

[trollmanen]

A hires release would be nice, preferably of the Vinyl version.

The vinyl came with a download for 24/96 of the Definitive Version, aka the vinyl edition. I still need to get around to using the ending of the alt version of Ripe (With Decay) from Deviations to make my own hi-res version of the album version of Ripe (With Decay). Only then will it be truly complete.

[jmtd]

The vinyl came with a download for 24/96 of the Definitive Version, aka the vinyl edition. I still need to get around to using the ending of the alt version of Ripe (With Decay) from Deviations to make my own hi-res version of the album version of Ripe (With Decay). Only then will it be truly complete.

Which appendage would you use? Tape recording with lyrics, or high res without?

[trollmanen]

Which appendage would you use? Tape recording with lyrics, or high res without?

Neither.

I prefer the original tape version with lyrics than the instrumental version. However, its addition on the cassette version was always about solving an issue with running time on Side A and not with it being a more complete version of the album like the additions to the vinyl version. So while I enjoy it, it definitely goes in the "remix" column and probably has a better place with other miscellaneous remixes than on The Fragile proper if I'm making my own playlists and versions.

And if I'm being honest, I prefer the original CD running order if I had to pick one of them.

[howdidislipinto]

And if I'm being honest, I prefer the original CD running order if I had to pick one of them.

i sort of wanted to make a "complete" version of the fragile as a playlist, but yeah, it brings up these interesting debates... because even aside from (decay), the definitive/vinyl edition is also missing certain track transitions which of course i'm attached to from having obsessively listened to the CDs over and over 25 years ago (!?!?!?!).

i decided to make a deviations2 playlist, using only what existed to us from the fragile era, all original songs no remixes (which i know can be another debatable topic). i decided on...

the fragile CD track listing with +appendage in there, and then a third disc with: tdwwa (quiet), 10 miles high, the new flesh, slipping away, the great collapse, metal, the two untitled snippets from the things falling apart website, deep, and then all of still except the becoming and something i can never have. and i gave the playlist the cover this reddit user created: https://www.reddit.com/r/nin/comment...rsary_artwork/

it's been pretty fucking killer, i've been listening to it since the anniversary.