Pretty Hate Machine | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | October 20, 1989 | |||
Recorded | May–June 1989 | |||
Studio |
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Genre | ||||
Length | 48:42 | |||
Label | TVT | |||
Producer | ||||
Nine Inch Nails chronology | ||||
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Nine Inch Nails studio album chronology | ||||
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Halo numbers chronology | ||||
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Singles from Pretty Hate Machine | ||||
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Alternative cover | ||||
Audio | ||||
"Album" playlist on YouTube |
Pretty Hate Machine is the debut studio album by the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails,released by TVT Records on October 20,1989. The album was produced by frontman Trent Reznor,English producers John Fryer and Flood,among other contributors.
The album features a heavily synth-driven electronic sound blended with industrial and rock elements. Much like the band's later work,the album's lyrics contain themes of angst,betrayal,and lovesickness. The record was promoted with the singles "Down in It","Head Like a Hole",and "Sin",as well as the accompanying tour. A remastered edition was released in 2010.
Although the record was successful,reaching No. 75 in the US and receiving highly favorable reviews from critics,Reznor (the band's only official member until 2016) feuded with TVT over promotion of the album,which led him to eventually sign with Interscope Records. Pretty Hate Machine was later certified triple-platinum by RIAA,becoming one of the first independently released albums to do so,and was included on several lists of the best releases of the 1980s. In 2020, Rolling Stone ranked Pretty Hate Machine at number 453 on its "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list.
While working nights as a handyman and engineer at the Right Track Studio in Cleveland,Ohio,Reznor used studio "down-time" to record and develop his own music. [1] Playing most of the keyboards,drum machines,guitars,and samplers himself,he recorded a demo. The sequencing was done on a Macintosh Plus. [2] Reznor mainly used an E-mu Emax,Prophet VS,Oberheim Xpander,and Minimoog as synthesizers. [3]
With the help of manager John Malm Jr.,he sent the demo to various record labels. Reznor received contract offers from many of the labels,but eventually signed with TVT Records,who were known mainly for releasing novelty and television jingle records. Pretty Hate Machine was recorded in various studios with Reznor collaborating with some of his most idolized producers:Flood,Keith LeBlanc,Adrian Sherwood,and John Fryer. Much like his recorded demo,Reznor refused to record the album with a conventional band,recording Pretty Hate Machine mostly by himself.
"A lot of it sounds immature to me now," he stated in 1991 of the recordings that were then two years old. "At first it totally sucked. I became completely withdrawn. I couldn't function in society very well. And the LP became a product of that. It's quite small scale,introverted,claustrophobic –that's the feel I went for." [4]
Reznor discussed the recording and touring of Pretty Hate Machine in the April 1990 issue of Keyboard. He used an E-mu Emax because it produced a high-end buzzing noise when transposing down sounds. [3] Rough and first takes of vocals and guitar were used to contrast the quantized drums and bass. [3] Reznor hated the factory sounds of the Emax but had not transferred anything from his old Emulator,and used samples from his record collection for all the drum sounds. He initially expected to use real drum sounds when recording the album,but in the end he and the producers merely equalized his drum samples. [3]
After the album was released,a recording known as Purest Feeling surfaced. The bootleg album contains early demo recordings of many of the tracks featured on Pretty Hate Machine,as well as a couple that were not used ("Purest Feeling","Maybe Just Once",and an instrumental introduction to "Sanctified" called "Slate"). [5] These early demos also featured Chris Vrenna (who initially played keyboards in the band) and original drummer Ron Musarra. [6]
"I wasn't proud of a lot of the things I was saying," Reznor recalled,"but I said to myself,'Well,no one's going to hear this stuff anyway.' ... The record is honest and that's where its power came from." [7]
Unlike the industrial music of Nine Inch Nails' contemporaries,Pretty Hate Machine displays catchy riffs and verse-chorus song structures rather than repetitive electronic beats. [8] Reznor's lyrics express adolescent angst and feelings of betrayal by lovers,society,or God. [8] Themes of despair are collocated with lovesick sentiments. [9] Pitchfork 's Tom Breihan categorized it as a synth-pop album that was shaped by industrial music's "nascent new-wave period rather than its subsequent styles." [10] According to Breihan,the beats were muscular,but not in the vein of metal or post-punk,and that the most rock-inspired song on the album was "Head Like a Hole". [10]
