Pretty Hate Machine

Nine Inch Nails | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (November 9, 1989)
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Tvt Catalog Ent
• ASIN: B000CDHUR6
• Also Available in: Audio CD  |  Audio Cassette  |  Vinyl  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (403 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,253 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #27 in Music > Alternative Rock > Goth & Industrial > Industrial > Alt Industrial

Track Listings

1. Head Like a Hole

2. Terrible Lie

3. Down in It

4. Sanctified

5. Something I Can Never Have

6. Kinda I Want To

7. Sin

8. That's What I Get

9. The Only Time

10. Ringfinger

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com essential recording

Considered the breakthrough album that delivered a more palatable version of industrial music to the commercial audience, Pretty Hate Machine left its dingy mark on pop culture. The abrasive "sonarchy" of the album was first churned by despondent club-goers who roiled with the rhythms and aligned with the angst-ridden convictions. Since its release, the album's tempered deviations came to signify an aesthetic reverie for machine-driven martyrdom. Permeated by hissing engines and dissonant strains, the tracks cascade outside channels of modern complacency. Hits like "Head Like a Hole" and "Down in It" are recognized by the acidic beats, piercing riffs, and lyrical hostilities which snare the listener with disparaging rhapsody. Not for the light-headed, Pretty Hate Machine afflicts the inner sanctum and strikes a nerve. --Lucas Hilbert

Product Description

As a young musician in Cleveland, Ohio, Trent Reznor took a job at a local recording studio and employed unused studio time to develop his own material. The nascent album was later recorded with his favorite producers including Flood/Mark Ellis (U2, Depeche Mode, PJ Harvey), John Fryer (Cocteau Twins, This Mortal Coil), Adrian Sherwood (Ministry, Cabaret Voltaire) and Keith LeBlanc (Tackhead). The result was the first Nine Inch Nails album, 1989's "Pretty Hate Machine." All songs were written, arranged, programmed and performed by Reznor. The album featured the breakthrough singles "Sin," "Down In It" and "Head Like A Hole," and ultimately sold over 3 million copies, reaching Triple Platinum sales status. In the wake of the album's initial underground success, NIN soon developed a reputation as one of the best live acts in rock and joined the inaugural Lollapalooza tour in 1991. NIN have since sold more than 18 million albums, collected Grammy® Awards and headlined arenas, amphitheaters and festivals worldwide. This release is the album in its original form. --This text refers to an alternate Audio CD edition.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

83 of 86 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A review for new fans., April 13, 2005

By 

Daniel Maltzman (Arlington, MA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pretty Hate Machine (Audio CD)

If you don't own any NIN's albums, this is definitely the place to start.

"The Downward Spiral" will probably forever be Trent Reznor's most popular and critically acclaimed album. And "The Fragile," in my opinion is Reznor's magnum opus. And although those are some of the best albums in modern rock, they both need time and a few plays to get into. "The Downward Spiral" is a classic, no doubt, but it's so intense, people unfamiliar with NIN may be initially turned off. And with the "The Fragile," there are a lot of instrumentals with long buildups and climaxes (not that that's a bad thing). Both of these albums need a few plays to really appreciate. "Pretty Hate Machine" is more meat-and-potatos and gets right to the point with each song. It's easy to digest these songs with just one listen.

NIN's debut album, "Pretty Hate Machine," is instantly assessable, instantly catchy. Some industrial purists may eschew NIN for being overly assesable/pop, but the hooks in these songs are undeniable. "Pretty Hate Machine" is not the kind of album where you listen to it a few times, every once and a while, or listen to a few songs now and then. "Pretty Hate Machine" is the kind of album that you get hooked on. And it's not just a few songs, the entire album is mesmerizing.

From the opening classic "Head Like a Hole" to the closing "Ringfinger" every song is meticulously crafted and delivered. Even if you know nothing at all about Trent Reznor, just by listening to any of NIN's albums, you get the sense that every song on every one of his albums is a labor of love.

This is the kind of album that any person can relate to. Trent Reznor takes universal feeling and themes of being rejected, disappointed, screwed over, dejected and depressed, and he puts it to catchy industrial beats. There is a certain healing power to the music of Nine Inch Nails. You feel a certain catharsis when you listen to Trent Reznor's music.

"Pretty Hate Machine" is a modern-day classic and a cornerstone in any college/alternative collection.

