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.[1] Production of the record was handled by frontman Trent Reznor, English producers John Fryer and Flood, among other contributors.
For the Gotham episode, see Pretty Hate Machine (Gotham).Pretty Hate Machine
October 20, 1989
May–June 1989
- Blackwing, London
- Roundhouse, London
- The Right Track, Cleveland
- Synchro Sound, Boston
- Unique Recording, New York City
48:42
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.
Background[edit]
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.[2] Playing most of the keyboards, drum machines, guitars, and samplers himself, he recorded a demo. The sequencing was done on a Macintosh Plus.[3] Reznor mainly used an E-mu Emax, Prophet VS, Oberheim Xpander, and Minimoog as synthesizers.[4]
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."[5]
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.[4] Rough and first takes of vocals and guitar were used to contrast the quantized drums and bass.[4] 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.[4]
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").[6] These early demos also featured Chris Vrenna (who initially played keyboards in the band) and original drummer Ron Musarra.[7]
Cover art[edit]
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.[16] 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.[17]
Commercial performance[edit]
Released on October 20, 1989, Pretty Hate Machine was a commercial success and entered the Billboard 200 in February 1990.[35] 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, two years after the album's initial release, for shipping 500,000 units in the USA.[36] Three years later in 1995, it became one of the first independently released records to attain a Platinum certification.[36] It eventually garnered a triple Platinum certification on May 12, 2003, with three million copies sold in the United States.[36] 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.[37]
The album was also certified Silver by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) on November 1, 1995,[38] following its number 67 peak on the UK Albums Chart.[39]
Reissue[edit]
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.[40]
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.[41] The 2010 reissue was mastered by Tom Baker at the Precision Mastering in Hollywood, California.[41]
"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."[42]
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.[43][44]
Notes