THE FRAGILE: DEVIATIONS 1

If, like me, you're the sort of person who finds The Fragile a hard album to love due to the often cringeworthy lyrics and vocals, or if you just really dig Trent Reznor's instrumental soundtrack work - and there's plenty of people in both of those categories - then The Fragile: Deviations 1 is an absolute godsend. Collecting together both a set of instrumental versions of The Fragile tracks (though with most tracks having at least few alternate spins put in here and there, so they're more interesting than just "the original track, only no vocals this time") and a grab-bag of material which didn't make it onto the original album, Deviations 1 reveals it for the prog-industrial exploration that it truly was and is a truly revelatory listening experience.

The most exciting thing about it, though, is the "1" in the title, suggesting that future Deviations releases - perhaps focusing on other albums - are intended in the future. I certainly hope so, because for me - as a fan who originally got hooked on NIN via the Quake soundtrack - this is fantastic, an expansion of the sonic approach of the Quake material onto a far broader and grander stage.