Journalist Jon Pareles described the album as "electro-rock or industrial rock,using drum machines,computerized synthesizer riffs and obviously processed sounds to detail,and usually denounce,an artificial world." [9] Tom Popson of the Chicago Tribune called it a dance album partly characterized by industrial dance's aggressive sound:"Reznor's electronics-plus-guitar LP also carries a brighter techno-pop element that might remind some of Depeche Mode. Things occasionally mellow out to moody atmospherics,while Reznor's vocals range from whispers to screams." [11] PopMatters ' AJ Ramirez regarded the album as "a synthesizer-dominated industrial dance record that on occasion slipped under the alternative rock banner." [12]
Reznor has humorously described Pretty Hate Machine as "the all-purpose alternative album," remarking that "if you want to stage dive to it,you can,but if you're a big Depeche Mode fan,you can get what you need out of it as well." [4] Reznor further stated:"I like electronic music,but I like it to have some aggression. That 'first wave' of electro music –Human League and Devo –that's the easiest way to use it. To be able to get some humanity and aggression into it in a cool way,that's the thing ... Pretty Hate Machine is a record you can listen to and get more out of each time. To me,something like Front 242 is the opposite:great at first but,after 10 listens,that's it." [4] Reznor additionally cited Depeche Mode's 1986 album Black Celebration as a driving influence,stating that "DM was one of our favorite bands and the Black Celebration record took my love for them to a new level." [13]
In a commentary on the album,Tom Hull said that Reznor's "notion of industrial is closer to New Order new wave,but with a harder metallic gleam and more dystopian attitude." [14]
Prince,Jane's Addiction,and Public Enemy are listed in the liner notes as artists whose music was sampled on the album. Segments of Prince's "Alphabet St." and Jane's Addiction's "Had a Dad" can be heard in "Ringfinger". Other samples were edited or distorted so as to be unrecognizable,such as the introduction to "Kinda I Want To". "Something I Can Never Have" features unused backing tracks created by John Fryer for This Mortal Coil. [3]
Reznor stated,"I was tempted to lay in more of other people‘s stuff,but I thought that would lend a real dated quality to the record,seeing where that has gone the way it has in hip-hop." [3] Time constraints similarly prevented him from accumulating "good sounds" as he wanted. [3] He obtained "weird percussion tracks" by sampling loops from artists like Public Enemy,playing them backwards and modulating them in Macintosh Turbosynth with an oscillator tuned to the pitch of the song,obtaining "this weird flanging-type thing that's in key". [3] He said that "every drum fill on 'Terrible Lie' is lifted intact from somewhere. There are six other songs playing through that cut,recorded on tape,in and out,depending on where they worked." [3]
The cover art was designed by Gary Talpas,which is a photo of the blades of a turbine stretched vertically to create the illusion of a rib cage. [15] For the 2010 reissue,visual artist Rob Sheridan was assigned to update the cover art by Reznor to tone down the heavy late-Eighties neon aesthetic. Unfortunately,Sheridan was unable to locate the original artwork as it was deemed lost forever. To remedy this,he had to reverse engineer the cover art by scanning the existing cover art and digitally painted the image in very high resolution. [16]
In 1990,Reznor quickly formed a band,hiring guitarist and future Filter frontman Richard Patrick,and began the Pretty Hate Machine Tour Series,in which they toured North America as an opening act for alternative rock artists such as Peter Murphy and The Jesus and Mary Chain. [17] [1] Nine Inch Nails' live set at the time was known for louder,more aggressive versions of the studio songs. At some point,Reznor began smashing his equipment onstage (Reznor preferred using the heel of his boots to strip the keys from expensive keyboards,most notably the Yamaha DX7);[ citation needed ] Nine Inch Nails then embarked on a world tour that continued through the first Lollapalooza festival in 1991 and culminated in an opening slot to support Guns N' Roses on their European tour. [18]
Review scores | |
---|---|
Source | Rating |
AllMusic | [8] |
The A.V. Club | B− [19] |
Chicago Tribune | [20] |
Mojo | [21] |
Pitchfork | 5.6/10 (2006) [22] 9.5/10 (2010) [10] |
Q | [23] |
Rolling Stone | [24] |
The Rolling Stone Album Guide | [25] |
Select | 4/5 [26] |
Sounds | [27] |
