thevoid99's Full Review: Fixed [EP] by Nine Inch Nails
(Note: Originally done on 9/26/00 but now re-edited and extended).
When Nine Inch Nails released the Broken EP in late 1992, the record was an instant hit with fans and critics and later went into the top ten album charts in the U.S. Following the release of the EP, NIN leader Trent Reznor decided to release a limited edtion remix EP as an import to U.S. fans who loved the band’s remixes. Though their remixes had been available on the band’s previous singles, the EP for Broken didn’t release any singles and the best thing to do for the fans was to release a remix EP of the songs from Broken made by other producers and mixers. At the same time, Reznor didn’t want to think of the remix EP as a remix record but as an interpretation of the songs of Broken made by other people, which is why Reznor titled the remix EP as Fixed.
Fixed is the first in a series of remix EPs that the band would release throughout their career and each EP featured different interpretations of NIN songs by other artist and producers. Fixed starts that tradition when Reznor hired not only his friend and NIN cohort Chris Vrenna and engineer Sean Beaven, but also several other producers including producer Butch Vig (who had previously produced the landmark 1991 album Nevermind by Nirvana), JG Thirwell aka Clint Ruin (an influential remix producer in the industrial sub genre), Coil (the influential industrial rock pioneers who were one of the first acts to sign with Reznor’s Nothing Records), Danny Hyde, Bill Kennedy, P.K., Martin Brumbach, and S&M performance artist Bob Flanagan who had appeared in the controversial Happiness In Slavery video. While most remix records tend to be made for commercial use for fans by adding guest vocals from another artist and make it fun for dance clubs, Fixed is none of that. Instead, it’s a record where the songs are recreated and deconstructed to a new fashion where it’s doesn’t have to be a dance track but instead, a full interpretation of NIN songs by other people.
The first track is a remix of Gave Up by Coil with producer Danny Hyde that starts out as a distorted synthesizer-based track with layers of synthesizers with vocals of Reznor singing the opening lines of Gave Up for about a minute and a half until he says “Throw it away, steady” as a brief guitar break comes in where the track now becomes a fast and pulsating drum machine beats that are maniacal and fast as if you’re in a rave that features fast vocals from Reznor along with distorted keyboard solos and guitar breaks that lasts throughout the remainder of the five-minute-and-twenty-four second track.
The next track is a remix of Wish remixed by J.G. Thirwell who uses his production mastery to craft one of the greatest highlights of this EP that is filled with loud synthesizers, heart-pounding drum tracks, distorted vocals, and guitar breaks that go on for about nine-minutes that starts out with its distorted keyboards and drum tracks from Wish that dominate for about a minute until guitars come in and dominate the track until a huge synthesizer solo comes in for about the 2:30 mark of the song until the third minute where a huge drum solo comes in that is followed by Reznor singing the song until about the fifth minute mark when a distorted keyboard track comes that is then followed by a huge crash of guitars and synthesizers that are abrasive and louder than the original track.
The next track is a remix of Happiness In Slavery by Reznor, Chris Vrenna, and added loops from electronic producers P.K that stands at around six minutes that features industrial-driven drum tracks, pulsating synthesizer tracks along with layers of atmospheric and distorted synthesizers that dominate the track for about a minute-and-a-half until it’s then dominated by pulsating and distorted drum machine tracks with guitar breaks and Reznor screaming “slavery” where by the fourth minute, clashing synthesizers and distorted and hard-hitting drum tracks come in along with screams from Bob Flanagan which is then returned by its synthesizer-driven based structure.
Throw This Away is a 2-part remix that stands at four minutes where the first part is by Reznor and Vrenna that starts out with a wind-like synthesizer track that is then followed by the brooding bass tracks from the song Suck with whispering vocals of Reznor singing “I feel so dirty, on the inside” until about near three-minutes, cymbal crashes come in to dominate the track which is then followed by a powerful and a noisy guitar and drum tracks from Last remixed by Butch Vig who gives the track a brutal and confrontational end.
Fist F*ck is another Wish remix that is made by J.G. Thirwell that stands at seven minutes that starts out with a distorted and noisy guitar track from the original song that is surrounded by its layers of synthesizers until it nearly hits the minute-and-a-half part where its followed by a brief distorted synthesizer break which is then followed by a guitar and the loud drum tracks with distorted vocals and background noises of synthesizers that dominates the track for about a few minutes. By the five-and-a-half-minute mark, a boom starts to come in with brief voice samples and it is then followed by clashing synthesizers and guitar tracks that is then followed by its fast-blazing guitar track until the end of the track.
The final track of the EP is an assembled remix called Screaming Slaves which contains elements of Happiness In Slavery that is mixed by the team of Reznor, Vrenna, Sean Beaven, Bill Kennedy, Martin Brumbach, and screams courtesy of Bob Flanagan. The eight-minute track starts off with wind-like keyboard tracks for about a minute when a dance-like keyboard track comes in to help accompany the wind-keyboard track until the second minute where it is then followed by distorted noises and elements of the original song with its distorted keyboards and drum tracks that sounds like the song is falling apart with its clashing layers of keyboards, guitars, drums, screams, and loud feedback noises that dominate the track for about a few minutes into the track. By the sixth minute, the screams of Bob Flanagan dominate the track for a brief moment until the feedback noises return to finish the entire album.
When Fixed was released in early '93, it was only available in the U.S. as an import, which was then priced at $14-16 at the time while in the U.K., was priced like any other regular EP at the time. Though the price was high for the NIN record, it was a very popular import in the U.S. among NIN fans and years later; it was re-released in the regular EP price in the U.S. Fixed not only proved that NIN could sell a limited number of a remix record but they remain popular throughout their entire fan base that was still with them. By the time of release of “Fixed” in early '93, Trent Reznor had won a Grammy for the song Wish from the Broken EP and it not only certified a triumph for Reznor as an artist but it marked the end of the first chapter of the NIN story. From 1989 to 1993, Reznor went through lawsuits, label changes, and creative commercial triumph through those early years in NIN. In the years to come, he would find global success and respect among rock’s elite.
In the end, Fixed is an excellent remix EP from Trent Reznor and company. Reznor not only proved that he could make an interpretation of songs from a previous album but make it, as it’s own record. Of all the remix records NIN released, Fixed is an essential among NIN fans thanks to the work of Reznor and the guests who contributed to the record. Though it’s a forty-minute EP and does leave you wanting for more, each track do have highlights that makes any fan of industrial music want to listen to remixes and for someone who wants to become a producer, this is the record that’s a good introduction to the art of remixing. Fixed should be only owned if you’re a fan of remixes or a devoted hardcore NIN fan.
Live Shows: (NIN/Bauhaus/TV on the Radio-6/7/06 Atlanta, GA Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheater) - (NIN/Deerhunter-8/13/08 Duluth, GA Gwinnett Arena) - (NIN/Jane's Addiction/Street Sweeper Social Club-5/10/09 Atlanta, GA Hi-Fi Buys Amphitheater)
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