Album
Pretty Hate Machine
Pretty Hate Machine is the debut album from Nine Inch Nails, released on 20 October 1989. Trent Reznor sang and played most of the instruments himself, and shared production duties with Keith LeBlanc, John Fryer and Flood. The sound is built on synthesisers, with industrial and rock edges, and the lyrics deal in angst, betrayal and lovesickness. "Down in It", "Head Like a Hole" and "Sin" were the singles.
It sets out the ground Reznor would work for years afterwards, and it did well: it reached No. 75 in the US, drew very favourable reviews and went triple-platinum, a rare feat for an independently released record. Reznor fell out with the label over promotion and moved to Interscope, but the album kept its standing, turning up on lists of the decade's best and, in 2020, at number 453 in Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums.
Pretty Hate Machine on Riffology
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Pretty Hate Machine: tracklist, credits and charts
10 tracks · 48:54Tracklist
- 1Head Like a HoleTrent Reznor5:02
- 2Terrible LieTrent Reznor4:39
- 3Down in ItTrent Reznor3:48
- 4SanctifiedTrent Reznor5:50
- 5Something I Can Never HaveTrent Reznor5:54
- 6Kinda I Want ToTrent Reznor4:35
- 7SinTrent Reznor4:05
- 8That’s What I GetTrent Reznor4:30
- 9The Only TimeTrent Reznor4:50
- 10RingfingerTrent Reznor5:41
- Produced by
- Flood, Trent Reznor, Keith LeBlanc, Adrian Sherwood, John Fryer
- Recorded at
- Blackwing, London, Roundhouse, London, The Right Track, Cleveland, Syncro Sound, Boston, Unique Recording, New York City
- Recorded
- May–June 1989
- Mixed by
- Keith LeBlanc, John Fryer, Trent Reznor, Adrian Sherwood
- Engineered by
- Doug DeAngelis, Flood, Kennan Keating, Keith LeBlanc, Ken Quartarone, Trent Reznor, John Fryer, Adrian Sherwood
- Mastered by
- Tony Dawsey
- Artwork
- Gary Talpas
- Photography
- Jeffrey Silverthorne
- Label
- Island
- Length
- 48:54
Line-up
- Trent Reznor · vocals
- Richard Patrick · electric guitar · guest
Singles
- “Down in It” · 15 September 1989
- “Head Like a Hole” · 22 March 1990
- “Sin” · 10 October 1990
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| UK Albums Chart · 1990 | 67 |
| US Billboard 200 · 1990 | 75 |
| US Independent Albums · 2010 remaster | 17 |
| UK Rock & Metal Albums · 2010 remaster | 26 |
Certifications
| Region | Certification |
|---|---|
| Argentina · 2005 | Platinum |
| United Kingdom · 2020 | Gold |
| United States | 3× Platinum |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
75.9
Popularity (0–100, vs the whole vault)
8.5k
ListenBrainz listeners
185k
Wikipedia views, last 12 months
18k
Deezer fans (all editions)
Also released on 20 October
Every year →
More from Nine Inch Nails
Full discography →
Broken
1992
Fixed
1992
The Downward Spiral
1994
Further Down the Spiral
1995
Quake
1996
The Fragile
1999
Things Falling Apart
2000
Still
2002
And All That Could Have Been
2002
With Teeth
2005
Year Zero
2007
Y34RZ3R0R3M1X3D
2007
Ghosts I–IV
2008
The Slip
2008
Lights in the Sky: Over North America 2008 Tour Sampler
2008
NIN|JA 2009 Tour Sampler
2009
Hesitation Marks
2013
Live 2013
2013
Remix 2014
2014
Recoiled
2014
Halo I–IV
2015
Not the Actual Events
2016
Add Violence
2017
Bad Witch
2018
Ghosts V: Together
2020
Ghosts VI: Locusts
2020
TRON: Ares: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
2025
TRON Ares: Divergence
2026
The best of 1989
All of 1989 →
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Nirvana · 1989
The Miracle
Queen · 1989
The Real Thing
Faith No More · 1989
Blew
Nirvana · 1989
Headless Cross
Black Sabbath · 1989
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Queen · 1989
Beneath the Remains
Sepultura · 1989
Louder Than Love
Soundgarden · 1989
1,000 Hours
Green Day · 1989
Moon
The Smashing Pumpkins · 1989
Jed
Goo Goo Dolls · 1989
Best of Ozz
Ozzy Osbourne · 1989
More on Island
The label →
Among the Living
Anthrax · 1987
Persistence of Time
Anthrax · 1990
State of Euphoria
Anthrax · 1988
Deep Cuts, Volume 1 (1973–1976)
Queen · 2011
Deep Cuts, Volume 3 (1984–1995)
Queen · 2011
Attack of the Killer B’s
Anthrax · 1991
I’m the Man
Anthrax · 1987
Live: The Island Years
Anthrax · 1994
Madhouse: The Very Best of Anthrax
Anthrax · 2001
Anthrology: No Hit Wonders (1985–1991)
Anthrax · 2005
Penikufesin
Anthrax · 1989
Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia + wikidata; also seen: 1989-11-20 (musicbrainz)
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 20 November 1989 | ignored lone early release dated 1989-10-20 |
| Wikipedia infobox | 20 October 1989 | |
| Wikidata | 20 October 1989 | |
| US release | 20 October 1989 | earliest US date |
| UK / Europe release | November 1989 | earliest UK or European date |
31 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | US | TVT Records | 2019387071020 | other |
| — | XE | Island | 042284835824 | other |
| — | US | — | other | |
| 1989 | DE | Island | 4007192613144 | other |
| 20 October 1989 | US | TVT Records | 016581261020 | original |
| November 1989 | GB | Island | 042284835824 | other |
| 20 November 1989 | US | TVT Records | 016581261020 | other |
| 20 November 1989 | US | TVT Records | 016581261044 | other |
| 20 November 1989 | US | TVT Records | 016581261013 | other |
| 20 November 1989 | CA | TVT Records | 016581261020 | other |
| 1991 | AU | Interscope Records | 606949183424 | other |
| 1991 | AU | Interscope Records | 075679183422 | other |
| 18 February 1991 | GB | Island | 042284835817 | other |
| 25 July 1992 | JP | Atlantic | 4988029034540 | other |
| 21 August 1996 | JP | Victor | 4988067025364 | other |
| 11 May 1999 | CA | Interscope Records | 606949037420 | other |
| 23 June 2004 | JP | Universal International | 4988005363107 | other |
| 2005 | AR | TVT Records | 042284835824 | other |
| 22 November 2005 | US | Rykodisc | 014431083624 | other |
| 31 January 2006 | US | Rykodisc | 014431083617 | other |
| 17 May 2006 | JP | Universal International | 4988005429643 | other |
| 22 November 2010 | US | UMe | 602527567730 | remaster |
| 20 December 2010 | US | UMe | 602527567822 | remaster |
| 2011 | US | The Bicycle Music Company | 602527746999 | other |
| 2011 | XE | Universal Music Group | 602527746999 | other |
| 2011 | US | The Bicycle Music Company | 602527749921 | other |
| 12 July 2011 | US | UMe | 602527746999 | other |
| 12 July 2011 | US | UMe | 602527749921 | other |
| 29 July 2014 | XW | The Bicycle Music Company | 847108062895 | other |
| 20 November 2015 | XW | Concord Records | 859704670275 | other |
| 2017 | XE | Craft Recordings | 0602527749921 | other |
Cover art sources
deezer · upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25)
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| deezer ✓ | 1200×1200 | upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25) |
| coverartarchive | 1000×1000 | upscaled |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |