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'''''Pretty Hate Machine''''' (also known as '''''[[Halo numbers|Halo 2]]''''') is the first studio album by [[Nine Inch Nails]]. It was released on October 20, 1989 , by [[TVT Records]] in the US, and on February 18, 1991, by Island Records in the UK (reissued on September 30, 1991), and was a huge success. The first single off of the album, ''[[Down In It (halo)|Down In It]]'', was released on September 27, 1989. It received radio airplay for the aforementioned single as well as subsequent singles ''[[Head Like A Hole (halo)|Head Like A Hole]]'' and ''[[Sin (halo)|Sin]]''. The former also serves as a companion [[Remixes|remix]] album of sorts to ''Pretty Hate Machine''.

==Recording and ''Purest Feeling''History==Working nights at Right Track Studio as While a handyman member of Cleveland, OH bands [[Exotic Birds]] and janitor[[Lucky Pierre]], [[Trent Reznor]] used studio "down time" to record began the initial songwriting and develop his own musicideas for NIN.[https://www.youtube. com/watch?v=vCimjf7nYxE] Playing most of the keyboards, drum machines, guitars, and samplers himself, he recorded began recording demos. He was hired as a demorecording engineer at [[The Right Track]] studio, and used studio "down time" to develop and record more refined and professional demos. Teaming up with manager [[John A. Malm, Jr.]] they sent the demo demos to various record labels. Reznor received serious offers When the major labels rejected them, they began submitting it to international labels and attracted some interest, including from many of themNettwerk. He Reznor eventually signed a deal with TVT Records who, until then, were known mainly for releasing novelty and television jingle records.

After the album ''Pretty Hate Machine'' was released, a [[bootlegs|bootleg]] called ''[[Purest Feeling (album)|Purest Feeling]]'' surfaced. It contains early tour rehearsal recordings versions of most of the tracks found on the album (including an early version of "Ringfinger" entitled "Twist"), as well as a couple that were not used ("[[Purest Feeling (song)|Purest Feeling]]" and "[[Maybe Just Once]]"). Demos that were likely sent This session was initially believed to record labels also exist: some can be found on the ''demo recordings, but was eventually revealed by original NIN drummer [[Demos & RemixesRon Musarra]]to be a recording of tour rehearsals for NIN'' bootleg ("Down In It", "Sanctified", "Kinda I Want To", and "Twist"); further tracks ("Sin", "Terrible Lie", "Sanctified", "Twist", and "Down In It") are on an uncirculated cassette, one copy of which is privately owned by s [[Martin AtkinsVIVIsectVI Tour|first tour dates]]opening for [https://exclaim.ca/music/article/early_demo_of_nine_inch_nails_pretty_hate_machine_hits_ebay[Skinny Puppy]] ; and a few more (including non-rehearsal recordings of "Purest Feeling" and "Maybe Just Once") were leaked in 2025. Some of the demos on the Atkins tape may or may not be from the same batch as those on ''Demos & Remixes''.

Various demo recordings exist, but not all are circulated. Versions of "Sin", "Terrible Lie", "Sanctified", "Twist", and "Down In It" are on a cassette handed out by Reznor to important figures, one copy of which is privately owned by [[Martin Atkins]].[https://exclaim.ca/music/article/early_demo_of_nine_inch_nails_pretty_hate_machine_hits_ebay] Versions of "Down In It", "Sanctified", "Kinda I Want To", and "Twist" can be found on the ''[[Demos & Remixes]]'' bootleg. A batch of assorted early tracks, including a demo of "Sin" and non-rehearsal recordings of "Purest Feeling" and "Maybe Just Once", was leaked in 2025. The tracks on the cassette owned by Atkins have been heard by fans during playbacks at his museum in Cleveland and the majority of them have been reported to be the same as those heard on ''Demos & Remixes'', save for "Sin" and "Terrible Lie". A 2011 dissertation by Rock & Roll Hall of Fame museum employee Jason Hanley[https://dspace.sunyconnect.suny.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/b096437e-e280-48ed-8a6a-c4ed87b49736/content], written while a student at Stony Brook University, gave additional background info on the album's early stages. Unheard and unshared demos from Cleveland in early 1988 were played for him by Ron Musarra, and among these were a track called "I'm Not Listening" and an early version of "That's What I Get" entitled "I Can Make Myself Forget". Also included were versions of "Kinda I Want To" and "Purest Feeling". According to the dissertation, the next recordings were pre-production demos that were made in London with John Fryer, and it is mentioned in the footnotes that these tracks have been previously available on bootlegs for many years. As ''Purest Feeling'' was revealed to be a tour rehearsal recording rather than demos, this could imply that the London demos are the batch from ''Demos & Remixes''. ==Recording==''Pretty Hate Machine'' was recorded in various studios around the world with Reznor collaborating with some of his most idolized producers - [[Flood]] at Syncro Sound in Boston, Keith LeBlanc at Unique Recording Studios in New York, [[Adrian Sherwood]] at Roundhouse Studios in London, and John Fryer at Blackwing Studios in London. Flood was originally supposed to produce the entire album, but couldn't because of his prior commitment with Depeche Mode.[https://www.theninhotline.com/archives/articles/display/530] Reznor used his own journal entries as sources and inspiration for the album's lyrics.[https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/jun/21/trent-reznor-nine-inch-nails-youre-seeing-the-fall-of-america] The shows with Skinny Puppy went on to shape the tone and sonics of ''Pretty Hate Machine'', as Reznor realized in this early live presentation that the song arrangements needed a harder edge.[http://www.nin-pages.de/1990_BSide_Juni_english.htm]