137 of 158 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sibling Revelry, December 31, 2002

By 

James F. Colobus (Pittsburgh, PA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pretty Hate Machine (Audio CD)

Back in the early 90s, W. Axl Rose used to rave about Pretty Hate Machine to any interviewer who would listen to him. In those days, when Axl recommended something, it got me plenty curious. But then I talked to my friend, Chris, a member of our Armed Forces at the time, who was seriously into industrial music. To him, industrial meant Front 242, Ministry, and The Revolting Cocks, not Nine Inch Nails. Chris told me Trent Reznor was not the real deal and forbade me in no uncertain terms from purchasing Pretty Hate Machine.

A few years later, the Downward Spiral came out and the critical acclaim for it was thunderous. By this time, Axl's whereabouts were something of a mystery as were those of Chris. With no one else to influence me, I listened to the critics and purchased a copy of the Downward Spiral. I gave it several listens, but to be honest, it didn't do much for me. I put it in my CD holder where a few years later, my brother (a high school student at the time) would discover it. He and my sister wore that CD out and my brother soon became a NIN completist. You know the type who buys not only every album, but also every single. Clearly my siblings "got" what Trent Reznor was up to and I didn't. I figured the "industrial pop" scene just wasn't my thing.

Fast-forward another 6 months or so and I was now living in a small village in western Kenya. My sister would send me music tapes with some regularity and you have no idea how much I appreciated them (that is, unless you've already read my review of Machine Head's Burn My Eyes album). One of the tapes my sister happened to send me was Pretty Hate Machine. At that point, my thought process went something like this..."Nice gesture, but she should know by now that I'm not crazy about NIN. Doesn't she remember that the copy of the Downward Spiral she and my brother play so often came from me after I found it relatively uninspiring? Well, I guess it can't hurt to give it a listen. After all, I am desperate for new music."

Once I put that tape in my battery-powered boom box, it wasn't long before I realized that I should have listened to Axl and not Chris so many years earlier. I could see why Chris never cared for it - he's not much for anything that sounds too poppy and Pretty Hate Machine is shockingly accessible. I mean, just have a listen to Front 242 sometime and imagine someone who counts them among their favorite bands also enjoying Pretty Hate Machine. Impossible? No, but pretty darn unlikely.

Once I'd given Pretty Hate Machine a few listens, I had no qualms about reversing my opinion on NIN. I've been wrong about bands before and I'll probably be wrong again at some point. I wrote a letter to my sister thanking her effusively for this very precious gift. Pretty Hate Machine became one of the albums I played most during the remainder of my stay in Kenya along with Type O Negative's October Rust and Bloody Kisses, Sepultura's Roots, Metallica's And Justice for All, Rancid's And Out Come the Wolves, Weezer's blue album, and Machine Head's Burn My Eyes.

What made Pretty Hate Machine deserving of such illustrious company? For one thing, it is so obviously a labor of love. Every song sounds lovingly crafted with attention to every nuance (except for production quality which my brother says is poor because Trent didn't exactly have a lot of money with which to record the album). Another point in PHM's favor is that it is so catchy. I couldn't help but hear "Terrible Lie", "Down In It", and "Kinda I Want To" in my head while I was out in the rain forest all day. There's also enough angst on PHM to give Hatful of Hollow-era Morrissey a run for his money. But where Morrissey always somehow sounds playfully above it all even when recounting his most embarrassing experiences, Trent sounds like he really is in emotional pain and doesn't know what to do about it other than scream.

The only people I can't see this album appealing to are industrial music purists like Chris and individuals who never feel angry or angsty. If you don't fit into either of those categories, it is high time you check out Pretty Hate Machine assuming you don't have wise younger siblings who forced you to do so already. Saying you don't like NIN isn't a good enough excuse - it wasn't for me and it isn't for you either.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A wise man once said:, February 6, 2000

By 

"dryth" (Holly, MI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pretty Hate Machine (Audio CD)

"-I think there's something strangely musical about noise." Well, I have to say that there is something strangely musical about Trent Reznor that makes Nine Inch Nails one of my favorite bands. Pretty Hate Machine is by far the best Nails CD ever to be released! However, if you have only heard stuff off of The Downward Spiral, Broken or The Fragile, you might want to concider listening to the CD first before buying it, cause no NIN album is alike.