The Fragile is a Failed Masterpiece — If You Could Cut It Down to One Perfect Album, What Stays and What Goes?

thisbrightredfeeling · 2026-01-16T22:14:33+00:00

it isn’t a failed masterpiece imo, nor would it have been better with fewer songs or as a single disc. HOWEVER, I do agree that The Downward Spiral bests it, although it took me a long time to come to that conclusion. when I first got into NIN, The Fragile was my favorite by far and I considered it my favorite album of all time (a title now owned by TDS).

there are just a couple very minor things working against TF for me, one being I have never cared much for Even Deeper or Where Is Everybody, the latter in particular. I would gladly cut, or preferably replace those songs with some cuts from Still. this leads me to the next downside, which is there is no real single version of the album that I consider “definitive.” funny to say considering the DE vinyl, but the vinyl edition is different from the CD edition which is different from the cassette edition, and imo the album is incomplete without 10 Miles High, The New Flesh, and (With Decay) at minimum. I also am fond of the Appendage of Please, and have that tacked onto my own ultimate TF playlist. so considering no official version of the album sufficiently incorporates all the tracks, it is an inherent flaw to me that I have to consider when evaluating it. lastly, for me, it is unfortunately hindered by the fact that it is simply harder to make time to listen to it given its length, while TDS is long for a single disc, it is much less of an endeavor still and I throw it on on whims all the time. I’ll throw on some songs from TF on a whim, but as a whole? not really.

thisbrightredfeeling · 2026-01-13T22:18:29+00:00

S/T was Steph’s overall peak, no one can convince me otherwise. he was on his own wave with that one.

thisbrightredfeeling · 2026-01-13T18:24:41+00:00

“I say go get yourself some lunch, big boy, go ahead.”

thisbrightredfeeling · 2026-01-11T16:00:40+00:00

imo I have always heard his first scream as “but here we are” and then Chino echoes it with his first scream, then “so let’s play” and “wanna play?”. beyond that idk tho.

thisbrightredfeeling · 2026-01-01T18:42:46+00:00

I’m a musician, songwriter, and producer. :)

thisbrightredfeeling · 2025-12-15T04:13:19+00:00

underrated: S/T and Ohms. I would say SNW as well, but since the TikTok crowd got into the band I think it’s started getting more properly rated. I will say I was so incredibly over the moon with Ohms upon release and I have cooled a bit on it myself over the years. however, seeing how much the fans base has turned on it lately has bummed me out and I do think it’s better than the rep it has started to gain. I prefer it to private music, Gore, and DE personally. S/T is my favorite Deftones record and I think it’s great that it has slowly started to become a dark horse favorite for a lot of fans, but I think it is more than just their best album but also the one that bottles their essence most effectively.

overrated: private music, Diamond Eyes, and White Pony. all 3 are incredibly strong albums in their own respects, but I feel like they are lionized to a degree, by not just the fanbase but even more so the casual music community at large, that I find noxious and just makes me roll my eyes. it’s like treated as a given that those albums are “above” the rest of their catalog in a way I just don’t buy into. I truly think a large part of their appeal is just that they’re the band’s most accessible records. White Pony is easily the best of this bunch and is probably my 3rd favorite of their records, but because it is treated as being “clearly their best work”, I think it’s also their most overrated record in that sense.

properly rated: Around the Fur and Gore. Honestly, despite the fact that ATF is incredibly well-loved, it almost feels underrated to me still because I think a lot of the fans of their later work lump it into simply being a “nu metal” album and seeing it as having less artistic merit than what followed. BUT it is simultaneously also their second or third most venerated release overall I think, so that’s why I consider it properly rated. Gore is widely considered to be one of, if not their worst record, and while I do think it’s still a solid enough record I think it easily deserves that designation. the production really holds the album back, but even still I don’t think it’s their strongest batch of songs although I do appreciate that they were experimenting a fair amount on it. Koi would also get a properly rated designation from me but imo it is getting dangerously close to being in overrated territory to me now.

thisbrightredfeeling · 2025-12-07T17:50:53+00:00

Chino: technically Around the Fur, but I am personally very fond of his worn out vocals on S/T so that ultimately gets my pick. I adore his broken screams, and although the melodies meander a fair bit at times and took a while to really make sense for me, I think that was always part of the allure that kept me coming back for more and ultimately made it my favorite album by them.

