Sunday, 18 October 2026
RIFFOLOGY
Broken by Nine Inch Nails, album cover
EP

Broken

by Nine Inch Nails
Released22 September 1992
LabelNothing Records
Popularity65.2
industrialalternative rockindustrial metalelectronicrock
Wikipedia ↗MusicBrainz ↗Deezer ↗Podcast cover

Broken is the first EP from Nine Inch Nails, released on 22 September 1992 through Nothing Records. Trent Reznor produced it with Flood, and every track was new. It also swaps the synth-pop leanings of the band's 1989 debut, Pretty Hate Machine, for something much heavier and harsher.

That shift makes it the bridge to The Downward Spiral, which followed in 1994, and the lyrical themes point the same way. Five of its eight songs got music videos, which were censored for their violence, and a short film of the same name later leaked as a bootleg. The EP reached No. 7 on the Billboard 200 and went platinum in the US. "Wish" and "Happiness in Slavery" each won a Grammy for Best Metal Performance.

Broken: tracklist, credits and charts

99 tracks · 33:07

Tracklist

  1. 1PinionTrent Reznor1:02
  2. 2WishTrent Reznor3:47
  3. 3LastTrent Reznor4:45
  4. 4Help Me I Am in HellTrent Reznor1:56
  5. 5Happiness in SlaveryTrent Reznor5:21
  6. 6Gave UpTrent Reznor4:09
  7. 7[silence]0:01
  8. 8[silence]0:01
  9. 9[silence]0:01
  10. 10[silence]0:01
  11. 11[silence]0:01
  12. 12[silence]0:01
  13. 13[silence]0:01
  14. 14[silence]0:01
  15. 15[silence]0:01
  16. 16[silence]0:01
  17. 17[silence]0:01
  18. 18[silence]0:01
  19. 19[silence]0:01
  20. 20[silence]0:01
  21. 21[silence]0:01
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  24. 24[silence]0:01
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  94. 94[silence]0:01
  95. 95[silence]0:01
  96. 96[silence]0:01
  97. 97[silence]0:01
  98. 98PhysicalAdam Ant5:30
  99. 99SuckAtkins, Barker, Reznor, Rieflin5:07
Produced by
Trent Reznor, Flood
Recorded at
Royal Recorders (Lake Geneva, Wisconsin), South Beach (Miami Beach, Florida), Hell (New Orleans), The Village (Los Angeles, California), A&M (Hollywood, California), Le Pig (Benedict Canyon, California)
Recorded
March–August 1992
Engineered by
John Aguto, Mike Baumgartner, Martin Brumbach, Leo Herrera, Paul Kendall, Bill Kennedy, Trevor Sadler
Mastered by
Tom Baker
Artwork
Gary Talpas
Photography
Gary Talpas
Label
Nothing Records
Length
33:07

Line-up

  • Martin Atkins · drums (drum set) · guest
  • Chris Vrenna · drums (drum set) · guest
  • Trent Reznor · vocals · guest

Peak chart positions

ChartPeak
US Billboard 200 · 1992–19937
UK Albums Chart · 1992–199318
Australian Albums (ARIA) · 1992–1993115

Certifications

RegionCertification
CanadaPlatinum
United StatesPlatinum

From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.

65.2
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
3.4k
ListenBrainz listeners
123k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
9.6k
Deezer fans (all editions)
← Pretty Hate Machine (1989)Fixed (1992) →

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2008
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More on Nothing Records

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Releases and pressings

How we know the release date wikipedia + musicbrainz + wikidata
SourceDateNote
MusicBrainz22 September 1992
Wikipedia infobox22 September 1992
Wikidata22 September 1992
US release22 September 1992earliest US date
UK / Europe release5 October 1992earliest UK or European date
19 editions
DateCountryLabelBarcodeKind
1992AUNothing Records606949221324other
1992USBMG Directother
1992USInterscope Records075679221322other
1992ZABMG Records Africa6007124184535other
1992DEIsland743211204422other
1992USNothing Recordsother
1992CANothing Records606949221324other
1992USInterscope Records0208314485248other
22 September 1992USNothing Records075679221322other
22 September 1992USNothing Records606949221324other
22 September 1992USNothing Records075679221322other
22 September 1992CAAtlantic075679221322other
5 October 1992GBIsland731451414725other
5 October 1992GBIsland731451414718other
28 November 1992JPAtlantic4988029047540other
21 August 1996JPMCA Victor, Inc.4988067025371other
23 March 2004XWNothing Records075021014435other
23 December 2016USThe Null Corporation4142557364255other
11 August 2017USInterscope Records602557142792other
Cover art sources

deezer · upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25)

SourceSizeVerdict
deezer ✓1200×1200upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25)
coverartarchive1767×1600rejected
fanarttv1000×1000upscaled