#6 Nine Inch Nail: Pretty Hate Machine
The Kardshian's have taken over my living room. My wife is upstairs watching reality TV so I have started a record, and escaped to the basement. 'But Rob', you say, 'your stereo is in the living room!' Yes, the receiver, turntable and Cerwin Vega's live upstairs…but my old Technics, purchased my freshman year at Frostburg State University from Country Club Mall (Lavale, MD) have survived four and half years of college abuse and now live in the basement. When we bought this house the first thing I did was wire up the stereo and fish two speaker wires into the basement. This occurred before painting, moving furniture, or any other nesting procedures were done. Music comes first.
Today's selection is an album that I first owned on cassette in approximately 1993. Nine Inch Nails, which consists of Trent Reznor and an endless list of producers and studio musicians created one hell of an industrial pop album with 1989's "Pretty Hate Machine." I must confess, I got the cassette EP "Broken" first, then moved in reverse chronological order to get "Pretty Hate Machine." On to the music…
Side one begins with the song that led me to buy the album 'Head Like a Hole." From this song, you basically know what you're getting into with this album…anger, frustration, revenge and electronic drums. From that beginning it moves seamlessly into "Terrible Lie," and it seems Trent is not getting any happier with song two. The song is very sparsely played instrumentally, which allows the listener to truly appreciate the delicate emotional state of the singer. It'd be wise to go ahead and get that suicide hotline number, cause its all downhill from here. Now that you're emotionally broken, its time for "Down In It," because at this point, you are. More electronic drums kick this one off, hey its 1989, what do you want? The song is fairly repetitive in telling you that yes, its true, he was up above it, but now he's down in it. "Sanctify" is another decent song, fairly forgettable except for the awesome bass line that I think I have to learn. Side one concludes with the third most depressing song ever written. The first is (of course) another NIN song, "Hurt" and the second is A Perfect Circle's cover of "Imagine." (listen at your own risk)
"Hurt" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gjwgYvzQWS4
"Imagine" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dunKAwRN3P8&ob=av2e
These songs are so depressing you should just save some time and dial 9-1 before pressing play. Now that the side has concluded you're asking yourself "do I want to flip this thing, or take a break?" Take a break, because I have to run upstairs, witness almost 25 seconds of the Kardashian's, and flip the record.
Feeling better? Side two begins with "Kinda I Want To" which is actually a pretty uplifting song as far as Trent Reznor goes. The next track "Sin," includes some of the coolest synthesizer play that you'll hear this side of a Depeche Mode album. This song has everything you'd want from Industrial music, synthesizer, electronic drums, wall of sound guitars, and what really sounds like metal objects being thrown on a concrete floor (think Robert Palmer- Simply Irresistible). All this in a neat 128 bpm package. Good job Trent! "That's What I Get" uses that same somewhat repetitive lyrical formula of "Down In It" but its not that bad of a song. This song was momentarily interrupted by a dog hair that messed with the needle, but we're back on track now. Next up is "The Only Time" a song that finds Trent now trying to blame someone else for all his issues aired over the last 8 songs. Yeah right Trent, there is no 'I' in 'nuts.' The album concludes with the song Ringfinger. Its a pretty good tune production wise, great stereo panning effects, overly distorted guitar and very clean synthesizer, a fitting end to what is truly a great album.
This is the kind of album that someone (Trent Reznor) had to probably experience a lot of pain to create. In the end, I can just say "I'm glad this isn't my story." Most art is created this way if you look at it from the perspective of the mind that created it. Fortunately for us, for a mere $10-$20 per album, we can get a glimpse into that twisted mind without actually having to own it 24/7.
Strongest Song: Sin
Weakest Song: That's What I Get
Song You Know: Head Like A Hole
Why You Might Hate It: You have scars on your wrists and sharp objects all around you.
Buy It? Probably a good CD or MP3 album to have, though for the audio nuts out there, the production does offer great Vinyl sound.
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