In 1989, I was using a Mac Plus to learn about “home keys” and make HyperCard presentations. Trent Reznor was using a Mac Plus to sequence the MIDI tracks that would become the skeleton of Pretty Hate Machine.
There is so much lore behind this album that it is almost impossible to separate the songs themselves from the genre that Reznor almost single-handedly made popular. Pretty Hate Machine was not well received (at least critically) when it was released, and it took some time and some word of mouth to make it into the success that it became. The programming, instrumentation, and production certainly sound dated, but that’s because they are. The album, after all, is 16 years old. So why is it worth picking up again?
The answer is simple: the songs are fantastic. Reznor relies on the verse-chorus-verse format so often that the album starts to sound less industrial and more...well, more post pop, I suppose. Tracks like “Terrible Lie,” with its rousing chorus, and “Kinda I Want To” are pure sing-along numbers. Sure, you’d be singing along if you were angry and depressed, but you’d be singing along nonetheless.
Pretty Hate Machine reminds all of us of Reznor’s gift: he created a concoction that was one part pissed off, one part melodic, and one part electronic, stirred frequently, and hit us all over the head with it. For that reason alone, Pretty Hate Machine is, was, and will remain a classic. |