Nine Inch Nails releasing remastered, expanded edition of Pretty Hate Machine

By Sean O'Neal for The Onion AV Club on October 25, 2010

Remember when Trent Reznor just made music instead of grand conceptual statements that could only be untangled by visiting various websites and going on treasure hunts for flash drives in public restrooms and then watching an HBO miniseries? On Nov. 22, you’ll be able to revisit a simpler time when a younger, hungrier Trent Reznor did less bench-presses and just made angry songs for fellow pale and skinny goth kids to seethe about gym class to with the upcoming remastered and expanded reissue of Nine Inch Nails’ debut Pretty Hate Machine. In addition to seminal tracks like “Head Like A Hole,” “Sin,” and “Down In It” dug up from the original tapes and given the digital treatment by latter-day NIN engineer Tom Baker, the new version adds an eleventh track, an Al Jourgensen-produced cover of Queen’s “Get Down Make Love” that was originally the B-side to the “Sin” single.

Despite its popularity, Pretty Hate Machine has been considered a “lost” album for a while now, ever since Reznor had a falling out with TVT Records in the ‘90s, a rift that led to the album being out of print from 1997 until 2005. That year Rykodisc released a reissue, but without Reznor’s permission, so this is the first Reznor-approved release of Pretty Hate Machine in ages—and also the first time it’s being made available as a digital download. Not that anyone’s necessarily been left wanting if they had it in their mind to get it, but at least buying this edition won’t piss off Trent Reznor, who could totally crush your skull between his bicep and forearm right now if he wanted to.

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