The Fragile : An Ultimate Edition (fan compilation)
So here's a little thing I did over the last few days..
But first, a question. What could The Fragile have been ? With no limit of physical space like on a CD or a vinyl, no limit of length, no deadline, etc ?
Well, we will never know. But we can come close to hear something like that, if we add a bit of every versions of The Fragile released to this day,
and every single waves of sound (now zeros and ones) that we know comes from those recordings in New Orleans.
I tried to do that, starting from the Definitive Edition, then adding every missing pieces from Deviations 1, then all the others, and editing them all together, all working as a single piece.
It's not simply the track order from Deviations 1, with the tracks with lyrics from the Definitive Edition replacing their instrumentals, it's a full reorganization, to make the pieces all fit.
And I hope you will enjoy it !
All known tracks from the original sessions in New Orleans edited together :
-Nearly every tracks from The Fragile : Definitive Edition.
-Every unique tracks and some parts of others from The Fragile : Deviations 1.
-Two tracks from the CD edition of The Fragile (Pilgrimage, Ripe (With Decay)).
-One track from the cassette edition of The Fragile (+Appendage).
-One track from Things Falling Apart (The Great Collapse).
-One track from thingsfallingapart.com, released on remix.nin.com by Trent (Untitled).
No remix, no version, no alternative, no instrumental for tracks with an original version.
Only material coming from such tracks are added parts from Deviations 1 instrumentals to complete the original tracks (ex : extended outro for Somewhat Damaged).
Flow of the tracks based on the Definitive Edition and loosely based on Deviations 1.
Originally linked tracks are kept together, group of tracks orders working perfectly together are kept intact (ex : No, You Don't + La Mer + The Great Below + The Way Out Is Through + Into The Void + etc).
First four tracks and last four tracks orders are kept intact, like Deviations 1. That way same beginning, same end, but a different journey between the two.
Every tracks are linked to each other via crossfades, extended or shortened intro/outros, voluntary silences, or even modified quite a bit to imbricate everything together like originally planned (ex : Feeders + No, You Don't).
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B. Still (21:45)(5 tracks)
All unique tracks from Still, as an epilogue to The Fragile.
No modifications because they all work perfectly already.
01. Somewhat Damaged (Definitive Edition + Deviations 1) - 5:20
02. The Day The World Went Away (Definitive Edition) - 5:04
03. The Frail (Definitive Edition) - 1:54
04. The Wretched (Definitive Edition) - 5:35
05. Missing Places (Deviations 1 + Definitive Edition) - 1:44
06. We're In This Together (Definitive Edition) - 7:01
07. The Fragile (Definitive Edition) - 4:31
08. Just Like You Imagined (Definitive Edition) - 3:50
08. The March (Deviations 1) - 3:41
10. Even Deeper (Definitive Edition) - 6:17
11. Pilgrimage (CD) - 3:31
12. One Way To Get There (Deviations 1) - 2:43
13. Taken (Deviations 1) - 3:35
14. Feeders (Deviations 1) - 1:51
15. No, You Don't (Definitive Edition) - 3:19
16. La Mer (Definitive Edition) - 5:10
17. The Great Below (Definitive Edition) - 5:16
18. The Way Out Is Through (Definitive Edition) - 4:16
19. Into the Void (Definitive Edition) - 4:49
20. Where Is Everybody? (Definitive Edition) - 5:39
21. The Mark Has Been Made (Definitive Edition) - 4:46
22. 10 Miles High (Definitive Edition) - 5:04
23. Not What It Seems Like (Deviations 1) - 3:29
24. White Mask (Deviations 1) - 3:21
25. Was It Worth It? (Deviations 1) - 5:02
26. Please (Definitive Edition) - 3:28
27. +Appendage (Cassette) - 2:44
28. Can I Stay Here? (Deviations 1) - 4:20
29. The Great Collapse (Things Falling Apart) - 4:41
30. Starfuckers, Inc. (Definitive Edition) - 4:59
31. Complication (Definitive Edition) - 2:26
32. The New Flesh (Definitive Edition) - 3:39
33. Untitled (Web) - 0:59
34. Claustrophobia Machine (Deviations 1) - 2:37
35. Last Heard From (Deviations 1) - 2:01
36. I'm Looking Forward To Joining You, Finally (Definitive Edition) - 4:14
37. The Big Come Down (Definitive Edition) - 4:12
38. Underneath It All (Definitive Edition) - 2:46
39. Ripe (With Decay) (CD) - 6:36
->The Edit :
-Somewhat Damaged has the outro from Deviations added and then segues to The Day The World Went Away at the end like the original CD track.
-The Day The World Went Away is slightly cut at the beginning, and that cutted piece is the outro in the previous track, like in the original CD tracks.
-The Frail is untouched, it's perfect, blends with the tracks before and after.
-The Wretched is cut a the beginning to fit better with The Frail.
-Missing Places and We're In This Together are edited together. First part of the intro of WITT at the beginning of MP, then the whole of MP, which goes on to the next track into the second part of the intro of WITT and the whole track of WITT.
-The Fragile has the intro to Just Like You Imagined, just like the original CD track.
-Just Like You Imagined is slightly cut at the beginning to fit with its intro just before.
