Head Like a Hole [Single]

Nine Inch Nails

Product Details

• Audio CD (January 31, 2006)
• Original Release Date: 1989
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Single
• Label: Rykodisc
• ASIN: B000E0OFHK
• Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #217,628 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

Track Listings

1. Head Like A Hole (Slate)

2. Head Like A Hole (Clay)

3. Terrible Lie (Sympathetic Mix)

4. Head Like A Hole (Copper)

5. You Know Who You Are

6. Head Like A Hole (Soil)

7. Terrible Lie (Empathetic Mix)

8. Down In It (Shred)

9. Down In It (Singe)

10. Down In It (Demo)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Features 10 tracks including four reconstructed versions of "Head Like A Hole," plus exclusive versions of "Terrible Lie" and "Down In It" – all standout tracks from Nine Inch Nails’ groundbreaking album Pretty Hate Machine. Also includes the non-album track "You Know Who You Are."

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A lot of repetition., February 9, 2006

By	Michael Stack (North Chelmsford, MA USA) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

The "Head Like a Hole" US single is a rather extensive piece, with five mixes of "Head Like a Hole", two of "Terrible Lie", and three of "Down In It". The material on here is interesting, but due to its rather repetitive nature, it isn't likely this is a CD you'll be reaching for frequently.

The five "Head Like a Hole" mixes, all by Trent Reznor and Flood, are largely similar excepting an instrumental restructuring which we'll get to in a moment. The slate mix is pretty straight from the original, largely changed in that the guitar on the chorus is opened up a bit, the clay mix is the similar to the original as well, but with an extra hi-hat rhythm added to it. Somewhat more interesting (although less successful) is the copper mix, with some extra beats, a few weird edits, a synthy percussion solo and a vocal-over-drum-loop of the "bow down before the one you serve" chant. Unfortunately, its somewhat overlong nature gets in the way of its ability to sustain interest. The soil mix features an extended intro and a nearly guitar-less (club friendly?) mix of the song (they do show up briefly after about four and a half minutes...), I find it to personally be the least interesting on the record as it takes the entirity of the bite away from the piece.

Oddly enough, the lack of guitars works better on the instrumental edit, titled "You Know Who You Are". Essentially a somewhat extended variant of the track (without guitars), this works pretty well, although like most dance mixes, it drags substanitally.

The "Terrible Lie" mixes (also by Reznor/Flood) I find somewhat less interesting-- the sympathetic mix is nearly identical to the album mix, excepting a brief reprise at the end of some earlier lyrics and is largely superfluous. The empathetic mix works quite a bit better, with an emphasis on the whispered chorus vocals, and a restructuring that really lets the song shine. Still, I find it inferior to the album mix and a bit overlong.

Two of the "Down In It" mixes, by Adrian Sherwood and Keith LeBlanc, are quite an improvement (they're also available on the "Down In It" single). The shred mix is like the old 12" extended mixes-- its essentially the album mix with several minutes of additional beats and sampled vocals from earlier in the piece. The singe mix is a sort of dance mix with the vocal largely removed and relegated to a sample. The demo is interesting certainly, with the vocal-over-drum-loop concept taken a bit further, but the sound quality feels a bit degraded and its not as hook laden and engaging as the album take.

Complaints-- with only three songs featured, the material tends to drag, and with the single being ten tracks and 55+ minutes, you feel it. They also left off the opal mix of "Head Like a Hole"-- you need the UK variant of the single for that.

Overall, this is actually an ok, single, but it drags on listen. If you can't get enough "Pretty Hate Machine", then check this one out.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Let's hear it for Nine Inch Nails!, May 19, 2006

By	Johnny Heering "trivia buff" (Bethel, CT United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This CD single features remixes of songs from the first Nine Inch Nails album. It is the longest CD single I ever heard of, being 56 minutes long. The songs are good, but the mixes aren't really all that different from each other. There is an unlisted 11th track, which is a woman saying "Let's hear it for Nine Inch Nails! Whoo! It's good!"

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nine Inch Nails, The Greatest Sound Begins, September 26, 2007

By	Christopher L. Brooks - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

It's from Trent Reznor, the God of modern music. It's back from the early NIN days. This CD contains original and remix versions of Head Like A Hole and remixes of Terrible Lie and Sin. AKA Halo 3(YES HALO 3!!!!)from TVT this item should soon become a collectors piece, i don't think they're pressing cds now.