Pretty Hate Machine received widespread acclaim from music critics,who praised the production and Reznor's vocals. In a contemporary review for Rolling Stone ,Michael Azerrad called Pretty Hate Machine "industrial-strength noise over a pop framework" and "harrowing but catchy music"; [28] Reznor proclaimed this combination "a sincere statement" of "what was in [his] head at the time". [29] Robert Hilburn found Reznor's "dark obsession" compelling in the Los Angeles Times , [30] while Q 's Martin Aston said Reznor "scans the spectrum of modern dance" with a "panoramic vision" that is "both admirably adventurous and yet accessible." [23] Select critic Neil Perry said that record was "a flawed but listenable labour of loathing". [26] Ralph Traitor of Sounds said that "Reznor has guts,and they make his Machine one to be treated with respect",finding that the album was comparable to releases by Ministry and Foetus. [27]
Jon Pareles was less impressed in his review for The New York Times ,writing that Pretty Hate Machine "stays so close to the conventions established by Depeche Mode,Soft Cell and New Order that it could be a parody album". [9] Mark Jenkins of The Washington Post found the music "competent but undistinctive stuff" and believed the "angry denunciations" of songs such as "Terrible Lie" are overshadowed by the "nursery-rhyme" chants of "Down in It". [31] Tom Popson wrote in the Chicago Tribune that "the playing and production get points for introducing some variety to the industrial style,but the moments of soap-on-a-rope singing tend to cancel them out." [20]
In a retrospective review,AllMusic editor Steve Huey commended Reznor for giving "industrial music a human voice,a point of connection" with his "tortured confusion and self-obsession",and felt that "the greatest achievement of Pretty Hate Machine was that it brought emotional extravagance to a genre whose main theme had nearly always been dehumanization." [8] Upon its 2010 reissue,Will Hermes of Rolling Stone called it "the first industrial singer-songwriter album" and commended the sound produced by Flood and Keith LeBlanc,who he said "taught Reznor a lot." [24] Kyle Ryan of The A.V. Club felt that the album "remains the work of an artist just discovering his voice" and said that "20 years later,it doesn't warrant repeat listens like its successors." He found some of its synth and sampled sounds to still be dated after the album's remastering and Reznor's lyrics "mopey" and "silly". [19] In an interview with Blender ,journalist and novelist Chuck Palahniuk said that the album "seemed like the first honest piece of music I ever heard." [32] In 2020,Pretty Hate Machine was included at number 453 on Rolling Stone's "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list. [33]
Released on October 20,1989,Pretty Hate Machine was a commercial success and entered the Billboard 200 in February 1990. [34] Although it peaked at number 75 on the Billboard 200,the album gained popularity through word of mouth and developed an underground following. Pretty Hate Machine was certified Gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on March 3,1992,a few years after the album's initial release,for shipping 500,000 units in the USA. [35] Three years later in 1995,it became one of the first independently released records to attain a Platinum certification. [35] It eventually garnered a triple Platinum certification on May 12,2003,with three million copies sold in the United States. [35] Pretty Hate Machine spent a total of 115 weeks on the Billboard 200 chart,tying their sophomore album, The Downward Spiral as their longest charting effort. [36]
The album was also certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) on November 1,1995, [37] following its number 67 peak on the UK Albums Chart. [38]
Pretty Hate Machine went out of print through TVT,but was reissued by Rykodisc on November 22,2005,with slightly modified packaging. Reznor had expressed interest in making a deluxe edition with surround sound remastering and new remixes,similar to the rerelease of The Downward Spiral . Rykodisc initially accepted the idea,but wanted Reznor to pay the production costs. [39]
On March 29,2010,the recording rights to Pretty Hate Machine were acquired by the Bicycle Music Company and on October 22,2010,Reznor announced that a remastered edition would be released the following month. The remaster included new cover art by Rob Sheridan and the bonus track "Get Down,Make Love",a Queen cover originally from the "Sin" single. [40] The 2010 reissue was mastered by Tom Baker at the Precision Mastering in Hollywood,California. [40]
"PHM 2.0 is far brighter and clearer than its original incarnation," observed Classic Rock ,"but ultimately it's the strength of the songwriting…that shines through. Although that said,a super bass beef-up job on an already infamous cover of Queen's 'Get Down,Make Love' ups the sleaze 'n' grind quotient no end." [41]
Before the album's rerelease,a fan website was launched featuring touring information for Pretty Hate Machine,the videos for "Head Like a Hole" and "Down in It" (with remastered sound),the uncut video for "Sin" (a remix for the video was used) and two early live segments,one with interviews.
