Nine Inch Nails - Pretty Hate Machine (Review: Dan)

OK, Where to start with this album? It was produced in 1989 so obviously the production isn't really close to that of more recent releases. I also think the chief hit the nail on the head when he said you can tell it was made in the 80s. It has a really funk-y sound underneath the typical Nine Inch Nails industrial style.

For a debut release it's impressive, and it's a great taster of what was to come from Trent Reznor. Pretty Hate Machine has some pretty good tracks on it, such as 'Something I Can Never Have' which I think is a really emotional and at times an angry song, but at the same time one of, if not the slowest songs on the record. There are a few songs which I don't really like, such as Terrible Lie, which I find irritating. This is mostly down to Reznor's vocal performance, which has never been NIN's strongest feature, but in a few songs on PHM I find it intolerable.

I think my favourite thing about this album is that it grabbed the attention of the music audience of it's generation, and ultimately lead to the creation of The Downward Spiral, which is one hundred times better than this. And the fact that he made this in his spare time as a Janitor at a recording studio makes it a bit more impressive.

Pretty Hate Machine is a mixed bag for me. It has a few songs which have gone into my Nine Inch Nails playlist, but it also has a lot of songs that don't have as much of an impact like most tracks on TDS do. Overall I'm going to give Pretty Hate Machine a 3/5. I think it's a nice debut album, and I'm sure if I was alive when this was released I'd appreciate it a lot more. However, it's just about the last Nine Inch Nails album I've heard, and all the others feel like such an improvement. I'd also like to point out that this is one of the worst album covers ever. Still, it's miles ahead of Radiohead's 'The Bends'.

Standout Tracks:
Down In It
Something I Can Never Have
Sin

Dan