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[[Image:PHMvinyl2010.jpg|thumb|2010 Remaster vinyl artwork]]
'''''Pretty Hate Machine''''' (also known as '''''[[Halo numbers|Halo 2]]''''') is the first studio album by [[Nine Inch Nails]], released on October 20, 1989 by [[TVT Records]] 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''.
== Track Listing ==
==Recording==
Working nights at Right Track Studio as a handyman and toilet cleaner, [[Trent Reznor]] used studio "down time" to record and develop his own music. Playing most of the keyboards, drum machines, guitars, and samplers himself, he recorded a demo, unofficially titled ''[[Purest Feeling (album)|Purest Feeling]]''. Teaming up with manager [[John A. Malm, Jr.]] they sent the demo to various record labels. Reznor received serious offers from many of them. He signed a deal with [[TVT Records]] who, until then, were known mainly for releasing novelty and television jingle records.
''Pretty Hate Machine'' was recorded in various studios around the world with Reznor collaborating with some of his most idolized producers - [[Flood]], Keith LeBlanc, [[Adrian Sherwood]], and John Fryer. After the album was finished, TVT Records were not happy about the direction the album had taken from the original demos. This would lead to friction between Reznor and the label. John Fryer elaborated:
==Touring==
''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]]. 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. Taking inspiration from the photographer 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.
==Purest Feeling==
The entire album was covered by a string quartet in 2005 as ''The String Quartet Tribute to Nine Inch Nails' Pretty Hate Machine'', arranged by Eric Gorfain. [http://www.amazon.com/String-Quartet-Tribute-Pretty-Machine/dp/B0007ZSH5S] It was later re-arranged using retro computers and game consoles by Inverse Phase and released as ''[[Pretty Eight Machine]]''. [http://inversephase.bandcamp.com/album/pretty-eight-machine]
==Rykodisc Re-ReleaseReleases=====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 owned TVT's Nine Inch Nails recordings, but Rykodisc leased the rights. 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.
==Bicycle Music Re-Release=2010 Remaster===
In April 2010, [[TVT Records#Bicycle Music|Bicycle Music]] bought the entirety of TVT's catalogue, including ''Pretty Hate Machine''. They confirmed that they would be reissuing the album once more, and there was speculation that they would be willing to release the deluxe edition proposed by TVT in 2005.
<blockquote>
* When the actual vinyl discs were cut, an additional low-filter (hipass), desser and hyper-elliptical filter were put in place.
</blockquote>
===''Halo I-IV''===
[[Image:HaloI-IV.jpg|thumb|''Halo I-IV'' Box Set]]
''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.
==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]
In an interview with [http://sleevage.com/nin-pretty-hate-machine/ Sleevage.com], [[Rob Sheridan ]] described the long process he went through to update the artwork for the re-issue:
<blockquote>
"When we began the ''Pretty Hate Machine'' remaster project, Trent discussed with me the idea of tweaking the original artwork a bit to reflect that this was a different version of the album, updated from its original release. We talked about maybe just changing the color scheme a bit – Trent was keen on losing the distinctly 80′s hot pink color, for one. It seemed like a fairly straightforward project, as I certainly didn’t want to try and radically alter an album cover I’d been looking at since I was a teenager, and that some fans had known very well for more than two decades.
*Nine Inch Nails is Trent Reznor<br>
<br>
*Exclusive representation: [[John A. Malm, Jr.]] for J Artist Management
*Invaluable assistance: [[Chris Vrenna]]
*Drone guitar at the end of "Sanctified": [[Richard Patrick]]*Additional synth programming: [[Flood]], Tim Niemi
*Digital editing and continuity: Trent Reznor, Chris Vrenna
*Mastering: Tony Dawsey at Masterdisk, NYC
*[http://bicyclemusic.com/downloads/PHM%20Press%20Release.pdf Reissue press release]
*[http://sleevage.com/nin-pretty-hate-machine/ Interview with Rob Sheridan about the cover redesign]
*[http://phmportraitofdecay.ninnet/www.prettyhatemachine.com/ Official remaster website(archived at Portrait of Decay)]*[http://www.nincatalog.com/index.asp?halo=2 pretty-hate-machine/ ''Pretty Hate Machine'' at nincatalog.com]
*[http://www.nincollector.com/archive/releases/halo_02/halo02.htm ''Pretty Hate Machine'' at nincollector.com]
*[http://www.amazon.com/gp/redirect.html?ie=UTF8&location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.amazon.com%2Fs%3Fie%3DUTF8%26x%3D0%26ref_%3Dnb%5Fsb%5Fnoss%26y%3D0%26field-keywords%3Dnine%2520inch%2520nails%2520pretty%2520hate%2520machine%26url%3Dsearch-alias%253Daps&tag=thniinnawi-20&linkCode=ur2&camp=1789&creative=390957 ''Pretty Hate Machine'' at Amazon]