The album and its respective singles were included in a Record Store Day Black Friday exclusive box set, Halo I–IV in 2015. [42] [43]
All tracks are written by Trent Reznor
No. | Title | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Head Like a Hole" |
| 4:59 |
2. | "Terrible Lie" |
| 4:38 |
3. | "Down in It" |
| 3:46 |
4. | "Sanctified" |
| 5:47 |
5. | "Something I Can Never Have" |
| 5:54 |
6. | "Kinda I Want To" |
| 4:33 |
7. | "Sin" |
| 4:06 |
8. | "That's What I Get" | Fryer | 4:30 |
9. | "The Only Time" |
| 4:47 |
10. | "Ringfinger" |
| 5:42 |
Total length: | 48:42 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Producer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|---|
11. | "Get Down Make Love" | Freddie Mercury | Hypo Luxa | 4:19 |
Notes
Credits adapted from the liner notes of Pretty Hate Machine. [45] [46]
|
|
Chart (1990) | Peak position |
---|---|
UK Albums (OCC) [38] | 67 |
US Billboard 200 [36] | 75 |
Region | Certification | Certified units/sales |
---|---|---|
Argentina (CAPIF) [47] | Platinum | 60,000^ |
United Kingdom (BPI) [37] | Gold | 100,000‡ |
United States (RIAA) [35] | 3× Platinum | 3,000,000^ |
^ Shipments figures based on certification alone. |
The Downward Spiral is the second studio album by the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released on March 8, 1994, by Nothing Records in the United States and Island Records in Europe. It is a concept album detailing the self-destruction of a man from the beginning of his misanthropic "downward spiral" to his suicidal breaking point. The album was a commercial success and established Nine Inch Nails as a reputable force in the 1990s music scene, with its sound being widely imitated, and the band receiving media attention and multiple honors.
Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN, stylized as NIИ, is an American industrial rock band formed in Cleveland in 1988. Its members are the singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and producer Trent Reznor and his frequent collaborator, Atticus Ross. Reznor was previously the only permanent member of the band until Ross was officialized in 2016. The band's debut album, Pretty Hate Machine (1989), was released via TVT Records. After disagreeing with TVT about how to promote the album, the band signed with Interscope Records and released the EP Broken (1992). The following albums, The Downward Spiral (1994) and The Fragile (1999), were released to critical acclaim and commercial success.
Michael Trent Reznor is an American musician, singer, songwriter, record producer, and composer. He came to prominence as the founder, lead vocalist, multi-instrumentalist, and primary songwriter of the industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. The band's line-up has constantly changed, with Reznor being its only official member from its creation in 1988 until 2016, when he added English musician and frequent collaborator Atticus Ross as its second permanent member.
The Fragile is the third studio album by the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released as a double album by Nothing Records and Interscope Records on September 21, 1999. It was produced by Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor and the English producer Alan Moulder, a longtime Reznor collaborator. It was recorded throughout 1997 to 1999 in New Orleans.
Broken is the first extended play (EP) and second major release by the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. It was released on September 22, 1992, by Nothing, TVT, and Interscope Records. The EP was produced by frontman Trent Reznor and Flood.
