The Fragile
by Nine Inch Nails
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Nine Inch Nails bestography
The Fragile is ranked 3rd best out of 25 albums by Nine Inch Nails on BestEverAlbums.com.
The best album by Nine Inch Nails is The Downward Spiral which is ranked number 161 in the list of all-time albums with a total rank score of 8,672.
(N.B. Bestographies include all albums by an artist (and their variations), but do not include albums ranked outside the top 100,000).
Listen to The Fragile on YouTube
The Fragile track list
The tracks on this album have an average rating of 83 out of 100 (all tracks have been rated).
Top-rated track as rated by BestEverAlbums.com members.
The Fragile rankings
Calculated from aggregate positions across 60,000 charts (2 million album rankings). Click to see how the rankings are calculated (Last updated: 4 hours ago)
| Year | Source | Chart | Rank | Rank Score |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 |  ERadio | Top 60 Music Albums of 1999 | 3/60 | 5 |
| 2026 |  zags7000 | Top 100 Music Albums of 1999 | 34/100 | 3 |
| 2026 |  Romanelli | My Overall Chart: 2701-2774 | 58/74 | - |
| 2026 | matterhornrider | Top 47 Music Albums of 1999 | 18/47 | 3 |
| 2026 | sunnydhamm | Top 100 Music Albums of the 1990s | 60/100 | 8 |
| 2026 | mrmcrook | Top 43 Music Albums of 1999 | 33/43 | 1 |
| 2026 |  Milhaud | Top 55 Music Albums of 1999 | 36/55 | 2 |
| 2026 | LittleM1971 | Top 90 Music Albums of 1999 | 86/90 | 0 |
| 2026 |  DommeDamian | Scaruffi Best Albums of 1999 | 68/94 | - |
| 2026 | vdnoorfr | Top 100 Greatest Music Albums | 66/100 | 33 |
| Total Charts: The total number of charts that this album has appeared in. | 365 | |||
| Total Rank Score: The total rank score. | 2,518 | |||
The Fragile collection
Showing latest 20 members who have this album in their collection | Show all 240 members
The Fragile ratings
Average Rating = (n ÷ (n + m)) × av + (m ÷ (n + m)) × AVwhere:
av = trimmed mean average rating an item has currently received.
n = number of ratings an item has currently received.
m = minimum number of ratings required for an item to appear in a 'top-rated' chart (currently 10).
AV = the site mean average rating.
Showing latest 3 ratings for this album. | Show all 540 ratings for this album.
| Rating | Date updated | Member | Album ratings | Avg. album rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ! | 4 days ago | Untitled | 1,806 | 77/100 |
| ! | 08/05/2026 01:31 | xhitmanx | 1,604 | 75/100 |
| ! | 07/31/2026 14:01 | Scrabbler | 291 | 76/100 |
Rating metrics:
Outliers can be removed when calculating a mean average to dampen the effects of ratings outside the normal distribution. This figure is provided as the trimmed mean. A high standard deviation can be legitimate, but can sometimes indicate 'gaming' is occurring. Consider a simplified example* of an item receiving ratings of 100, 50, & 0. The mean average rating would be 50. However, ratings of 55, 50 & 45 could also result in the same average. The second average might be more trusted because there is more consensus around a particular rating (a lower deviation).
(*In practice, some albums can have several thousand ratings)
This album is rated in the top 2% of all albums on BestEverAlbums.com. This album has a Bayesian average rating of 78.9/100, a mean average of 78.2/100, and a trimmed mean (excluding outliers) of 79.1/100. The standard deviation for this album is 16.1.
The Fragile favourites
Showing latest 10 members who have added this album as a favourite | Show all 92 members
Forum mentions
BestEverAlbums 09/01/2026 16:00 in Monthly overall chart movements BestEverAlbums 08/18/2026 08:00 in Chart of the day (#5408): By Vasco BestEverAlbums 08/01/2026 16:00 in Monthly overall chart movementsThe Fragile comments
Most Helpful First | Newest First | Positive Sentiment First | Longest Comments First
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Album Rating: 74.48
(1,713/23)
Far, far too long.
1.Somewhat Damaged. 73
2.The Day The World Went Away. 94
3.The Frail. 80
4.The Wretched. 74
5.We're In This Together. 85
6.The Fragile. 86
7.Just Like You Imagined. 75
8.Even Deeper. 74
9.Pilgrimage. 69
10.No, You Don't. 68
11.La Mer. 73
12.The Great Below. 83
13.The Way Out Is Through. 74
14.Into The Void. 75
15.Where Is Everybody? 72
16.The Mark Has Been Made. 69
17.Please. 68
18.Starfuckers, Inc. 69
19.Complication. 65
20.I'm Looking Forward To Joining You, Finally. 72
21.The Big Come Down. 78
22.Underneath It All. 68
23.Ripe (With Decay). 69
It's not bad. But it's not great. I pull it out for an airing about once every 18 months. I always think I'm missing something. Every time I'm slightly expecting it to be the moment where it finally resonates with me. But it still hasn't happened. To much repetitive tone for much of it. Maybe one day I'll be in the exact head space where it all clicks. (Edited)
I was not excited about this album for a long time, but the Ultimate Edition is much better than the normal.
Brad1770 08/04/2019 10:19 | #240737
This comment is beneath your viewing threshold.
TheDarkOrb 07/12/2019 12:44 | #239365
The Fragile is a fantastic emotional journey through sound and perhaps Trent's best work.
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