Track Listing

1. Pinion
2. Wish
3. Last
4. Help Me I Am In Hell
5. Happiness In Slavery
6. Gave Up
7. Non-Musical Silence
8. Non-Musical Silence
9. Non-Musical Silence
10. Non-Musical Silence
11. Non-Musical Silence
12. Non-Musical Silence
13. Non-Musical Silence
14. Non-Musical Silence
15. Non-Musical Silence
16. Non-Musical Silence
17. Non-Musical Silence
18. Non-Musical Silence
19. Non-Musical Silence
20. Non-Musical Silence
21. Non-Musical Silence
22. Non-Musical Silence
23. Non-Musical Silence
24. Non-Musical Silence
25. Non-Musical Silence
26. Non-Musical Silence
27. Non-Musical Silence
28. Non-Musical Silence
29. Non-Musical Silence
30. Non-Musical Silence
31. Non-Musical Silence
32. Non-Musical Silence
33. Non-Musical Silence
34. Non-Musical Silence
35. Non-Musical Silence
36. Non-Musical Silence
37. Non-Musical Silence
38. Non-Musical Silence
39. Non-Musical Silence
40. Non-Musical Silence
41. Non-Musical Silence
42. Non-Musical Silence
43. Non-Musical Silence
44. Non-Musical Silence
45. Non-Musical Silence
46. Non-Musical Silence
47. Non-Musical Silence
48. Non-Musical Silence
49. Non-Musical Silence
50. Non-Musical Silence
51. Non-Musical Silence
52. Non-Musical Silence
53. Non-Musical Silence
54. Non-Musical Silence
55. Non-Musical Silence
56. Non-Musical Silence
57. Non-Musical Silence
58. Non-Musical Silence
59. Non-Musical Silence
60. Non-Musical Silence
61. Non-Musical Silence
62. Non-Musical Silence
63. Non-Musical Silence
64. Non-Musical Silence
65. Non-Musical Silence
66. Non-Musical Silence
67. Non-Musical Silence
68. Non-Musical Silence
69. Non-Musical Silence
70. Non-Musical Silence
71. Non-Musical Silence
72. Non-Musical Silence
73. Non-Musical Silence
74. Non-Musical Silence
75. Non-Musical Silence
76. Non-Musical Silence
77. Non-Musical Silence
78. Non-Musical Silence
79. Non-Musical Silence
80. Non-Musical Silence
81. Non-Musical Silence
82. Non-Musical Silence
83. Non-Musical Silence
84. Non-Musical Silence
85. Non-Musical Silence
86. Non-Musical Silence
87. Non-Musical Silence
88. Non-Musical Silence
89. Non-Musical Silence
90. Non-Musical Silence
91. Non-Musical Silence
92. Non-Musical Silence
93. Non-Musical Silence
94. Non-Musical Silence
95. Non-Musical Silence
96. Non-Musical Silence
97. Non-Musical Silence
98. Physical (You're So)
99. Suck

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #10719 in Music
• Released on: 1992-09-29
• Number of discs: 1
• Formats: Explicit Lyrics, EP
• Running time: 38 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
As a placeholder between the full-length "Pretty Hate Machine" and "The Downward Spiral", Broken packs a serious punch. Angrier and less poppy than "Machine", this EP is full of noisy hooks, if such a thing is possible (check out that guitar riff on the full-throttle "Wish"), and much closer aesthetically to the industrial subgenre that informs Trent Reznor's music. As song titles like "Help Me I Am in Hell" suggest, Broken is a work of undiluted rage, which is, of course, a big part of its appeal. --Genevieve Williams

CD Description
Having caught the public's attention with his catchy, chart- topping PRETTY HATE MACHINE, Trent Reznor was free to experiment with music less accessible to the mainstream. While his more fickle fans were disappointed with BROKEN, the faithful heard in it Reznor's true genius. Dark and edgy, BROKEN cuts the silence like a dirty knife--no singalong anthems here. Only hard-hitting rhythms and no-holds-barred metal riffs flavour this sophomore effort.
In BROKEN one can hear the artist maturing and simplifying his craft; Reznor succeeds here without relying on the trappings of pop formulas. Theproduct of a burst of creative energy, BROKEN spawned a companion release of remixes, titled FIXED. From the tight, rapid-fire succession of chords that begins "Pinion" to the beautiful and dreamy jingling guitar of "Help Me I Am in Hell",BROKEN proved that Reznor was to remain a force in the alternative music scene.

