While working as a janitor in a Cleveland recording studio, Trent began recording the demos that would eventually be fleshed out into Pretty Hate Machine. Since he recorded during studio downtime it was hard to find musicians, so he ended up playing all of the instruments himself. The album you'll be listening to this week signaled the beginning of a steady rise for NIN and industrial music in the U.S. Some of you are already familiar with NIN but my pick of this album is for those who aren't; it gives a pretty clear mission statement of what NIN is all about and, with only 10 tracks, it doesn't bog down. Lyrically the album is brooding, political, and unflinching in the way it depicts the greed in our society. Musically it is undeniably catchy and dance-worthy at times which makes for a distinctly unique listening experience. I am really interested to see where this album takes all of you mentally, especially after loud repeated listenings, which I highly suggest. Pretty Hate Machine resonates very strongly for me, even after 20 years, its tone and themes are timeless.
The video below is absurd and incredible. It perfectly displays how NIN were briefly able to permeate the pop music scene with Trent's glossy, dance beats. Watch as the clueless hipsters dance to Trent's bleak lyrics. Pure genius.
I’ve enjoyed just about every Nine Inch Nail song I’ve ever heard on the radio. The one time I reviewed all of their albums, I came out disappointed. I started with ‘Downward Spiral’ due to my obvious favorite track ‘Closer’ and then tried with one more in ‘With Teeth’. They were just as Justin described, more like a long drawn out score with very basic, repetitive lyrics. Nonetheless, I was excited to give them another go upon seeing Justin’s selection.
ReplyDeleteAfter listening to this album a few times this week, my first thought is ‘how has this not been in my life the past 13 years.’ The tracks are not as long, complex, and boring as what I heard when I reviewed ‘With Teeth’ and ‘Downward Spiral’. The tracks are very straight forward, very raw, catchy as hell, dark and the lyrics are just caked full of anger. The album really personifies just about all the qualities I love about music and really gets my adrenaline pumping.
‘Head Like a Hole’ has long been a favorite track of mine. It reminds me of sitting in my Tropical Sno hut getting excited for anything familiar to come one the old school radio. This really sets the table for the rest of the album. ‘Terrible Lie’ is another one I am quite familiar with. This one is just as catchy as the previous, but the industrial beats get a bit more attention. This was my first exposure to ‘Down in It’ and I was really blown away by this track. Trent’s vocals are right on point, the bassline is super heavy, and the chorus really sticks with you. I really love the intro to ‘Sanctified’. This is one which really stood out the louder you played it as Justin suggested.
While I appreciate the change of pace in ‘Something I Never Had’, the track itself doesn’t do anything for me. I love the aggression in ‘Sin’ and the keyboard/turn table work is incredible. The more I listen, the more I can hear the influence Trent has had on other industrial groups I like including Marilyn Manson (in ‘The Only Time’), Prodigy (in ‘That’s What I Get’), and Static-X (really all of them, notably ‘Ringfinger’).
I got the vibe the album was directed at an individual and not so much society. I may have missed it, but in the event Justin adds some comments, I would be interested in any specific examples I may have glossed over.
I saw ‘Girl With a Dragon Tatoo’ earlier this year, and my first comment to my buddy upon leaving the theatre was ‘What an amazing score’. If you enjoyed the Social Network, I highly suggest you pick up the GWDT score as well. It comes with 3 discs and has over 2 hours of pure genius.
Favorites were ‘Head Like a Hole’, ‘Down in It’, and ‘Sanctified.
I have had a small introduction to NIN prior to this week. Of course everybody knows the song “Closer” but Thomas had also played “Head like a Hole” many times when we first started dating. I can actually picture him after a baseball game playing this song and rocking out. I also recall that I used to actually like more heavy sounding music back in the day, but as I have gotten older and have kiddies in the car I hardly ever listen to anything hard. Should be interesting to see if the old mom can still remember what it was that drew her into a more rock n roll side.
ReplyDelete“Head like a hole” makes me reflect on days long past, and for that reason I enjoy the song. It’s quite catchy and makes me want to nod my head. I imagine this music was pretty dark for 1989, little did people know what would stem from Trent Reznor and the scariness that proceeded this album. “Terrible Lie” sounds very familiar but I can’t quite place my finger on why. The song has a very strong techno backdrop and Trent’s whispers add a nice creepy effect on the song. As I pour myself more and more into the album I feel like I am in the movie Tron or something. The industrial feel and the loud bass make it seem like I am in a computer war zone. I can’t really say at this point that I LOVE this album, but for the year it came out in it has a very mature and “ahead of it’s time” feel to it, and so for that I must give Trent props. He knew the music he was making would change the music world. “Sanctified” made me think of a Seinfeld episode just because the continuous guitar riff sounds exactly like what would have been played in between scenes on the show. On another note, I think I like this track the most thus far for it’s darker vibe and building of suspense throughout the song. The music in “Something I can never have” really shows why Trent has moved onto Movie scores. The backdrop of this song is the star and is hauntingly beautiful. I kind of actually wish Trent was mute throughout the track. “Sin” really rocks out and I could definitely feel an intensity within myself as I was scouring the web throughout my listen. It is definitely a good song to add to a workout routine.
The album was definitely not as bad as I thought it was going to be. I am more interested in Trent Reznor’s work on movie score’s and will have to pay more attention while I watch the movies he performs in. I am glad that I also have more of an idea of who NIN was and not just what I had them stereotyped as.
