Track Listing

1. Head Like A Hole
2. Terrible A Hole
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

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #5077 in Music
• Released on: 1991-09-24
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: 1.00 pounds
• Running time: 49 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
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

CD Description
Although Nine Inch Nails mastermind Trent Reznor became theposter boy for industrial rock in the early 1990s, his '89 debut, PRETTY HATE MACHINE, actually has a stronger footholdin '80s synth-pop. The guitar-heavy opener, "Head Like a Hole", is the most aggressive track on the album and proved tobe the signature song for Reznor's initial breakthrough, but much of the disc sounds like Depeche Mode in a particularly bad mood.
All of the tracks on PRETTY HATE MACHINE are based on synthesizer lines and programmed beats, with other elements--such as the distinctive bass on "Sanctified" and sampled explosions on "That's What I Get"--filling out the sound. Despite Reznor's morose lyrics, a number of HATE MACHINE's finest moments are energetic dance tunes, particularly "Down in It" and the surging "Sin". Oddly enough, Reznor's fiercer--and seemingly less accessible--subsequent work (the BROKEN EP and THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL) led directly to his mainstream success, but PRETTY HATE MACHINE reveals where the NineInch Nails aesthetic started out.

Customer Reviews

Light Years Ahead
Listening to Pretty hate Machine again, several years after buying it, it's hard to believe that the album is now fourteen years old. But sure enough it is, and it only goes to show how ingenius Trent Reznor was and how he still influences the music market today. I have three Nine Inch Nails albums, The Downward Spiral, Further Down the Spiral and Pretty Hate Machine, and in my oppinion this is by far the best. The reason I say this is that whilst the other albums seem a bit of a mish mash recipe of hardcore industrial and ambient noise, every song on Pretty Hate Machine straddles the line between heavy synth and metal music, creating a beautiful hybrid that puts modern day bands such as Linkin Park to shame.
From start to finish, there is not a bad song on the album; even Reznor's mock rapping on 'Down in It' stays in perfect harmony with the music. The meaningful lyrical style holds true throughout the album, delivering stark emotional messages and social commentary, whilst also injecting subtle black humour. The standout tracks on the album are 'Head Like a Hole', 'Terrible Lie', 'Something I can Never Have' and 'That's What I Get'.

In short, Trent Reznor was and still is a genius and Pretty Hate Machine is a truly landmark album that sounds as fresh today as it did fourteen years ago. And bear in mind that this review is coming from a rap fan.

Pretty Great Machine!
Released in 1989, this is the debut from Trent Reznor, the man called the "Gothic Reincarnation of Mozart".
It is a landmark album for industrial as it bought the genre out of being an underground music into what nearly became the mainstream.
Those unfamiliar with the genre branded "industrial", should kick them selves- it is a mix of synths and sampled beats to metal with its live instruments.
This album in particular leans toward the Techno side of industrial unlike the metalish "Broken"
In a sentence this album is a mix of subversive lyrics married with funky beats and washed with synth, then married to a guitar and bass, finally layering it with a paranoid and beautuful sound.
Soulful melodies combine together with the screching synths to make a sound that will instantly hook you. Buy now and use it to judge all NIN's and other industrialists albums. A fantastic album!
A recomended follow up purchase would be the sublime "Broken" by NIN

(features the singles "Sin" and "Head Like A Hole")

PHM one of the best cds of the last 10 years
For anyone who is "into" Nine Inch Nails, you must start at the beginning with "Pretty Hate Machine", granted its not as heavy as "Broken", "Spiral" or "The Fragile", but its kicks major ass. It has alot more synths then guitars(but still rocks), these songs were written about a good relationship gone bad as described by Trent Reznor. Once you hear "Terrible Lie"(still a concert favorite)"Sin", and "Thats What I get" you feel the anger, passion, and decay. "Something I Can Never Have" pretty much could be used to describe millions of people including myself, while "Down In It" is basically saying should I end it? PHM also contains the hit "Head Like A Hole" as well as choice tracks like "Sanctified", "The Only Time", and "Kinda I Want to", how could you not by this cd? If you're a fan of NIN you alredy have this, if you would like to get inside the mind of Trent Reznor just a little bit, pick it up, you won't be disappointed...this disc contains the very beginnings of a masterpiece called NINE INCH NAILS