Pretty Hate Machine

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. Since 2011, the album has been released by the Bicycle Music Company. Frontman Trent Reznor sang and played most of the instruments, also producing the album alongside Keith LeBlanc, John Fryer and Flood, with a few other contributors.

The album features a heavily synthesizer-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 feuded with TVT over promotion of the album and eventually signed 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.

Background

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. Playing most of the keyboards, drum machines, guitars, and samplers himself, he recorded a demo. The sequencing was done on a Macintosh Plus. Reznor mainly used an E-mu Emax, Prophet VS, Oberheim Xpander, and Minimoog as synthesizers.

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 recorded Pretty Hate Machine without a conventional band. "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 I became completely withdrawn.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."

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.

Music and lyrics

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. Option magazine also characterized Reznor's sound as "industrial dance noise", referring to "Head Like a Hole" and "Terrible Lie" as "techno", but compared the "raspy, angry vocals" to David Lee Roth with "punk intentions". Spin described the album as "dance music where technology reigns and sexual innuendoes abound", adding, "Trent Reznor's one-man band comes across like an accessible Front 242, an intelligent Nitzer Ebb or a primal screaming Depeche Mode." Retrospectively, PopMatters AJ Ramirez regarded the album as "a synthesizer-dominated industrial dance record that on occasion slipped under the alternative rock banner."

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." 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."

Tracks

After touring in late 1988 as the opening act for Skinny Puppy, Reznor wrote "Head Like a Hole", Pretty Hate Machines first track. He produced the track alongside Flood and LeBlanc. In contrast to the rest of the album, Reznor composed the song remarkably quickly —"in about fifteen minutes in his bedroom". It was among the final tracks completed, partly because Flood did not join the studio sessions until he had finished work on Depeche Mode's Violator (1990). Reznor explained that the song grew out of his desire to "break the guitars out and be a bit more aggressive", while also channeling his concerns that TVT Records might not support him.

The intensity increased even further after he discovered the label was unhappy with an early version of the album, prompting producer LeBlanc to push the aggression to a higher level. "Terrible Lie" was one of the earliest songs written and recorded for the album. Reznor later revealed that "every drum fill on 'Terrible Lie' is lifted intact from somewhere", explaining that fragments of six different songs were playing through the track, recorded to tape and woven in and out depending on what suited the moment. Near the song's conclusion, a harsh, dissonant sound emerges. Reznor described its unusual origin: it began as a simple woodblock, which he ran through a distortion pedal and sampled. He then lowered the pitch by a couple of octaves using his Emax sampler technique, trimmed the attack, and possibly shaped it further with an envelope in Turbosynth. He has called it his favorite sound on the entire record. In a 1989 interview, Reznor identified the track as his favorite on the album. He cited its intensity and aggression as the main reasons, noting that those qualities also made it especially powerful in a live setting. Reznor added that the band’s concerts were often chaotic and high-energy, and the song’s confrontational nature aligned perfectly with that atmosphere.

"Down In It" was the first song Reznor wrote for Nine Inch Nails. During that period, he was heavily influenced by industrial acts such as Ministry and Skinny Puppy. In particular, Skinny Puppy’s track "Dig It" directly inspired the creation of "Down In It", reflecting the strong impact that early industrial music had on Reznor’s developing sound.

"Something I Can Never Have" is about depression and suicide. Reznor co-produced the song in London alongside John Fryer, though he later admitted that he stepped back somewhat during the process. He felt that Fryer's approach gave the track a distinctly dreamy atmosphere, largely due to the heavily filtered piano and the prominent use of reverb. The recording also incorporates elements from unused backing tracks by This Mortal Coil, a collective that included Fryer. Although these pieces were originally added unintentionally, both producers agreed that they complemented the song and ultimately chose to keep them.

Reznor has described "Kinda I Want To" as particularly difficult to write and has expressed strong dissatisfaction with the final result. He has even referred to it as the weakest track he has ever created. Due of this, he has stated that he no longer intends to perform it live, although he has acknowledged that such decisions could change in the future.

