Broken is an extended play and the second release of original material by Nine Inch Nails, released on September 22, 1992.
Amid tensions between frontman Trent Reznor and his label TVT Records over control of his project following the release of debut album Pretty Hate Machine, Reznor started the vanity label Nothing Records through Interscope Records. This allowed him more creative freedom, though TVT still refused to let him go. These tensions, combined with NIN's live performances starting to become more intense, inspired Reznor to take a new heavier direction with this EP, resulting in what many people consider the Trope Codifier for Industrial Metal.
The EP was originally packaged with a separate three-inch mini-CD containing two cover songs: "Physical", originally by Adam and the Ants, and "Suck", originally recorded by Reznor as a guest vocalist for Pigface. Due to the high cost of the packaging, the mini disc was removed after the first 250,000 copies were pressed. Subsequent pressings of the CD included the two covers as a pair of hidden tracks.
A remix EP, Fixed, was released six weeks later. Reznor opted not to tour for the EP and instead started work on the next full album, 1994's The Downward Spiral.
In 1993, videos for five of the six tracks on the main EP were used for a 20-minute short film referred to as the "Broken movie", directed by Peter Christopherson with a cast of mostly unknowns. The videos in the movie are framed by a man being tortured and forced to watch them by a Serial Killer. Due to the very NSFW content in the movie, Reznor did not want the movie to overshadow the songs. As a result, the film was never officially released, though bootlegs and leaks have been in circulation since its completion. As of 2020, the entire film is available to watch uncensored on the Internet Archive; a link to this copy of the film is hidden on the discography page of the official NIN website.
Track list:
- "Pinion" (1:03)
- "Wish" (3:47)
- "Last" (4:45)
- "Help Me I Am in Hell" (1:56)
- "Happiness in Slavery" (5:22)
- "Gave Up" (4:09)
- "Physical (You're So)" (Adam and the Ants cover) (5:30)
- "Suck" (Pigface cover) (5:08)
Musicians:
- Trent Reznor: Vocals, almost all instruments
- Chris Vrenna: Drums on "Gave Up"
- Martin Atkins: Drums on "Wish" and "Suck"
Wish there was something real in these tropes full of you:
- Album Intro Track: "Pinion" is a loop of a guitar riff and ambiance that gets progressively louder.
- Album Title Drop:
- Two songs feature the album's title by containing a reference to a broken machine.
- "Happiness in Slavery" features the lyric "Just some flesh caught in this big broken machine".
- "Gave Up" features the lyric "Still cannot fix this broken machine."
- Two songs feature the album's title by containing a reference to a broken machine.
- Anaphora: Both verses of "Happiness in Slavery" prefix each line with "slave screams".
- Cover Version:
- "Physical" was originally by Adam and the Ants.
- "Suck" was originally a Pigface song with guest vocals from Trent Reznor.
- Darker and Edgier: A darker and angrier release than Pretty Hate Machine, this EP is less Synth-Pop and more Industrial Metal.
- Death Seeker: The protagonist of "Last" becomes this at the end, wanting someone to kill him."I want you to throw me away"
- Despair Event Horizon: Most, if not all, of the songs deal with this, but "Gave Up" pretty much spells it out."I tried. I gave up."
- Happiness in Slavery: The Trope Namer is about being a slave to the music industry."Slave screams he spends his life learning conformity
Slave screams he claims he has his own identity
Slave screams he's going to cause the system to fall
Slave screams but he's glad to be chained to that wall" - Hellhound: The slowed-down dog bark (a recording of Trent's dog Maise, a puppy at the time) in "Physical" provides a demonic sound.
- Hidden Track: "Physical" and "Suck" were repressed this way after the first 250k copies had them as a separate mini CD. They appear as tracks 98 and 99. Tracks 7-97 are one second of silence each, making a 90-second gap between the main EP and the hidden tracks.
- Intercourse with You: "Physical""I want you hard in my arms
So soft on my bed" - Instrumentals: "Pinion" and "Help Me I Am in Hell" are the first released NIN instrumentals.
- Jump Scare:
- The "Wish" riff will jump at you if you raise the volume too high to hear “Pinion”.
- The calm yet brooding "Help Me I Am In Hell" leading directly into Trent screaming on "Happiness in Slavery".
- Last Note Nightmare: The chaotic, climactic ending of "Wish" abruptly cuts into an eerie, wispy noise.
- Minimalistic Cover Art: A giant lowercase "n" on a fiery background.
- Same Content, Different Rating: The 2017 vinyl reissue has a Parental Advisory warning that the original EP did not. The first NIN release to get the warning was Remix Album Fixed.
- Symploce: The end of "Last"."I want you to make me
I want you to take me
I want you to break me
Then I want you to throw me away" - Take That!: Trent put out many towards Steve Gottlieb, the head of TVT Records who tried to interfere with Trent's work. Considering its production was a direct result of TVT's domineering attitude, Broken contains the crux of the barbs. For example:
- "Physical" opens with Trent whispering "Eat your heart out, Steve."
- In the "Gave Up" video, one shot of a Macintosh running Pro Tools
◊ has the sequence title "fuck you steve". - The Broken liner notes, which end with "no thanks: you know who you fucking are" and "the slave thinks he is released from bondage only to find a stronger set of chains."
- Alternate Music Video: The story version of "Gave Up" is exclusive to the movie, which uses it as the climax. The official video is a Performance Video.
- And I Must Scream: "Pinion" shows a person in a tight bondage suit that has a network of pipes end with an attachment to the mouth portion of the suit with water (or waste) gushing in.
- Bookends:
- The movie begins and ends in black and white with a scene of the Serial Killer being executed.
- Trent Reznor appears in the first verse and disappears until the end, when he enters to room for his turn with the torture/killing machine.
- Bound and Gagged: The character in "Help Me I Am in Hell" appears in bondage gear at select points in the video.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Pretty much the whole movie runs on torture scenes.
- Framing Device: The videos are framed by a torture victim being forced to watch them by a Serial Killer.
- Gorn: The Broken movie. "Happiness in Slavery" takes it to extremes.
- Groin Attack:
- The killer in the Broken movie chops off his victim's genitals, and apparently begins to ... fuck ... the hole left behind.
- "Happiness in Slavery" also has this, by way of a machine.
- Here We Go Again!: The "Happiness in Slavery" video features a man going through a ritual before sitting in a machine that rips him apart, kills him, and engulfs him, and it ends with Trent entering the room and beginning the same ritual.
- The Invisible Band: Trent does not appear in the "Pinion" or "Help Me I am In Hell" videos. The live band only appears in "Wish".
- Malevolent Masked Men: The killer wears a leather mask.
- Nameless Narrative: The characters have no names.
- Once More, with Clarity: The man being hanged at the beginning is revealed at the end to be the Serial Killer being executed for his crimes.
- R-Rated Opening: The movie begins with a man being hanged.
- Rule of Scary: Pretty much the whole movie, but especially "Help Me I Am in Hell", which has a man eat steak and drink wine with a huge swarm of flies on his food/drink. There is no explanation for this.
- Serial Killer: The Big Bad of the movie is a particularly gruesome serial killer.
- Silence Is Golden: The movie has no dialogue.
- The Spook: Nothing is known about the Serial Killer, aside from being a Sadist. No name, no motivation, and not a single line from him (or anyone else).
- The Stinger: The movie ends with about 30 seconds of a blank screen, followed by a brief scene of a severed head flying.
