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==History==
While a member of Cleveland, OH bands [[Exotic Birds]] and [[Lucky Pierre]], [[Trent Reznor]] began the initial songwriting and ideas for NIN.[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCimjf7nYxE] Playing most of the keyboards, drum machines, guitars, and samplers himself, he began recording demos. He eventually took was hired as a job working nights recording engineer at [[The Right Track]] studio as a handyman and janitor, 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 ''Pretty Hate Machine'' was released, a [[bootlegs|bootleg]] called ''[[Purest Feeling (album)|Purest Feeling]]'' surfaced. It contains 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]]"). This session was initially believed to be demo recordings, but was eventually revealed by original NIN drummer [[Ron Musarra]] to be a recording of tour rehearsals for NIN's [[VIVIsectVI Tour|first tour dates]] opening for [[Skinny Puppy]].
Actually, there was. I used a Prophet-VS, an Oberheim Xpander, and a little bit of Minimoog, which was down more than up in the studio. I've had the Xpander since it came out. I've always considered it a great analog machine. It's the only thing I've ever owned that's never let me down. But I'd gotten to the point where it was cumbersome to program. I had the same ten sounds I always thought were great in it. Then, when I worked with Flood, he breathed new life into it for me. He's absolutely a master of programming the Xpander. We really got into the FM section, doing some weird modulation things I'd never attempted and coming up with very strange, non-analog sounds. That ended up being a big part of what we did for a lot of weird modulating sounds. "Terrible Lie" was all Oberheim.</blockquote>
==TouringSupport Tour==
''For more information, see [[Pretty Hate Machine Tour]]''<br><br>
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.
==Re-Releases==
===Rykodisc===
''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 Securities had taken ownership of TVT's Nine Inch Nails recordings after TVT defaulted on a loan and leased the rights to 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.
===2010 Remaster===
==Artwork==
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 image is a close-up of the alternator on a 1930s diesel power generator.[https://www.theninhotline.com/news/permalink/1729481140]
In an interview with sleevage.com (later reposted to Patreon[https://www.patreon.com/posts/in-depth-nins-30900269]), [[Rob Sheridan]] described the long process he went through to update the artwork for the 2010 reissue: