Pretty Hate Machine (also known as Halo 2) is an album by Nine Inch Nails released in 1989. Pretty Hate Machine is the second official Nine Inch Nails release and the band's first major release. It is followed by Broken.

Working nights at a recording studio cleaning toilets, Trent Reznor saved enough money to purchase time in a recording session. Playing all of the keyboards, drum machines, guitars, and samplers himself, he recorded a demo and sent it to various record companies. Not expecting any real response, Reznor was surprised when he received serious offers from many of the companies.

Teaming up with agent John A. Malm, Jr., Reznor signed a deal with TVT Records, a company mainly known for producing novelty and television jingle records. TVT paired Trent up with well-known producers Adrian Sherwood and Flood, as well as some lesser-knowns who Reznor later claimed to hate working with.

The album was released October 20, 1989 and was a critical success. It received radio airplay for the songs "Down in It", "Head Like a Hole", "Terrible Lie" and "Sin". The album also gained popularity through word-of-mouth and developed an underground following. Reznor quickly hired a band for touring with The Jesus & Mary Chain, including guitarist and future Filter frontman Richard Patrick. NIN's live set was notorious for louder, more aggressive versions of the studio songs, and also for destroying their instruments at the end. Reznor preferred using the heel of his boots to strip the keys from expensive keyboards.

The term "pretty hate machine" is also a term for an angst-filled youth who tries too hard to look the part of a rebellious teen.

Contents

1 Releases 2 Track listing 3 Personnel 4 Chart positions 4.1 Album 4.2 Singles 5 External links

Releases

• TVT Records TVT 2610-1 - 12" Vinyl
• TVT Records TVT 2610-2 - CD

Track listing

1. "Head Like a Hole" - 4:59
2. "Terrible Lie" - 4:38
3. "Down in It" - 3:46
4. "Sanctified" - 5:48
5. "Something I Can Never Have" - 5:55
6. "Kinda I Want To" - 4:33
7. "Sin" - 4:06
8. "That's What I Get" - 4:30
9. "The Only Time" - 4:47
10. "Ringfinger" - 5:40

Personnel

• Doug d'Angelis - Engineer
• Tony Dawsey - Mastering
• Flood - Programming, Producer, Engineer
• John Fryer - Producer, Engineer, Mixing
• Kennan Keating - Engineer
• Keith LeBlanc - Producer, Engineer, Remixing, Mixing
• Richard Patrick - Guitar
• Ken Quartarone - Engineer
• Trent Reznor - Arranger, Programming, Producer, Engineer, Digital Editing, Mixing
• Adrian Maxwell Sherwood - Producer, Engineer, Mixing
• Jeffrey Silverthorne - Photography
• Gary Talpas - Cover Design
• Chris Vrenna - Programming, Digital Editing

Chart positions

Album

1990   Pretty Hate Machine     The Billboard 200                      75

Singles

1989    Down in It              Hot Dance Music/Club Play              16
1989    Down in It              Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales     20
1989    Down in It              Modern Rock Tracks                     16
1990    Head Like a Hole        Hot Dance Music/Club Play              17
1990    Head Like a Hole        Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales     34
1990    Head Like a Hole        Modern Rock Tracks                     28
1990    Sin                     Hot Dance Music/Club Play              10
1990    Sin                     Hot Dance Music/Maxi-Singles Sales     13

External links

• nin.com
• Halo 2 Lyrics
• nincollector.com: halo two
• discogs.com: Pretty Hate Machine (US CD)
• discogs.com: Pretty Hate Machine (US CD Re-release)
• discogs.com: Pretty Hate Machine (US LP)
• discogs.com: Pretty Hate Machine (AT CD)
• discogs.com: Pretty Hate Machine (UK CD)
• discogs.com: Pretty Hate Machine (DE LP)