==TouringSupport Tour==

The album also gained popularity through word-of-mouth and developed an underground following. Reznor quickly hired a band for touring with [[Skinny Puppy]], [[The Jesus and Mary Chain]] and [[Peter Murphy]], including guitarist and future Filter/Army of Anyone frontman [[Richard Patrick]]. The headlining [[Hate Tour|Hate]] and [[Sin Tour|Sin]] tours followed, as well as a slot on the first [[Lollapalooza Tour]]. Nine Inch Nails' live set was notorious for louder, more aggressive versions of the studio songs, and also for destroying their instruments at the end of sets. Reznor preferred using the heel of his boots to strip the keys from keyboards. This touring cycle was different from subsequent NIN tours, in that many [[Samples_In_NIN_Songs#Live_Samples|live-only samples]] were utilized. Taking inspiration from the photography of Jeffrey Silverthorne, who did NIN's early press shots, the band would douse themselves in cornstarch before taking the stage.[http://www.nin-pages.de/artwork_phm.htm] This practice would continue through the [[Fragility]] tour.

''Pretty Hate Machine'' went out of print through TVT Records, but was reissued by [[Rykodisc Records]] on November 22, 2005 , with slight changes in the packaging. Prudential owned Securities had taken ownership of TVT's Nine Inch Nails recordings, but Rykodisc after TVT defaulted on a loan and leased the rightsto Rykodisc. Reznor had expressed an interest in creating a "deluxe edition" with surround sound remastering and new/rare remixes, similar to the re-release of ''[[The Downward Spiral (halo)|The Downward Spiral]]''. Rykodisc liked the idea, but not enough to pay Reznor to do so.

In April 2010, [[TVT Records#Bicycle MusicGroup|Bicycle Music]] bought the entirety of TVT's cataloguerecordings owned by Prudential, including ''Pretty Hate Machine''. They confirmed that they would be reissuing the album once more[https://web.archive.org/web/20111005050050/http://www.bicyclemusic.com/downloads/TGH_Press%20Release_v4.pdf], and there was speculation that they would be willing to release the deluxe edition proposed by TVT Reznor in 2005.

In March 2011 an [[ETS ]] user named wishtheend contacted Tom Baker at Precision Mastering with some questions about the mastering of the re-release, and obtained the following info:

''Halo I-IV'' is a limited edition vinyl box set released by Concord/Bicycle Music for Record Store Day in November 2015. It contains the original version of ''Pretty Hate Machine'' on 180 gram vinyl, as well as the domestic versions of all three 12" singles released from the album on 120 gram vinyl. None of the music in this set is remastered.

Reznor stated in one of his posts on the Prodigy internet service in the early 90s that "the cover of PHM is a photo of the blades of some sort of turbine stretched vertically so they would look somewhat like bones or a rib cage."[http://www.theninhotline.net/archives/articles/manager/display_article.php?id=327] [[The NIN Hotline]] shared in 2024 that the machine in the image is likely a close-up of the alternator on a 1930s inline diesel enginepower generator.[https://www.theninhotline.com/news/permalink/1729481140]

*Thank you: Bart Koster (The Right Track), Mike Shea, Michael S. Toorock, Roz Earls, Seb Shelton, Bryan Grant, Larry Bole, Alison Fryer, Michelle de Frasia, Gerry Gerard, Martin Horne, Sioux Zimmerman, Paul Conelly, [[Ron Musarra]], Steve Woolard, Mark Jowett and all at Nettwek, Howie Klein, Preston Sullivan/Carlyle, Kevin Donoghue/Native, Frederic Wahleer/Sub Rosa