Pretty Hate Machine

Pretty Hate Machine is a Nine Inch Nails album released in 1989.

After working nights at a recording studio cleaning toilets, Trent Reznor had saved up enough to do a session. Playing all the keyboards, drum machines, guitars, and samplers himself, he was able to record a demo, which he sent to various record companies. Not expecting any real response, Trent was surprised when he received serious offers from many of the companies he sent away to.

Teaming up with agent John A. Malm, Jr. , Trent took a deal with TVT Records, a company mainly known for producing television novelty and jingle records. They paired Trent up with well known producers Adrian Sherwood and Flood, as well as some lesser known ones which Trent would later claim that he hated working with. The album's first single was "Down in It", which featured two remixes of the song and the original skin mix (which itself was a remix; the original has never been released).

The album was released October 20, 1989, and was a critical success, receiving some radio airplay for the songs "Head Like a Hole", "Terrible Lie", "Sin", and "Down in It". The album also gained popularity through fan reference and developed an underground following. Trent quickly hired a band for touring with The Jesus & Mary Chain, including guitarist Richard Patrick, who would later go on to form his own band, Filter. Their live set was notorious for having the songs become louder and often more harsh and aggressive than the studio versions, and also for destroying their instruments at the end, with Trent using the spike heel of his boots to pry off the keys of expensive keyboards.

The term pretty hate machine has also come to be used as a term for angst-filled young people who try hard to look the part of the modern rebellious youth.

Track listing

1. "Head Like a Hole" (4:59)
2. "Terrible Lie" (4:38)
3. "Down in It" (3:46)
4. "Sanctified" (5:48)
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" (4:30)
9. "The Only Time" (4:47)
10. "Ringfinger" (5:40)