Favorite tracks:
1) Something I can never have
2) Sanctified
3) Head like a hole
P.S. Sorry for my write up, it seems a little all over the place. I will do better in the future!
If I were ever asked to pick an album that perfectly bridged the 1980's with the 1990's, 'Pretty Hate Machine' would be it. The first of Trent Reznor's three consecutive masterpieces (the other two being the Broken EP and The Downward Spiral), this album took the heavy industrial sounds of Ministry and merged them perfectly with the club pop that dominated the late 80s, from bands like New Order and more specifically, Depeche Mode. The aggressiveness that Trent exhibited in his vocals was one that carried over big-time into the next decade, and he rightly became an inspiration for many aggro and alternative rock musicians throughout the 90s.
ReplyDeleteThe album opens up with "Head Like a Hole", which was also, as we all know, the hit single from the album. The song begins the theme of taking control of one's own life that flows throughout the album, on this track specifically targeting the televangelists that were making money hand over fist by telling others how to live. The beat throughout the song is incredible, and unlike other points in the album, it doesn't sound the least bit dated some 23 years later.
Seguing from this song comes "Terrible Lie", which starts off with a sound that's something like a laughing jack-in-the-box....it used to scare me a bit when I was 12 or 13 and listened to this album before going to sleep (that's what I get for listening to NIN in bed, though). Lyrically, this is one of the most straightforward messages about losing your faith that I've ever heard, and the disdain that Trent feels just permeates everything about this song. Hearing this song on the remastered version on headphones is incredible, and it just shows the mastery that Trent Reznor had over the studio right from the start. This religious theme is continued into the next track, "Down In It", which tells the story of Satan's fall from Heaven, all while somehow turning it into an amazing dance track.
"Something I Can Never Have" is maybe the most beautiful of Nine Inch Nails songs, with its haunting piano melody. This was probably my favorite track on the NIN live album, so I was really excited that it was one of the few songs I was able to see live at Bonnaroo. Trent has the ability to convey powerful emotions, yet still remain in control of his voice, and this song is one of the greatest examples of that quality. There's a softness to it, yet you can still sense that he's reaching the breaking point, and straining to get the words out.
ReplyDelete"Kinda I Want To" is the first indication of a dated electro sound....honestly, this song really reminds me of a song that might have been on Bjork's 'Debut' album, at least until the guitar solo at the end. The drums still have a nice hip-hop beat to them in places, but it's still slightly weaker than the songs before it.
"Sin" is another of my favorite songs on the album, and has a really strong Depeche Mode vibe to it, as the two bands could almost be mistaken here, if not for the drastic difference in vocal style. Following this is "That's What I Get", which is easily my least favorite. Trent does have a tendency to get a little emo in his songwriting, and this is possibly the most egregious example of that tendency, especially the line "now I'm slipping on the tears you made me cry". There is a nice short melodic section on the song around the 2:30 mark which redeems things, though. "Ringfinger" closes things out on a high note, I especially like the really light-hearted sound at the beginning of the track meshing with Trent's angry words, and the fact that it actually contains DJ scratching at the end.
While this was just the start of Trent Reznor's journey as Nine Inch Nails, what a start it was. 'Pretty Hate Machine' is one of the must fully formed debut albums of all time, and while he would go on to better himself twice over with his next two works, this is a career making album, no matter how you look at it.
Favorite Tracks:
1. Terrible Lie
2. Sin
3. Head Like a Hole
Sorry it has taken me so long to get to this. I had a long week to end a loooooong semester. Wednesday was Commencement and our photographer couldn't make it so we covered without her, and then I capped off the week by filling in at The Telegraph on Friday night and again on Monday (which meant 15 hour work days). I'm only now getting back to normal. So here we go...
ReplyDeleteI don't remember hearing this album before this week, which made it kind of hard to get into with so much else going on. But with Bonnaroo 2012 just around the corner, I have been thinking about my various trips to the farm - and this week has me thinking back to 2009 when we saw a short section of the Nine Inch Nails set. It was late, and they played the Which Stage right after Bruce Springsteen. We knew it would be one of the band's last shows ever so we figured we had to catch at least a little bit. We stood in the back long enough to hear "Closer," (and David says we also heard "Something I Can Never Have," which makes sense because it was the only thing that felt familiar to me), and then we felt like the crowd was starting to get a little rough. That's when we retreated to the Ferris Wheel (the one and only time either of us have been on it) and then called it a night. But I'm glad we saw what we did.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate this album for what it is, and I recognize Trent Reznor as a talented musician, but this type of music is just not for me. From my previous exposure to NIN, I almost expected the music to be a little more angry than it was. I like David's reference to Depeche Mode. I haven't heard a lot from them either but I can definitely hear the similarities. What does strike me is that even some of this music sounds like it would work well as a movie soundtrack. I did enjoy the "Social Network" soundtrack, so maybe I will have to check out "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" - I still need to see that movie actually.
Alright, so my top three would be:
1. "Something I Can Never Have"
2. "Down In It"
3. "Terrible Lie"
I've been preaching the gospel of Trent Reznor for well over a decade, and i stand by my opinion that The Fragile is highly underrated. Or at the very least about 18 minutes of that double album is pure genius. That's all i got to say about that.
ReplyDelete