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| Pretty Hate Machine | 
 enlarge | Artist: Nine Inch Nails
Label: Island UK
Category: Music
List Price: $13.98
Buy New: $5.71
You Save: $8.27 (59%)
New (41) Used (21) Collectible (1) from $4.96
Avg. Customer Rating:  372 reviews
Sales Rank: 2526
Format: Import
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.1
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.1
UPC: 042284835824
EAN: 0042284835824
ASIN: B000025WXZ
Release Date: October 4, 2005
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Customer Reviews:
 Groundbreaking. December 6, 2005
15 out of 16 found this review helpful
Hailed as the album that brought pop sensibilities into industrial music, "Pretty Hate Machine" is a real breakthrough in its genre. Nine Inch Nails (aka Trent Reznor) constructed an album of pain and anguish, of a mood of loss and anger, or mourning. The arrangements are sparse, far moreso than Reznor's later work, and its a much more pop record than any of his other material, and its got its own unique charm to it.
The album succeeds best when Reznor keeps the backgrounds simple enough to really allow his voice to carry the work-- blessed with the ability to really invest passion into his singer, he excels at the morbid ballad "Something I Can Never Have", prodded gently by the mournful piano line and the fantastic "Sin"-- full of anger and rage over a straightahead beat, Reznor really cuts right into it and the results are nothing short of stunning. The infectious rhythms and the great delivery together with an irresistable chorus hook sink the song right in your head. Add to that a couple really great angry tunes to open the record up (the anthemic "Head Like a Hole" and "Terrible Lie"), a great wacky piece with a funky bass line that threatens ballad form even as it rejects it ("Sanctified"), and a couple pieces with confessional lyrics and great delivery ("Kinda I Want To", "The Only Time") and you've got a great record. In fact, the only thing on here that doesn't really work for me is closer "Ringfinger"-- it always seemed a bit lifeless.
One thing Reznor excels at is a sense of unity in his works-- "Pretty Hate Machine" is successful not just as a collection of songs, but as an album with a unified feel. It does drag a bit on the second half (although "Sin" is there to shake it up), but overall its a fantastic debut. Recommended.
A note for longtime fans-- this reissue is unchanged sonically from the previous release. Apparently, the goal was to get it on the market, not do some sort of deluxe edition. Hopefully one day we'll see that.
 Rykodisc is cheap November 22, 2005
14 out of 16 found this review helpful
Rykodisc confronted Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails about releasing a deluxe edition of PHM. Trent loved the idea of remastering it in 5.1, adding b-sides and un-released songs from that era, and working on new art for PHM's re-release. Unfortunately, Rykodisc was too CHEAP to pay ANYTHING to Trent to do this, and so we get the bare-minimum rather that what Trent would love for us to get.
This is a GREAT album, too bad Rykodisc is blind that they could make so much more off this album if they spent just a little money on the artist.
A wise man once said: February 7, 2000
13 out of 13 found this review helpful
"-I think there's something strangely musical about noise." Well, I have to say that there is something strangely musical about Trent Reznor that makes Nine Inch Nails one of my favorite bands. Pretty Hate Machine is by far the best Nails CD ever to be released! However, if you have only heard stuff off of The Downward Spiral, Broken or The Fragile, you might want to concider listening to the CD first before buying it, cause no NIN album is alike.
It's easy to like "Pretty Hate Machine" September 24, 2005
13 out of 14 found this review helpful
Every song on Nine Inch Nails' first major release was written and performed by Trent Reznor. If that's not a big enough accomplishment for you, consider this, too: "Pretty Hate Machine" is, in my opinion, NIN's poppiest album, so it helped bridge the gap between pop culture and industrial rock.
Even though it was virtually ignored upon its initial release in 1989, "Pretty Hate Machine" grew an underground following due to word-of-mouth communication between fans, and it eventually went triple platinum and spawned five hit singles ("Head Like A Hole," "Terrible Lies," "Down In It," "Something I Can Never Have," and "Sin").
And even though this album is heavy on synthesizers and there is an `80's vibe running through these songs, "Pretty Hate Machine" is too angsty to sound like it's a Depeche Mode album. This is fortunate for Nine Inch Nails' main man Trent Reznor, because most New Wave bands died off after the 1980's were over.
Lyrically, this album has several different themes. For instance, "Head Like a Whole" is about somebody who's greedy, whereas "Terrible Lie" says that organized religion is a bunch of lies, and songs like "Something I Can Never Have" are about love and heartache.
The album begins with "Head Like a Hole." This song might be the catchiest on the album; its verses are subtle and restrained, and the choruses, which have heavy guitars and yelling, are explosive. Elsewhere, tracks like "Terrible Lie" are centered around the catchy choruses, and "Down In It" sounds like it's a song from Nine Inch Nails' "The Downward Spiral" era. "Sanctified" has repetitive, beeping, cartoonish-sounding music, but Trent's vocals make this song quite creepy. "Something I Can Never Have" is my personal favorite track. It's a very solemn, sad and touching piano ballad, and Trent's calm singing sort of makes this song echo 1994's hit, "Hurt." This song's vibe is spacey and atmospheric, and its lyrics are very personal, but also relatable.
Even though this album is full of good, catchy, synth-heavy, dance club hits, its greatest accomplishment is probably making industrial music popular. Even though I think 1994's "The Downward Spiral" was Nine Inch Nails' best release, "Pretty Hate Machine" is required listening for all NIN fans, fans of industrial rock, and those who are new to Trent Reznor. This was the start of a great career, and an even better start of an even better genre, and "PHM" should probably go down as one of the 1980's best, and most groundbreaking albums.
A Classic November 16, 1999
12 out of 13 found this review helpful
Whoever that Kin F. retard is below this letter obviously has no clue what he's saying. That quote is from the song Hurt, which is, incidentally, from The Downward Spiral which was released, o, say FIVE YEARS after this album. Can't believe Trent's emotion? Particurally when his voice starts cracking and he begins to cry? Do f**k yerself. Anyway, rantings aside, this is classic Old Skool NIN. Granted it's very 80ish sounding and I wouldn't call it "industrial", but they lyrics are personal, some of the songs are extremely layered (or tastefully minimalist), and all of them are wicked catchy. One listen to this CD, and you'll never forget the music machine that IS Trent Reznor.
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