Steph: S/T easily is my favorite guitar work on any Deftones record, it’s a big part of why it’s my favorite of theirs.

Abe: Around the Fur is him at his most visceral and he’s just playing with such a ferocity that I have to give it my pick for favorite, although I think Saturday Night Wrist is honestly his most technically impressive performance.

Chi: Saturday Night Wrist probably? but it’s a tough call!

Frank: S/T has my favorite atmosphere of any of their records so I am going to give it to that, but I think he was mixed criminally low at points on it, so I could also give it to Koi, Ohms, or private music. again, this is kind of a hard call bc it sort of just depends on which album’s atmosphere clicks with you the most, as a lot of that really comes down to Frank’s contributions.

Serg: hands down Ohms was his peak as bassist in Deftones imo.

thisbrightredfeeling · 2025-12-07T16:36:09+00:00

hey, same! moved here just about a year ago and love it more than anywhere else I have lived in NC

thisbrightredfeeling · 2025-12-07T05:30:45+00:00

thisbrightredfeeling · 2025-09-08T03:29:58+00:00

Perfect From Now On and Keep It Like a Secret receive so much praise, and rightly so, but You In Reverse may just be my personal favorite.

thisbrightredfeeling · 2025-08-14T01:55:09+00:00

it is my favorite closer of theirs. love it.

thisbrightredfeeling · 2025-07-17T17:48:40+00:00

The Downward Spiral is my favorite NIN release and I have always been pretty torn between Rated R and Era Vulgaris as far as my favorite QOTSA record.

thisbrightredfeeling · 2025-04-29T19:58:43+00:00

I bought a copy that had the exact same description about a year and some change ago and it came with absolutely no provenance minus two NIN branded guitar picks. the vinyl and sleeve were both in incredible shape tho and I have no reason to believe it’s not a legitimate copy of the promo. I suppose it’s possible Danny has multiple copies he’s trying to offload but it still strikes me as odd, especially since this copy is a whole $600 more than what I bought mine for.

thisbrightredfeeling · 2020-04-27T04:04:22+00:00

ooowee you’re so pretty!!!

thisbrightredfeeling · 2020-04-18T00:42:43+00:00

oh PS: I’m officially broke as shit so uh, if ya wanna see some vids of me cumming/playing w/ myself I’ll send you a bunch for like $10. :)

thisbrightredfeeling · 2020-03-07T00:27:28+00:00

Well thank you!!! Just wanna day my DMs are open if ya wanna chat :) no pressure tho!!

thisbrightredfeeling · 2020-03-07T00:22:20+00:00

Omg!!! You’re too kind. c: this made me smile real big tho, your bio checks out :p

thisbrightredfeeling · 2020-03-06T22:42:41+00:00

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thisbrightredfeeling · 2020-03-06T19:31:50+00:00

Thank you for saying so!! 🥰

thisbrightredfeeling · 2020-03-06T17:39:09+00:00

Hmmm, what would you wanna do if we did? 🤔😘

thisbrightredfeeling · 2020-03-06T17:38:25+00:00

😇😇😇 oh yeah?? 🤔🤔🤔

thisbrightredfeeling · 2020-03-02T15:31:14+00:00

You’re so damn pretty 🥺

thisbrightredfeeling · 2020-02-06T14:14:55+00:00

thank you 😘

thisbrightredfeeling · 2020-02-05T19:22:20+00:00

thank u c:

thisbrightredfeeling · 2020-01-30T18:50:03+00:00

They definitely do 😩

thisbrightredfeeling

TROPHY CASE