"Sin" is a pulsating industrial track that captures the raw turmoil of a toxic, power-imbalanced relationship laced with betrayal, lust, and self-loathing. A notable detail is the line "Stale incense, old sweat and lies, lies, lies," directly quoted from Clive Barker's short story "In the Hills, the Cities" in Books of Blood, adding a layer of literary darkness to the track's atmosphere of faded ritual and deception. The song remains a fan favorite for its danceable aggression and unflinching confrontation with compromised desire and inner conflict. Its music video, featuring fetishistic and ritualistic visuals (including pierced genitals and a bag-over-the-head Reznor being led by a near-naked woman with a halogen lamp), was directed in a provocative style and amplified the song's exploration of control, submission, and eroticized pain—Reznor notably expressed disdain for conventional MTV videos around its release. The track stands out for its distinctive "hammering" synth bassline, reminiscent of the one featured in "Kinda I Want To". It also echoes "Down In It" through the reuse of a similar melodic synth voice. An earlier version of the song circulated under the title "I Can Make Myself Forget".

Samples

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. 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. Band photography was done by Jeffrey Silverthorne; his technique of dousing models in cornstarch to create a "corpse-like" pallor inspired Nine Inch Nails to do the same thing for their live performances.

Touring

thumb|170px|alt=A man doused in cornstarch screaming into a microphone.|Reznor during the 1991 [[Lollapalooza festival]]

Reznor quickly formed a band, hiring guitarist Richard Patrick who would later form Filter. The live band 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.

Critical reception

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"; Reznor proclaimed this combination "a sincere statement" of "what was in [his] head at the time". Robert Hilburn found Reznor's "dark obsession" compelling in the Los Angeles Times, while Qs Martin Aston said Reznor "scans the spectrum of modern dance" with a "panoramic vision" that is "both admirably adventurous and yet accessible." The Boston Phoenix called Nine Inch Nails "1989's best new artist", Clea Simon comparing the album to The The and Nitzer Ebb - "Or better, Cabaret Voltaire with Matt Johnson stuck painfully and permanently in its machinery." Frank Beeson was more indifferent in Option magazine, describing the album as, "Not everyone's cup of tea, but good for what it is." Mark Jenkins wrote in The Washington Post that the music was "competent but undistinctive stuff" and the "angry denunciations" of songs such as "Terrible Lie" are overshadowed by the "nursery-rhyme" chants of "Down in It". 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." In a 2014 retrospective, Seattle Gay News called the album "one of the best recordings of the '80s, hands down." In 2020, Pretty Hate Machine was included at number 453 on Rolling Stones "500 Greatest Albums of All Time" list. In 2025, Radio X included the album in its list of "The 25 best indie debut albums of the 1980s". In 2024, Loudwire staff elected it as the best hard rock album of 1989.

Commercial performance

Released on October 20, 1989, Pretty Hate Machine was a commercial success and entered the Billboard 200 in February 1990. 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. 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. The 2010 reissue was mastered by Tom Baker at the Precision Mastering in Hollywood, California. 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.

Track listing

Notes

signifies an additional remix producer.
signifies a remixer.

Personnel

Credits adapted from the liner notes of Pretty Hate Machine.

Trent Reznor – vocals, arrangement, continuity, digital editing, programming ; production ; mixing ; engineering
Tom Baker – mastering
Sean Beavan – engineering
Blumpy – remastering preparation
Tony Dawsey – mastering
Doug DeAngelis – engineering
Flood – engineering, production ; additional synth programming
John Fryer – engineering ; mixing ; production
Hypo Luxa – engineering, production
Kennan Keating – engineering

Keith LeBlanc – additional remix production ; engineering ; mixing ; production ; remix
Jeff "Critter" Newell – engineering
Tim Niemi – additional synth programming
Richard Patrick – drone guitar at end
Ken Quartarone – engineering
Rob Sheridan – art direction
Adrian Sherwood – engineering, mixing, production
Jeffrey Silverthorne – portrait photography
Gary Talpas – original sleeve
Chris Vrenna – continuity, digital editing

Charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

! scope="col"| Chart (1990)

! scope="col"| Peak position

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders"

! scope="col"| Chart (2010 remaster)

! scope="col"| Peak position

Certifications

References

Bibliography

External links

Pretty Hate Machine at Discogs