"Down in It" is the debut single by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released on September 15, 1989. Taken from the band's debut album Pretty Hate Machine, it was the first song ever written by frontman Trent Reznor.
TVT Records, originally Tee-Vee Toons, was an American record label founded by Steve Gottlieb in 1984. Initially created to release the Television's Greatest Hits series of classic TV theme tune compilations, the label would expand into rap, industrial rock, and electronic music amassing 25 Gold, Platinum, and Multi-Platinum albums over the course of its 24-year history.
"Head Like a Hole" is a song by the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released as the second single from the group's debut album, Pretty Hate Machine. It enjoyed heavy rotation on the radio at the time of its release, eventually reaching number 9 on Billboard's Bubbling Under Hot 100 chart.
"Sin" is the third single by American artist Nine Inch Nails from the album Pretty Hate Machine. Released in October 1990, the song peaked at number 35 in the UK Singles Chart.
With Teeth is the fourth studio album by the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released by Nothing Records and Interscope Records on May 3, 2005. The album was produced by Nine Inch Nails frontman Trent Reznor and long-time collaborator Alan Moulder. It also features contributions from musician Dave Grohl and future band member Atticus Ross.
"Closer" is a song by American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released as the second single on their second studio album, The Downward Spiral (1994). Released in May 1994, it is considered one of Nine Inch Nails' signature songs and remains their most popular song. Most versions of the single are titled "Closer to God", a rare example in music of a single's title differing from the title of its A-side. The single is the ninth official Nine Inch Nails release, making it "Halo 9" in the band's official Halo numbering system.
Kevin McMahon is a musician, singer, and songwriter for the long-standing bands Lucky Pierre and Prick.
John A. Malm Jr. is the former manager of Trent Reznor and his band Nine Inch Nails. He was also a co-founder, along with Reznor, of Nothing Records.
James Joseph Woolley was an American keyboard and synthesizer player, best known for performing with industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails from 1991 to 1994, participating in the Pretty Hate Machine Tour Series and the Self Destruct Tour. Woolley appeared in the band's music videos for "Wish" and "March of the Pigs", and the video album Closure. Together with Nine Inch Nails, Woolley won a Grammy Award in 1996 for "Best Metal Performance" for their Woodstock '94 performance of "Happiness in Slavery".
"Discipline" is a song by the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails from their seventh studio album, titled The Slip (2008). It was released on April 22, 2008 as the only single from the album. It is the band's first single since severing its ties with Interscope Records and publishing music independently.
The Slip is the seventh studio album by the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released on May 5, 2008, digitally on the Nine Inch Nails website, and on CD on July 22 by The Null Corporation. It was their second release in 2008, following their sixth album Ghosts I–IV, released two months prior. The album was produced by frontman Trent Reznor with collaborators Atticus Ross and Alan Moulder.
"Something I Can Never Have" is the fifth track by industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails from the 1989 debut album, Pretty Hate Machine. According to Loren Coleman, the song deals with suicidal themes.
Hesitation Marks is the eighth studio album by the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails, released on August 30, 2013, by The Null Corporation and distributed by Columbia Records in the United States and Polydor Records elsewhere. It was the band's first release in five years, following The Slip (2008), as well as their only release on Columbia. Like previous albums, the album was produced by frontman Trent Reznor alongside longtime collaborators Atticus Ross and Alan Moulder. To date, this is the most recent Nine Inch Nails album to be co-produced by Moulder.
Not the Actual Events is the third extended play (EP) and tenth major release by the American industrial rock band Nine Inch Nails. It was released physically on December 23, 2016, under Trent Reznor's own label The Null Corporation, while those who had pre-ordered received a download link a day early. The second Nine Inch Nails EP of original material following Broken (1992), it marks longtime collaborator Atticus Ross's first appearance as an official member of the band. The digital pre-orders included a "physical component" that was shipped in early March 2017. The EP is the first in a trilogy released in 2016–2018, preceding Add Violence (2017) and the band's ninth studio album Bad Witch (2018).
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