Publisher Description

What is the world that Nine Inch Nails made, and what was the world that made Nine Inch Nails? These are the questions at the heart of this study of the band's 1989 debut, Pretty Hate Machine.The album began as after-hours demos by mercenary new wave keyboardist Trent Reznor, and was disciplined into sparse industrial dance by a handful of the UK's best industrial producers. Carr traces how the album became beloved in the underground, found its mass at Lollapalooza, and its market at the newly opened mall store Hot Topic. For fans, Nine Inch Nails was a vehicle for questioning God, society, the family, sex, and the body. In ten raw, heartbreaking oral histories woven through the book, fans living in the post-industrial Midwest discuss the successes and failures of the American dream as they are articulated in Nine Inch Nails' music. Daphne Carr illuminates Pretty Hate Machine as at once singular and as representative of how popular music can impact history and change lives.

Notes

This book tells the story of the birth of Nine Inch Nails, whilst giving voice to a peculiarly American subculture. Reissue.

Author Biography

Daphne Carr is a Manhattan-based writer. She is the series editor of Best Music Writing and an editor at Current Musicology. Her music writing has appeared in numerous anthologies and publications including Out of the Vinyl Deeps, Listen Again: A Momentary History of Pop, the Village Voice, MOJO, The Nation, Stop Smiling, and Venus Zine. Find her at

Table of Contents

IntroductionMapThe BecomingMercer, Pa."Head Like a Hole""Terrible Lie""Down in It"Youngstown, Ohio"Sanctified""Something I Can Never Have""Kinda I Want To""Sin"Cleveland, Ohio"That's What I Get""The Only Time""Ringfinger"Leader of the Black ParadeNotesCreditsBibliography

Review

Carr's take on Pretty Hate Machine as an accessible piece of art is fortified by her ability to include everyone — fans, critics, NIN virgins — into her dialogue. Here, PHM is transformed from an album for outcasts into a work that applies more generally to mass culture. * Tiny Mix Tapes *

Promotional

Combining solid research into NIN's roots with compelling, emotional oral histories from fans, a fascinating account of a huge subculture.

Long Description

What is the world that Nine Inch Nails made, and what was the world that made Nine Inch Nails? These are the questions at the heart of this study of the band's 1989 debut, Pretty Hate Machine. The album began as after-hours demos by mercenary new wave keyboardist Trent Reznor, and was disciplined into sparse industrial dance by a handful of the UK's best industrial producers. Carr traces how the album became beloved in the underground, found its mass at Lollapalooza, and its market at the newly opened mall store Hot Topic. For fans, Nine Inch Nails was a vehicle for questioning God, society, the family, sex, and the body. In ten raw, heartbreaking oral histories woven through the book, fans living in the post-industrial Midwest discuss the successes and failures of the American dream as they are articulated in Nine Inch Nails' music. Daphne Carr illuminates Pretty Hate Machine as at once singular and as representative of how popular music can impact history and change lives.

Review Quote

"Carr's take on Pretty Hate Machine as an accessible piece of art is fortified by her ability to include everyone fans, critics, NIN virgins into her dialogue. Here, PHM is transformed from an album for outcasts into a work that applies more generally to mass culture."-Tiny Mix Tapes

Details