Customer Reviews

Awesome...
I know a lot of people have been saying that this isn't one of the best Nine Inch Nails out there, but i'd beg to differ, i think it's one of my favourite albums, becuase every song is hard hitting and great. I think it's probably the heaviest album that Trent Reznor has created,a nd although he wanted to get away from the pop vibe, these songs are still very ctachy, althuoght definately more metal than others, and very different from Pretty Hate Machine.

You start of with Pinion which slowly reaches its climax before throwing you head first into Wish, a very fierce song, with a great guitar riff throughout. Without much time to think you are then given Last, another great song, with a great riff, and great chrorus. Help me I'm in Hell is a very eerie song, you'll understand the name after you've heard it, and then you're thrown into Happiness In Slavery, this is a very hard hitting song, with a great beat underneatch all the industrious sounds. Then theres Gave Up, this is a really good song, it has alot of great sounds incorporated into it, with Reznors biting vocals over the top. We then gett o the bonus tracks, and although this can be annoying to fast forward all the way to 98, theyre definately worth it...Physical and Suck are two of my favourites on the cd theyre awesome. I definately reccommend this cd, and it's a must have if you're collecting all the cds.

Now That's What I Call Industrial Pt. 667
The best Nine Inch Nails release, bar none. Crushing brutality meets pure melody...listen to Trent's magnum opus and pledge your allegiance. None more black (of heart).

PS Remember not to press 'Random Play'...you'll regret it...

Heavy, You Got It Buddy
The "Broken" Ep is one of those strange moments in musical history. In retrospect it seems like the most natural thing in the world, knowing what was to follow. However, at the time this must have come as quite a shock to Reznor's fanbase being as it is far removed from the synth heavy Gary Numan sound of "Pretty Hate Machine".

It is a natural step of evolution though for this to be the bridge between "Pretty" and "The Downward Spiral". When the "Pretty" album was performed live, due to the instruments used and the players themselves, the previously synthesizer friendly sound was replaced by a wall of loud, heavy and abrasive guitars and banging drums. After this taste of heavy rock and seeing the disappointment of rock fans who had seen his live show first and bought the record after expecting more of the same, Reznor decided that the only step that he could make would be to incorporate rock music into the Nine Inch Nails sound. It could be seen as Reznor trying to alienate the "Pretty Hate Machine" audience, and it probably did.

Right from the starting gun, Reznor's new direction hits you over the head like a sledgehammer. The track "Pinion" works less as a song and more of an intro to "Wish", kicking into the apocalyptic sound that will be only too familiar to fans of "Starf******, Inc" and "Heresy".

The other tracks work much the same way, fusing the heavy, mechanical rhytyms of industrial to the loud, heavy sound of metal. The tracks are also quite poppy, when you strip away all of the extremities, Reznor's skilll at song structure and the knack for writing a poppy, catchy melody shine through. "Help Me I Am In Hell" is the intro to the most well known track from "Broken", "Happiness In Slavery", infamous for its universally banned video.

There are two hidden tracks here, a cover of Adam Ant's "Physical" and a new version of "Suck", appearing as tracks 98 and 99.

What really sets NIN apart from the other industrimetal bands is that Reznor always instilled in his work a real accessibility. Where Ministry were heavy, repetitive and uncommercial, NIN always had the pop aspect to them. Far from just noise, scratch the surface dirt away and its like listening to The Beatles, only NIN does'nt suck.