-The March has a cut at the end to fit with the next track.
-Even Deeper has the intro to Pilgrimage like the original CD track.
-Pilgrimage is slightly cut at the beginning to fit with its intro, and has the intro to One Way To Get There at the end.
-One Way To Get There and Taken are both cut a bit to fit.
-Feeders and No, You Don't are edited together. Feeders reaches its climax with the added original intro of NYD, both playing at the same time at the end, which cuts abruptly to NYD. Works like the original NYD but with Feeders as an extended intro.
-La Mer is untouched, it's fucking perfect, blends with the tracks before and after.
-The Great Below has a very slight cut at the beginning to fit better with La Mer, and has the intro to The Way Out Is Through at the end, to fit both tracks better.
-Into The Void is untouched, it's damn perfect, blends with the tracks before and after.
-Where Is Everybody is cut a bit to fit.
-The Mark Has Been Made is cut a bit to fit and has the intro to 10 Miles High at the end like originally planned in the CD.
-Not What It Seems Like, White Mask, and Was It Worth It? are all cut a bit to fit.
-Please and +Appendage are cut a bit to fit, and act as a single unstoppable force of nature. They blend perfectly like one track.
-Can I Stay Here? has the intro to The Great Collapse at the end.
-The Great Collapse is cut a bit to fit.
-Starfuckers, Inc., Complication, The New Flesh, Untitled are all cut a bit to fit.
-Claustrophobia machine has the intro to Last Heard From at the end.
-Last Hear From has the intro to I'm Looking Forward To Joining You, Finally at the end.
-I'm Looking Forward To Joining You, Finally is a cut a bit to fit
-The Big Come Down has the intro to Underneath It All at the end, like in the original CD.
-Underneath it All is cut a bit to fit.
-Ripe (With Decay) is perfect and will always be.
->The Editing :
With Ableton Live 10.
Using 24bits-96kHz FLACs of the original CD, The Definitive Edition, Deviations 1, the cassette edition, Things Falling Apart, and a few other sources.
->The Track Order :
The first four tracks work perfectly together already : Somewhat Damaged, The Day The World Went Away, The Frail, The Wretched.
It's the beginning of The Fragile we all know, it flows amazingly well.
Then enters We're In This Together with its intro : Missing Places. I tried blending the two together while still keeping two tracks.
Going as planned, it segues into Just Like You Imagined.
And after that, just like in Deviations 1, we got The March, already well placed. Still a light of hope in this broken machine.
Then Even Deeper and Pilgrimage, seguing together like always.
With no apparent very important connection between the previous original tracks and the next, One Way To Get There and Taken take their places.
The first, an unstoppable force, diving straight into the second, a first glimpse of the beginning of the end.
Which brings us to Feeders + No, You Don't, a rise in tension bringing us into one of the harshest tracks.
And, reaching a climax of noises, one of the loudest parts of the album, a direct cut to La Mer, and it's soft and quiet piano. A contrast I wanted to preserve.
Then we get The Great Below, The Way Out Is Through, Into The Void, Where Is Everybody, The Mark Has Been Made, 10 Miles High, all seguing together like they do on the Definitive Edition.
And now comes a more troubled sequence. Not What It Seems Like, lingering in its melancholy, followed by a tranquil White Mask and its percussions, to a crashing but nuanced Was It Worth It?.
But then comes Please + Appendage that we all know, as one continuous track, nicely blowing our eardrums.
We then slide right in Can I Stay Here? (one of my personal favorites of the new Deviations 1 tracks), again tranquil but tainted with those grainy synths, rising briefly in tension to fall back immediately in some sweet (other) synths.
And after that, The Great Collapse, a name envisaging a big come down, lyrics paralleling The Wretched, a woman's voice like in La Mer, but still some life in it.
Another place for it would have been just before Last Heard From, but at that point we're too far down the spiral and TGC sounds a bit too well for that, in my opinion.
Which brings us into the smashing Starfuckers, Inc. that we all know. I thought the screaming vocals at the end of The Great Collapse blended well with what was coming.
Seguing classically into Complication, and then The New Flesh.
Bringing us to the rare Untitled, which some people thought was a remix of The New Flesh. But it's not, and it blends well as a segue between TNF and the machine coming after.
Known as Claustrophobia Machine. Again an unstoppable force of percussions, throwing us into the nightmares of Last Hear From, the perfect predecessor to the final part of the album.
Finally, the last four tracks, working perfectly, as always : I'm Looking Forward To Joining You, Finally, The Big Come Down, Underneath It All, Ripe (With Decay).
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B. Still
01. Adrift And At Peace (CD) - 5:52
02. Gone, Still (CD) - 2:36
03. And All That Could Have Been (CD) - 6:14
04. The Persistence Of Loss (CD) - 4:03
05. Leaving Hope (CD) - 5:57
All unique tracks from Still, as an epilogue to The Fragile.
Adrift And At Peace is the conclusion to La Mer, and so is linked to The Fragile.
And All That Could Have Been might be originally from the The Fragile sessions, but it's a new version we got for Still.
Didn't include them in The Fragile because they're part of Still now. But there's still a link.
No modifications because they all work perfectly already.
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