Review Summary: Trent Reznor's debut album suffers from the keyboard-heavy dated sounds of the 80s; and while a classic, ground-shaking effort when it was first released, it's easily the worst NIN album today.
Back in 1989, George Bush Sr. was President, the Talking Heads were considered a good band, and Trent Reznor released his debut album under his psuedonym,
Nine Inch Nails. This debut album was called
Pretty Hate Machine; and became famous in a matter of time for its unique fusion of industrial, synth-lead pop, and rock. Suddenly, Trent Reznor was an icon of rock music; and they began headlining all of the big, huge tours. It just happens I saw Nine Inch Nails at Lollapalooza in 1991, and enjoyed every moment of it.
Pretty Hate Machine was the anthem of my high school years; I would irritate every one at my school when I'd come rolling up with
Head Like a Hole blasting out of my speakers.
But now, I picked
Pretty Hate Machine back up and listened to it all the way through again. Suddenly, it doesn't feel as special and unique. It sounds dated and unbearably lo-fi. Suddenly heart-wrenching pleas for help from Trent Reznor like
Something I Can Never Have sound like pitiful love ballads tossed aside by the likes of
Hurt and
Right Where It Belongs. Even my favorite rock song,
Head Like a Hole sounds like nothing compared to my favorites off of
The Downward Spiral and
Year Zero.
Maybe because it sounds so dated; maybe my musical taste has matured; whatever it is,
Pretty Hate Machines is not the same old
Pretty Hate Machine.
Head Like a Hole, the hardest song on this album, and the song Nine Inch Nails is known for, features some nice guitar techniques, distortion, and a great fusion of keyboards, but the beginning sounds dated beyond belief.
Terrible Lie, another one of my favorites sounds terribly slow and like a bad outtake of
Year Zero. The keyboard/synth solos are old and terribly cliche; the only part I really enjoy on
Terrible Lie is when the vocals are layered in the chorus.
Down In It is now a cheezy 80s dance club remix; and
Sanctified features Trent Reznor's vocals knawing into my skin. He sounds so imperfect and nasaly in this song, I just want to skip it so bad; but I don't; for fear my fellow NIN fans might ridicule me.
But there's songs I still enjoy;
Something I Can Never Have still sends shivers down my spine with it's piano solos and his "Something...I...can never...Have!" still makes me shake in my boots. It's not as deep and heartfelt as it once was due to the likes of
Hurt and
Right Where It Belongs, but it truely shows Trent Reznor's true talent is in the slower, heart-bleeding songs.
Kinda I Want To just drags
Pretty Hate Machine back down; as I've always hated this song with it's corny lyrics and the overuse of synthesizers and keyboards.
Sin sounds a lot like a harder
Down In It with it's overuse of keyboard solos, but the song's chorus still keeps this song relevant on my favorite list; the chorus is so angst-filled and the lyrics are disturbingly dark.
That's What I Get is possibly the most pointless Nine Inch Nails song ever; it's repetitive, and is ridden with not enough sound. For most of the song, it's a keyboard and not much else.
The Only Time features some more of Trent Reznor trying to be witty and funny lyrically but it doesn't work well, the keyboards are overused; there's not enough guitars and bass in this song, and Trent's vocals are nasally and so un-developed again.
Ringfinger isn't a typical, amazing Nine Inch Nails closing song, but isn't that bad, as the keyboards aren't horribly cliche, overused, and boring; they manage to create a nice atmosphere. Trent's angst-filled lyrics are suddenly found again; and the chaos at the end is reminescent of the end of
The Great Destroyer.
It's pretty obvious my problem with
Pretty Hate Machine is the keyboards. The record is dated, and sounds like a typical 80s record; filled with overused keyboards, synthesizers, and not enough guitars, bass, and drums. While some songs still stick out as classics, there's so much that draws away from the album; Trent's corny attempt at witty lyrics, his nasally vocals, or the industrial/electronica/keyboard-heavy twinge of the album. It's pretty apparent
Pretty Hate Machine was heavily influenced by electronica just like
Year Zero, my new favorite Nine Inch Nails album. But the question remains; when I look back at
Year Zero in twenty years, how will it seem to me?
